Battleship Aerial Spotter — OS2U Kingfisher Crew

Catapulted from a battleship's stern in a Kingfisher floatplane, then orbited 10,000+ feet above the target to spot the fall of 16-inch gunfire and adjust corrections.

The Story

In November 1942, OS2U pilot LT William F. Eadie taxied his Kingfisher across open Pacific water with Eddie Rickenbacker and two other survivors of a ditched B-17 strapped to the wings — the plane couldn't carry them inside, so they rode the floats home to Funafuti.