page_title: James D. Ramage
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: James D. Ramage / World War II
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless in flight over Peleliu, September 1944.
context_page_description: James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage was a Naval Aviator in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and was a driving force in putting nuclear-capable attack aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.
  A graduate of the United States Naval Academy class of 1939, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise before being sent to the Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training. He rejoined Enterprise in 1943, and became executive officer, and later commanding officer of Bombing Squadron Ten, flying the SBD Dauntless dive bomber. He saw his first combat in the Battle of Kwajalein in January 1944, and participated in the attack on Truk in February and landings at Hollandia in April. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, he led 12 Dauntlesses and 17 other aircraft from Enterprise in a maximum-range twilight attack against the Japanese fleet, and was personally credited with crippling a Japanese aircraft carrier, probably Ryūhō. He later commanded Bombing Squadron Ninety-Eight, a California-based training unit.
context_section_description: The United States entered World War II while Ramage was in training at Pensacola, learning to fly on N3Ns, OS2Us and finally SNJs. On graduation in May 1942, he was posted to VS-3, a scouting squadron. He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 June 1942, and lieutenant on 1 August 1942. He returned to Hawaii, where he was assigned to the cruiser USS Salt Lake City in November. After some effort, he managed to get himself reassigned to the Enterprise.
  Ramage reported to Enterprise in Noumea in February 1943. After qualifying to land on a carrier in Noumea in April 1943, he was assigned to Bombing Squadron Ten (VB-10), one of the carrier's two dive bomber squadrons flying the Douglas SBD Dauntless as its executive officer. Shortly afterwards, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor for overhaul, and Ramage returned to the United States with his wife. The squadrons of Carrier Air Group 10, of which VB-10 was a part, were reequipped with new aircraft, with VB-10 receiving new SBD-5s to replace its older SBD-3 models. Air Group 10 returned to Hawaii in November 1943, and the whole group qualified for night operation, making two night landings on Enterprise in January 1944. Ramage saw his first combat in the Battle of Kwajalein in January 1944, and participated in the attack on Truk in February and landings at Hollandia in April. He became commander of VB-10 in March.
  
  On the evening of 20 June 1944, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Ramage led 12 Dauntlesses, 12 Grumman F6F Hellcats and 5 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from Enterprise in the maximum-range attack against the Japanese fleet. He later recalled:
  Shortly, our strike group was picked up by the Japanese combat air patrol. Cawley informed me that there were several Zeros on our port quarter, high. Each time they would commence a run on the base element, our Air Group Commander, "Killer" Kane, would nose into them with his F6Fs. The Japanese would break off the attack. They had decided to wait until our most vulnerable time, the point of roll into the attack. At that time the bomber and torpedo formation integrity would be broken as each pilot made his dive. Bombing Squadron Ten did not dive from an echelon. Rather, during the high speed run-in, the wingman gradually drifted back until the division leader rolled in. This preserved the "V" formation for as long as possible, permitting the gunners to concentrate on an attack from the rear from either side. It was standard procedure for the low fighter cover to strafe ahead of the base element, and the high cover to strafe behind. The fighters would proceed to the rendezvous point to provide cover for the aircraft of the base element as they rejoined and formed a defensive formation.
  The Japanese fleet was easy to locate; there were black AA puffs over a wide area – also some colored detonations. Soon, I could make out two carriers below and to port. It was just as we had been briefed. I took the closest carrier and Bangs' division took the second carrier in the middle task group. Eason's torpedo planes split between the two. The TBFs carried four 500-lb general purpose bombs, while the SBDs each carried one 1000-lb bomb: half general purpose and half semi armor piercing.
  As I rolled in, I had a fine view of the carrier. I split my dive brakes at about 10,000 feet. Shortly thereafter I could hear Cawley's twin thirties chattering; then I looked over to the right and within five feet of me, passing below, was a Zero. The dive brakes had thrown him off aim. My dive was a good, standard 70° attack. At about 5000 feet I opened up with my two 50-caliber machine guns. The tracers were going directly into the forward elevator. The carrier was steaming into the wind. Allowing for the wind and target motion, I moved the pipper to just ahead of the bow of the carrier, and released at 1800 feet.
  My First Division plus Van Eason's five TBMs dove on Ryuho. Bang's six plane division, upon sighting a third carrier, split into two sections with Bang's diving on Hiyo and Grubiss' section attacking Junyo. There is still do
caption: An SBD-5 Dauntless
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