Bullet175 wrote:
Was there an arrangement, set of standards or order by which the different types of aircraft were stored and maintained on the hangar deck on WWII era Essex class carriers?
Spotting & spares has been something I've been trying to research at the archives the last couple of years with no success. A lot would have depended on year as things evolved over the war, and may have depended on the strikes and munitions used (heavier bombs would put some planes further aft in the deck strike for a longer take-off run until the use of the catapults became more wide spread). The engine and prop shops were at the aft end of the hangar bay, so heavier work around the powerplant probably took place there. A lot of times when there was a "dud" plane (either engine problem on take off or accident on landing) they would move it below as quickly as possible via the deck-edge elevator, so my guess is that there wasn't a lot parked here permanently during operations to leave room for these aircraft.
The closest thing I have to a parking plan is from CV-13 Franklin's
1945 damage report, where
Plate 2 maps out the deck strike and
Plate 3 maps the hangar deck spot at the time of her bombing.
Paragraph 3-28 states that six aircraft in the hangar bay aft were defueled and not armed, indicating to me they weren't taking part in the strikes and were probably down for maintenance or spares.
_________________
Tracy White -
Researcher@Large"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
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Barbara Tuchman