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IPTC: Caption
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United States Navy Lieutenant Commander (later Captain) John Thomas "Tommy" Blackburn (June 24, 1942 - March 21, 1994) is transferred via breaches buoy from destroyer USS Rodman (DD-456) to a fleet oiler (probably USS Housatonic AO-35) back to escort carrier USS Santee (ACV-29, later CVE-29). A breeches buoy was a coal sack strung on a pulley rigged between two ships at sea. Blackburn, a 1933 Naval Academy graduate, was in command of VGF-29, fourteen Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters tasked with covering the Western Force landings at Safi during Operation Torch. Taking off as the first of six Wildcats, Blackburn threaded through the parked fighters, Douglas SBD dive bombers and Grumman TBF Avengers to build up speed for takeoff. On station over Safi Blackburn's flight encountered no hostile aircraft and did not engage ground targets. One Wildcat piloted by George N. Trumpeter developed an oil leak; the pilot crashed in the sea 100 miles (160 kilometers) North of Safi and was killed. Depending on Santee's YE "hayrake" radio-direction finder homing gear to navigate back to the carrier, Blackburn was unaware it was damaged by a misfired aircraft depth charge dumped over the side on November 2 and not properly functioning. Flying blind in a storm, Blackburn's flight was misidentified and given incorrect coordinates, preventing the Wildcats from landing on Santee. Out of fuel early because of a faulty landing gear, Blackburn ditched and spent sixty hours in his life raft; the other four pilots (Ensigns R.W. Peterson, W.P. Taylor, U.L. Fretwell, and E. Van Vranken) crash landed at Mazagan and were interned for a short time before rejoining the Americans and sent home. Embarrassed by the loss of his flight, Blackburn later wrote, "I was thus transferred back aboard Santee by high line, riding in a coal sack. Having made such an ass of myself, I arrived feeling very hangdog. To my delight and amazement, the ship's exec (Executive Officer) was on hand to warmly greet me and prese
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IPTC: Copyright Notice
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Caption ©2007 MFA Productions LLC
Image in the Public Domain
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