P-38s Attack The USS Randolph

[Jack Cook]

On June 7, 1945 2 F-5 Lightnings buzzed the USS Randolph off the Philippines.
One s/n 44-24559 flown by a Capt Gillespie crashed on the flight deck killing and
injuring numerous crewman while destroying at least 20 a/c.
The Randolph and Air Group 12 were out of the war!!
Does anyone have further info on this incident or the pilots involved?

[TonyM]

Jack,

I have the accident report for this one. I posted a lot of details about this accident on another forum. Unfortunately I am in the South right now and do not have access to my microfilm. You'll have to wait for me to get home or somehow be able to dig it up on the other forum.

TonyM.

Found this:

Personal Experience USS Randolph CV 38

http://www.historycentral.com/navy/stor ... dolph.html

Two US P-38s made a" mock straffing" run on us, one of the planes whipped stalled and came back and struck air planes sitting on the flight deck, it knocked several planes off the deck and killed several.Our guns started firing on the second , we refered to the event as the day the US AF declared war on the Navy, The remaining P-38 flew away.The barge moved away with no damage.About 35 years later, while talking to another member of the USPS he was tailing about the day that two P_38s hit a carrier laying at anchor in the Philippines. I said that I was on the carrier that was hit, he then said the he was the Chief Boatswain on the Ammo barge.

and

According to AAF Aircraft Accident Brief the airplane was Lockheed F-5E # 44-24559 Pilot was Capt. P. Gillespie. He was killed in the crash. The accident occurred at 1545 Four USN personnel killed; 14 USN personnel seriously injured.Ten USN aircraft were destroyed and the carrier suffered serious damage on the forward flight deck. The AAF Aircraft Accident Brief # 883 can be found on AAF Aircraft Accident Reports MicrofilmCall # 46521, June 7, 1945, Accident # 507.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviati ... 11899.html

[Dan Johnson II]

There are photos of Cpt. Lewis Gillespie in Stanaway's book "Eight Ballers" about the 8th Photo Recon Squadron.

Gillespie was apparently on his last flight before going home.

[TonyM]

Found this:

Personal Experience USS Randolph CV 38

http://www.historycentral.com/navy/stor ... dolph.html

Two US P-38s made a" mock straffing" run on us, one of the planes whipped stalled and came back and struck air planes sitting on the flight deck, it knocked several planes off the deck and killed several.Our guns started firing on the second , we refered to the event as the day the US AF declared war on the Navy, The remaining P-38 flew away.The barge moved away with no damage.About 35 years later, while talking to another member of the USPS he was tailing about the day that two P_38s hit a carrier laying at anchor in the Philippines. I said that I was on the carrier that was hit, he then said the he was the Chief Boatswain on the Ammo barge.

and

According to AAF Aircraft Accident Brief the airplane was Lockheed F-5E # 44-24559 Pilot was Capt. P. Gillespie. He was killed in the crash. The accident occurred at 1545 Four USN personnel killed; 14 USN personnel seriously injured.Ten USN aircraft were destroyed and the carrier suffered serious damage on the forward flight deck. The AAF Aircraft Accident Brief # 883 can be found on AAF Aircraft Accident Reports MicrofilmCall # 46521, June 7, 1945, Accident # 507.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviati ... 11899.html

The second quote is mine from the other forum.

The accident brief says the name is Capt. P. Gillespie. Could be wrong on the report. The ship was anchored at Leyte.
I'll be sure to find that book and check it out.
TonyM.

Last edited by TonyM on Thu Mar 19, 2009 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Found this:

Personal Experience USS Randolph CV 38

http://www.historycentral.com/navy/stor ... dolph.html

Two US P-38s made a" mock straffing" run on us, one of the planes whipped stalled and came back and struck air planes sitting on the flight deck, it knocked several planes off the deck and killed several.Our guns started firing on the second , we refered to the event as the day the US AF declared war on the Navy, The remaining P-38 flew away.The barge moved away with no damage.About 35 years later, while talking to another member of the USPS he was tailing about the day that two P_38s hit a carrier laying at anchor in the Philippines. I said that I was on the carrier that was hit, he then said the he was the Chief Boatswain on the Ammo barge.

and

According to AAF Aircraft Accident Brief the airplane was Lockheed F-5E # 44-24559 Pilot was Capt. P. Gillespie. He was killed in the crash. The accident occurred at 1545 Four USN personnel killed; 14 USN personnel seriously injured.Ten USN aircraft were destroyed and the carrier suffered serious damage on the forward flight deck. The AAF Aircraft Accident Brief # 883 can be found on AAF Aircraft Accident Reports MicrofilmCall # 46521, June 7, 1945, Accident # 507.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviati ... 11899.html

The second quote is mine from the other forum.

The accident brief says the name is Capt. P. Gillespie. Could be wrong on the report.
I'll be sure to find that book and check it out.
TonyM.

OK

[Versatile]

What is a "whip stall"?

[Jack Cook]

it's like the infamous tail slide

[the330thbg]

so the idiot was just screwing around?

Like the retiring B-52 pilot a few years back who decided to make a very hard left turn a few hundred feet off the ground after a low level pass with full flaps and killed all on board.

Frikin genius move!

[PinecastleAAF]

That B-52 accident has to be the most infamous FUBAR in modern Air Force history.

[the330thbg]

Totally agree!

What a waste that was!

[the330thbg]

We had an aircraft shot down by a P-61 once over Guam. That was because the A/C was killed and the rest of the crew bailed out over Iwo., actually a heck of a story.

The P-61 expended all rounds into the B-29 and she slowly began a death spiral.

[SaxMan]

It's interesting that the Randolph's DANFS (Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships) entry makes no mention of the P-38 incident. You'd think that something of this serious, and unique, nature would have been documented on the Navy's side.

[bobbrunn]

According to Cdr. Hamilton McWhorter's excellent memoir, "The First Hellcat Ace", several hundred men from the Randolph were ashore at a nearby island for a beach party/liberty. The 2 P38s crashed into a pack of F6Fs parked on the forward end of the flight deck and some pieces of the Lightnings continued through the flight deck starting fires below. The toll was 11 killed, 14 injured, and 9 aircraft totally destroyed. The repair ship Jason pulled along side and repaired the Randolph in about 4 days.

[Robbie Roberts]

Wow. Photo-finished Kamikaze...

That "last flight fun" often turns out badly- Gabby Gabreski and Hub Zemke both were shot down(& captured) on their last missions, IIRC. (I may be incorrect about Gabby)

Robbie