Ensign Byron Johnson's F6F-3 Hellcat crash landed on Enterprise, 10 Nov 1943 [Colorized by WW2DB]

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Caption     Ensign Byron Johnson's F6F-3 Hellcat crash landed on Enterprise, 10 Nov 1943 [Colorized by WW2DB] ww2dbase
Colorization Note   This photograph was originally a black and white photograph; the colorized version presented here was a derivative work by WW2DB. The colors used in this version were speculative, and could be significantly different from the real colors.

Processed using Adobe Photoshop Image Processor, with default neural filter, selecting "None" as the profile.

View the original black and white photograph at its own permanent page.
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States National Archives
Identification Code   80-G-205473
More on...   
F6F Hellcat   Main article  Photos  
Enterprise   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Photo Size 1,450 x 1,080 pixels
Photos on Same Day 10 Nov 1943
Photos at Same Place Pacific Ocean
Added By C. Peter Chen
Colorized Date 24 Feb 2023
Licensing  Public Domain. According to the US National Archives, as of 21 Jul 2010:
The vast majority of the digital images in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) are in the public domain. Therefore, no written permission is required to use them. We would appreciate your crediting the National Archives and Records Administration as the original source. For the few images that remain copyrighted, please read the instructions noted in the "Access Restrictions" field of each ARC record.... In general, all government records are in the public domain and may be freely used.... Additionally, according to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government".

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed Alan Chanter says:
3 Dec 2009 06:18:12 AM

Lt. Walter Chewning, the catapult officer, is seen climbing aboard the stricken Hellcat to rescue Ensign Johnson of naval squadron VF-2 in this incident near the Gilbert Islands. Ensign Johnson would later become an ace, with eight kills.
2. Fernando says:
26 Jun 2011 08:20:08 AM

Well, footage of that crash has been watched in documentaries a lot. I always thought the pilot had dead.
3. Rigs says:
10 Nov 2013 01:28:49 PM

Is that a bomb or a fuel tank he's stepping on to get to the pilot?!? That takes some serious guts to do that with fire all around!
4. Lee says:
10 Nov 2013 05:12:01 PM

Rigs, that is a droppable fuel tank. Still take some extra guts to do that.
5. Robby Dedlow says:
20 May 2014 07:44:58 AM

I actually got to meet the pilot, Byron Johnson. Very unassuming and humble. He lived in the same VA home as my grandfather in Gering, Nebraska and was one of my grandfather's best friends. After he walked away from our first meeting my dad told me he was an ace. When I brought it up to him the next time I saw him he acted like it was nothing but his duty. Truly a man worthy of the his the moniker "greatest generation."
6. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
23 Mar 2019 03:46:14 PM

Enterprise had departed Pearl Harbor earlier that same day and this crash took place as part of the Air Group’s flight exercises, about 45 miles southwest of Barbers point, Oahu, Hawaii.

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