ModelMonkey wrote:
Does anyone have the Robert Cressman book "That Gallant Ship: USS Yorktown CV-5"?
If memory serves (and it may not!), there is a passage in that book (pretty sure it is that book) that describes the crew being ordered to strip all of the paint from interior bulkheads and overheads during the transit back to Pearl Harbor after Lexington's loss at Coral Sea. I don't recall if the stripping included the hangar deck bulkheads and overhead but don't think so. I do remember reading that some anecdotal reports from Lexington survivors indicated that fires on Lex were being fed by the paint on bulkheads and overheads and very difficult to extinguish. So Yorktown's crew was highly motivated to get the job done rather than burn in fires fed by (dry) paint and worked very quickly. The manner of Lexington's loss was described in the book as scaring the hell out of Yorktown's crew. The passage described that the amount of paint being removed and shoveled overboard was considerable.
The book describes Yorktown's crew as a happy crew with great pride in their ship. Crewmembers are quoted as saying her captain violently and impressively maneuvered her "like a destroyer" when evading torpedoes and bombs at Coral Sea, so much so that the crew had difficulty in keeping their footing during sudden turns.
Can anyone confirm or deny I am thinking of the right book? It was one borrowed from a library many years ago and is no longer available there. It was an excellent, reasonably well-illustrated read and I'd like to own a copy of the book I remember, which I think was the Cressman book, but may be wrong.
The speed at which Yorktown's crew worked to remove the paint reminds me of an old Army story. People sometimes asked how long it takes to dig a foxhole through tough tree roots with a small entrenching tool. Generally, a very long time but the digging happens a lot quicker when people are shooting at you.
I believe the book you are referring to is "Crossing the Line". I am not 100 percent sure, but I remember the author remarking how prescient the CO was to have the paint removed. The author was a tail gunner on an SBD. If memory serves me correctly.
_________________
Mark
Master Gunnery Sergeant USMC (Ret.)
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.htmlOn the bench:
1/200 USS Enterprise, CV-6