USS Lexington: WWII aircraft carrier found 76 years after it sank in the Battle of the Coral Sea

[Pail]

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-06/uss-lexington-found-at-the-bottom-of-the-coral-sea/9517986

[[CPT]CptJackSparrow]

Remarkably good condition. The F4F looks really good.

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, [CPT]CptJackSparrow said:

Remarkably good condition. The F4F looks really good.

 

You can even see the VF-31 emblem and 4 kill marks on the side. Very intact for being underwater that long.

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

Various objects actually tend to stay in relatively good condition underwater at greater depths, limited oxygen and light as well as high pressure provide that. It's not uncommon to find wrecks, even wooden from ancient times, buried deep which still keep the shape and numerous artifacts can be recovered from them.

 

Stiil, paint and some other details seem to be preserved in a remarkable quality.

[StG77_Kondor]

Anyone have information as to why this particular F4F-3 had a bomb painted next to the 4 kill markings? As I understood it, it was very rare that wildcats carried bombs. Was this pilot flying double duty in a Dauntless/Devastator as well?

[Swing]

Great news...!...I hope they'll go up some planes...!

[MiloMorai]

Kondor, do you mean the red mark? Could mean he shot down a bomber or torpedo plane.

[StG77_Kondor]

3 minutes ago, MiloMorai said:

Kondor, do you mean the red mark? Could mean he shot down a bomber or torpedo plane.

Yup, the red bomb mark. Interesting, I've never seen American kill markings differentiating whether the German/Japanese plane was a fighter or bomber. Then again this is so early in the war that's entirely possible. 

[Sharpe43]

On ‎6‎-‎3‎-‎2018 at 9:38 PM, StG77_Kondor said:

Anyone have information as to why this particular F4F-3 had a bomb painted next to the 4 kill markings? As I understood it, it was very rare that wildcats carried bombs. Was this pilot flying double duty in a Dauntless/Devastator as well?

I do have this: https://frontlinevideos.com/blogs/videos/wildcat-just-found-at-uss-lexington-wreck-more-important-than-you-think?a=mk&var=cat found-pinups&utm_campaign=cat found&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=original-pinups-mk&utm_content=news

[Sharpe43]

I just had this pop up on my FB wall:

 

http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/03/09/modern-treasure-uss-lexington-reveals-rare-f4f-wildcats/

[Sokol1]

On 06/03/2018 at 6:12 PM, MiloMorai said:

Kondor, do you mean the red mark? Could mean he shot down a bomber or torpedo plane.

 

 

The Facebook link say:

 

"The four Japanese battle flags indicated that it was someone with claims of four kills, who also had participated in a bombing mission, the latter noted by the black 30 lb. fragmentation bomb painted next to one of the four Japanese flags.  F4F-3 Wildcats did not drop many bombs, so it did not take long to discover that during VF-3’s combat in February-March 1942, there was only one instance of a bombing mission.  It came on March 10, 1942, against a Japanese airfield at Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea.  Four Wildcat pilots dropped 30-lb. fragmentation bombs.  They were Vorse, Lt. j.g. Robert Morgan, Lt. Noel A.M. Gayler and Ensign Dale Peterson."

[Lusekofte]

It is the deapth that make these kept so well , little to none oxygen. Sokol is right it is marked as a bomb missions, and it is rare.  I know marks like this was added on a lot of US marines Corsairs , Never seen it on a Navy fighter before