Naval History - Winter 1989 - Night Fighters in World War II

Cover: During the first part of World War II, the Grumman F4F Wildcat was the Navy’s standard carrier fighter, in use until the F6F and the F4U came into the fleet in numbers. A few F4Fs still survive in flying condition. Mark Meyer photographed the one on the cover as part of his work in producing the beautiful book Classics (Howell Press, 1987). For more of Meyer's images of Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, see the pictorial beginning on page 37.

Issue: Naval History, U. S. Naval Institute, Vol. 3, No. 1, Winter 1989

The Winter 1989 issue of Naval History feature articles include: The Sinking of the VC-97, Amphibious Role for the Coast Guard, Fight for the Carolines, 1898, Going Home, Shipshape and Bristol Fashion, Night Fighters in World War II, and The Pueblo Incident.

Features

12 The Sinking of the VC-97
By Captain James E. Wise, Jr., USN (Ret).
The 1921 demise, in Lake Michigan, of a captured World War I German U-boat.

18 An Amphibious Role for the Coast Guard
By Captain Walter C. Capron, USCG (Ret.)
The Coast Guard and the Army teamed up for amphibious exercises just prior to World War II.

20 Too Little, Too Late: The Fight for the Carolines, 1898
By Ensign Tristram E. Farmer, USN
Inexperience and ambivalence cost the United States some strategic real estate.

26 Going Home
By Commander George J. Lappan, USNR (Ret.)
A former shipmate renews a romance with his old girl, the guided missile cruiser Chicago.

31 “Shipshape and Bristol Fashion”
By Commander John H. Bothwell, USN (Ret.)
You’ve heard the expression before. Know what it means?

33 The Development of Night Fighters in World War II
By Colonel William C. Odell, USAF (Ret.)
Brave pilots learned to put faith in their instruments, and a new era of naval aviation was launched.

44 The Pueblo Incident: Commander Bucher Responds
By Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, USN (Ret.)
The skipper of the ill-fated intelligence ship answers critics of his actions.

Departments

• In Contact 2
• Special 36
• “Kilroy Was Here” Pictorial 37
• Shooting the Classics Technical Report 52
• Copper, Salt, and the Worm The Old Navy 56
• The Baler Incident Oral History 58
• An Unlikely Place for a Marine Book Reviews 62
• In Progress 66
• Index 71
• Museum Report 76
• Penn's Landing: Olympia and Becuna Notebook 79
• Fusion Video Onsert

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