The unknown plane CTD issue
Another plane-induced CTD, this time just below the southernmost contour line of the Bungo Suido on 7/7/45, sometime between midnight and dawn. Plane type is unknowable as the CTD occurs before it's in visual range. Timeframe is mid-1943 to mid-1945.
Types believed to be excluded:
- all single-engine fighters operating in pairs or lacking radar
- Betty ASW
- Betty Ohka
- Emily/Mavis (encountered multiple unit flights of one of these types around Truk without issue)
- Lorna (not spotted but non-operational prior to 1945)
My impression is that all of the other identified all-weather ASW contacts we've had post-Truk were of a single type, most likely Judy. Not sure we've seen a single Kate or Jill; the latter being the obvious culprit and so undoubtedly exonerated long ago.
If the CTDs are not induced by a specific plane per se, could it be a combination of diving, turning, and a radar alert in conjunction with something else? In three of the four specific cases I recall, we were following a recently plotted course involving multiple turns over a relatively large area (Convoy College being the smallest; Bungo-Kii-Suruga the largest) and went to periscope depth upon radar warning of a plane. TC was somewhere between 32 and 250ish, IIRC.
USS Balao, ex-Saipan, after completing Abuse patrol.
|