World War II Database

1. Craig R says:
25 Jun 2021 12:02:40 PM

This is an interesting photo, and appears to show the Nashville during floatplane recovery.

Note the 'extra' wake just off her port quarter, indicating that she's dragging a recovery net to help retrieve a floatplane after it lands; it's possible that this photo was taken from that very plane, though I have no way of knowing for certain.

Also of interest is another floatplane mounted on Nashville's port catapult, which is swung out; the plane is perched over the water. Between Nashville's catapults (just forward of the aircraft handling crane, which is also swung outward over the water) is a large, rectangular open area at the stern. This is the hangar area for the ship's floatplanes.

2.  David Stubblebine says:
26 Jun 2021 01:12:05 PM

Craig R (above):
I think you are absolutely correct right down the line. I think the port catapult is swung out because it is streaming the tow line for the recovery mat. The opening in the deck to the aircraft hangar became significant later when the aviation unit was assigned the Curtiss SC Seahawk as a replacement for the Vought OS2U Kingfisher (seen here). The Seahawk was a larger airplane with folding wings that created an awkward shape and had problems fitting through the hangar opening, particularly while underway. Nashville war diaries from that period devote significant space to complaining about how ill-suited the Seahawk was as compared to the Kingfisher.