United States Army Piper L-4 Grasshoppers of the 8th Observation Squadron taking off from the US Navy carrier USS Ranger to spot for the artillery during Operation Torch in North Africa, 9 Nov 1942. Photo 2 of 2.

Historical Information
Caption     United States Army Piper L-4 Grasshoppers of the 8th Observation Squadron taking off from the US Navy carrier USS Ranger to spot for the artillery during Operation Torch in North Africa, 9 Nov 1942. Photo 2 of 2. ww2dbase
WW2-Era Location Name Atlantic Ocean
Date 9 Nov 1942
Photographer    Unknown
 
Source Information
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States National Archives via United States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
Link to Source    Link
Identification Code   80-G-30340
 
Related Content
More on...   
L-4 Grasshopper   Main article  Photos  
Operation Torch   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Ranger   Main article  Photos  
Photos on Same Day 9 Nov 1942
Colorized By WW2DB     Colorized with Adobe Photoshop
 
Licensing Information
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.... According to the US Navy Naval History and Heritage Command, as of 21 Jul 2010:
Official government photographs and documents are in the public domain and may be scanned and reproduced in print or online. They may be cropped or resized, but their content may not be altered.
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".

Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you.
 
Metadata
Added By David Stubblebine
Photo Size 5,656 x 4,232 pixels



Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Please help us spread the word:

 Reddit
 Bluesky
 Mastodon

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds

Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
14 Dec 2021 02:30:01 PM

Ranger launched three O-59As this day for duty with combat forces ashore at Fedala, French Morocco (now Mohammedia, Morocco).
Note that this aircraft has the National Insignia painted on the underside of the right wing but not the left. This would become standard 3 months later in Feb 1943 but at the time of this photo, regulations called for the insignia to be on the tops and bottoms of both wings.
2. Prickly Historian says:
23 Jul 2025 08:35:00 PM

In January 1942, ten months before this mission took place, the designation of all unarmed, short-range observation aircraft was changed to 'L- for Liaison by order of the Secretary of War. Four months later, the numerical designations were revised and the Piper O-59A, cum L-59A, became the L-4A. Source: Wright Field "Liaison Program" files at the National Archives.
3. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
24 Jul 2025 01:31:21 PM

Prickly Historian (above):
Once again, your information is correct and authoritative. The O-59A reference has been removed from the caption and updated. Even the Navy’s official caption for this image identifies the aircraft as an L-4. Thank you for bringing this up.

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name 
Your Webite 
Your Email 
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type 
Your Comments 
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.
Search WW2DB


Map
WW2-Era Location Name:
Atlantic Ocean

Latitude-Longitude:
34.3250, -7.7000

Random Photograph

General Joseph Stilwell, Major General Patrick Hurley, and Major General Daniel Sultan awaiting for a flight to Chongqing, China at the airport in New Delhi, India, Sep 1944

Current Site Statistics

Famous WW2 Quote
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Winston Churchill, on the RAF


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!