Of the many dangerous and unglamorous assignments during World
War II, flying single-engine float planes as part of an aviation
detachment in a cruiser was particularly grueling duty. Tasked
with scouting, search & rescue and gunfire spotting missions,
the hours were long – especially in an open cockpit – the task
technically complicated and the mission critical. It was also
extremely dangerous, as pilots and support crew struggled with
salt corrosion, lack of spare parts, tricky water landings and
high performance enemy fighters. The wartime exploits of two
pilots of the float plane detachment in light cruiser Biloxi (CL
80) illustrate these points perfectly. Ens. Harvey P. Jolly
joined the brand new warship for shakedown training in
Chesapeake Bay in September 1943. Less than two weeks later,
while the warship was enroute to Trinidad, Ens. Jolly’s Curtis
SO3C Seagull float plane crashed during a landing attempt in
rough water off the port beam. Both Jolly and his radioman ACMM
John Phagan survived but the c