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Colonel Dean Caswell USMC
In early 1945 he joined VMF-221 Fighting Falcons flying the Corsair from the USS Bunker Hill quickly scoring his first victories, shooting down three Japanese Zekes in less than five minutes on 18th March. During the Battle of Okinawa he flew combat missions over the island, becoming an Ace on 28th April when again he scored three victories on one mission. On 11th May he was on board the USS Bunker Hill when it was hit by kamikazes and was forced to jump overboard. By the end of the war he had flown 78 combat missions and scored 7 victories and one probable. He later flew with the Blue Angels before serving two tours in Korea and a tour in Vietnam. He was awarded the Silver Star and 3 DFCs.
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Items Signed by Colonel Dean Caswell USMC |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. Price : £215.00 | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. (AP) Price : £425.00 | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. (B) Price : £315.00 | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. (C) Price : £445.00 | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. (D) SOLD OUT | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. (RM) SOLD OUT | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Okinawa by Robert Taylor. (RMB) SOLD OUT | Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Colonel Dean Caswell USMC |
Squadrons for : Colonel Dean Caswell USMC | ||
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Colonel Dean Caswell USMC. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
Squadron | Info | |
Country : US Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of VMF-221 | VMF-221 Full profile not yet available. |
Aircraft for : Colonel Dean Caswell USMC | |||
A list of all aircraft associated with Colonel Dean Caswell USMC. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : Chance-Vought Production Began : 1940 Number Built : 12000 | Corsair The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair utilized a new spot welding process on its all aluminum fuselage, giving the aircraft very low drag. To reduce weight, fabric-covered outer wing sections and control surfaces were fitted. In May of 1940 the F4U made its maiden flight. Although a number of small bugs were discovered during early flight tests, the Corsair had exceptional performance characteristics. In October of 1940 the prototype F4U was clocked at 405-MPH in a speed test. The initial production Corsairs received an upgraded 2,000-HP radial giving the bird a top speed of about 425-MPH. The production models also differed from the prototype in having six, wing-mounted, 0.5 caliber machine guns. Another change was a shift of the cockpit about three feet further back in the fuselage. This latter change unfortunately made naval aviators wary of carrier landings with the F4U, due to its limited forward visibility during landings. Other concerns were expressed regarding a severe port wing drop at landing speeds and a tendency of the aircraft to bounce off a carrier deck. As a result, the F4U was initially limited to land-based USMC squadrons. Vought addressed several of these problems, and the Royal Navy deserves credit for perfecting an appropriate landing strategy for the F4U. They found that if the carrier pilot landed the F4U while making a sweeping left turn with the port wing down, that sufficient visibility was available to make a safe landing. With a kill ratio of 11 -to- 1 in WW 11 combat, the F4U proved superior in the air to almost every opposing aircraft it encountered. More than 12,000 F4Us were built and fortunately a few dozen remain in flyable condition to this date. |
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