On July 24, 1945, Air Group 87 on board
the USS Ticonderoga was informed that the Hyuga,
anchored off a small island near Kure, Japan, would be its target.
The ship, a WW I vintage battleship which had been modernized in
1936, and later converted to part battleship and part sea plane
tender, would be a formidable objective with its impressive
firepower and the fact that its location would place the attackers
in the line of fire of numerous shore batteries. The ship was 704
feet in length, displaced 39,000 tons, and carried a compliment of
Aichi E16A1 “Zuiun” reconnaissance aircraft which were code named
“Paul” by the Allies. Lt Cdr. Kanaga would lead the squadron’s
Curtiss SB2C Helldivers on the attack. Each of the twelve Helldivers
would carry a 1,000 pound bomb in the internal bomb bay, a 260 pound
fragmentation bomb under one wing and a droppable wing tank under
the other wing. The drop tank weighed substantially more than the
260 pounder so it was anticipated that the Helldivers might be a bit
unstable on takeoff. The first aircraft launched, that of Lt. Al
Matteson, went into a immediate hard right turn given the uneven
wing loading, and hit the water hard. The other Helldivers managed
to become airborne, and eventually joined up for the outbound leg of
the mission. The plan was for the Helldivers to dive bomb the
Hyuga while torpedo bombers made glide bombing attacks, as the
water was too shallow for use of torpedoes. In Stan Stokes painting
entitled Big Tailed Beasts, an SB2C-4E piloted by Lt. H. Paul
Brehm pulls out over its target. Anti-aircraft fire is fierce, and
the Hyuga is partially obscured by the incredible amount of smoke
being generated by its AA guns. Lt. Brehm has decided to make his
dive without dive flaps, hoping to make himself a faster moving
target for the Hyuga’s gunners. During Brehm’s dive, the SB2C
of Lt. Vaughn, which was immediately in front of him, went straight
down, crashing next to the Hyuga in a great splash of white
foam. Brehm released his bomb and pulled out very low over the
target. He momentarily blacked out, and his windscreen fogged over.
Brehm and his gunner W. Tommy Thompson, could feel the jolt from
their 1000 pounder as it scored a direct hit. Returning to their
Task Force low on fuel and in bad weather, Brehm was forced to ditch
his Helldiver, but he and Thompson were rescued within minutes by
the USS Chauncey. The mission was successful, but was not
without cost as more than half the attacking Helldivers failed to
return safely. The Curtiss SB2C was the last combat aircraft
produced by Curtiss-Wright for the US Navy. The aircraft entered
service in late 1943 supplementing the Navy’s SBD Dauntless dive
bomber force. More than 7,000 of these large single engine aircraft
were produced, with the most widely produced variant being the
SB2C-4. Helldivers were capable of carrying a 2,000 pound bomb load,
and could also be modified to be used in the torpedo bombing role.
Referred to as “The Big Tailed Beast” by many of its pilots, the
Helldiver had a top speed approaching 280-MPH, but also had the
reputation of being one of the most difficult carrier based aircraft
to land. As a result, many of the Helldivers lost during the War
were victims of landing accidents.
Overall Print Size: 16" x 11 1/2"
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Collector Sized Lithograph:
$40
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Signature Series
Lithograph: $125
Co-signed by Lt.
PAUL BREHM.
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