photo #5430346

View of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVB-41), mid-1946. She used the propeller thrust of 32 of the embarked Vought F4U-4 Corsairs to swing the carrier. This was first used by USS Randolph (CV-15) off Guam in June 1945 when the proximity of dangerous shoals and heavy harbor traffic made it impossible for the carrier to turn around under her own power. Randolph's commanding officer, Captain Felix L. Baker, ordered that 5 aircraft each be placed on the port bow and the starboard quarter, facing inward. As the props of the starboard planes turned at cruising speed, the carrier's bow turned to the left so that the carrier's port bow caught the trade wind. Since then this method was occasionally used in the U.S. Navy as an emergency procedure (and named "Operation Pinwheel").US Navy All Hands Magazine - June 1946