On this day 20 February - "Butch" O'Hare becomes the first U.S. Navy flying ace
O’Hare in his Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat
On the 20th of February 1942, Lieutenant Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare became the U.S. Navy’s first flying ace of WWII. O’Hare was onboard the USS Lexington (CV-2) as the carrier, part of Task Force 11, was heading to attack Rabaul, which, recently, was captured by the Japanese. At 10:15 a.m., Lexington’s radar spotted an unidentified aircraft 35 miles from the ship. Six planes were launched, two of which headed to intercept the unknown plane. At 11:12, the two fighters, under the command of Lieutenant Commander John Smith Thach, shot down the plane at a position of 43 miles from the Lexington. The plane was a Japanese Kawanishi H6K4 Type 97 “Mavis” flying boat. The crew onboard the Japanese plane was able to radio in Lexington’s position before the plane met its demise. Fifty minutes later, two other Wildcats, part of the combat air patrol, shot down a second Mavis, this time 35 miles from the Lexington.
Kawanishi H6K Type 97 “Mavis”
At 3:42 in the afternoon, Lexington’s radar picked up a V-shaped signal, but was lost soon thereafter. Forty-three minutes later, the signal was reacquired, and six Wildcats, under the command of Thach, were launched to intercept. Lt. O’Hare was flying F4F Wildcat BuNo 4031 "White F-15". The enemy formation consisted of nine Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers, which were carrying 550-pound bombs. Each one of the interceptors scored a kill, and of the remaining Bettys, two were damaged. The three Japanese bombers eventually succumbed to the carrier’s anti-aircraft guns.
On the heels of the interception, another formation of incoming bombers was picked up by Lexington’s radar. This time, the Bettys were only 12 miles out, coming in on the disengaged side of TF11. Once again six planes were launched, split into three two-plane sections. As they headed east, the only interceptors standing between the bombers and the carrier were O’Hare and his wingman, Lt. Junior Grade Marion W. “Duff” Dufilho. The two Americans reached the eight Bettys when the Japanese were nine miles away from the Lexington. The bombers were flying in a tight V-formation in which the rear guns provided overlapping coverage. Dufilho’s guns were jammed, leaving O’Hare alone to attack the Bettys. Armed with four 50-calibur guns, O’Hare only had enough ammunition for approximately 34 seconds of firing.
Mitsubishi G4M "Betty"
O’Hare began his attack with a high-side dive onto the right-side plane of the formation, firing into the right engine and wing fuel tank of Nitō Hikō Heisō Tokiharu Baba (3. Shotai). O’Hare then swung around attacking the leftmost bomber, Ittō Hikō Heisō Bin Mori (3. Shotai), damaging the Betty. As O’Hare made his final attacks, the Japanese planes entered the defensive fire range of the American ships. Though they dropped ten 550-pound bombs, the Betty’s failed to hit their target. In the end, O’Hare shot down two more of the Japanese intruders - Ittō Hikō Heisō Susumu Uchiyama's (1. Shotai), and the leader of the formation, Shōsa Takuzo Ito's – and damaged a second Betty - Ittō Hikō Heisō Kodji Maeda (2. Shotai). During the entire engagement, O’Hare’s plane was hit by only one bullet. For his actions, he received the Medal of Honor.
Medal of Honor Citation for Lieutenant Edward Henry O’Hare, USN
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in aerial combat, at grave risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, as section leader and pilot of Fighting Squadron 3 on 20 February 1942. Having lost the assistance of his teammates, Lt. O'Hare interposed his plane between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin-engine heavy bombers. Without hesitation, alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation, at close range in the face of intense combined machinegun and cannon fire. Despite this concentrated opposition, Lt. O'Hare, by his gallant and courageous action, his extremely skillful marksmanship in making the most of every shot of his limited amount of ammunition, shot down 5 enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point. As a result of his gallant action--one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation--he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage.
References
http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh...m-s.html#OHARE
http://worldofwarplanes.com/en/news/...t-butch-ohare/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O'Hare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_off_Bougainville
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(CV-2)
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Originally Posted by 7eat51
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