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Info needed on a Coral Sea SBD pilot....

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  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
Info needed on a Coral Sea SBD pilot....
Posted by Jeeves on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 9:19 PM
I was wondering if there were any sites similar to the Army Air Forces board out there for the US Navy? I am looking for info on Lt. John Powers-- he was a pilot off of Yorktown who dove down onto Shokaku and released his 1000 pound bomb at arounf 300-500 ft above the carrier to ensure a hit. He never made it out of the dive and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. I am interested in finding more info on his plane (whether it was a -2 or -3, numbers, etc)-- I have searched all through Google and come up short on the details...

I imagine these records are somewhere- but where would I begin to look??
Mike
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: NSW, Australia
Posted by pingtang on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 11:44 PM
The only info I can provide is that it was an SBD-3 he flew on 7 and 8 May. He flew for VB-5, which would make the fuselage codes 5-B-* (the * would be the individual aircraft code, I'll have to do more research to find that). At the time of the coral sea, I think the squadron number was not shown. So the code would look like B-*.

Hope that helps you.
-Daniel
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, February 24, 2005 9:51 AM
Thanks Daniel... it does Smile [:)]
Mike
  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Sydney
Posted by cossack on Thursday, March 3, 2005 12:22 AM
I also assuming that seeing as how he was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, his presence at the Battle of the Coral Sea was not required? Wink [;)]

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, March 3, 2005 12:51 PM
Well-- at the times dive bomber accuracy was not so great as they were all new at it. The day before he died-- he helped sink the carrier Shoho by diving below the recommended release altitude....he was Squadron Gunnery Officer- so that night he gave a talk on releasing low in order to get a direct hit....at the end- he said-- "Remember the folks back home are counting on us. I am going to get a hit if I have to lay it on their flight deck.''

The next day-- while diving on Shokaku- he did just that and was unable to recover from the dive....but he did get one of the few hits on the carrier....
Mike
  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Stockton,Ca
Posted by Hippy-Ed on Saturday, March 5, 2005 12:38 PM
VB-5 had the individual plane # on the engine cowling. The only places I can think of to look for info would be the Naval Historical Center also, the Smithsonian Institute. Both have websites! Also, VB-5 had only 3 dive bomb hits on the carrier Shkaku that day. Lt. John James Powers had released his bomb at approx. 200 ft.!!
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