An Oral History And

A WORLD WAR II AIRCRAFT CARRIER LEGACY

THE HERITAGE OF THE MODERN NAVY

     

FRIGHT FOLLOWS FURY ON A WIND-SWEPT FLIGHT DECK

 

Visit "www.navy-wwii-memoir.com" to read and see two chapters from the book "Flight Deck, A Pictorial Essay Of A Day In The Life Of An Airdale"

 

 

           This is a picture-book that shows all the activities of life on the flight deck of an Essex-class aircraft carrier during World War II. There are 355 pictures in two books, each picture being 5x7 inches in size. The chapters of Part 1 are “The Ship and Aircraft”, “External Activities”, “Flight Deck Activities”, and “Launch Activities”. The chapters of Part 2 are “Landing Activities”, “Mishaps”, “Parking Activities”, and “Enemy Action”. Click on the thumbnails below to obtain a full-screen display of an example of each Chapter. The author has assigned a page-caption to describe the content of each picture as well as his comments both objectively and subjectively, having served as an Airdale on the U.S.S. Antietam (CV-36) during and after the war. (An Airdale performed plane-handling duties on the flight deck.)  All the pictures in the book were taken by active duty naval personnel, with thousands of them in the National Archives. It’s believed that no other book has such a wealth of photographs of flight deck activities In this respect it’s thought that this book is truly unique. Never again will there be that sailor called an Airdale for there is now a new navy.  The magnificent Essex-class carrier is the heritage of our modern navy and its legacy will be retained in this book (Parts 1 and 2). Click on the thumbnails to view the picture full-screen. To order a book(s) click on the icon that will take you to the publisher’s web site to purchase the book entitled “Flight Deck, A Pictorial Essay Of A Day In The Life Of An Airdale”. [Worthy of note is the following book review by ADM Thomas H. Moorer (deceased Feb. 2004), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from July 1970 to  June 1974 and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1967 to 1970 as well as the Association of Naval Aviation (ANA) Chairman of the Board Emeritus had this to say in the publication “Wings of Gold” (Fall 2001): “Flight Deck by Edward Atkins, Ship-n-Planes Publishing Co., 766 pages, 357 black & white photos, softcover. A former flight deck crewman, author Atkins spent many months in the National Archives researching photographs and this collection is remarkable , especially because it contains many rare views of carrier activity in the mid-1940s. Captions on facing pages of the large photos are included. ….”  Since that time I have compiled two additional books of the same format with Volume 2 having 398 pictures and Volume 3 having 402 pictures. Their publication depends on the reception of Volume 1. The pictures of Volumes 2 and 3 are the equal of Volume 1but are a little more eclectic vis-vis flight deck activities.  Come experience a “day in the life of an Airdale”.

           The magnificent Essex-class carrier is the heritage of our modern navy and its legacy will be retained in this book (Parts 1 and 2). Click on the thumbnails to view the picture full-screen. To order a book(s) click here, (Available for sale in late August 2006) or on the icon that will take you to the publisher’s web site to purchase the book entitled “Flight Deck, A Pictorial Essay Of A Day In The Life Of An Airdale”.

Rest assured that of course none of these pictures have been staged, just as there can be no real democracy without a truthfully informed public.

 

   

                                                    SHIP                               EXTERNAL                                       FLIGHT DECK

   

                                                     FLIGHT DECK                                    LAUNCH                                     LAUNCH

                                   

LAND                                        MISHAPS                               MISHAPS

   

         PARK                                    ENEMY                                      ENEMY           

 

   Picture Distribution

   Ship and Aircraft-----------------12

  External Activities---------------32

  Flight Deck Activities------------70

   Launch Activities-----------------87

            Landing Activities----------------56           

      Mishaps---------------------------39  

   Parking Activities----------------37

     Enemy Action---------------------22

                                                                 _______

                                                                 355

 

Part One                Part Two

To order a book(s) click here, or on the icon above that will take you to the publisher’s web site to purchase the book entitled “Flight Deck, A Pictorial Essay Of A Day In The Life Of An Airdale”.

The final draft of this book resides in the following libraries:

Library of Congress, Naval Academy, Yale University, Newark Academy (NJ),

San Diego County (CA), Boca Raton (FL) and U.S. Navy Memorial Museum (Washington, DC)

 

To Contact: new@navy-wwii-memoir.com

 

My father had this poem on the wall of his office. When I was about 14 years old I asked if I could have it for my room

and ever since it has been on my wall.  Would that it were on many, many walls.

 

IF—

 By Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated don’t give way to hating,

And yet not look too good, nor talk too wise.

 

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same:

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools.

 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings –nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distant run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

 

I choose to show some of my drawings of yesteryear to counter the bellicose nature of the images above.

In a manner of speaking these drawings reflect in a nostalgic way the Carpenters' song "Yesterday Once More" (which in turn echoes their song "For All We Know").

 

DOMESTICITY

 

 

TRANQUILITY

 

 

PEACE

 

 

CONGENIALITY

 

 

REVERENCE

 

 

TRUST

 

 

TRUST

 

 

LOVE