Incredible picture of an International Harvester Tractor photographed on the wreck of USS Hornet CV-8
This tractor would have been used as an aircraft tug
USS Hornet CV-8 was sunk during the Battle of Santa Cruz in the early morning hours of October 27, 1942 with the loss of 140 of her crew
Her wreckage was discovered on January 20, 2019 by RV Petrel
Picture Property of Paul G. Allen / Vulcan LLC
Impressive!
Ah… Santa Cruz… Japan’s last “major” victory…
(Major in quotation marks because the term in this case is subjective and it was still only a pyrrhic victory).
The Infantry of 51st Highland Division and Sherman M4 Composite tanks near Udenhout, Holland, 29 October 1944.
Nice.
Today, October 29th, is the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Budapest Offensive, an attack by the Red Army’s 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts (imagine having so many army groups you can’t think of any unique names and have to number them) against German and Hungarian puppet forces to capture the city of Budapest (obviously).
The Offensive wouldn’t end until 1945, and the fighting in and around Budapest would be brutal, with the Germans mounting several attempted semi-major counteroffensives.
As the US continues to grapple with 2024’s elections, November 7, 2024, marks the 80th anniversary of the 1944’s elections.
Incumbent Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his new running mate, Harry Truman, won by a landslide against Thomas Dewey.
Due to Roosevelt’s declining health, his death early in 1945 caused Truman to take over and direct the rest of the American war effort, with long-standing effects for the postwar era and the early Cold War.
November 8, 2024 is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Scheldt.
Following the failure of Operation Market Garden, the First Canadian Army led a month-long effort to clear the Scheldt river of German forces to open up the port of Antwerp for shipping. Following the victory, it would take several more weeks for the river to be demined and Antwerp deemed safe for ships. The time it took to clear Antwerp and the resulting supply shortages along the Western Front was a major factor in prolonging the war to 1945.
Flight Lt Józef Żulikowski of No. 306 Polish Fighter Squadron in the cockpit of his Spitfire IXC (BS456, UZ-Z) at RAF Northolt - November 16, 1942
Daily Sketch Photographer
IWM HU 87411 WWP-PD
Nice.
November 21, 1944, is the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Japanese battleship Kongo.
Built originally in Britain as Japan’s first battlecruiser before World War 1, the ship was incredibly powerful for its time and would be a forerunner for Britain’s best battlecruiser during the war, the Tiger (unless you count the Renowns, I’ll let you decide for yourself).
The ship’s design was successful and three more ships, the Hiei, the Kirshima, and the Haruna, would be built (2 in Japan’s shipyards with British aid).
Between the wars the class was upgraded to become fast battleships, with increased armor. Despite this, they were still generally considered somewhat inferior to the US Navy Standard series of battleships in both armor and firepower (though significantly faster). The speed of these ships, faster than any American battleship and stronger than any cruiser, spurred the US to build the fast, powerful Iowa class battleships.
During the Pacific War, thanks to their speed, the Kongo class was used more than any other Japanese battleship, escorting Japanese aircraft carriers in the Battle of the Midway.
The Kongo and the Haruna, led by Admiral Takeo Kurita, would launch a successful nighttime bombardment attack against Henderson Field during the Guadacanal Campaign, temporarily putting it out of service and allowing Japanese supplies to pass through unmolested. This success would lead to a similar attempt by Hiei and Kirshima that would cause a series of nighttime actions known as the Naval Battle of Guadacanal, where both were sunk.
The Kongo and Haruna would participate in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, with both escaping successfully.
About a month later, while transiting the Formosa strait with other members of the First Fleet (including Yamato and Nagato) from Brunei to Kure following an air raid on the former, Kongo and the escorting destroyer Urakaze were sunk by the US submarine Sealion. Before the ship’s evacuation could be completed, its forward magazine exploded, killing most of its crew.
Yesterday, November 29th, 2024, marked the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano.
Originally thought of as the third Yamato class battleship, following the Battle of Midway the Japanese made plans to rebuild it as an aircraft carrier. However, as the ship was already laid down and significantly in production, they were unable to finish it as a fleet carrier and instead made it a heavily armoured support carrier. In this role, it would act a “backup” carrier, holding supplies and reserve aircraft for other carriers, similar to the British carriers Unicorn, Perseus, or Pioneer.
On October 28, 9 days after commisioning, the ship, carrying 6 Shinyo suicide boats and 50 Okha suicide bombs, began sailing from Yokosuka to Kure, where final preparation would take place for the ship to deliver its cargo to the Phillipines and Okinawa. However, on the way there, the American submarine Archerfish detected it and managed to lob 4 torpedoes at it. Thanks to the ship’s semi-unfinished state, poor Japanese design and construction, and mistakes by the crew, the carrier sunk. It remains the largest ship ever sunk by a submarine.
