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| May 9, 1942, Operation Bowery: President Roosevelt lends Winston Churchill the USS Wasp to deliver Spitfires to the island stronghold of Malta. In this photo, Jerry Smith and Lt. Cmdr. David McCampbell exchange caps after Jerry managed the world's first Spitfire landing on an aircraft carrier, without a tailhook no less. Immediately after taking off from the Wasp in Spitfire BR126, X-3, the auxiliary tank on Jerry's Spit failed to draw and he was forced to turn back. He was told to ditch in the water but given a choice, decided to try and save the plane (and his ass from the cold water no doubt) and land on the flight deck. The Spit stopped just feet from the end of the ship. Malta would have to wait a bit for Jerry's arrival. |
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| Spitfire Mk Vc making ready to launch off USS Wasp during Op Bowery. Preceding aircraft visible in sky. |
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| Launching officer, Lt. David McCampbell (who is also the Landing Signal Officer), gets the ready signal from the pilot of a RAF Spitfire, just before it took off for Malta on 9 May 1942, as part of Operation Bowery. This was the USS Wasp's second Malta reinforcement mission. Note the deck hands holding back the "Spit" as she's run up and the 90 gallon slipper tank mounted underneath the fuselage starting at the leading edge of the wing and showing the cutout for the tropical air intake. |
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| Scene from the deck of USS Wasp upon approach to the fly-off point for operation Bowery, on the morning of 9 May 1942. Carrier in the background is HMS Eagle, also laden with Spitfires. The Spitfire shown here, BR344, was a Merlin 46-powered Mk. VC. An interesting feature is the wavy demarcation line between the upper camouflage and lower surfaces, and also the inscription “Guns loaded” chalked below the cockpit. The operational career of this aircraft on Malta lasted only eight days—it was struck off charge on 17 May. Operation Bowery was the first delivery of Spitfires Mk. V to Malta which was successful end-to-end. Sixty-four Spitfires Mk. VC were launched during that mission and 62 of them arrived to the beleaguered island. Through carefully planned reception, all aircraft were immediately refueled, rearmed and take off again within a few minutes of the landing and thereby avoid the incoming German air raid. With more Spitfires at its disposal, the Malta fighter force was able to effectively hit back at the enemy. |
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| A Spitfire is brought aboard USS Wasp. |
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| Spitfires taking off from the USS Wasp on April 20, 1942, during Operation Calendar. |
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| A fabulous photograph of a Spitfire “Trop” riding the elevator to the flight deck of USS Wasp during a Club Run. Here we can easily tell that this Tropicalized Spit is perfectly brand new, not a mark or stain on her. We clearly see the air intake for the large “Vokes” sand filter, as well as the large “slipper” gas tank mounted beneath the wing center section. Small hooks were fitted, just forward of the inboard flaps: when the tank was released in flight these hooks caught the trailing edge of the tank, swinging it clear of the fuselage. On deck we can see another Spit as well as an American aircraft, possibly an Avenger |
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| Down on USS Wasp's hangar deck, a Spitfire “Trop” is checked out before going topside. |
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| USS Wasp the end of May 1942, soon after the completion of its two delivery missions to Malta. |