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1948
1949

Heading out to the Pacific (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by FOR_SClENCE

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[–]amolad 91 points92 points ago

I keep forgetting that WW II was fought in color.

[–]TehHpyfce 9 points10 points ago

It becomes very strange when you see all these stock films of men marching, planes landing, aftermaths of battles, all in black and white, and then to come upon some old part of the war which has color. It was strange when I found my grandfather's old helmet with all of the insignias on it.

[–]tweezyb 26 points27 points ago

I bet those swastikas looked way different in color.

[–]TehHpyfce 5 points6 points ago

No -___- he used to fight with the Engineer Corps, he was an officer and had the markings on the back signifying the rank, including the Engineering insignia.

[–]tweezyb 7 points8 points ago

Obviously joking. Sure he was/is an awesome guy.

[–]TehHpyfce 0 points1 point ago

Sadly, was :( but he has always been my role model, I'm proud to be his grandson.

[–]OddDude55 7 points8 points ago

The Nazi Engineering insignia. You never actually denied tweezyb's claim.

[–]antmaster113 0 points1 point ago

the Pioniere insignia.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

Sniper check!

[–]bitparity 1 point2 points ago

They sure did.

https://yourpoliticsmypolitics.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/sports516.jpg

[–]exdigger2010 8 points9 points ago

Watch Apocalypse - The Second World War. It has amazing WW2 color footage in surprisingly high definition.

[–]guitarguy109 7 points8 points ago

WWII in HD is pretty damn good too

[–]CommieBobDole 2 points3 points ago

All of the footage of WWII was filmed, and is therefore in much higher definition than your HDTV can display.

Video is superior to film in a lot of ways, but image quality is not one of them.

[–]thesi1entk 11 points12 points ago

When I was little, I didn't understand that old things were black and white because of film technology and whatnot. I just thought the world used to be devoid of color. Then one day we all woke up and BAM FUCKING COLOR

[–]daffodilhill 14 points15 points ago

http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/calvin-father-on-black-and-white-pictures.gif

[–]nightsGrey 2 points3 points ago

Calvin's father is so great.

[–]Kelphatron9000 1 point2 points ago

For those who don't know: /r/explainlikeimcalvin

[–]usersame 0 points1 point ago

I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Reddit delivers once again.

[–]letmetellyouhowitis 1 point2 points ago

Also if anyone is interested in realistic WW2 rts, download Sudden Strike 2

http://www.sudden-strike-maps.de/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=131&t=8662

there's still a great mod that enables multiplayer, we need more WW2 rts enthusiasts in that small community!

[–]LeeENTfield 0 points1 point ago

Me too, I have a hard time visualizing it sometimes.

[–]Thirsteh 0 points1 point ago

Most wars actually.

[–]FOR_SClENCE[S] 310 points311 points ago

Evidently this was submitted 11 days ago. Go upvote that post, not mine.

[–]u_ok 119 points120 points ago

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3q9cia/

[–]helium_farts 81 points82 points ago

Twist: He controls both accounts.

[–]armedburrito 25 points26 points ago

Oh just think of the things he could do with all that karma...

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]Mimsy_borogoves 4 points5 points ago

Only the almighty Andrewsmith1986 should wield such power.

[–]kifler -2 points-1 points ago

M Night Shamalamadingdong Twist: The accounts control him!

[–]MisterWonka -3 points-2 points ago

Or, you know, he could delete this one.

[–]annoying_guy_w_guns 36 points37 points ago

arguably one of the greatest dogfights of all time was flown by Swede Vetjasa when he shot down 3 zekes in his dauntless over 22 minutes of fighting

part 2

[–]cojafoji 15 points16 points ago

Holy shit that was incredible.

[–]FOR_SClENCE[S] 6 points7 points ago

I believe it's on Netflix as well. It's worth checking Dogfight's page there.

[–]dmanbiker 5 points6 points ago

Wow, I forgot about this show. I'm pretty sure it's not on anymore, but it was fucking incredible. I've always loved air combat of the WWII era and learn as much as possible when I can-- on top of the awesome show I forgot about, I also didn't know about this specific dogfight, which I can recall quite a few.

Thanks!

[–]AuRinBei 8 points9 points ago

Jesus Fucking Christ that is literally the coolest thing I have ever seen. He fucking cut the last one out the the sky!

[–]DerekC1990 5 points6 points ago

and then he was like "I'm gonna fuck all your shit up for trying to kill me" and went and destroyed 7 more in 1 fucking day.

[–]supernova812 2 points3 points ago

Talk about an amazing story!

[–]Fleshflayer 2 points3 points ago

Thanks for that.

[–]minusidea 1 point2 points ago

Man great share, thank you!

[–]VonSockthroat 1 point2 points ago

He shot down 3 zekes in a dive bomber?? What the...

[–]Scaryclouds 3 points4 points ago

No, he shot down two, then used his fucking plane to ram the third one.

[–]rockin_aes 0 points1 point ago

Damn, I forgot how awesome the history channel used to be...

[–]Galapogos 0 points1 point ago

DAT FINAL MANEUVER

[–]chiburaska 0 points1 point ago

Thanks.

[–]empireminer 0 points1 point ago

This was a fight to the death, he's out to kill me and I'm out to get him. (4:40)

What a bamf.

[–]annoying_guy_w_guns 1 point2 points ago

My dad was a pilot flew in the Pacific and all the way through to the end of Vietnam, from 1944 to 1975, and never stopped fighting for pretty much the entire 30 year period.

I asked him what went through his mind when he was on missions shooting at other airplanes or shooting up people on the ground. He said basically the same thing to me, basically "Well, it's pretty basic, it's either kill or be killed and I preferred the first option."

[–]For__Science 6 points7 points ago

Hello fellow scientific observer!

[–]FOR_SClENCE[S] 7 points8 points ago

Hey!

[–]NotaMethAddict 19 points20 points ago

Don't tell me how to live my life! I upvoted both of you, because you handled the situation as well as you possibly could.

[–]Qwirk 1 point2 points ago

Clearly they are different resolution.

[–]Aneds 1 point2 points ago

/r/firstworldanarchists

[–]JungleReaver 1 point2 points ago

people like yourself are why I love reddit, you help me discover new places! I feel like jasmine and you are my aladdin.

[–]SpeaksDwarren -4 points-3 points ago

Aside from him, you know, deleting his post.

[–]SebastianRamone 2 points3 points ago

Woah! OP is good! Doesn't hide the truth like others......

[–]wortime 2 points3 points ago

Upvote for honesty!!! God damn! We need more reports like this! Youraclassysonofabitchyouare!!!

[–]fubadubdub 1 point2 points ago

So Noble.

[–]Starklet 1 point2 points ago

Well I'm upvoting you anyway, since you're honest and I haven't seen the post before.

[–]zach84 1 point2 points ago

Fuck you buddy, you're getting my upvote and you can't ell me otherwise!

[–]Jisaw 0 points1 point ago

You can't tell me what to do! I'm upvoting your post AND your comment telling me not to. How 'bout dem apples?

[–]NoAirBanding 0 points1 point ago

Well I didn't see it 11 days ago, so thank you!

[–]Osiris32 0 points1 point ago

Let this be a lesson: if you find it on the internet, karmadecay it before posting.

[–]Borskey 26 points27 points ago

What's with all the copy/pasted blue squares in the lower right corner? Edit: and in the 11 day old pic that corner is cropped out. What was there?

Edit2: Here's the original http://i.imgur.com/uNr1L.jpg

[–]Potater757 1 point2 points ago

I searched the image and came up with the same one four times (But in varying color quality). It was cropped out of all of them.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=G&tbs=simg:CAESXRpbCxCo1NgEGgQIAQgJDAsQsIynCBoyCjAIARIKpAT7A_1kDlAeqBxogp_1sDU3vRz9fnRLiIr5ehlZV2rY8qjNKHhJPP2W-6k2YMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgRZMXpvDA&q=douglas+sbd+dauntless&tbm=isch&ei=QGITUMC3NI-f6QHj-IGoCg&ved=0CEUQsw4&biw=1163&bih=617

[–]Borskey 10 points11 points ago

My google-fu is stronger: http://i.imgur.com/uNr1L.jpg

It was just a logo.

[–]deepsouthheat 11 points12 points ago

Someone did a shity photoshop job in the lower right hand corner

[–]ParticipleDangler 27 points28 points ago

It was good for its time. Photoshop was less advanced back then, and besides there was a war going on.

[–]deepsouthheat 1 point2 points ago

I thought photoshop was done by hand with Fire and voodoo magic back then

[–]Asassinsneed 4 points5 points ago

Fixed.

[–]HawaiianApe 0 points1 point ago

Someone just cloned out a watermark, probably a "Worth 1000" watermark.

[–]super6logan 20 points21 points ago

This really makes me want a Battlefield 1942 remake

[–]ryst247 0 points1 point ago

You sure aren't alone on that one.

[–]aowolf 9 points10 points ago

The faded blue paint of the planes is amazing. I wonder how number 5 got the dent in the cowling and the damage to the horizontal stabilizer.

[–]get_me_ted_striker 5 points6 points ago

Probably from what's-it-called. Errr, World War II.

[–]trainmaster611 2 points3 points ago

I'm sure he wants to know what specifically.

[–]aowolf 0 points1 point ago

You don't say?

[–]ANeonHippy 8 points9 points ago

Something about this photo is so damn heart-wrenching to me.

[–]nhoe1 12 points13 points ago

These planes are fucking awesome

[–]dmanbiker 5 points6 points ago

These things were invaluable at the Battle of Midway. They royally fucked the Japanese navy when they destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers to a single US carrier lost.

[–]Celebreth 3 points4 points ago

It was lucky timing that won the day, actually :P The Japanese utterly wiped out the first wave or two of atacks incoming and took out one US carrier. When they were refueling, a part of the US strike force that had actually gotten lost got there at JUST the right time and bombed the living shit out of the carriers. You know, the carriers that had planes refueling on deck and airplane fuel all over the place. That right there won Midway and the Pacific War :P

[–]dmanbiker 0 points1 point ago

Oh you bet, but the plane was still incredibly important. Yeah, the first wave of TBD-1 Devastators pretty much all got shot down (literally) and pulled the Japanese planes to a lower height opening the skies to the SBD Dauntless, but those pilots still nailed the Japanese carriers.

Really all the planes were extremely important as well as pilots, since at midway the US was still using the F4F Wildcat as their mainstay fleet aircraft. The F4F was inferior to the A6M in almost everything except armor and dive performance, and the pilots still had a victory/loss ratio of over 6:1 for the whole war.

[–]dakana 0 points1 point ago

Can you recommend any good books (preferably with illustrations or photos) that covers the history and deployment of the different aircraft in this time period? I'd love to read about stuff like this.

[–]dmanbiker 0 points1 point ago

I've learned most of what I know from the internet and documentary programs and flight sims, though I have read quite a few books about WWII and aviation in general, I'm not really poised to recommend any specific things.

Ever since I was around 7 years old, I've been incredibly interested in WWII military aviation (sparked largely by combat flight sims) and have just picked up ton of knowledge about it naturally.

[–]IsThisTheRealLife 2 points3 points ago

They weren't so great compared with what the Japanese had, the US was very lucky to have gotten the jump on the Japanese carriers first.

[–]marvelous_molester 0 points1 point ago

nazi planes were cooler looking

[–]Bikenutt 3 points4 points ago

Absolutly badass.

[–]JohnScribbles 17 points18 points ago

America. Fuck yeah.

[–]helium_farts 7 points8 points ago

For once this is appropriate.

[–]jmk3ttr 8 points9 points ago

As always this is appropriate.

FTFY

[–]weird-oh 1 point2 points ago

If it was the Atlantic, I woulda said "What could go wrong?" So I won't.

[–]waaaghbosss 0 points1 point ago

I'd rather go on an intersteller vacation with aliens than fight in the pacific, tbh.

[–]xoomerfy 1 point2 points ago

Hey. I think they are heading back in.. looks like some flac damage there.

[–]Anshin 1 point2 points ago

Post this to /r/militaryporn

[–]MagicSPA 1 point2 points ago

Go get, them, lads.

[–]scrub96 1 point2 points ago

Is it bad that my first thought was "Wow those graphics are amazing"?

[–]akmjolnir 1 point2 points ago

My grandfather flew those planes in the war. Dauntless Divebombers. I'll try to find the list of he battles he was in. I do know he flew over Guadalcanal and Midway.

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 0 points1 point ago

That's fantastic. I lived/worked on Guadalcanal. Every veteran (or family of a veteran) that served there I've been sure to thank on behalf of all the people I met that remembered the Japanese occupation. Thanks for the awesome job the USN, USMC, and USArmy did there.

[–]Zazzerpan 1 point2 points ago

Are they painted blue so they're more difficult to see from above?

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 1 point2 points ago

In hazy conditions yes but the US Navy switched to progressively darker shades of blue well until after the Korean war when they went with gray.

[–]The_Vagina_Whisperer 5 points6 points ago

In this day of smooth, powerful and reliable jet engines, I find it hard to believe that people actually trusted their lives to the idea that a radial engine would keep running. They are barely contained mayhem.

EDIT: I need to clarify that as an engineer myself, I do have appreciation for the longevity of the radial design, but in comparison to the refined design and materials of turbine engines, a big radial at full bellow is a frightening, angry monster.

[–]PhantomPhun 14 points15 points ago

Actually a radial engine is a very simple and built from hardened steel. It's design and configuration lets it start and keep running in bad conditions or with amazing damage. The way the valve train is set up is a key to its sustainability in operation.

It is truly one of the amazing engineering fears of all time, and continues to serve mankind to this very day.

Trusting it to keep you flying for eight or ten or eighteen hours is no big deal when you've lived with them for awhile. Turbines are much more reliable in the long run, but when they fail, they're done. Radials are much harder to kill as long as they have oil and fuel.

[–]dammitd 0 points1 point ago

Radial engines are built from mostly aluminum. The jugs are investment cast aluminum with ductile iron liners. The heads are aluminum with steel valve guides. The crank case is a typically an aluminum forging. The only large steel part would be the crankshaft.

[–]jmk3ttr 7 points8 points ago

A radial isn't that different than any other piston engine. And they are damn reliable as well. My Dad's plane has a Pratt & Whitney R1340 (pretty similar to the Wright R1820 in the Dauntless) that has only had one rebuild (in 2001) since his plane was built. In 1952. So I'd say that gives a little credit to the reliability of the radial.

[–]dmanbiker 3 points4 points ago

They sure could take a hell of a lot more punishment than liquid-cooled engines though.

There are dozens of instances of US naval planes and P-47s getting the ever-living shit pounded out of them and still making it back home.

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 0 points1 point ago

Many stories of P-47s with chunks taken out of the engine from AAA and the vicious 30mm on some Luftwaffe aircraft and still able to fly. I don't know how they did it without losing oil pressure. P&W has pretty much always made the best engine. BMW leased the design from P&W which they in turn modified for use in WW2.

[–]military_history 3 points4 points ago

Hey I'd rather fly a plane with a prop that just flies, than a modern jet fighter which needs 20 computers just to keep it flying in a straight line.

[–]imabigsofty 4 points5 points ago

Pretty sure with today's technology they only need one computer to do that.

[–]mcomp 4 points5 points ago

Even if they only needed 1, they will have backups to keep the plane flying just in case something goes wrong. Military planes have like 7 backups, and civilian planes usually have a computer that makes things easy/nice, then a mechanical system as a backup

[–]korsovich 2 points3 points ago

Beautiful photograph, how did you come across it?

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]bryntheskits 1 point2 points ago

Doesn't work when the OP links to the original post in the top comment.

But yeah, I'm 6'6 which infuriates me when I dream of flying.

[–]CtrlC_plus_CtrlV 2 points3 points ago

That's a Dauntless, I have a model of one on my shelf.

[–]skipperbob 0 points1 point ago

Actually I submitted it originally sixteen days ago and didn't get much response. Don't really care, glad people like it so much, it is a beautiful photo.Imgur

[–]ToxWatrs 0 points1 point ago

Heading out to the pacific for science?

[–]PFbadger93 0 points1 point ago

post to r/historyporn. They'll love it

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

it's good to live a fantasy life. It's all I got.

[–]Duhliterate 0 points1 point ago

Look at that lovely water down there!

[–]Curtisv123 0 points1 point ago

I really like this picture. The curvature of the Earth is awesome, and the quality is breathtaking.

[–]deviaatio 0 points1 point ago

There is no visible or noticeable 'curvature of the Earth' in the picture, though theoretically it is there.

[–]sirbruce 0 points1 point ago

Blue Five standing by!

[–]losangeles11 0 points1 point ago

What's with the bottom right corner? looks like its badly shopped or just fucked with a little.

[–]ME_NO_LIKE_REPOSTS 0 points1 point ago

I love this photo! I wish I could find the original photographer so I could ask them, and more importantly PAY them, for a print of this!

I also understand that they may no longer be with us today, but If they are, I would love to have an official copy of it.

[–]Gravy_On_Toast 0 points1 point ago

What was shopped out of the bottom right corner?

[–]foddydotnet 0 points1 point ago

a watermark, I'd guess

[–]Kodiak_Marmoset 0 points1 point ago

A LIFE magazine watermark.

[–]redboxmike 0 points1 point ago

What the fuck is Google Map doing in the bottom right of this photo?

[–]smoothkuhn 0 points1 point ago

Several points in this photo are suspect, the least of which is the tow line on the left wing of the fighter in the foreground, it appears to be tied to mid-air!

[–]kirkoswald 0 points1 point ago

Desktop background forsure!

[–]ArduinoUno 0 points1 point ago

I like the dead bird on the tail of #5

[–]Taylor_tot 0 points1 point ago

My grandpa is going to love this photo--he flew the Dauntless along with the Steerman and Corsairs. He is so proud of what he flew and did as a Marine in WW2. He was also one of the you best pilots!

[–]do_it_like_this 0 points1 point ago

If you ever get the chance to go to Pensacola, FL try to make it to the Naval Aviation Museum. The things you learn about some of these planes makes you want to become a pilot.

[–]HaZeFreshboy 0 points1 point ago

That's my new desktop background!

[–]GregorMendel 0 points1 point ago

Where are you going?

[–]Kindatadpole 0 points1 point ago

What's happening in the lower right of the image?

[–]wagashi 0 points1 point ago

Is there a proper name for that style of canopy?

[–]Kruse 0 points1 point ago

Open?

[–]wagashi 0 points1 point ago

No, I mean the two sliding doors with the middle section. And the steel and glass solarium look.

[–]Kruse 0 points1 point ago

Bubble or cage canopy

[–]Trainbow 0 points1 point ago

What game is this?

[–]LAoil1 0 points1 point ago

In WWII my grandfather flew one of these planes and then transferred to it's replacement, the SB2C. He always told me that these were some of the toughest planes ever made in the history of aviation.

[–]Kruse 0 points1 point ago

Post this over in /r/wwiipics!

[–]zaraphiston 0 points1 point ago

Vector, locked in.

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 0 points1 point ago

Awesome picture of some SBD Dauntless dive bombers circa 1942 paint scheme. Could be training or might be heading back to the carrier (no bombs).

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 0 points1 point ago

I just realized the aircraft in the center of the pic has damage to the leading edge of the right elevator (from our perspective the left side of the tail). Battle damage perhaps?

[–]MrKyleOwns 0 points1 point ago

we need more ww2 games

[–]sgolemx12 0 points1 point ago

We're so used to these things restored to mint condition. It's fascinating to me to see them dented and beat up. THIS is what it was actually like.

It reminds me of the way the original Star Wars portrayed Tattoine. It felt real because it was portrayed as a shit-hole where these futuristic devices were full of wear and tare. Here we are looking at an old color photo from wwII, and you know it's real because these machines are anything but pristine. I feel damn scared knowing what these guys were possibly flying to.

[–]trogdor_burnanating 0 points1 point ago

lets go bomb/ machine gun some shit

[–]Asassinsneed 0 points1 point ago

Fixed the bottom right for people who might want to use it as a background. What fucking dickhead downvotes this? Honestly.

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 0 points1 point ago

reddit. go figure. thanks for doing this, it's my new background.

[–]Asassinsneed 1 point2 points ago

Thanks man! I got a little upset before.

[–]Occams_rusty_razor 0 points1 point ago

No problem. Keep up the great work.

[–]theaggressivenapkin -1 points0 points ago

oh wow great picture. I love WW2 information and history. Fapfapfap

I even did an advertising campaign loosely based on ww2

[–]unknownSubscriber 1 point2 points ago

If that pic of the landing craft is real, it doesn't quite sit right with me.

[–]ResoL101 -1 points0 points ago

I flew in this battle

[–]james_aguilar -2 points-1 points ago

OK, but this is fake, right? They are flying way too high for fighter planes, and they are at the wrong angle w.r.t. the plane of the ground.

[–]military_history 4 points5 points ago

What are you on about? These aren't fighter planes, they are dive bombers.

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