JOE-FBS (#21),

The position was this, under the terms of the Lend-Lease Agreement, the US had lent us these aircraft to fight a war. The War was over. Now we must (1) hand back anything they wanted (eg Dakotas): these, refitted as DC-3s, would be the backbone of short-haul civil aviation for years after the war; some are flying yet.

Or (2) if they didn't want them, we could (3) buy them (at a discounted price in scarce Us dollars), or (4), if we didn't want them either, we must destroy them completely, so that no part could come back on the market to compete with new US sales. It made perfect sense, really.

I had three Mk.III Vengeance, nobody wanted them (not even a single one as a museum specimen). My Group ordered me to burn them where they stood. I jibbed: they threatened me with Court Martial (but that is another story for another day).

Your uncle's Hellcats went that way (as did brand-new, crated aircraft, on the way to war zones, they were simply bull-dozed over the side of carrier decks). Pity, I suppose.

Danny.

I don't think anyone is thinking of recovery.

I am assuming that the ship is actually a war grave (although this doesn't seem to stop desecration of wrecks such as the Prince of Wales or the Repulse by trophy hunters and scrapmen).

Let's leave her as she is.

Arc

Actually they do not deem the aircraft as such.

From Flypast mags link

Slight thread drift but a genuine question, if any one knows the answer? I've googled loads and can't find it...

Why are US Navy squadrons known as VFx, be that VFA, VFN or whatever? Genuinely curious here.

CS

The 'V' comes from the french 'voler' - to fly. So all aircraft carriers are CV..., which means Aviation Cruiser, with a 'N' for nuclear - don't get me started on the correct pronunciation :ugh:.

So, fixed wing squadrons inherited the 'V' and the second letter indicates Fighter (VF), Attack (VA) Fighter/Attack (VFA), Patrol (VP); except for marine squadrons which are always 'VMx...'. Helicopter squadrons start with a 'H' and lighter-than-air (blimps) used to start with 'Z'.

Since I'm not allowed to post links :ouch:, have a look at the wikipedia articles on USN hull classification codes and the list of USN flying squadrons.

Hope this answers the question

V is for fixed wing and H is foe helicopter.

Hence HU is Helicopter Utility squadron VF is for Fixed-wing Fighter.

It's interesting that Low Background Steel seems to be of interest to the scrap metal merchants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel
Is the Lexington considered too deep to be salvaged?

The "V" stood for "heavier than air" originally.

From a technical perspective, no - it could be accessed using giant grabbers, a bit like the ones you get in arcades. From a legal/moral perspective, it's a complete non-starter; as others have said it's a war grave.

I can't find details now, but I read a while ago that there have been issues with illegal salvage operators in certain parts of the far East recently, with entire wrecks disappearing. I don't know whether Lexington is in the area of concern, but if it is I hope they're not revealing the precise location.

I always thought V meant heavier than air, this related to the fact that when the designation came into use there were no helicopters, just airships ‘lighter than air’ and fixed wing ‘heavier than air’. Could be a complete red herring though!

The USS Houston (The Battling Ghost of the Java Coast) was recently discovered (2014) and she had been heavily ravaged by salvagers. They're working hard to protect her now. But she is in relatively shallow waters unlike the Lady Lex which is nearly 2 miles down.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...S-Houston.html

Paul Allen does it again - USS Juneau found
 

Near the Solomon Islands. Famous for the 5 Sullivan brothers that died as a result of the torpedo attack. A bit of irony that they found it on St. Patricks Day. Lexington, Indianpolis - all of major importance in WWII. Good work Paul Allen!

Narobs
 

A cold and hostile place the Barents Sea. Generally 230m deep and dropping to 600m to the west in a line from Svalbard via Bjørnøya to Norway.

And very much a nightmare for sailors from 1941 to 1945.
My Grand Uncle Olav had multiple trips on a Nortraship, a Knudsen tanker no less.
6 years he sailed, including a few trips to Arkangelsk. We owe them everything.

I think current, oxygen and general marine life has wore down a lot in the Barent Sea. Regardless , wrecks inside Norwegian territory here are classified as War Graves and off limits.

MH370
 

Mmmmm.

I was thinking that too.

MH370 might be a better use of the resources.

Interesting though.

The wonderful thing about living in a free society is that people get to spend what they earn on whatever they like. If Paul Allan wants to invest his own money in deep sea historic wreck / war grave discovery then I say good luck to him. No doubt the arising increase in knowledge and technical expertise will add to the suite of tools that the Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian / Australian governments and their agents can use in their own search for MH370.

It's fascinating to know that there are good examples of rare aeroplanes awaiting the day that somebody is ready to recover them responsibly. It would also be nice to know that some kind of open water policing could protect them from random pilfering but that seems to be pretty ineffective at the moment.