Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum  

Go Back   Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum > Discussion > Japanese and Allied Air Forces in the Far East

Japanese and Allied Air Forces in the Far East Please use this forum to discuss the Air War in the Far East.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 14th March 2022, 21:40
knusel's Avatar
knusel knusel is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,853
knusel is on a distinguished road
Vought SB2U Vindicator - Sumner Whitten and others ?

Good evening Gentlemen,

the SB2U claimed a total of 6 kills.
The gunner of Sumner Whitten claimed of of them.
Who scored the other 5 ?

Cheers,

Michael
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 3rd April 2023, 13:11
knusel's Avatar
knusel knusel is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,853
knusel is on a distinguished road
Re: Vought SB2U Vindicator - Sumner Whitten and others ?

This is the interview in which he described the kill of his gunner:
http://www.midway42.org/Midway_AAR/vmsb-241.pdf
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 6th May 2023, 19:54
knusel's Avatar
knusel knusel is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,853
knusel is on a distinguished road
Re: Vought SB2U Vindicator - Sumner Whitten and others ?

Conclusion: the Vought SB2U Vindicator flew 17 action sorties for the USA in WW2, the lowest number of any USN/USMC type. All these were flown in the battle of Midway by VMSB-241. 11 were flown on 4Jun, another plane had to return and was not counted to the action sorties total. In the same evening five planes were sent on a search mission that was not counted to the action sorties total. The next day 6 action sorties were flown but without aerial opposition. The aerial kill total of 6 for this aircraft type indicated in "NAVAL AVIATION COMBAT STATISTICS WORLD WAR II" by the OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS is most likely a wrong interpretation of the VMSB-241 Battle Report. The correct SB2U total is two, one scored by Whitten/Zelnis, the other by one of the 11 crews that participated in the first mission on 4Jun or a combination of these.

The data and considerations of R Leonard are gratefully appreciated.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 7th May 2023, 11:12
focusfocus focusfocus is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,055
focusfocus is on a distinguished road
Re: Vought SB2U Vindicator - Sumner Whitten and others ?

Hello

This may interest you...??
Source:CJE "la bataille de Midway" 07/2001

6 Zeros credited to radio-gunners of VMSB-241

4 credited to SBD-2 and SBD-2P
John H.Moore
Meade T.Johnson shared with Truel L.Sidebottom
Reed T.Ramsey
Horace B.Thomas


2 Zeros credited to SB2U-3 Vindicator

Duane L.Rhodes shared with Teman Wilhite,Frank E.Zelnis,Henry .Starks

Frank E.Zelnis

Best Regards
Michel
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 7th May 2023, 11:26
knusel's Avatar
knusel knusel is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,853
knusel is on a distinguished road
Re: Vought SB2U Vindicator - Sumner Whitten and others ?

Good morning Michel,

yes, this is the info I needed to know.
Thanks a lot.
I wish you a good Sunday, sincerely,

Michael
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 16:58.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2018, 12oclockhigh.net