◆ SpookStack

the project, they would have had reconnaissance aircraft up well before the B-26s appeared. Even if the recce aircraft had failed to catch the incoming B-26s, Beerli's contention was that the carrier's radar surely should have spotted them. 14/* Captain Lionel Krisel' (USNR, Ret.l--who for a number of years was working on a history of naval operations, including the Bay o~ Pigs, at the instigation of Admiral Ar1eigh Burke-- has claimed that the carrier did have a reconnaissance aircraft up and that the Essex CAP got off within a few minutes of a radar pickup. In context, Krise1's comments implied that the carrier's radar and not the recce aircraft spotted the B-26s. 15/ If Krisel's version were accepted as correct and if the Essex, even with a radar warning alert, could not get its jet aircraft launched in time to catch any of the B-26s before they completed their strikes, the efficiency of US carrier operations would * The April 19.79 estimate bV the Navy of the capability of the radar gear carried by the Essex between November 1960-June 1961 confirms Beer1i's belief that the radar capability was there. This makes even more incredible Admiral Clark's contention that the Essex was unaware of the B-26s until they passed the carrier. 288