The caption on a photograph of CV-6 Enterprise in the National Archives

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/g320000/g324232.jpg

I stumbled across an interesting mistake about a month ago. I first noticed this photo several years back when researching CV-6 for a modeling project. It's a nice clear shot and it gets around a bit. I've seen it used several places, including the wikipedia page on DD-385, USS Fanning. But I hadn't really looked at the air group closely until recently.

You might notice the TBFs over the bow.

?

That really caught my eye all of a sudden and I realized that this was not, as the caption stated, from the Doolittle raid.

In conjunction with the F4Fs forward of the island and the SBDs over the fantail I can do some guesswork. Instinctually, it had to be from the Guadalcanal campaign. CV6.org has a page listing various air groups aboard Enterprise during the war. That page limits this to either Enterprise Air Group's 5th deployment (15 July to 25 August 1942) or Air Group 10's first (16 October 1942 to 10 May 1943).

Since the ship's in such good cosmetic shape in the photo, I'd guess the earlier.

I can't really positively ID the DD, though it could easily be DD-385 Fanning, as the photo claims, but I just can't tell at that resolution. Still, I'm inclined to accept it, unless close examination of a better copy of the photo proves otherwise.

If that is Fanning, it would further limit the timeframe to no earlier than mid November of 1942, as Fanning was escorting convoys along the West Coast prior to that. That's quite a lot later than my instinct would lead me to guess, as by that point Enterprise had suffered pretty badly at Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz.

Both Fanning and Enterprise were in the Solomons in November of 1942, but reports would indicate that CV-6 was still quite battered then, as she departed Noumea in the company of Vestal and with a repair crew still aboard, reportedly still leaking oil and with a visible bulge on the starboard side. (Which is, to be fair, not in the picture.) Still, I find it a little hard to believe the picture depicts a ship pressed so hastily back into service.

After that, Enterprise was back and forth between Espiritu Santo and the Solomons pretty regularly and and Fanning was mostly in the Solomons, I believe.

Trouble is I'm a newb and I'm working mostly off net resources. Does anyone else find this remotely interesting and would anyone be willing to help teach said newb how to more carefully research photographs and ship's logs? I'd like to convince the National Archives to fix the caption, but this will take a bit of work and fancier resources than I have to hand. They seem reluctant to take "Those are Avengers, which I've seen at countless museums and airshows," as sufficient. Darn the luck.

Thank you in advance for your advice and assistance.

 

It looks like "346" to me, but that would but it in the wrong class. Furthermore, DD-346 never operated with the Enterprise. DD-385 seems feasible, but I'm just not seeing that bow number.

 

I've had the same argument with myself over the bow number. The ship is, at the least, another Mahan, I think. I'd love to get a better look at decent print of the photograph to settle that question once and for all. Made a request of the same archivist with whom I briefly corresponded, but I haven't heard back from her. I suppose I could go through official channels, but I believe that involves shelling out actual money. (Which, to be fair, I suppose I could do.)

Can anyone make any more exact conclusions from Enterprise herself? Does anyone know where to get accurate TF lists? I suppose I might even ask if we have any members in the DC area that would be willing or able to examine the photograph more directly?

I appreciate the help. This one really is bugging me.