USS Enterprise CV-6
The Most Decorated Ship of the Second World War

History: Prewar - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - Postwar
The Ship - All Hands - Decorations - Remembrance

Accounts - Lafe C. Shannon

LT Lafe C. Shannon Sr. was a pilot in VF-20: Air Group Twenty's fighter squadron. During its deployment on Enterprise, from 16 August to 23 November 1944, AG-20 operated as far north as Okinawa, as far south as the Palaus, and engaged with great effect in the Battle of Leyte Gulf: the largest naval battle in history. Notably, during AG-20's deployment, there was not a single successful enemy air attack on the Big E.

Below is LT Shannon's flight log for the period during which he and AG-20 operated from the Big E. As presented here, it essentially duplicates the original. The only exceptions are the omissions of columns for "pilot" and "passenger", as LT Shannon was always the pilot, and never carried a passenger. The log gives a good sense of the number and variety of missions flown by the Big E's airmen at this stage of the war.

LT Shannon and Air Group 20 transferred to Lexington CV-16 on 23 November 1944. That same day, Lexington's Air Group 19 transferred to Enterprise, to be transported back to Pearl Harbor, where Enterprise would receive Night Air Group 90.

Flight log presented with kind permission of Curt Shannon, son of Lafe C. Shannon (deceased).