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Torpedo Squadron 8

Valor against Overwhelming Odds (and a note about Ens. Harold J. Ellison)

AIAA Orange County Chapter

13th Annual ASAT Conference

John R. Ellison

April 30, 2016

The Battle The Map • The Battle of Midway was a crucial

and decisive naval battle in the Pacific

Theater of WWII

• Occurred between June 3 and June 7,

1942

• Six months after Pearl Harbor and one

month after the Battle of the Coral Sea

• It was a decisive victory for the US

Navy and decimated the Japanese

Imperial Fleet beyond the point of no

return

• The most decisive naval battle in

history (so some say).

• This presentation emphasizes

Torpedo Squadron 8; a group of

young American aviators flying into

combat for the first time. They flew in

obsolete planes that should have been

retired, the Douglas Devastator TBD-1.

• The Devastator proved to be a death

trap for its crews: slow and hardly

maneuverable, with light defensive - its

speed on a glide-bombing approach

was a mere 200 mph, making it easy

prey for fighters and defensive guns

alike.

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Battle Summary: Carrier Attack Aftermath

• Three enemy carriers were under torpedo attack

– Carriers lost >2000 naval personnel perished

• A fourth, a few miles to the north escaped (later sunk)

• The US torpedo plane squadrons with their crews in

SBD-1 aircraft paid heavily.

– The Hornet's VT-8 had been wiped out. (29 of 30 airmen lost)

• Ensign Gay was recovered from the water by a PBY seaplane

• Make comment about others captured by the Japanese

– The Enterprise’s VT-6 had 10 of 14 did not return

– The Yorktown’s VT-3 lost 10 of 12 did not return

• Torpedo Squadron 8 is perhaps the most reknowned • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL_2saZlNjQ

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzsgEpEI6X8

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=torpedo+squadron+8+john+ford

• http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/battle-of-midway-3-6-june-1942-combat-

narrative.html

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Standing (L-R): Owens, Ensign Fayle; Waldron, R.A. Moore, J.M. Moore, Evans, Teats, Cambell.

Kneeling (L-R): Ellison, Kenyon, Gray, sole survivor Gay, Woodson, Creamer, Miles

Pilots of VT-8

USS Hornet (CV-8), the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. During

World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-

Tonolai Raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign she was involved in the capture and defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa

Cruz Islands where she was irreparably damaged and sunk by enemy destroyers. Hornet was in service for a year and six days and was

the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire. For these actions, she was awarded four service stars, a citation for the Doolittle Raid in

1995, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for the Battle of Midway.

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TBDs from VT-5 over the Huon Gulf, 10 March

1942

VT-8's "T-16" (BuNo 1506, LCDR John

C. Waldron, Horace F. Dobbs CRMP)

taking off from USS Hornet June 4,

1942

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The Planes: TBD-1 Devastator and the Zero

Wikipedia and The Great Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia

of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown

November 14, 2001

Performance

Maximum speed: 206 mph (179 knots,

331 km/h) at 8,000 ft

Cruise speed: 128 mph (111 knots, 206

km/h)

Range: 435 mi (700 km) (378 nmi, 700 km)

with Mk XIII Torpedo, 716 mi (623 nmi)

Performance

Maximum speed: 534 km/h (287 kn,

332 mph) at 4,550 m (14,930 ft)

Range: 3,104 km (1,675 nmi, 1,929

mi)

Ensign George H. Gay at Pearl Harbor

Naval Hospital, with a nurse and a copy

of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper

featuring accounts of the battle. He was

the only survivor of the 4 June 1942

Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) TBD

torpedo plane attack on the Japanese

carrier force.

http://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/midway/80-G-

17678.html

The Committee tasked the California Institute of Technology to undertake the first systematic study of the dynamics of

aerial launched torpedoes. Tank tests using scale models revealed that the "low and slow" approach that had been

presumed necessary for a successful drop was actually counterproductive: striking the water at a flat angle frequently

caused the after body of the torpedo to “slap”, damaging the mechanism. Full scale testing simulated aerial torpedo

drops under controlled conditions by pneumatically launching full size torpedoes down a 300 foot slide on California's

Morris Dam into a mountain lake known for its clarity, allowing all aspects of the water entry to be examined utilizing

high-speed photography. Fragile or vulnerable components were improved, tested, refined, and tested again. Improved

components were shipped to Newport Rhode Island for air drop testing - 4,300 drops in all. The CalTech study led to

the development of "drag rings" that slowed and stabilized the torpedo in flight and cushioned its impact with the water,

"shroud rings" (also known as the "ring tail") that reinforced the vulnerable tail fins, and a box-shaped wooden tail that

stabilized the torpedo in flight and absorbed energy as it was stripped off as the torpedo entered the water

Experiment soon revealed that optimum water entry angles were approximately 22-32 degrees relative to the plane of

the surface: the torpedo might plunge as deep as 50 feet but it would return to its set depth and bearing if the

mechanism was undamaged. This enabled the US Navy to develop a series of attack profiles that varied the

combination of speed and altitude to produce the ideal 20-30 degree water entry angle. For the TBM/TBF Avenger

torpedo bomber this meant drop altitudes as high as 800 feet and drop speeds as high as 260 knots which the Avenger

could achieve by diving to the release point. This was an attack profile outside anything Japanese anti-aircraft fire was

designed to counter. Multiple attack profile options also allowed strike planners to de-conflict attack routes by assigning

each torpedo squadron a different attack profile, greatly reducing the risk of mid-air collision over the target. Finally,

there was the added benefit of increased range, as the torpedo traveled a significant distance in the air before entering

the water (up to 1000 yards when released at 800 feet and 300 mph). Combined with radar that delivered the exact

range to the target, the results proved to be remarkable:[7]

New planes outdated [the] Torpedo Mark 13, but drag rings and stabilizers renewed its usefulness.

Cal Tech Supports the Effort

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_13_torpedo

On a Personal Note

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Harold John Ellison was born 17 January 1917

in Buffalo, N.Y., and was appointed Ensign 20

October 1941 after completing flight training.

Soon afterwards he reported to Torpedo

Squadron 8 on board famous carrier Hornet. In

the pivotal battle of Midway, 4 and 5 June 1942,

Ellison and his comrades led a gallant torpedo

attack on the Japanese ships, pressing home

,he attack without fighter cover and knowing

they had insufficient fuel to return to Hornet.

Though no hits were scored in this first attack,

the torpedo bombers diverted the Japanese

ships, decoyed their combat air patrols away

from Navy dive bombers, and thus contributed

importantly to the great victory. Ensign Ellison

was presumed dead 5 June 1942 and received

the Navy Cross posthumously for his gallantry.

_________

http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/shi

p-histories/danfs/h/harold-j-ellison-de-545.html

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USS DD-224 Description: (ex-USS Stewart, DD-224) Lieutenant

Commander Harold H. Ellison, USN, accepts

command of the ship, during recommissioning

ceremonies on her foredeck while she was moored in

Hiro Wan, Japan on 29 October 1945. She had served

during World War II as the Japanese Navy's Patrol Boat

102 and was recovered by the U.S. Navy after the war's

end. Note the Photographer on the 25mm gun platform

immediately ahead of the ship's bridge. USS Compton

(DD-705) is alongside, at left. Official U.S. Navy

Photograph, now in the collections of the National

Archives.