Another bit of confusing information about the enterprise and the movie "Dive Bomber....
From History.Navy.Mil,
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/h ... 6-vii.html we get this.....
Quote:
The weathered ship returned to sea from North Island during a voyage to Pearl Harbor (25 June–2 July 1940). Enterprise anchored at Lāhainā Roads at Maui, T.H., on 9 July, and on 13 July at Honolulu, where she embarked people from Warner Bros. and took part in the motion picture Dive Bomber, starring Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Alexis Smith, and Regis Toomey, released in August 1941. Enterprise steamed at sea for two days of filming (16–17 July), and her crew enthusiastically supported the effort, her deck log noting wryly on the second day: “Making movies, no absentees.” Two clips show a plane landing on and taking off from the ship, a rarity in motion pictures at the time, and a number of her crewmen who took part in the filming of Dive Bomber served in her during World War II. The ship disembarked her passengers at Honolulu on 19 July, and on 26 July moored at Pearl Harbor. Film crews subsequently shot additional footage at NAS San Diego.
The NNHC (history.navy.mil) is DANF's official maintainer...... and what is quoted above comes from their CV-6 page.....
According to the Navy's history branch, DANF's, the film was shot aboard the Enterprise in July of '40, out of Pearl and not in April '41 out of San Diego.... It's pretty much accepted that she was painted in Ms. 1 by the end of May '41 at least..... The final shooting out of Pearl taking place on July 19th, and the ship was moored in Pearl on the 26th... Then it claims afterwards they shot even more out of San Diego Which would have had to have been in August 1940....
Ah, the movie was released August 12th 1941 in San Diego and August 30th Nationwide (according to IMDB) Someone might want to inform the Navy's historical branch they've got it wrong maybe? It was of course filmed in California with background shots filmed at Elgin Field Fla. being the only remote filming done.... (according to IMDB)
IMDB clearly shows the production dates for the movie as March 1941 - May 1941
We as researchers have to be careful, here is an example of History Navy Mil maintaining DANF's being possibly wrong or the IMDB being wrong as well...
More research is needed, particularly the logs of the Big "E" which would tell us clearly and without a doubt as to when she was under orders to make herself available for filming....
Anyway either time period will definitely rule out 5-D on the Mainmast collar support beam....