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Last Mission of The Black Jack

Just after midnight on July 11, 1943 a U. S. Air Force bomber rumbled on to the flight line for takeoff from the Allied controlled field at Port Moresby, New Guinea. Capt. Ralph Deloach carefully eyed his instrument panel as the #2 engine sputtered and coughed before settling into a smooth synchronicity with the other three powerful propellers breaking the torpid tropical night’s lassitude. Deloach eased his throttles a bit and swung into the wind waiting for the aircraft in front off him to clear the runway. The veteran pilot was in command of one of WW II’s most famous bombers in the South West Pacific theatre of operations. This was a B-17 four-engine workhorse, dubbed the Flying Fortress, that had made history from Europe to the Pacific as the U. S. primary airborne attack weapon in the war against the German and Japanese forces. Deloach was aboard the infamous Black Jack, a veteran of scores of bombing missions. Tonight’s raid had him bound for New Britain Island to attack the heavily fortified Japanese airstrip at Rabaul on its northeast tip. They would also engage an enemy convoy with over 7000 troops aboard bound for Lae. From Port Moresby, the flight would be nearly 500 miles over mountain ranges topping 12,000 feet in height and then traveling blacked-out over open ocean before turning north to his target. [caption id="attachment_569" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="The wreck of the Black Jack neatly landed on the sandy bottom at 175 feet, virtually intact"][/caption] He quickly reviewed the course with his co-pilot Lt. Joe Moore who sat in the right seat opposite him. Moore was engaged in a quick run-through of the final checklist and grunted his confirmation of the outbound course to steer after takeoff. They would climb out to the west over the Gulf of Papua to... More »