Vought F4U Corsair

Other titles in the CrowooJ Aviation Series Aichi D3A 1/2 Val Airco - The Aircraft Manufacturing Company A vro Lancaster BAC One-Eleven Bell P-39 Airacobra Boeing 747 Boeing 757 anJ 767 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress onsol iJateJ B- 24 Li berator Douglas AD SkyraiJer Engl ish Electric Canberra nglish Electric Lightning Fairchild Republic A-IO Thunderbolt II okker Aircraft of World War One Hawker II unter Hawker Hurricane Junkers Ju 87 Stuka Junkers Ju 88 Lockheed C-130 Hercules LockheeJ F-I04 Starfighter Luftwaffe - A Pictorial History McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle Messerschmitt Bf 110 Messerschmitt Me 262 Nieuport Aircraft of World War One North American B-25 Mitchell North American F-86 Sabre North American T-6 Panavia Tornado hort Sunderland V-Bombers Vickers VC I0

Peter C. Smith Mick Davis Ken Delve Malcolm L. Hill Robert F. DOlT with Jerry c. SCUllS Martin W. Bowman Thomas Becher Martin W. Bowman Martin W. Bowman Peter C. Smith Barry Jones Martin W. Bowman Peter C. Smith Paul Leaman Barry Jones Peter Jacobs Peter C. Smith Ron Mackay Martin W. Bowman Martin W. Bowman Eric Mombeek BraJ ElwarJ Peter E. Davies anJ Tony Thornborough Ron Mackay David Baker Ray Sanger Jerry Scutts Duncan Curtis Peter C. Smith Andy Evans Ken Delve BaITy Jones Lance Cole

Vought

F4

•

orsatr Martin W Bowman

I~~cl The Crowood Press

First published in 2002 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of: Colonel J. Hunter Reinburg USMC 5 May 1918-23 June 1997, Roy D. 'Eric' Erickson USNR VBF-10, and to all former Corsair pilots throughout the world.

Contents

© Martin W. Bowman 2002 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN I 86126492 5

Acknowledgements Alan Armstrong; Mike Bailey; Robert Bailey ASAA; Fred 'Crash' Blechman; City of Norwich Aviation Museum; Howard Cook; Lee Cook; Graham Dinsdale; Robert Dorr; Owen W. Dykema; the late Roy D. 'Eric' Erickson; Andy

Height; Tony Holmes; Philip Jarrett; the late Colonel J. Hunter Reinburg USMC; Gareth Simons; Kelvin Sloper; Peter C. Smith; Tom Smith; Mark Styling; Andy Thomas; Wallace Bruce Thomson; Terry C. Treadwell.

1

A Dream is Born

2

Land and Sea

3

7

Aerial Combat Escapades]. Hunter Reinburg, USMC

24

4

The 'Black Sheep' and the 'Jolly Rogers' Big Booty

44

5

Corsairs for King and Country

59

6

'The Sweetheart of Okinawa'

76

7

Corsair Models

93

8

9

10 11

True Tales of Trial and Terror Fred 'Crash' Blechman War in the Land of Morning Calm Korean Night-Fighter Close Air SUPPOrt]. Hunter Reinburg, USMC War and Peace

110

122 136 160 165

Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III Appendix IV Appendix V

US Marine Corps Corsair Squadrons US Navy Corsairs Royal Navy Fleet Air Artn Corsairs World War II: Monthly Acceptances of Corsairs Surviving Corsairs

179 180

182 184

Bibliography

185

Index

187 189

Typeset by Florence Production Ltd, Stood leigh, Devon Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bookcraft, Midsomer Norton, Nr Bath Origination by Black Cat Graphics Ltd, Bristol, England

..

CHAPTER ONE

A DreaDl is Born I was ncar! I' [cn ycars old on Sunday 4 July 1937 when my parents took me to an 8irsho\V at Floyd Bcnnc[[ Field in Ncw York City - a naval

air station at that time. My face was pressed right up against a chain-link fcncc whcn a sm'111 group of far Navy silvcr and ycllow figh[cr biplancs Acw ovcr [hc field in a right echclon, pccled off, landcd, Ulxicd up, and park cd no morc [han fifty fcC[ from mc! I wa[chcd widccycd as [he pilo[s, with [hcir clo[h helmc[s and goggles and flowing white scarves, climbed out of [hc tiny cockpits and clambcrcd down [he sidcs of [heir chunky figh[cr plancs. I saw [hcm ga[hcr [Ogc[hcr, rail and handsomc all, and was [hrilled whcn [hcy amblcd ovcr

[0

[he crowd at

[hc fcnce. Onc of [hcm cvcn [alkcd

[0

mc!

'Wow,' I thought, 'I wanna bc one of [hosc guys. Whcn I grow up I'm gonna be a Navy fighter pilo[!' A[ [hat rime i[ was just a dream ... I rcad Aying books, huil[ solid balsa-wood and s[ickand-papcr Aying models, and dcvourcd cvcrything I could find abour Aying. Throughou[ World War II I followcd [he cxploi[s of [he Aycrs, always planning [hm onc day, whcn I was old cnough, I'd join up

[0

AI'.

Frcd Blcchman, future Corsair pilo[

Dreams can sometimes come true, especially to those who have vision, ambition and a purpose. Pedigree, too, always tells in the long run. [n the 1930s the stubby little Grumman biplanes, such as the F3Fs that young Blechman saw, dominated the American Navy scene. Boeing was also making a name for itself in the field of military aviation. There seemed little likelihood of a shipboard fighter being conceived in the 1930s that could challenge the 'big two' - but there was a new kid on the block: ultimately the Vought Corsair series would earn its rightful place in the annals of aviation, and in the American hall of fame. Born of a family with maritime leanings, Chauncey Milton Vought married his boyhood interest in all things mechanical to a love of the sea and the air to produce a long series of successful aeroplanes. In fact this was only natural, because the young aviation pioneer loved to race boats throughout his short life, and he devoted a large proportion of it to championing naval aviation in America.

Chauncey Milton Vought (20 February 1888-25 July 1930) at the controls of the Wright B biplane in which he learned to fly. Vought

7

This young man's dream became reality, although sadly, he would not live to see American aviation dominate the world stage. When he died in [930, Chauncey Vought's influence lived on. Late in 1941, when war came, his gift was an aircraft that would serve his beloved Navy very well indeed, especially in the vast Pacific, then and for many years to come. Chauncey Vought was born on Long Island, New York City on 26 February 1888. His parents, George Washington and Annie E. Vought, owned a successful family business designing and building quality sailing boats. After graduating from elementary school in New York, the young Vought entered the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn; but, ever anxious for more specialized knowledge, by 1910 he had moved to New York University, where he put his energies into the study of the internal combustion engine. The American public did not, however, share his zest for engineering, and more especially for aeronautical engine development. But this feeling would change rapidly after the successes of the Wright Brothers between 1903 and 1908, and Americans would become more aviation-minded. In 1910 the first international air meet ever held in the United States took place in New York at the Belmont Park race track on Long [sland. An avid spectator was Chauncey Vought, who had been looking around for better engineering courses, and found them at the University of Pennsylvania. Shortly after the race Vought dropped out of university and joined Harold F. McCormick as an engineer in Chicago. McCormick was treasurer of the [nternational Harvester Corporation in Chicago, one of the founders of the Aero Club of Illinois, and a vice-president of the Aero Club of America. McCormick's pet project at this time was an experimental umbrella plane, a craft with a circular wing around the fuselage invented by William S. Romme, which, McCormick believed, would offer a viable alternative to the

A DREAM IS BORN

A DREAM IS BORN

In 1936 Vought bought the Northrop XP-948 or Northrop 3A design after the prototype was lost on a test flight over the Pacific on 30 July 1935, and built a new aircraft called the V-141. The smallest type in the 1936 Pursuit Competition (won by Severskyl. it suffered from tail vibrations and was rejected by the Army. The V-143 (picturedl was an export version with a longer fuselage and new tail and was flown on 18 June 1937. It was powered by a 750hp R-1535-SB4G engine. and was armed with a pair of .30 calibre machine guns and could carry up to 300lb (136kgl of bombs. The Japanese Army bought the prototype in 1937. via Philip Jarrett

Wright brothers' more conventional designs. McCormick was backed in this venture by his father-in-law, John D. Rockefeller Jr, and at first all seemed to auger well; however, it proved unsuccessful. Vought meanwhile began flying lessons with Max Lillie in a Wright B model biplane. On 14 August 1912, he was granted Aero Club of America flying licence number 156. In 1913, Vought left McCormick to become chief engineer for the Aero Club of Illinois. In the following year he became a leading contributor for Aero and Hydro magazi ne. By th is ti me he had become known by a variety of nameSj but then in February 1914 he signed his name at the end of his monthly column 'Chance M. Vough t' - and it stuck. J n August 1914 he became the editor of Aero and Hydro under this name; but by the winter he had joined the Mayo Radiator Works where he was the sole design engineer of the company's first aircraft, the Mayo Type A (Simplex tractor biplane). Vought also worked on a single-scat, pusher-type scout machine, and a three-place flying boat called the Simplex flying boat; but neither of these designs ever left the drawing board, and Vought joined the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company as a consulting engineer. Late in 1915 he moved to the famous Wright Company, later Wright-Martin, at Dayton, Ohio, as chief engineer. He continued to design three-

place flying boats, and he gained valuable experience visiting England and France where he studied European designs. Finally, Vought resigned from WrightMartin to create his own aircraft company with Birdseye B. Lewis: on 18 June 1917 this became the Lewis & Vought Company. Their first venture was the Vought VE-7 (Vought Experimental model 7), an advanced two-seat trainer powered by an American-built 150hp Hispano-Suiza Model A. Seven different sub-types of the VE-7 were constructed, including an advanced version, the VE- 7SF, that was fitted with flotation devices. The VE-7SF made its first take-off from the aircraft carrier USS Langley on 17 October 1922. Birdseye Lewis had been killed in a flying accident in France in 1917, and in late 1919 the Lewis & Vought Corporation moved to Long Island City, New York. In May 1922 Vought reorganized the company under the name Chance Vought Corporation and began deliveries of a succession of aircraft to the US Navy, such as the UO-l two-seat observation biplane, and a single-seat fighter version. The first Vought-built Corsair delivered to the Navy was the 02U-l, powered by a 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-88 radial, and capable of speeds of 150mph (240kmph) at sea level. It had a range of just over 600 miles (960km), and success was assured when it notched up some impressive world speed, altitude and endurance records.

8

Some 132 02U-Is were ordered, the first being delivered in 1927. In service with the US Marine Corps, some Corsairs saw action in Nicaragua in 1928, where they became one of the first aircraft ever used in a dive-bombing attack against fortified positions. In the following year, the Chance Vought Corporation merged with others to become a division of the United Aircraft and Transportation Company. In 1930 the Chance Vought Corporation moved its aircraft production from New York to a huge plant at East Hartford, onnecticut. The new venture promised much, although sadly, Chance M. Vought would not live to oversee the company's finest successes. His health deteriorated rapidly when, after an operation to have some teeth extracted, septicemia set in; his untimely death occurred on 25 July at his home in South Hampton, New York. He was only forty-two years old. Chance Vought went on to design and build the 03U Corsair observation biplane, powered by the 550hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-12 radial engine. A 600hp Pratt & Whitney R-1690-42 engine powered the two-place SU-l scout version of the 03U. In 1932 the SBU-l scout bomber was the final Chance Vought biplane design to be ordered by the US Navy: it was powered by a 700hp Pratt & Whitney R-1535-80 radial engine capable of a maximum speed of 205mph

(330kmph) at 8,900ft (2,700m). Vought's first monoplane design was the XSB2U-I, which in Navy service became the SB2U-I Vindicator, the Navy's first ::tllmetal, low-wing, carrier-based scout and dive-bomber. Fifty-four SB2U-Is were ordered on 26 October 1936, and the first example flew on 21 May 1937. The Vindicator was first delivered to Bombing Squadron 3 (VB-3) aboatd the USS Saratoga in December 1937. In January 1938 the US Navy ordered fifty-eight SB2U-2 Vindicators, and later followed this with an order for fifty-seven SB2U-3 examples in September 1939. These, and fifty Vindicators ordered by France, were diverted to Great Britain when war broke out in Europe that same month. In British service the type became known as the V-156B Chesapeake. In the meanwhile, Vought's long experience in building scout and observation aircraft for the US Navy led first to the development of the XOSN-I in 1936, and then to the more successful XOS2U in 1937, to meet a new observation-scout specification. The manufacture of the XOS2U-l was the responsibility of a team of engineers led by Rex B. Biesel, and it was devised as a two-scat, all-metal, lowwing monoplane, powered by a modest 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-4, which was fitted to help the aircraft meet the catapult weight limitations. The prototype flew for the first time on 1 March 1938 as a landplanej it first flew in seaplane form on 19 May that year. A n order for fi ftyfour OS2U-l Kingfishers was placed on 22 May 1939, and deliveries were made during May to November 1940. An order for a further 158 OS2U-2 Kingfishers was placed with Vought on 4 December 1939. Mass production of the Kingfisher series began in July 1941 with the OS2U-3, and eventually some 1,006 examples were built. A further 300 OS2N-1 Kingfishers were constructed by the Naval Aircraft Factory from April to October 1942. This agreement was designed to assist Vought in changing over mass production from Kingfishers to a new, powerful Navy fighter.

On 30 June 1938 the US Navy ordered the Grumman XF5F-1 (picturedl and the Vought XF4U-1. while a third aircraft, the Bell XFl-1. was ordered later. on 8 November. Grumman

The Corsair's main wheels could easily be retracted backwards. as they did on the SB2U-1 Kingfisher scout bomber then in production. and swivelled through 87 degrees flat into the wing (which folded upwards for stowage aboard carriersl. Vought

Enter the F4U Corsair In 1938 the US Navy had decided that the time was long overdue to bring carrierbased aviation up to the same performance level as land-based aircraft. On 30 June

lyman A. Bullard Jr, the chief of flight test at Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft, aloft in the yellow-and-silver-painted XF4U-1 that first flew from the Bridgeport Municipal Airport, Stratford, Connecticut on 29 May 1940. Vought

9

A DREAM IS BORN

A DREAM IS BORN

When this Associated Press photo of an early Corsair was released to British newspapers in 1941 the caption under the heading 'World's fastest Pursuit Plane ... As Bomber-Protector for Britain?' read: 'It is possible that before long. planes of this type may be among those supplied by the US to Great Britain. where its remarkable cruising range will make such planes invaluable as escorts to our bombers during their long flights over Germany: via Philip Jarrett

The prototype XF4U-1 showing to good advantage the air intakes for the oil cooler. and the intercooler for the two-stage. two-speed supercharger in the wing roots. Note the early-style squirrel-cage or birdcage cockpit hood and the gun fairing in the engine cowling.

•

Vought

1938 the US Navy ordered the Grumman XFSF-I and the Vought XF4U-I, while a third aircraft, the Bell XFL-l, was ordered later, on 8 November. The XF5F-l was the first twin-engine, single-scat aircraft to be built for the Navy, while the Bell XFL-1 was a carrier-based version of the P-39 Airacobra. The XFL-I differed in some respects to the P-39, including the installation of a tail wheel in place of the tricycle arrangement. As it turned out, the twin-tailed Grumman machine was delayed by cooling problems to its Wright R-1820-40 Cyclone engi nes, and the prototype did not complete tests until February 1941. After th is setback, more problems were experienced with the aircraft. After just over 200 flights the

XF5F-1 project was abandoned in favour of the XF7F-1, which later became the Tigercat. Equally, the Bell machine, first flown on 13 May 1940, was not proceeded with either. At Vought the F4U-I project came under the wing of C.]. McCarthy, who in March 1940 had been appointed general manager of the Chance Vought Division. Early in 1938 McCarthy, who had worked with the late Chance Vought on the original Corsair, directed Rex B. Beisel and his team, who were already committed to the Vindicator and Kingfisher company projeers, to turn their thoughts to the new carrier-borne fighter project. Beisel's first proposal was the V-166A; it incorporated the Pratt & Whitney R-l340 radial

10

engine, but was not proceeded with. His second proposal was the V-166B: this was designed around the new 1,800hp experimental Pratt & Whitney XR-2800-2 Double Wasp air-cooled radial, with a two-stage, two-speed supercharger; it was submitted to the Bureau of Aeronautics on 8 April 1938. At the time, the huge XR2800-2 engine promised to be the most powerful powerplant available. J ts take-off power alone was rated at 1,850hp at 2,600rpm (Navy pursuits of the day were rated at about 840hp to 1,200hp at best), and it could develop 1,500hp at 2,400rpm at 17,500ft (5,300m). The Pratt & Whitney experimental engine had the potential to make the XF4U-I the Navy's first 2,000hp fighter.

Beisel and his team had to design the smallest possible fuselage around the mighty Double Wasp. Everything possible that could be done to limit drag would have to be incorporated in the design, so use of spot welding and flush riveting was made throughout the external surfaces, and a completely faired-in landing gear greatly reduced the drag penalties. Three gear doors - one on the forward strut and two attached to the wing on either side of the wheel well- ensured that not one part of the main landing gear or tail wheel protruded into the slipstream. Then there was the seemingly insurmountable problem posed by the massive 13ft 4in (4m 6cm) diameter three-bladed propeller that had to be used if the XR-2800-4 engine (that would power the prototype) was to enable the Corsair to attain its optimum design speed.

Gulled Wing Design Meanwhile, the US Army Air Corps tried in vain to influence Pratt & Whitney to get them to develop a liquid-cooled inline engine instead of the air-cooled radial. But Beisel and his team were committed to the XR-2800, although they realized that

Using the gull wing instead of a straight wing made possible the use of a shorter. lighter landing gear than would ordinarily have been possible. via Philip Jarrett

unless they came up with a fairly radical design to accommodate the massive engine's 13ft 4in (4m 6cm) diameter, three-bladed propeller, then its arc would give insufficient ground clearance on both

11

take-off and landing. They could have opted for a much longer landing gear, but that would have been too stilted and too heavy. The solution lay in the XF4U-I wing design, which was gulled downwards,

A DREAM IS BORN

a feature that would also result in less aerodynamic drag at the juncture of wing and fuselage. The gulled wing was achieved by dropping the stub wings at an angle as they left the fuselage, and then the outer wing panels were canted upwards, again with a dihedral of 8 degrees 30 minutes in the outer sections. The stub wings included open vents in their leading edges to allow the passage of cooling air for the engine oil, and air for the supercharger intercooler equipment. Inverted gull wing design was not new. On [7 September 1935 the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation, New Castle, Delaware had been issued a US patent for an inverted gull wing - and in January 1941 Guiseppe M. Bellanca, chairman of the board of governors of that company, considered that Vought might have infringed their patent. The matter remained unresolved until the United Aircraft Corporation successfully pointed out that there were several British patents to the gull design dating back to the late 1920s. Then, both Bellanca, who were anxious not to be seen rocking the boat in time of war when everyone should be 'pulling together', and the Bureau of Aeronautics, which at the behest of Vought had carried out its own investigation, fully exonerated the company from any patent infringements. Using the gull wing instead of a straight wing made possible the usc of a shorter, lighter landing gear than would ordinarily have been possible. Also, the main wheels could easily be retracted backwards (as they did on the SB2U-I Kingfisher scout-bomber then in production) and swivelled through 87 degrees flat into the wing (that folded upwards for stowage aboard carriers). The wing arc joined to the fuselage at 90-degree angles to allow the air to flow smoothly over the wing root/fuselage joint, eliminating the need for a wing fillet. The wings were of all-metal construction and were built as an integral part of the fuselage centre section. The outer wings were made of metal, forward of the spar, and of fabric-covered plywood to the trailing edges. They folded upwards over the cockpit canopy, folding at the elbow of the gull wing. Fabric-covered plywood flaps spanned the width of the stub wings and one half of the distance of the outer wing panels. A ilerons formed the balance of the outer wing panel's trailing edge.

The stub wings included open vents in their leading edges to allow the passage of cooling air for the engine oil, and air for the supercharger intercooler equipment. via Philip Jarrett

This RN Corsair II demonstrates wing folding for stowage aboard carriers. Early in World War II, Britain was desperately short of modern aircraft types for the RAF and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, and so looked to America - 'the arsenal of democracy' - for the supply of many new fighter, bomber and reconnaissance types. When funds quickly ran out, the United States Congress on 11 March 1941 passed the lend-lease Act to enable Britain and the other democracies to acquire American-manufactured aircraft and armaments. One of the naval aircraft types ordered by the British Air Commission was the Corsair, although it was not until mid-1943 that Britain at last began receiving the first models. While the seventy F4U-1 Bs supplied retained their American name, this version became the Corsair I in Fleet Air Arm service. Subsequently, 334 Brewster-built F3A-1s and 535 F4U-1A and F4U-1 D versions became Corsair lis; some F3A-ls and all F3A-lDs (ninety-six aircraft in totall became Corsair Ills; and 930 Goodyear-built FG-1s and FG-1Ds became Corsair IVs. via Philip Jarrett

12

A DREAM IS BORN

The wings featured small bomb cells in the outer wing panels, which in theory would be used to drop twenty 5.2lb (2.4kg) bombs (four in each of five compartments) on formations of enemy bombers, the pilot sighting the bomb-drop through a glass 'teardrop-shaped' panel in the cockpit floor. (This feature was never implemented on production models.) Fuel was carried in four integral tanks located in the wing centre sections and outer panel leading edges, with a total capacity of 273gal 0,24[\). The carburettor air, supercharger intercooler, and oil cooler air inlet ducts were situated at the leading edge of the wings to remove the need for a drag-inducing scoop for each. In flight this layout created a curious high-pitched whistling sound as air was sucked into the ducts. Later, its effect would not be lost on the Japanese, who called the Corsair the 'Whistling Death' after the blood-curdling scream emitted during high-speed dives on their positions. To American troops, particularly the USMC 'grunts' fighting in the Pacific Islands campaign, the 'BentWinged Bird' was their saviour, and the Marines finally dubbed the Corsair the 'Sweetheart of Okinawa'. A .30 calibre and a .50 calibre machine gun were mounted above the massi ve engine, firing through the upper propeller arc, and a .50 calibre machine gun outward of each wing-fold mechanism. The upper fuselage guns had 750 rounds of ammunition each, and each wing gun had 300 rounds of ammunition per gun. Provision was made to replace the wing guns with 23mm Madsen cannons if available. (On 28 November 1940, the Navy asked for a production configuration with increased firepower and fuel capacity.) Everything about the new fighter was massive: it weighed 9,3571b (4,244kg) empty, and measured 31ft [1 in (9m 73cm) with a 41ft [1 in 02m 78cm) wing spread - the largest American fighter yet built. On II June 1938 the Bureau of Aeronautics awarded Vought the contract number 6[544 for a single prototype, and the XF4U-l was assigned Bureau Number (BuNo.) [443. (Beginning in January 1939, United Aircraft Corporation moved Chance Vought Aircraft into a plant shared with the Sikorsky Aircraft Division to become the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Corporation.) The XF4U-I full-scale engineering mockup that would be used in wind-tunnel tests, was inspected by the Bureau of

Aeronautics during 8-[0 February [939, and shortly afterwards, construction of the prototype was given the go-ahead. New manufacturing techniques such as spot welding of aluminium, developed by the Naval Aircraft Factory, would be employed in the construction. Spot welding speeded up mass production because it enabled a structure of heavy aluminium skin and supportS to be built up to form a very strong fuselage and wing framework. By 1 July of that year the basic XF4U-l design was 95 per cent complete. [t was powered by the XR-2800-4, which was an improvement over the earlier -2.

The XF4U Flies After several hours of taxi tests and days of ground engine runs, on 29 May [940 the yellow-and-silver-painted XF4U-I was ready for its first flight at the Bridgeport Municipal Airport, Stratford, Connecticut. Lyman A. Bullard Jr, the chief of flight rest at Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft, would be at the controls. Bullard took the fledgling fighter up to 10,000ft (300m) while executing some very basic standard manoeuvres such as turns, and he cycled the gear and flaps a few times. He then headed away from the airfield to carry out a couple of stalls and to test the cruise power ability. The flight lasted 38min and went mainly without a hitch, although flutter had briefly attacked the elevators, and the spring trim tabs had shimmied off in flight. This had made the aircraft vibrate badly, though it had not prevented Bullard from returning safely to the airport in full control. These were no more than the usual niggling little problems associated with most new aircraft, and indeed others began to manifest themselves during the twomonth flight-test programme.

The XF4U-1 had sticky brakes, bouncy landing gear, and aileron spin, and the experimental fighter was so sleek aerodynamically that it would accelerate to the edge of compressibility, making recovery from extremely steep dives almost impossible. Spinning such a heavy aircraft made recovery exacting and later, during final acceptance tests, the US Navy eliminated the two-turn spin requirement and required that the Corsair be spun only once. Another main concern was engine cooling. Poor fuel distribution from the carburettor caused hot and cold cylinder head temperatures and became a chief concern for Pratt & Whitney chief test pilot, A. Lewis MacLain who flew the development programme on the experimental versions of the R-2800 engine. After its first flight, a second test pilot at Vought-Sikorsky, Boone T. Guyton, took over the test flying of the XF4U-I. All went well during his first four test flights, but on the fiftfl, while performing a series of low altitude cabin pressurization and high-speed cruise tests, low on fuel, the XF4U-1 crashed on the Norwich golf course far to the north-cast of the airfield at Stratford. Guyton was not helped by the weather, which produced heavy rainfalls in the test area. He attempted a short carriertype landing on the fairway, nose high with full flaps and power on, in order to maintain the slowest possible landing approach speed. All was fine until he chopped the throttle and allowed the XF4U-I to float onto the fairway. The aircraft touched down at the relatively high landing speed of around 80 knots and skidded on the wet grass. The brakes proved ineffective on the sl ippery surface and the smooth tyres were unable to get a firm grip. In desperation, Guyton tried to ground-loop the aircraft to prevent it crashing off the edge of the fairway, hut his efforts were in vain. The

Specification - Vought XF4U-l Engine

Pratt & Whitney XR-2800-4: I ,850hp at take-off, I,460hp at 21 ,500ft (6,553m): fuel capacity 273gal (l,2411)

Dimensions

Length 31ft II in (9m 73cm): span 41 ft (12m 50cm): wing area 314sq ft (29sq m): height 15ft 7in (4m 75cm)

Weights

Empty 7,5051b (3,404kg): gross 9,3571b (4,244kg): max. take-off 10,5001b (4,763kg)

Performance

Max. speed 405mph (652km/h), lanJing speeJ 73mph (117km/h): range 850 miles (1,370km) normal, 1,070 miles (1,722km) max: climb 2,660ft (810m)/minure: service ceiling 31,000ft (9,450m)

Armament

2 X .30 cal machine guns above engine, and 2 X .50 cal machine guns in wings: 40 51b (2kg) bombs

13

A DREAM IS BORN

A DREAM IS BORN

Corsair I JT104 of the FAA in flight. via Philip Jarrett

Vought (F4U-1A) Corsair II JT505 of the FAA in flight. via Philip Jarrett

XF4U-1 crashed into a wood and the prototype was catapulted upwards by trees, it then flipped over onto its hack, and slid along rudder first until it hit a tree stump, before finally coming to rest midway down a shallow ravine. Incredihly, Guyton emerged unhurt and was able to scramble out of the crumpled wreckage. But damage to the aircraft was severe, and it looked for a time as if it might have to be written off: one wing had been sheared off, the empennage had been torn (rom the fuselage, and the propeller was smashed - but the main fuselage, engine and undercarriage were relatively unharmed. Vought worked night and day, and they were able to completely rebuild the Corsair: within two months the XF4U-1 was airworthy once again. On I October 1940, Lyman Bullard demonstrated the XF4U-I for USN officials. He flew from Stratford to Hartford, Connecticut at a speed of 405mph

(652kmph), making the Corsair the first single-engine single-scat Navy fighter to fly over 400mph (644kmph). The effects of the achievement were not lost on the Army Air Corps, especially its chief, Major General Henry H. 'Hap' Arnold, who now re-evaluated his stance on the air-cooled radial powerplant. He gave Pratt & Whitney permission to cease development on liquid-cooled, inline engines and to forge ahead instead with radial engine development. On 24 October 1940 the XF4U-1 was delivered to NAS Anacostia for US Navy evaluations. Final US Navy demonstrations were carried out by Boone Guyton at Anacostia during 24-25 February 1941. Much to the delight of the Navy, who were already pleased with the top speed of the new aircraft, their evaluations revealed that, despite its size and weight, the XF4U-1 had an excellent all-round performance, too. The fitting of a new

14

Hamilton Standard Hydromatic airscrew increased effiCiency over the previous propeller arrangement, and power was further boosted by using a 'jet thrust' exhaust system. This, and very high ram pressure recovery by the wing leading edge carburettor air intakes, contributed greatly to the excellent overall performance of the aircraft. At a normal fighter weight of 9,3741b (4,252kg), the Corsair's sea-level rate of climb was 2,600ft (800m) per minute, and its service ceiling 35,500ft (10,800m). Take-off distance in calm conditions was 362ft (110m), and with a 25 knot headwind, just 150ft (46m). It had a range of 1,040 miles (l,673km) at 3,500ft (I ,070m) altitude. On 3 March 1941, Vought received a letter of intent from the Bureau of Aeronautics inviting them to propose a production version of the Corsair. On 2 April 1941, Vought submitted Proposal VS-317, which would become the F4U-1. On 14 june the XF4U-I was flown to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) facility at Langley Field, Virginia. Less than a month later, the XF4U-1 returned to Anacostia, only to be transferred to the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) in Philadelphia, on I August 1941. The XF4U-1 returned to Vought later in August where it remained, with periodic postings to Anacostia and to the NAF. Meanwhile, on 30 june the Bureau of Aeronautics awarded Vought Contract 82811 for 584 F4U-1 production aircraft for the Navy, with initial deliveries to begin in February 1942 (the first production model was actually delivered to the USN on 31 july 1942). Mass production of all types of combat aircraft in America became critical after the japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the action that finally forced the USA into the start of a global war. The Corsair became one of the first combat aircraft to have its production programme expanded, and the VGB programmer - consisting of Vought, oodyear and Brewster - was formed to mass produce the F4U-1. The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was designed as an associate contractor for Corsair production on 1 November 1941. But Brewster's factory at johnsville, Pennsylvania, built only 735 F4U-I s, designated F3A-1 s: these finally began del ivery in April 1943 - and then in july 1944, the US Navy put it out of business. (More than half of Brewster's production was

J

Corsair II JT274 of the FAA. via Philip Jarrett

delivered to the Royal Navy.) Goodyear Aircraft, a division of the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company, joined the programme in December 1941, ami their Akron, Ohio, facility built 3,941 FG-I versions, 35 per cent of all Corsairs built. The production model would differ from the prototype in several respects, not least in having an 'increased length, to more than 33ft 41\in (101m 6cm). At first, two more .50 calibre M-2 machine guns were installed in the wings, while the two machine guns mounted atop the engine cowling were permanently deleted. Later, the four wing guns were increased to six. Each inboard and intermediate .50 machine gun was fed with 400 rounds of ammunition, and the two outboard guns were supplied with 375 rounds apiece. Anti-aircraft bombs and wing-mounted flotation bags were deleted, ami two Mk 41-2 bomb racks and two mounts for 100Ib (45kg) bombs were installed beneath the wings. The increases in wing armament resulted in the leading edge fuel tanks being removed, although the two outer wing panel leading edge fuel tanks, each with a capacity of 63gal (2861), were retained. Experience gained by the Royal Air Force in combat led to the tanks being fitted with a carbon dioxide vapour dilution system. This system inerted the atmosphere above the fuel to preven t

the petrol being ignited by gunfire in combat. F4U-I fuel capacity was replaced with a 237 US-gallon (8961) self-sealing tank (which included a standpipe reserve o( 50gal (2271)) in the fuselage between the engine and the pilot. Mounting this tank ahead of the cockpit and ncar the aircraft's centre of gravity obviated the need for altitude changes as the fuel was used, but the fuselage had to be extended to make room for the fuel tank. The cockpit was therefore moved about three feet (one metre) further back than on the prototype, which in turn made the forward view worse for the pilot, especially during the nose-high landings that were a characteristic of deck landings. Improvements designed to increase pilot visibility over the new 'hose-nose' were rudimentary at best: the number of metal ribs in the jettisonable canopy - nicknamed the 'squirrel cage' or 'birdcage' canopy, so called for the number of reinforcing bars in the sliding cockpit canopy - was reduced, and fuselage cut-outs were introduced behind teardrop-shaped windows as a further aid to vision. After the removal of the wing tanks to make room for the additional guns, new wing fuel cells were installed, which added a (urther 62 US gal (2341) to each wing. Some 15 Sib (70kg) of armour plate was added to the area around the cockpit and oil tank, while the pilot was protected

15

by the addition o( one half-inch thick, laminnred, bullet-proof glass behind the forward windshield. Identification, Friend or Foe (I FF) radar transponder equipment was installed. The wings still retained the use of fabric-covered panels, but by slightly reducing the span of the landing flaps, it was possible to increase the aileron size over and above that on the prototype. This prompted a (aster rate of roll than had been possible on the XF4U-I. The compl icated deflector plate-type flaps as had been used on the prototype were replaced with NACA slotted flaps: these were lighter, and had fewer moving parts as well as giving a higher maximum lift coefficient. Maximum flap deflection was decreased from 60 to 50 degrees to decrease drag in the landing configuration. Modifications were made to the arrestor hook and tail landing gear systems. All of these changes increased the F4U-I's all-up fighting weight to 12,0611b (5,47Ikg). The up-rated Pratt & Whitney R-28008 Double Wasp, which used a manual Eclipse starter cartridge system, was chosen as the pOlverplant for the production model of the Corsair. The -8 produced 2,000hp at 2,700rpm at sea level, and 1,550hp at 2,550rpm at 22,OOOft (6,706m). This high altitude power would give the Corsair a top speed of 417mph (67Ikmph) at 19,000ft (5,79Im), and 397mph (639kmph) at 23,OOO(t (7,000m). The F4U-I had a sea

A DREAM IS BORN

A DREAM IS BORN

level rate of climb of 3,000ft (l,OOOm) per minute, and a service ceiling of 37 ,000ft (l1,300m). Meanwhile, in January 1942 the XF4UI was fitted with the XR-2800-4 engine rated at 1,850hp at 2,600rpm at take-off. Later that month the aircraft was flown to the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for field carrier landing tests on the airfield runways. For five days Navy pilots had the chance to fly the XF4U-1 before the aircraft was returned to the factory. On 12 May 1942 the XF4U-1 left for a twenty-nine day test at NAS Anacostia; it was also used to test future mod ifications on the production Corsair models. The XF4U-1 left the Vought factory on 3 December 1942, and by 30 June 1943 had relocated to the new Flight Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The XF4U-1 spent the remainder of its career at the technical training centre at Norman, Oklahoma, before being snuck from the USN's inventory on 22 December 1943. Meanwhile, at the Stratford, Connecticut plant during the early summer of 1942, the production lines began turning out the first of the F4U-1 models. Boone T. Guyton took the maiden flight of F4U-1 Bu No. 02153, the fourth production F4U-1, on 25 June 1942. The new Corsair notched up a maximum speed of 415mph (668kmph), a sea-level rate of climb of 3,120ft (95Im) per minute, and a service ceiling of 37,000ft (l1,300m).

Problems Mount Bu No. 02156, the seventh production Corsair, was the first to be delivered to the US Navy, at NAS New York, on 15 August 1942. This aircraft was flown aboard the escort carrier USS Sangamon (CVE-26) in Chesapeake Bay by Lt Cdr Sam Porter on 25 September 1942 for carrier qualifications. Porter carried out four landings and four take-offs to determine the Corsair's suitability for carrier-borne operations. Unfortunately it became immediately obvious to the Navy observers that there were a series of landing problems, raising serious doubts as to the aircraft's ability to be used as a future shipboard fighter. Firstly, it was quickly apparent that in the three-point landing attitude the pilot's visibility was impaired by the long round-nosed engine installation. Nor was his visibility helped by his location well aft

of the aircraft fuselage, or by oil from the hydraulically actuated upper engine cowlflaps and engine valve push rods, which deposited a fine film of oil to coat the windscreen. (The individual actuators of each cowl-flap, and the early magnesium rockerbox covers, which tended to warp, leaked oil badly. The cowl-flap problem was finally solved by a modification in December 1942, using one actuator and a cable-and-roller mechanism, while the magnesium rockerbox covers were replaced by aluminium ones, many of them borrowed from F4F Wildcats and PB4Y-I Liberators.) Also, during the slow speed approach to the carrier, when the pilot was given the cut over the deck, the Corsair descended almost stalling onto the flight deck in an attempt to grab an arresting wire, and the F4U-1's 'stiff' main landing gear caused it to bounce very badly after landing: this was because on touchdown the landing gear oleos would compress, and then extend quickly back to full travel, bouncing the fighter into the air again. Other serious problems were caused by the Corsair's unhappy stall characteristics. To start wi th, the huge flaps and low-set tail wheel created a directional stability problem (corrected only later on the production line with the use of an inflatable tail wheel and the fitting of a stilted tail-wheel leg). Also, a sharp fall in the F4U-I's lift curve scope near the stall, combined with the high power and torque of the huge propeller, caused the aircraft to stall suddenly and drop its port wing before the right wing, especially during deceleration. The port wing tended to stall first because of the upwash from the propeller. True, a highly skilled pilot could pre-empt this problem, but it would be beyond the capability of most newly trained carrier pilots, and if the inexperienced pilot tried to regain control after bouncing on the first landing, touching down again with the brakes on could put the aircraft over on its back, with disastrous results. Another annoying malfunction was the 'rudder kick', something that had already occurred during testing of the XF4U-1. It was evident to Vought and the Navy that all these problems would have to be solved, and solved fast, if the Corsair was to go to sea. Vought flight-test and engineering departments went to work quickly to try to remedy the situation, and a series of design changes were suggested and later instituted during production. Vought suggested to

16

the Navy that the top three cowl-flaps be permanently sealed to prevent oil coating the windscreen, and that the individual hydraulic cowl-flap actuators be replaced with a single hydraulic cowl-flap master actuator and mechanical linkage to the remaining cowl-flaps. (Later, pilots would learn to look for rain clouds to give their windscreens a quick wash.) Before agreeing to these modifications, the Navy requested that a test aircraft be flown at military power with the top three cowlflaps opened, and then with them sealed, in order to compare engine-cooling data. As expected, sealing the top three cowl-flaps did not significantly increase cylinder-head temperatures, but it did complicate engine maintenance, in that mechanics had to remove a pair of the mechanical cowl-flap pulleys to gain access to the spark plugs of the top rear cylinder. To cure the stall problems a small, 6in (l5cm) wooden spoiler, or stall strip, was added to the leading edge of the right wing panel just outboard of the machine-gun ports. This refinement effectively spoiled the airflow over the area of the wing immediately behind it, and caused both wings to stall at the same time. Bu No. 02510 became the first F4U-l to be fitted with the 'stall improvement device' and it was delivered to NAS Anacostia and then to the Naval Aircraft Factory for testing. The addition of the spoiler was incorporated continuously from the 943rd Corsair onwards to solve a potentially dangerous flight characteristic. Equally, the 'rudder kick' problem was easily solved, by increasing the length of the tail-wheel strut, which effectively reduced the aircraft's ground clearance angle from 13.5 to 11.5 degrees. This reduced the percent of maximum lift coefficient used for landing, and the down wash angle over the tail. Other problems were not so easily solved. During fl ight testing, a number of F4U-1s were found to have a wing heaviness, which required aileron trim tab deflection of from 8 toW degrees out of the 15 degrees available to achieve level flight at cruising speed. A number of corrective measures were tried until Vought concluded that the problem was the result of manufacturing irregularities in the ailerons that were too small to positively detect. Replacing the ailerons could alleviate wing heaviness, but Vought had to try a number of different pairs before the problem was solved. Beginning with the F4U-4, the company used ailerons fitted with balance

Negotiations and suggestions on the part of the Royal Navy, the US Navy and Vought to turn the 'bent-wing bastard' into a more malevolent carrier aircraft had been an ongoing since the beginning of the year. However, before the flying and operational characteristics could be improved upon, there was a more immediate problem to contend with. Early on the Fleet Air Arm had realized that the Corsair could not be accommodated on the low-ceilinged hangar decks of Royal Navy aircraft carriers. Because of their armoured flight decks, British carriers had only 16ft (4m 87cm) of vertical clearance available on the hangar deck, while the F4U-1 Corsair, with its wings folded, had a height of just over 16ft 2in (4m 93cm). Nevertheless, although the armoured decks of the RN carriers presented something of an immediate problem for the storage of aircraft such as the Corsair, during Japanese kamikaze suicide attacks in the Pacific in 1944-45, it was the American carriers with their largely wooden flight decks that suffered worst. via Philip Jarrett

tahs. In the meantime, Vought engineers corrected the wing heaviness problem by gluing a 1. X 18in (3mm X 46cm) strip of wood to the bottom of the aileron on the wing that rode high. Early on, the Fleet Air Arm had realized that Corsair could not be accommodated on the low-ceilinged hangar decks of Royal Navy aircraft carriers. After discussing the problem with the Royal Navy, on 23 January 1943 the Bureau of Aeronautics instructed Vought to find ways of reducing the F4U-l 's overall height with the wings folded. A month later Rex B. Beisel, then Vought engineering manager, sent the

Bureau then suggested methods of reducing the height of the Corsair so that it could be carried aboard British carriers. Mostly, the suggestions involved retracting the tail wheel, compressing the main gear oleos with the jacking devices, or retracting the tail wheel and deflating the main tyres. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy came up with a much simpler solution of its own: Lt Cdr R. M. Smeeton, RN, of the British Liaison Office, suggested that a reduction of the wingspan, achieved by removing the 8in (20cm) wing-tip panels of the Corsair, be carried out, and the wings faired off with a wooden fillet. Beisel responded by outlin-

17

ing the design difficulties and the numerous re-drafting of drawings that would result if such a proposal were adopted, but the Royal Navy won the day. Smeeton sought and obtained data from Vought proving that in theory, removing the wing-tips would not greatly affect the Corsair's performance. Actually, although the clipped wing-tips increased take-off distance in a 25-knot head wind by 15ft (4.5m), the change produced a slightly increased stall speed, which gave the pilot more of a warning buffet before stalling and less roll after the stall. They would also improve manoeuvrability at lower altitudes.

A DREAM IS BORN

FAA Corsairs in a hangar deck aboard a British carrier. via Philip Jarrett

Smeeton's recommendations were approved on 16 July 1943. The revised wing-tip design would be carried out on Bu No.17952 (British serial JT270). Aircraft prior to JT270 would be modified retrospectively by Blackburn Aircraft in England and by Andover Kent Aviation orporation of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Another British improvement was the fitting of small air-scoops to the fuselage sides to help prevent life-threatening carbon monoxide fumes accumulating in the fuselage abaft the cockpit. It was thought that, because the exhaust stubs were flush with the engine cowlings, they were not throwing the expelled gases clear of the forward end of the fuselage. Later, British-type VHF radio equipment was also installed in the Corsair. Altering the Corsair's landing characteristics proved more difficult, and Programme Dog was instituted to modify the landing gear quickly and get the Corsair carrier qualified. The programme ran a whole year before the problem was finally solved. Then it was a case of simply replacing the landing gear oleo's Schrader valve with a Chance Vought valve and increasing the strut's air pressure, something that took just ten days, although it took much longer to implement. This changeover was incorporated on all production line

aircraft, and was performed on Corsairs during major overhauls. A side benefit of this modification was a reduction of 20ft (6m) in the F4U-1 's take-off distance in a 25-knot headwind. Meanwhile, Vought was requested by the Navy to redesign the tail-wheel yoke so that it raised the Corsair's tail 6in (I Scm) and improved pilot visibility on the ground. At the same time, the arresting hook-down angle was changed from 75 to 65 degrees to prevent the Corsair from 'sitting on the hook in a full stall landing'. Bu No. 02557, the 404th F4U-I, became the first Corsair with the extended tail wheel, and it was delivered to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 8 September 1944. Bu No. 02161, the ninth F4U-I built, was delivered to the NACA fullscale wind tunnel at Langley, Virginia, to find ways of reducing the drag. NACA recommended the installation of smoothsurface wing walkways and smoother wing surfaces, plus smoother, tighter fitting wing access doors; and the addition of aileron gap seals and an arrestor hook cut-out fairing. The Navy soon carried out all of NACA's drag-reducing recommendations except for the aileron gap seals. The tail hook was partially faired over with the extension of the tail wheel gear door, enclOSing the hook up to the last six inches.

18

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Aeronautics wanted the pilot's seating position raised to increase visibility; this was done, but on 27 February 1943 Vought requested that a different model designation he given to Corsairs with the raised seating modification. This was duly carried out hy the Bureau of Aeronautics, and the new model hecame known as the F4U-IA: it featured a semi-bubble canopy with only two reinforcing bars in the upper surface of the hlown glass structure, replacing the F4U-I's 'squirrel cage' or 'birdcage' canopy. However, there was a war on, and the Bureau of Aeronautics requested that the -I A modifications 'be incorporared in the earliest airplanes in which it can be made without seriously affecting production'. Bu No. 02557, the 689th F4U-I, served as the prototype aircraft, with the seating raised 9in (23cm) and a semibubhle canopy; the new scat raised the pilot's line of sight Sin (13cm). Bu No. 17647 was the first F4U-I A production model to have the raised cabin. In all, forty-two significant changes were made on the F4U-IA production run, many of the major ones being to the cockpit. As we have seen, the pilot's scat could be raised and lowered approximately 9in (23cm), and it incorporated an armoured headrest. The control stick was

Brewster Corsair advertisement in 1944. The Corsair became one of the first combat aircraft to have its production programme expanded. and the VGB programmer consisting of Vought. Goodyear and Brewster was formed to mass produce the F4U-1. AIr News

19

~

:x.

CORSAIR

FIGHTERS

•

BUCCAN EER

•

ABOVE: Chance Vought Corsair advertisement in Flying, October 1943. Flymg

~

RIGHT: Brewster advertisement in October 1943. Flying

" 20

21

•

AN D.

BERM UOA

DIVE

80M 8ERS

A DREAM IS BORN

A DREAM IS BORN

.........

-\

a,;;a;;'

_f~S'~

--

r

o

Brewster F3A-1 (F4U-1! showing the early framed canopy, and bomb attachments beneath the wings. Brewster

lengthened, and the rudder/brake pedals were revised. There was a new instrument panel, gunsight, and turtle deck and cockpit armour plating; and the overturn structure was reinforced. Despite all the last-minute changes, the Navy had decided that the Corsair was not suitable for carrier operations, and it would be the US Marine Corps that would introduce the F4U-l to combat. A Corsair modification centre was formed at San Diego as Air Base Croup Two, Fleet Marine Force West Coast, commanded by Col Stanley Ridderhoff. Vought field service manager Jack Ilospers supervised the incorporation of 159 changes that went on right around the clock to get the Corsair combat-ready in time. And time was short. The changes went from the sublime, such as having to add a rear-view mirror to the canopy, to the extreme. Other pressing problems centred on the master brake cylinders, which had to be modified, and also the engine ignition harness had to be improved for operation at altitude. The horizontal stabilizer in the tail needed to be reinforced, and the rudder control horn attachments to the rudder needed to be strengthened. Changes also had to be made to improve the belt feed of the .50-calibre machine guns. The duct seals between the engine and intercoolers ami to the carburettor had

to be improved, and the attachments fastening the fuselage fuel tank to the bulkheads had to be reinforced. Also, the hydraulic engine cowl-flap controls had to be replaced with mechanical controls. The ignition harness problems, and problems with the radios, were not rectified by the time VMF-I 24 left for the South Pacific,

and kits to correct both had to be fitted in the field at Espiritu Santo. Nevertheless, most of the other myriad problems were alleviated, if not solved completely. Marine squadron VMF-124, commanded by Major William Cise, at Camp Kearney, California, received its first Corsair on 7 September 1942, although it

ABOVE: A Corsair being tested at Stratford in 1942.

Vl.ught RIGHT: Engineers at work on the Corsair's massive

Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine. USMC

was not declared fully operational until lhree months later. In October, VF-12, wmmanded by Lt Cdr Joseph 'Jumping Jlle' Clifton, became the first USN Corsair squadron to be formed, at NAS North Island, California. However, after navalI :ed Corsairs had been declared unser\'tceable for use aboard carriers, the inrended Corsairs were soon replaced by F6F Hellcats. The USMC - the 'Flying Leathernecks' - would take the Corsair to war. VMF-124, which had priority for Corsairs, departed for the South Pacific in January 1943, arriving on Cuadalcanal on 12 February 1943.

c.

The Stratford Corsair assembly plant in full swing. Vought

22

23

LAND AND SEA

Specification - Vought F4U-l

CHAPTER TWO

Engine

Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8 (B) Double-Wasp 18-cylinder two-row radial; 1650 hp at 21,000fr (MOOm); fuel capacity 237-537gal (l,077-2,4411)

Dimensions

Land and Sea

Length 33ft 4in (lOm 16cm); span 41 ft (12m 50cm); wing area 314sq ft (29sq m); height 16ft lin (4m 90cm)

Weights

Empty 8,9821b (4,074kg); gross 12,039Ib (5,460kg); max. 14,0001b (6,350kg)

Performance

Speed 417mph (671kmfh) at 19,900ft (6,065m), 359mph (578kmfh) at sea level, 182mph (293km~1) cruising, 87mph (l40km/h) landing; range 1,015 miles

SuJJenly Zeros were all around us. Their big reJ meatballs flasheJ angrily in the sun. If they fired, I didn't see any tracers. We knew Zeros couldn't dive with the Corsairs, especially if they feared that other American planes were Jown there. Their arrack endeJ as quickly as it had starreJ. The Zeros disappeareJ for good. USMC Corsair pilot, Wallace B. Thomson VMF-211

VMF-124 'Checkerboards' had received its first Corsair on 26 October, and was hurriedly brought up to strength. On 28 December 1942, although its twenty-two F4U-l Corsairs were not strictly combat ready and none of its pilots was combat experienced, VMF-124 was declared operational. Such was the urgency of the situation in the South Pacific that the Marines, with or without their Corsairs, were shipping out in january, and if the F4Us had to be picked up at Pearl Harbor en route, then that was how it would be. As at31 December 1942 the US Navy had a grand total of just 178 Corsairs, having accepted fifty-five aircraft in November and sixty-eight F4U-ls in December. Early in january 1943 VMF-124, commanded by Major William E. Gise, sailed from San Diego, California, for New Caledonia in the Loyalty Islands aboard an unescorted passenger ship. Meanwhile its Corsairs were freighted and shipped via Espirito Santo in the New Hebrides, to Guadalcanal, a hilly, tropical, junglecovered island in the Solomon Group where, in july, the japanese had started building an airfield on the Lunga Plain. When Lunga airfield. was complete the japanese could send land-based bombers on raids on the New Hebrides for a thrust southwards. The small islands of T ulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo enclose Guadalcanal. As earl y as April 1942 T u19ai had been deemed the number one American objective in the Solomons. The deep and spacious harbour, with air cover from Guadalcanal, presented the japanese with an excellent naval base to threaten the

lifeline to Australia. Guadalcanal was captured by US Marines in August 1942, and the captured airstrip was renamed Henderson Field after the commander of the USMC dive-bombers at Midway; and from then on the 'Cactus Air Force' as it was known, gradually took shape. Further japanese and USMC reinforcements arrived on Guadalcanal in September and October 1942, and the fierce fighting carried on into November 1942, with air attacks on Guadalcanal and the neighbouring islands of Tulgai, Gavutu and T anambogo. One of the most frequent American aerial missions was against the 'Tokyo Express', the japanese transport and combat ship task force that plied the 'Slot' (the channel between New Georgia and Santa Isabel Islands north-west of Guadalcanal) almost nightly to reinforce their hard-pressed ground troops on the embattled island. The enemy then built a new airfield at Ondongo in a coconut grove on the New Georgia Islands at Munda. In the local language, Ondongo meant the 'Place of Death'. Army Air Force bombers and fighters made many air raids on these enemy bases and others in the Solomons area, at Rabaul, Bougainville and the Russell Islands. On 4 january 1943 the japanese Imperial Staff finally issued orders for the evacuation of Guadalcanal to begin.

'Fighting Squadron 12' and 'Blackburn's Irregulars' On 9 january 1943 VF-12 (Fighting Squadron 12) was commissioned at San Diego under the command of Lt Cdr 'jumping joe' Clifton, with Cdr H. H. Caldwell as CAG (Commander, Air Group). Five days later VF-12 received its first ten F4U-ls, and the unit was declared operational. By 25 january the Navy squadron had twenty-two Corsairs on strength. Fighting Squadron 12 moved to Hawaii preparatory to moving to New Caledonia because, unlike VMF-124,

24

VF-12 not only had to convert to the Corsair, it also had to practise carrier landings, even though it was destined as a land-based Corsair squadron. VF-12 lost seven pilots while training on the Corsair, four of them in an early morning storm. At the same time Vought engineers were still wrestling with the myriad problems that were still troubling Corsair operation aboard carriers. Pilots disliked the Eci ipse 'shotgun' starters (later replaced with electric starters), and the flap blow-up feature and the battery installation were proving unpopular. Leaking cowl-flap cylinders also adued to the general mistrust. To improve landing stability, larger tailwheel bearings were used on F4U-Is, and two Corsairs were fitted with pneumatic tail wheels on longer struts and tested by VF-12 on the escort carrier USS Core (CVE-13). There was some improvement on carrier landings, but the tail wheels tended to blowout. VF-12 considered the Corsair tricky to fly, with a bad stalling characteristic, and the aircraft was soon dubbed the 'Hog' because it was about as co-operative as a 'hog on ice'. An F4U-l was written off aboard the Core, and another crashed trying to land on board the USS Enterprise near Hawaii. Inflatable tail wheels that were supposed to aid Corsair stability on landing, proved more of a hindrance when several began bursting during hard landings. These, and the other well documented carrier landing problems, hardly won over the Corsair pilots; but the overriding problem, and the one that would prevent VF-12 raking the Corsair to sea, was the lack of a supply of spare parts on board the carriers. By the time VF-12 sailed aboard the USS Saratoga from Hawaii in july 1943, F6F Hellcats had replaced the Corsairs for combat sea duty. VF-17 became the second Navy squadron to operate the Corsair, and in February 1943 began receiving their first F4U-ls for training at NAS Norfolk, Virginia. Its CO, Lt Cdr john T. Blackburn, had previously led VGF-29 in

(I,633km) normal, 2,220 miles (3,570km) ferry; climb 2,890ft (880m)/minute; service ceiling 36,900ft (l1,250m) Armament

6 X 0.50 calibre machine guns in wings with 2,350 rounds; I X 1,000lb (450kg) bomb 01' 8 X Sin (13cm) rockets

Operation T Q1'ch, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, and had been a flight instructor at NAS Miami (Opa Locka). When Blackburn assumed commanu of VF-l 7 he recru ited fellow instructor Lt Cdr Roger R. Hedrick as his l'xecutive officer. VF-17 were to become fully operational on the improved F4UIAs, anu woulu take them to sea aboaru the new Essex-class escort carrier USS Bunker Ifill (CV- I 7), that would make its shakedown cruise in july. The pilots of VF-17 were high-spirited, rugged individuals with little or no combat experience. They were thrilled with their new 'hot' planes, and flew them under bridges and ~kimmed the waters near the fleet at every opportunity. 'Flat-hatting', or low-level flymg, and other hell-raising escapades soon l'arned them the nickname 'Blackburn's Irregulars'. Ensign Howard M. 'Teeth' Burriss ran a truck off a highway while playing 'chicken' m an inverted Corsair, while Ensign Ira 'Ike' Kepford upset the good people of Norfolk when he and an Army P-51 Mustang pilot entered into a low-level dogfight overhead. In March 1943 VF-17 were ordered to leave town, and 'Blackburn's Irregulars' relocated to NAAS (Naval Auxiliary Air Station) Manteo, on the coast near Kitty Hawk, North Carol ina, where they completed their pre-carrier training. During training at Manteo, VF17 lost six pilots, including two who collided in mid-air during gunnery practice. 'Blackburn's Irregulars' worked hard to hreak in their wild Corsairs, and they helped improve some of the F4U-ls more alarming traits; for instance, they softened the shock of landing by changing the fluidair mixture in the oleo compression cylinders. Lt (jg) Merl W. 'Butch' Davenport, VF-I7's engineering officer, partly devel-

oped the new wing anti-stall device, and pilots tried to overcome the restricted view out of the 'birdcage' canopy by sitting on two, and even three parachute cushions. In combat they knew they would not be able to see 'diddly-squat' from the birdcage, and the situation only really improved when VF-17 received the F4U-IA with the semi-bubble canopy. But VF-I7's freespirited aviators were prepared to forgive the Corsair its faults because more than anything else they wanted to fly them in combat as soon as possible. Operating from land bases, 'Blackburn's Irregulars' had broken in the Corsair; but then on 1 May there was a portent of things to come. Tom Blackburn, with the ski lied LSO, Shailer 'Catwalk' Cummings, made the first real carrier landing on a simulated carrier landing area marked off on a concrete runway. VF-I7's CO approached at 90 knots, chopped the throttle, hit the 'deck' - and bounced about 20 ft (6m) into the air! Blackburn made further opera-

tiona I tests in the Chesapeake Bay using the jeep carrier Charger (ACV-30), a converted merchantman. Once his pilots had had sufficient flight time in the Corsair, they began their initial carrier landing qualifications (carquals) on Charger. It proved difficult landing a Corsair on the jeep carrier's 50ft (ISm) deck, and there were mishaps along the way; but they mastered it, encouraged by the knowledge that the Essex-class deck of the Bunker Hill was that much larger. During their land-based training, formation loops involving between eight and twelve F4U-ls at a time was not uncommon - but Blackburn had one grand finale in mind. While en route to Boston for the Bunker Hill commissioning on 23 May 1943, Blackburn led his formation of twenty-five F4Us over New York, and they all dropped down and flew under the Brooklyn Bridge! Bunker Hill cleared the ways at Quincy, Massachusetts in june, and shortly arrived off Norfolk, where VF-I7's Corsairs welcomed the carrier in style, three eightplane flights buzzing her from three different directions. On 7 july 1943 VF-17, now part of CAG-17 (Carrier Air Group 17), were embarked aboard the Bunker Hill for her shake-down cruise to Trinidad's 30by 70-mile (50 km by 112km) Gulf of Paria Bay. (CAG-17 also included the Avengers of VT-17, and the troublesome SB2C Helldivers of VB-17 and VS-17.) Carrier operations concentrated minds wonderfully, and bouncing over the barrier wire and flipping over or crashing into the parked aircraft ahead became commonplace. On final approach the Corsair's elongated nose made it difficult for pilots to

:::::~~-, One of VF-1Ts F4U-1s on the USS

ChargerlACV-301. a converted merchantman,

during carrier landing qualifications. March 1943. USN via Lee Cook

25

~ --

---

LAND AND SEA

No. 21 is prepared for a catapult launch from the USS via Lee Cook

Charger (ACV-30)

LAND AND SEA

see the landing signal officer. If a pilot opened h is fourteen cowl-flaps, they cut down forward visibility to almost zero; but if he left them closed, the engine quickly overheated. Soon, F4U performance was judged in some circles to be 'too hot' for deck operations - and on occasion, so too were the pilots: one VF-17 pilot was grounded for a few days after making a barrel rollover the flight deck! Other problems manifested themselves on the voyage. Engines and propellers were changed frequently. It was found that Corsair's arrestor hook simply snapped when it came into contact with the steel drain channels on landing. When the hook caught a barrier wire the F4U-l's tail was lifted clear of the deck, and if the pilot missed the arresting wire the hook caught a drain channel and snapped. This problem was solved with a redesigned hook. Sadly, although many of the Corsair's other faults had also been overcome by a combination of squadron ingenuity and Vought adaptability, in the final analysis the Navy brass would decide that the aircraft had not gained its sea legs, and so VF-I7's valiant quest to become the first USN unit to go to war at sea with the Corsair would be in vain. At first the omens had appeared to be good. On 10 August, VF-17 returned to Norfolk aboard the Bunker Hill, and CAG 17 returned to shore bases wh ile the carrier and the squadrons were brought up to combat readiness. By 26 August VF-17 had received thirty-six new, raised-cockpit F4U-IAs; these embodied many of the modifications recommended, carried out as a result of the shake-down cruise to the Caribbean. In deference to the Corsair's 'Hog' nickname, Torn Blackburn's call sign became 'Big Hog', and he had the name painted on the tail of his personal F4U-l, Bu No. 17649 'White 1'. On 10 September, when VF-17 and the rest of CAG-17 left Norfolk for the south-west Pacific aboard the Bunker Hill, each of the Corsairs had a small 'skull and crossbones' motif painted on its engine cowling. VF17 was going to war - or so they thought!

in Chesapeake Bay, May 1943.

USN

One of VF-l7's F4U-1s successfully catches the wire on the deck of the USS Charger during landing qualifications, March 1943. USN via Lee Cook MIDDLE: An F4U-1 of VF-17 is brought up on deck aboard the USS Charger, March 1943. USN via Lee Cook LEFT: It was no easier on the USS Bunker Hill ICV-17) in July 1943. USN via Lee Cook

TDP:

One of VF-l7's F4U-1 Corsairs picking up the barrier cable and flipping over onto its back during initial carrier landing qualifications (carquals) aboard the USS Charger in May 1943. It proved difficult landing a Corsair on the jeep carrier's 50ft (15m) deck, and there were mishaps along the way. USN via Lee Cook

26

27

LAND AND SEA

LAND AND SEA

The carrier sailed south off the east coast of the USA and on through the Panama Canal to San Diego, California, before heading westward to Hawaii on 28 September. A few days out, however, orders were received detaching VF-17 from CAG-17, and their beloved Corsairs were to be put ashore upon arrival at Pearl Harbor on Oahu. The 'Jolly Rogers' could remain aboard the Bunker Hill and fly F6F Hellcats if they wanted- but to a man, VFITs dejected pilots voted to retain their F4U-IAs. When Bunker Hill docked at Pearl Harbor on 2 October, their beloved orsairs were flown ashore to Ford Island - next to wh ich, on 7 Decem bel' 1941, the Japanese had decimated 'Battleship Row'to await onward transportation to the Solomon Islands. VF-17 was replaced aboard the Bunker Hill by VF-18, equippcd with the F6F. (Bunker Hill and CAG 17 first went into action on 11 November with a strike on Rabaul.) A perceived shortage of spares in the fleet supply line (which was full of parts for the hundreds of Grumman fleet fighters, but not for one squadron of thirty-six fighters of a different type) was further justification that the Corsair was not yet ready for combat operations aboard US carriers. Nevertheless, although they were short of one or two important items, the USMC Corsairs in fact had all the spares they needed.

More fun and high jinks. USN via Lee Cook

Go Tell It to the Marines! VMF-124 arrived on Guadalcanal on 12 February 1943 with twelve Corsairs. The most experienced of VMF-I24's pilots had accumulated just twenty hours on the new fighter. An hour after landing at their airstrip, called 'Cactus', the dozen Corsairs were tasked to fly CAP (Combat Air Patrol) over the island and escort a PBY Catalina on a nO-mile (370km) rescue flight to Sandfly Bay on Vella Lavclla to rescue two downed F4F pilots. The following day, 13 February, the Marine Corps orsairs were plunged into action when they were chosen in favour of the relatively shorter-ranged Navy F4F Wildcats as long-range escorts for US Navy PB4YI Liberators, to make the 300-mile (480km) trip to bomb shipping in Buin Harbor. No enemy fighters appeared.

Ensign F. A. 'Andy' Jagger in F4U-117-F-26 has a hook-point failure landing aboard the USS Bunker Hill, on 26 July 1943. USN via Lee Cook

Next day, 14 February, VMF-124's Corsairs saw action for the first time when they joined PAO Warhawks and P- 38 Lightnings in an escort for PB4Y-1 Liberators raiding Kahili airfield on Rougainville Island. But it was hardly an auspicious debut. In what became known ,IS the 'St Valentine's Day Massacre', the force encountered fifty Mitsubishi A6M 7ero fighters, which shot down two of VMF-124's Corsairs flying middle-level escort cover, all four P-38s flying top cover, and two P-40s flying low cover; two of the PR4Y-ls were also brought down, and one of the American pilots was strafed in the water after he had ditched. For the enemy, only three Zeros were shot down, and a fourth collided with one of the downed Corsairs. Even so, despite this setback, the signs were that the Corsair could more than hold its own, and it soon hecame obvious in combat with Zeros that if the American pilots had the advantage of altitude, the Corsair largely had the upper

TOP: F4U-1s of VF-17 on a training flight in the US in

1943. via Philip Jarrett MIDDLE: It Ijgl Clement D. 'Timmy' Gile leading a

flight of F4U-1 Corsairs of VF-17 off Manteo, North Carolina, in the spring of 1943. Note that the censor has tried to obliterate the '17' on the sides of the fuselage. Gile was credited with eight victories, including three Zekes shot down in one day, 17 November 1943, at Empress Augusta Bay. He received two DFCs and three strike/flight Air Medals (for fifteen combat missionsl. He was WIA on 18 March 1945 flying in VBF-10 aboard the Intrepid. USN via Mike Bailey LEFT: Carquals complete, in August 1943 VF-17

received thirty-six new raised-cockpit F4U-IAs and sailed aboard the Bunker Hill from the east coast of the USA and on through the Panama Canal, to San Diego, California, before heading westward to Hawaii on 28 September. USN via Lee Cook

28

29

LAND AND SEA

LAND AND SEA

hand: the Zero could neither out-rurn, outdive nor out-climb the American fighter. However, VMF-124 was encountering problems with their Corsairs. There was limited visibility out of the 'birdcage' canopies, there were engine ignition faults, and the nose-high attitude on landing, together with the shorL tail-wheel strut, caused more difficulties. On I April 1943 the Japanese 'I' Oreration started, and the first big battle between the Corsairs and Japanese aircraft occurred during attempts by Sea Bees to build a landing strip at Banik
Dauntlesses and a dozen Avengers on a raid on Japanese shipping off Buin. 2nd Lt Ken Walsh brought down a Ze!<e and a Mitsubishi Pete float biplane. In all, the Corsairs destroyed fifteen of the enemy aircraft. Two days later, on 7 June, Corsairs were among US fighters that intercepted 112 Japanese aircraft on a raid to Guadalcanal, and the Marine Corps pilots claimed twenty-three enemy aircraft shot down. VMF-112 destroyed seven of the enemy, but four Corsairs and a RNZAF P40 were lost. All the downed US rilots were rescued, although Lt Sam Logan of VMF-112 had lost most of one leg after a ero rilot had shot at him as he dangled helrlessly in his chute, and having missed, tried to chor him in half with his rropeller. On 16 June, about 120 Ze!<es and Vals made a final daylight raid on Guadalcanal, attacking shipping between the island and Tulagi. Corsairs of VMF-121, VMF-I22 and VMF-124 claimed eight enemy aircraft destroyed. Altogether 107 Japanese air-craft were shot down, eighty by defending fighters and the remainder by anti-aircraft fire. Six US aircraft and five pilots were lost. On 30 June the USM squadrons supported the US landings at Rendova and Vangunu in the New Georgia Island group. Four Corsair squadrons of thirty-two F4Us in all, though heavily outnumbered, claimed fifty-eight Japanese aircraft shot down in three determined enemy attacks on the landing beaches. VF-21 claimed thirty

It Kenneth A. Walsh of VMF-124. the first Corsair ace. shortly after recording his fifth victory. which took place on 13 May 1943 when he shot down three Zekes 15 miles (24km) east of the Russell Islands. Walsh finished the war with twenty-one confirmed victories. twenty of them with VMF-124 on F4U-1 Corsairs. and one with VMF-222 on 22 June 1945. flying the F4U-4. USMC

30

,lIrcraft, while P-40 Warhawks destroyed ,tnllther cleven enemy planes. Fourteen US fighters were shot down, with seven of the pilots lost. On 2 July, VMF-123 'Eight Balls' flew its first mission after converting to Corsairs, hringing the number of USMC Corsair squadrons in the Solomon Islands to eight. hve days later, on 7 July, twelve Jaranese hllmbers escorted by sixty Zeros attempted tll sink the US invasion ships off Rendova bLind. Intercepted by the Corsairs of VMF-I22, VMF-I21 and VMF-22I, sixIl'l'n Ze!<es and Bettys were claimed shot dllwn, and the raid was broken up. Meanwhile, seventy-eight US bombers l'scorted by forty-four Corsairs and sixtynine P- 38s, PAOs, and F4F-4s, bombed shipping in the Kahili area at Bougainville tn a surprise raid. During three Japanese raids, on 11, 14 ,tnd 15 July, VMF-213 added to their score 'l{ enemy fighters destroyed. On the 15th the Corsairs of the newly formed ComAir New Georgia claimed fOrLy.four Japanese ,lIrcraft destroyed, fourteen of them by VMF- I22 in a fifteen-minute air battle. Nllt to be outdone, eight Corsairs ofVMF213 claimed another sixteen victims. On 17 July the four Corsair squadrons, rarL of lhe escort covering almost eighty SBDs, TBFs and PB4Y-Is against enemy shirping ,It Kahil i, claimed forty-one of the fifty-t wo l'nemy aircraft reported destroyed during the raid. On 26 July, ten PB4Y-Is bombed Kahili airfield after twenty-one Marine Corsairs had strafed the area with their machine guns. Four days later, nine of the Navy Liberators, escorted by sixty-two lIghters including F4U-1 Corsairs, bombed Ballale Island, a few miles south of Kahili. On 14 August, the Corsairs ofVMF-123 ing left to right. Tracers were chasing him,

pit canopy slid back in quick response to manual

expected ro see them so soon. An undeter-

and a glance down their path led me ro ohserve

movement. I unsnapped my safety belt and then

mined number of bombers were discernihle in

leader catch fire, the two wingmen partly broke

a very unfriendly fellmv, the red 'meatball' easy

barrel-rolled the aircraft ro the right. This type

close formation, and many flyspecks could be

formation to allow him ro (all down and behind

to sec from the side vicw.

them. I quickly shi(ted my aim to the left

of roll was intentional: the centrifugal force

seen above them, obviously the enemy fighter

Y01! can't do Ihal to my wingman' I reversed my

would hold me in the seat until the Corsair was

escort. I turned my flight slightly to the right

[0

wingman and I was able to give him a two,

turn to hring my guns to hear on the enemy. The

upside down. Once inverted, a hard push for-

continue our climb perpendicular to the japs'

second burst before having ro push my stick forward to avoid a collision with him. lie,

Zero was slightly out of range, and hoth he and

ward on the stick sent the plane in an inverted

course. This manoeuvre was calculated to put

Sims were flying a nearly straight and level

climb and catapulted me downward into space.

us 1,000ft 1300mJ above the enemy bombers

exactly like his leader, began to belch hlack

The jap pilots did not appear to see us as,

course, but it was imperative that I shoot the jap

My radio conneerions broke loose easily. It may

when we wcre close enough to attack.

smoke (rom his left engine. A. flash to my left attracted my gaze, and I was exhilarated to see

march speeds with my powerless

without conscious thought, I turned my power-

quickly because he had already had ample

sound like a complex procedure, but it worked

The enemy leader apparently did not like

beast. Remembering that the raw, unburned gas

less machine rowards them. My aerions were

chance to hurt Sims. My rate of closure was

great. I felt an instant pleasure to be in the open,

what he saw, because a few seconds later his for-

my first target, the leader, disintegrating as the

must he prevented from fouling the plugs until

based purely on the hest means of survival,

slow, so I decided ro try some long-range shoot-

breathing clean air again, and I enjoyed the quiet

mation commenced a right turn, and at the

engine fire ignited his gas tanks.

[0

a spark returned, I cut off the carhuret[Or

rather than from heroic intentions. I knew my

ing: if he could not he fatally hit, my hullets

fall through space. The silence reminded me of

same time all of the bombers began to hatch

Wise tactics and a desire to get out of range

mixture control on the throttle quadrant. Since

guns would work, so my plan was ro get a cou-

would at least sccne him into Icaving my

wing~

the unwanted stillness I had experienced just a

eggs. From our location in the sky it was evident

of enemy rail gunners prompted me to continue

I had no way of knowing when the electricity

ple of japs head-on since I had the altitude

man alone. Surprise and exhilararion surged

short while ago while trying to coax my dead

the bombs would not fall anywhere near Allied

my dive helow rhe hostile homher (ormation, so

might he routed through the spark plugs again,

advantage, for the moment ,1Il)'way; then there

through me as the jap exploded from a three-

engine back ro life. After counting a short ten

positions; furthermore, it was not normal for big

2,000ft 1600ml below the Bettys I levelled out

seconds, I pulled the ripcord.

I had

guess. I decided to put on the mixture

would he fewer to bother me in my continued

second burst of my machine guns. I must have

when I felt the timing was right, and if the

glide [Owards the water. Moreover, experience

hit him

engine started, the prohlem was solved. If not,

had taught us that the enemy would usually

crossed before reaching him; they were set to

the mixture control must come off again and

scatter in confusion if attacked first.

converge at 900ft 1300ml.

[0

more precious seconds wasted until time for the

at

about I ,200ft 1370m], as my tracers

While moving my control stick to commence

But while concentrating on Sims' tonnenror,

the attack I unconsciously moved the mixture

Reinburg landed in the sea and took to his life-raft. Eventually the destroyer Woodworth picked him up, and after three days on board he was landed back at Guadalcanal.

airplanes to bomb from a turn. It therefore

parallel to the north-west course they had

seemed obvious that our sudden appearance

settled on. My speed was quite a bit faster than

had caused the enemy ro abandon the mission

the enemy bombers, and it was easy to keep

and run for home - and in scaring the Japs into

track of them above and behind me in the

abandoning their attack, the bigger part of our

Corsair's

rc:u~vicw

mirror.

9,000ft

control up to the auto-rich position - and was

I had neglected to notice ajap fighter closing on my tail in much the same manner as I had

13,000ml. I began ro get really concerned. A

surprised and elated when my engine roared to

stalked my now defunct victim. The sudden

water landing was becoming a definite possibil-

life, at full power. Those 2,000 horses made

silence of my own guns revealed that bullers

ity so I jerked off my uncomfortahle oxygen

sweet music ro my ears, and the fight was on.

were dancing on and about my machine, indi~

mask. By then I had made three tries to revive

But the Zero leader had now seen me and was

cating that my attacker had apparently heen

wingman, Sims, had returned safely in spite of

bombers had completed 90 degrees o( their turn

hut none did. I had also expected some Zeros

the dead engine (by moving the mixture con-

manoeuvring directly towards mc, and we were

shooting at me almost as long as I had heen

about twenty bullet holes in his Corsair. When

when we werc ready to attack from abovc, on

to join me in an attempt to carry out their

trol to the auto-rich position), hut with no suc-

coming at each othef, almost head~on, at a ref;

doing the same to his friend. A glance in my

I next saw him, I asked: 'We jumped eight

their left side. I knew we had to hurry, as the

bomber protection mission. By their absence, I

cess. While the mixture was off, and before my

rific closing rate. However, I was ready for him:

rear~view mirror confirmed his presence.

Zeros. I got four, how many did you get?'

Zero fighters must have seen us, and would soon

,lssumed that they and my friends had come ro

attack with an altitude advantage.

hlows back at our original point of contact.

next try. While

gliding

down

through

I

mission was accomplished. Of course, it was also

Our radio circuit was squealing unintelligible

pleasing to attempt to destroy the twin-engined

noises caused by many (riendly pilots all trying

bomhers so they could not return and try again.

to get their particular important messages heard

belongings (no one on 'Canal expected me

Upon seeing the enemy's change of plans, I

simultaneously. I allowed a couple of minutes

hack), I was happy to be informed that my

altered our climbing course to the left. The

for my flight to join me at the safer lower level,

After recovering some o( my confiscated

fourth try, I saw a fOrmi:Hion of airplanes ahead

I placed my gunsight pipper just in front of him

instinctively rammed my stick forwards to get

Sims said apologetically: 'Gosh, I didn't get

and slightly below, coming toward us.

ro allow for the proper lead, and squeezed the

below his line of fire, a technique that had

any because I was getting the hell shot outta

It was now easy to see that there were fifteen

I counted eight aircraft and was then sure, by

trigger at about 500yd. An instant later, his

served me well in past fights. This caused the

me. Then all of a sudden, it stopped, so I ran

medium twin-engine bombers arranged in 'V'

Eagerness for more air victories overcame any

their silhouettes, that they were Zeros. Chrisl'

leading-edge machine guns spat flame as he

subsequent hail to miss me - but it was already

for home, plenty scared"

formations. We had given codenames to all

further concern (or my fellow fliers. Besides,

What a S[)OI' la[)s ahow to attack and my engine's dead' I was more concerned with starting my

exchanged fire with me. My tracers struck his

too late. My right wing's internal gas tank was

This really annoyed me, and I retorted angrily:

Japanese planes, and our name for this particu;

they were supposed to follow me, and our

airplane in the engine, and since every third

on fire, and several large holes were easily dis-

'[)amn you' The reason you got away is because

lar type was 'BeHY'. We were not able to count

number one joh was to destroy the bomhers.

engine than warning Sims. Besides, he also had

hullet fired was a tracer, I knew he was getting

cernible. I t was obvious he had scored with his

I risked my neck to kill your tormentor. You did

the exact number of escorting Zeros, but my

They had chosen another course, I presumed,

eyes, he was trained and he was presumahly

hit three times for every tracer flash. My finger

cannons, because they had an explosive charge

a lousy job protecting me when I had engine

quick guess was twenty. My seven fighters were

leaving me to pursue our mission goal alone.

ready for com hat. He damn well better cover

released the trigger as he flashed by, close under

when they hit: Zeros had two 20mm cannon, as

trouble. You're fired" The next day I continued

dropping behind me in a staggered column: as

me,

me. I never felt my Corsair heing struck by his

well as machine guns.

my combat sorties, but with a new wingman.

I rolled left and dived down on the furthest left

Okay, Sl.!ckers, rake on Ihe tougher Zeros. I'll get these easy ones all hy myself' Hot damn' An

Of

else.

46

47

Radio chatter suhstantiated this theory.

AERIAL COMBAT ESCAPADI::S

AERIAL COMBAT ESCAPADES

exploder ~nd ~ ,moking proh~hle! l\1~yhe one

Furthermore, I wa, too intent upon killing my

My trigger finger itched while I 'tnllned my

'tralght down. I continued jinking to spoil his

on his tail and give him some 'arrows' in return,

of rhe fellow, c~n confirm that prohable

next victim to worry about the stranger. If he

eye, for the first glimpse of the jap m my gun-

,Iltn, all the while keeping the ~ircraft on its

'md show him how he should have hit me.

,ure rhing for me. These bomber' arc duck ,oup

were friendly, I would condescend to ,hare

,ighr; hur he didn't appear, ~nd I began to

no~c.

compared to Zeros, who fight hack. Cotta get

some of this juicy target with him. I really didn't

..,uspect that my attacker was no amateur,

some more!

think I had enough amlnunition, ga' or time to

hecause he never did fly in front of me. My head

engineers h~d been able to get their hands on

kill them all, ~nyw~y.

swivelled on my shoulders as, fearfully, I tried

,I

Zero 21 fighter that crash-landed pretty much

'l>

a

One last >can to the rear produced neither

Early in the war our intelligence people and

Some welcome convcrscllion over my radio

convinced me that the Bettys I had been chasing

After making a complete turn, there W'1S no

would not get home. A flight of friendly fighters

sign of him. I started worrying that he might be close under my tail, in my blind spot, and would

had followed my general broadcast directions, and [hey were Clem for lowering the wing

that 'traggler, there m the left-"de formation

human hodies could he seen among Ihe f,tlling

once again, seeing those juicy lsitting;duck'

carefully - or oJ' Hunter would grow no older,

chase again, hut the Bellys were now out of

trailing-edge fl~ps, bUllhe slightly higher atten-

of three. I ,upp'he I could Lhllm that flammg

mess.

hom hers crowded the fears from my mind a, I

,md would become one more M IA.

sight, and a glance hack into my cockpit

dant landing speed wa, only a minor problem.

prohahle hecau,e he\ Ilm"ng from th" forma-

The re.. \t of the hom hers were now 400yd

re.,umed the chase.

f)amn' \'(Iillmy plane hold togetlter' I lis hullets

revealed a frighrening fact: only 60 gallons

The next worry 10 enter my mind was the

127011 of g

just to the north of us. We had fully

six .50-calibre machine guns were ready. A pull

bounced into the same clump of greenery as my

us returned to base for bombs, we would have

loaded guns in our four F4U aircraft, but no

hack on the stick guided the plane over the

wingman's and I still saw norhing unusual.

to check in with Intelligence, and then another

bombs or other ordnance. Four of the ten

sharp ridge. Jim Misely was in the proper posi-

However, black smoke belched upwards, and

squadron would get the next crack at the ship.

enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by the

tion about a 100yd behind me and offset to the

when we zoomed over the spot I could see that our bullets had cut a swath through the area,

However, if just twO of us hurried home, had

squadron had been at the Babelthuap airfield.

right. It seemed the propeller would nick

two more bombs quickly hooked up, and got

(Rabelthuap was by far the largest island in the

some foliage from the treetops, but I knew it

unveiling glimpses of the floatplanes. They were

rapidly airborne again, the Group CO likely

Palau Islands - almost 30 miles [50kmj long and

was just an illusion as my plane made it safely

two-seater Jake biplanes. One more shooting

would not know the difference. Not having to

B miles Il3kmlwide - and the enemy had an

over the other side and into the forbidden

pass finished the job, leaving both Jakes burning

refuel would also save us some time.

,lItfieid on the southern end, which we had kept

harbour.

profusely - we could see men trying to control

The plan worked, and we were airborne again

II1capacitated with daily strafing and dive-

My eyes joyously focused on a motor launch

the fires. We made a third attack, spraying the

in twelve minutes. In just twelve minutes more,

hombing attacks.) The six others had been

putt-putting along, just to the right of my path.

area generously with .50 calibres, hoping to do

I was pushing over in another dive on the

acquired on Yap and Woleai. All three airfields

It was close to the narrow island, that curved

all

second ship. The enemy anti-aircraft guns came

were speckled with many wrecked airplanes,

to the left in front of my course. It was appar-

cooking Jakes apparently burned their mooring

and it was very difficult to be sure we were not

ent that the crew of the 20ft [6m] boat felt

lines, because they began to drift away from the

released the bomb, the target was clearly visible

,hooting decoys or hulks already claimed by

secure hugging the shoreline. I rolled my fighter

shore; in another minute they fell arart, scat-

to me, because my gunfire in the previous straf-

someone else. But our system was fairly straight-

to the right and commenced firing a few

tering their remains on the shallow transparent

ing runs had knocked off some of the camou-

forward: 'If we can make it burn, it must be

seconds after sighting the vessel. The occupants

bottom. Their pontoons were the last to sink.

flage. I-laving already run that AA gauntlet six

flyable and therefore claimable.'

were caught completely by surprise. My low

Anti-aircraft guns from the airfield and

approach had been hidden from sight and sound

harbour were desperately bursting shells over us, hoping to scare us away. However, this was no

growing danger of each subsequent dive. The

Rabelthuap consisted of many small atolls, most

by the narrow strip of land now behind me. My

of them long and slender-looking, like many

bullets tore pieces off the craft and many bodies

bother, as we knew they could not depress their

control movements as I dived for the cover of

worms scattered on the concrete after a rain. The last cluster, just south of the big island, enclosed a magnificent deep harbour at Koror, which averaged about 5 miles in diameter. The Japanese had developed it into the Pearl Harbor of the western Pacific. When we began operatII1g from Peleliu, 45 miles to the south, the harhour was on our daily target list, along with the airfield on its north side. A II of our squadron pilots had made many strafing and dive-bombing attacks on the enemy's main installations, and several pilots had already been killed in these assignments. We had become quite familiar with the layout, and its only remaining means of protection: Jap anti-aircraft guns. These were well camouflaged, and seemed to be relocated frequently to foil our counterattacks. Moreover, the Japanese appeared to have a bottomless pit of ammunition, in spite of the fact that we had cut them off from surface ship resupply. We guessed they were getting some replenishment from submarines. Since there was a dearth of usable shipping to attack, we considered ourselves lucky to

slumped to its bottom. As I passed over my

aim low enough to score. I then noticed tracer

make myself as small as possible by cringing behind the "rmour pl"te. I threw some cmltion to the wind and pulled up a little sooner than normal because I was anxious to see the results Camouflaged Japanese ships along the south edge of Koror Harbor. Circles

of my egg laying. Several AA bursts were not

identify a disguised destroyer and cargo vessel. DoD/Marine Corps

far behind me, but I could also see the smoke and debris kicked up by my exploding bomb. 'You did it again, Skipper' Your bomb hit

plane's armour plating: I always felt uncomfort-

square on it!' Lippy radioed. 'Yours looks right

and rolled over into a dive. This time, the

able until out of gun range. When I was in a

on target too, Lippy" I replied. 'Good work!

muzzle flashes from anti-aircraft guns seemed to

position to glance back towards the ship, there

Join me in a loose column and we'll take a

spark from everywhere. When passing down

was no sign of Tom's homb-burst th"t I h"d

better look.' We climbed to 8,000ft 12,500ml

hoped and expected to see. Tom called. 'Sorry,

and then I led Lippy in a fast, shallow dive

visible to me. Goddamn it' I wished I had

Hunter, I just couldn't see it. And, boy, is that

towards the two bombed ships, jinking con-

another bomb - I'd have gotten this target, too.

AA getting thick.' A moment later, Tabler's

stantly. About the time the anti-aircraft gun

At 2,000ft [600m] I squeezed my gun trigger on

bomb hit about a hundred yards from the objec-

muzzle flashes became visible, we could see our

tive.

latest target falling away from the shoreline. It

the control stick. My tracers were bouncing all

'This is Hunter. You missed it, Tabe!' Then

rapidly rolled over on its side and started set-

'See them, Tom?' There was no time for

to Tom, in disgust: 'Well, come on, Tom, I'll

tling on the bottom. The other ship had already

further conversation as I hurriedly pulled out to

shoot up the decks again, and watch closely this

rolled under on the other side of the narrow

time! Lippy and Tabe, you two watch for gun-

island ridge. We decided to finish our gun

muzzle flashes and strafe them as we dive in.'

ammunition on the AA emplacement enemy

over the ship.

the west, jinking across open sea. In spite of my many past similar missions, I cringed behind the

56

The island chain between our base and

Corsair responded properly to my jinking a nearby island to the east. I remembered to

through 4,000ft [1,200m], the ship was clearly

possible additional damage. The two

to life again with greater intensity. When I

times in the last hour, I was well aware of the

I wanted that ship sunk, so I cut in front of Tom

spot some careless target of opportunity. As

target, it turned toward the shore and several

bullets buzzing all around us, and for a moment

men leaped into the water. I looked back in

was scared that an aerial challenge was at hanel.

time to see Misely imitate me and pour a mur-

However, closer study of the situation revealed

derous stream of lead into the enemy boat. The

that the tracer was coming from several spots

converging bullets were interspersed with

flanking the cove. (Misely was killed by one of

visible tracers.

these same ground guns about two months later.)

The surprise of our appearance in the harbour was immediately over as the sky above rapidly

We emptied our guns on one more pass, con-

became cluttered with black flak bursts. These

centrating on SpOts from where the small arms'

higher explosions that I could see did not worry

fire was coming; then I called Misely to follow

me, but I knew from experience that many

me up the east coast of Babelthuap. We radioed

unseen smaller guns were surely tuning in on

congratulations to each other as we capered

us. I jinked while turning to the right, with the

along the shoreline. Many times we had

express intention of getting out of range east of

checked the native villages along the beach,

the islands as soon as possible. Mise radioed

but we never bothered them, as there was never

that the launch was burning: he wanted to go

any sign of enemy activity; a few natives were

back and finish it, but I said: 'Not now. We'll

usually visible, and some of them always waved.

come back later after the AA gunners tire of

A fter we reached the rendezvous, the other two

waiting for us.'

planes rejoined us. We were all very hot and

The mountainous island of BabelthuaJ? con-

sweaty from the low altitude tropical heat and

fronted us as I resumed a northward course. I

from the excitement, so I climbed for the higher

stayed Iowan the water, entered a cove, and

and cooler heights for the return trip: as we

then led us in a gradual climb just above the

reached 6,000ft [1 ,800m] the chilly air felt

57

AERIAL COMBAT ESCAPADES

great. While climbing, I informed the ,econd

streaked the sky. A few AA were beginning to

u, had a jubilant time relating the mi"ion to

,ection of our good fortune in target,. They still

explode close to us, and I imagined the japanese

our groundcrews. However, while chocking my

had ammunition, and reque,ted permi,sion to

were becoming more angry and exasperated at

airplane, my crew chief noticed a I in [2.5cml

shoot up the ,ame cove in the hopes of finding

our insolence. However, the rate of fire ,eemed

hole underneath my right wing where it joined

additional ,cap lanes. Upon receiving my okay,

to diminish, probably because they were gelling

the fuselage. He investigated by removing the

they dove away a, Misely and I continued to

tired and low on immediately availahle ill11mU-

fairing plate with the hole in it, and quickly db-

c1imh. Black smoke was ,till drifting up from

nition. Qur last acrobatic ,tunL was followed by

covered that a 20mm bullet had caused the

the cove, and it wa, nm long before we could

an erratic dive to the cast. I radioed rendezvous

damage. After entering the aluminium skin, the

instructions to my second ,ection, and soon

bullet had struck the head of the main bolt that

We levelled off at 10,000ft [3,OOOml, and

after we rejoined at I,OOOft above the ocean,

hold, the wing to the fuselage; and with the top

sec the two Corsairs working it over. noticed that the hig gun, were active again,

and headed south for home. Tulipane reluc-

of the bolt sheared off, the metal pin wa, about

with more hur,t, ne~H the cove - and thi> gave

tantly reported that they had nm heen able to

to fall out. I broke out in a cold sweat, realiz-

me an idea for more mi>chief: I decided we

find any more hidden floatplanes.

CHAPTER FOUR

The 'Black Sheep' and the 'Jolly Rogers' Big Booty

ing that I had performed the entire air show

would put on an were hard to ,ee, and their voice,

through the giant, towering Banyan trees to the

hard to hear. Then a chuhhy, yellow-skinned officer nro,e to complete the briefing, and

10,OOOCt. The airfield wa, directly below me,

than 200 knots. Qur squadron took pride in pre-

We had had nearly twO months of flying

tip. I fancied that I could hem the explo,ion.

make,hift me" hall 50yd away. My breakfast

and in my gun,ight. I could see the enemy was

cision flying, and I was pleased to sec our for-

combat air patrol and fighter-bomber 'trikes

My Cor,air shuddered as I hit the bla,t, and I

combted of two large cups of coffee and one

immediately there was a teme silence in the

ready, from the many gun-muzzle flashes blink-

mation was well dres,ed: Mi,ely';, left wing was

against

also felt that something hit my plane.

,lice of ,0methl11g that resembled French toa,t

pmt. The man looked overweight, drawn, humourle", almmt ,uffering: it wa, Pappy

japanese-held

islands

within

our

ing at us from the field and harbour: apparently

inside and behind my right wing, and slightly

combat range -

Babelthuap, Yap,

USMC pilot Wallace B. Thml1;,on,

and that wa, my b,t meal till evening.

the japs were extra-angry with u, for our better-

stepped down to ju,t bmely miss my ,Iip"ream.

Somorol, Pub Anna, Merir, Woleai, and ,0 on

VMF-211

Outside on the dank and muddy road ,ome

Boyington

than-average ,ucce", becau,e I never before

The other two aircraft held the ,a me excellenL

- and it wa, getting pretty obvious that the

oltve-coloured vam, called 'carry-ails', were

the famous Boyington, who had twenty-five

noticed so many big gun locatiOn>. \Xlhen the

position outboard from my wingman. When

enemy wa, not going to try any offemive,

w~lIl1ng; the,e bumped all of u, down the newly

japane,e plane> to hh credit, only two behind

nrst shot, burst ten or so ,ecolllb later at

over the field, I patted my head s. Boyington, who had JU" four day, left

10,OOOft, we were pas;ing down through 7,000ft

Misely. This hand signal meant we ,hould fall

among my pilots (and me) began to wane.

[2,100ml. Then the enemy must have feared a

into column for landing. An immnt Imer I made

dive-bombing ix

wall,. Imide, eighty or ninety officers were

pilot, in the pa" ten day,; who had shot down

g'llhered in the gloom, fighter pilots and Marine Air Group Ileadquarters brass.

four japane>e plane> in the pa,t week in a desperate effon to c

they always were for us, the first lever was

so I would he taking off downwind. For a fighter

control m all I still missed everyone of them,

whose name and organization I never learned,

crew of the previous squadron. I wa~ informed

always moved aft in the 'spread' position, while

plane with high performance this should present

then went 0(( the end o( the airstrip and into a

was flying in formation over the remote interior

thm t he plane I would be flying for the next few

the second was always placed forward in the

no prohlem, hut it was still unusual. However,

swamp fdled with tree-stumps.

of Espiritu. Th" was incredlhly rugged country

weeks would he number 027 (F4U-1 Bu No.

'lock' position.

arriving m the north end I could see the tower's

Marine Cmps hase that fed Manne power inlll the hrutal camp'llglb

I was unhurt, hut livid. Two crash trucks were there at once. An ambulance crew checked me out. And the damage to the Corsair! I had knocked off the tail wheel. They got me back to the squadron ready hut, but nobody there had noticed anything unusual. Who had hotched the wll1g installation! The responslhle squadron was leaving and couldn't he hothered. I tried

w

mlk

w

the skipl~er, Tom

Marines to the Fore

Murto,

hUl

Island

w worry about a minor accident that

The Marine squadrons meanwhile also went from strength to strength as the American onslaught sh ifted to the Marshall Islands. By February 1944, Marine Air Group (MAG) 24 numbered six Corsair squadrons - VMF-211, VMF212, VMF-215, VMF-218, VMF-222, and VMF-223 - in the Solomons, while (mail'S of MAG-l3, MAG-22 and

none o( the fellows had seen. The flight did

he

\ViiS {OO

husy moving into Green

not even appenr in my loghook, for the Simple reason that I had never left the ground' I could never figure out, after checking all four Items in the Cors;1II prlot" manual, why the wing could allllcar to he locked In place, hut ohviously was not. Somehow the hinge-pin was only JU~l in place, and the levers in the

A 'birdcage' canopy USMC Corsair passes three newer, raised canopy models as it taxies out to the coral runway at Espirito Santo, 8 March 1944. USMC

66

cockpIt were I.orced.

FG-1 Corsairs in formation. Goodyear Corp

67

TilE 'BLACK SIIEEP' AND TilE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

TilE 'BLACK SIIEEI" ANDTIIE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

What about Corsair No. 027! Well, our grounJcrew repaireJ the tail wheel, reimralleJ the left wing - this time correctly - anJ the plane wa; back in the air in a few Jay;. My loghook ;hows that I flew that Cor;air six Jays after the folJing wing affair, anJ within the next few weeks I flew it eight times: e;corteJ Jive-bombers to Rabaul, e;corteJ Jive-bomher; all the way to Kavieng, New IrelanJ, patrolleJ Green IslanJ (almost like a Jay off), covereJ a naval task force, maJe a harge sweep to Cape Lamhert, escorteJ B-25s to Rahaul, 'lI1J several similar missions. So olJ No. 027 W,Nl't so haJ after all! But my minJ sometime; goe; hack to that unfortunate Marine flying over the ruggeJ interior of Espiritu whose wing ;uJJenly folJeJ, plunging him into the remote heaJhunter country of that New Hebrilb, blanJ.

On 17 February, F4U-2 night fighters of VMF(N)-S31, flying from Green Island, carried out two successful night interceptions and destroyed two enemy aircraft; and on the 20th they destroyed a third japanese aircraft. The day before, 19 February, the last important japanese opposition on Rabaul was encountered when fifty Zero and Tojo fighters and Rufe floatplanes met a formation of 145 aircraft comprising fifty-four F4U-s and F6F-3 Hellcats, twenty P-40s, and seventy-two SBD Dauntlesses and TBF Avengers. The American fighters destroyed twenty-three of the enemy aircraft, sixteen of which were shot down by the twenty-six Corsairs of VF-17. Three of these were creJited to Lt (jg) Ira C. Kepford, who destroyed a Rufe anJ two Zekes off Cape Sim, New Ireland, to bring his total wartime score to sixteen confirmed victories, making him the highest scoring Navy fighter pilot. AirSols Intelligence believeJ that eight weeks of fighting had cost the enemy 730 aircraft, but the figure was nearer 400. There was nothing that could disguise the japanese defeat however, and the following Jay japan pulled its few remaining aircraft back from Rabaul to Truk.

jaluit, in the Marshalls. Many of the Corsairs were hit by anti-aircraft fire, but this type of Corsair operation would continue throughout the rest of the war. On 18 March 1944 the Corsair's groundattack role was greatly enhanced by an additional dive-bombing capability, courtesy of VMF-Ill. This squadron, commanded by Major Frank Cole and based on Makin, successfully rigged 1,0001b [4S0kg] bomb racks to eight of its Corsairs for a ra id on Mille. The Marine pilots lowered their wheels in the diving attacks to reduce their air speed. (Later, bomb racks and a special slot for the landing gear handle, which dropped only the main landing gear for airbraking, was installed to improve dive-bombing). Meanwhile on 28 March, as if to confirm the new role for the F4U, six

USMC Corsairs of the 4th Marine Air Wing carrying 1,OOOlb 1450kgl bombs on a strike over Japanese-held bases in the Marshalls, June 1944. USMC

USMC Corsair Ground-Attack Role in the Central Pacific Primarily the USMC Corsairs would be used in the ground-attack role throughout 1944. Starting on 4 March, Marine orsairs of ten different squadrons in the 4th MAW, together with bombers, began attacks on the Japanese-helJ bypasseJ islands of Wotje, Maloelap, Mille and

orsairs of VMF-l13 from Eniwetok, while flying escort for four B-2S Mitchells to Ponape Atoll in the Carolines, shot down eight of twelve intercepting Zel<es. It brought to an end Japanese resistance in the air in the Carolines, and it was the last real dogfight in the Central Pacific area. Two of the victories on 28 March went to the VMF-l13 CO, Major (later olonel) Loren D. 'Doc' Everton, which took his score to twelve. His previous ten victories had been achieved while flying F4F WilJcats at Guadalcanal, between August and October 1942. While covering landings at Ulejang Atoll, Everton's Corsairs set an F4U record, remaining airborne for 9hr 40min. Armed with six heavy machine guns, and capable of diving on targets from angles as steep as 85 degrees or in shallow

Corsairs on the line. Armstrong

68

glides, the Corsair brought terror to even the most stoic of japanese anti-aircraft crews. The attacks of course were accompanied by the characteristic 'whistling death' sound, as air was sucked into the inlet ducts in the wing roots. But bombing and strafing strikes were not without loss, ami during September 1944, the 4th Marine Air Wing in the Marshalls lost thirty-six F4Us to enemy anti-aircraft fire while dive-bombing enemy-held atolls.

Lind bergh's Contribution Another reason for the Corsair's great success in the ground-support role can be attributed to forty-one-year-oIJ aviation pioneer Charles A. Lindbergh, who in May 1944 began flying missions in the Corsair with USMC MAG-14 pilots at Green Island and Emirau. Lindbergh had joined United Aircraft as an engineering consultant early in the war, and served in an experimental advisory capacity in the Pacific during World War II. His last mission in the Solomons was on 9 june, and although he now went to New Guinea to fly combat in P-38s, Lindbergh's association with the Corsair was not yet over. One of the Corsair's problems at this time was its limited bomb-load capability, which, due to the short, rudimentary airstrips in the Marshalls, dictated that loads seldom exceeded I,SOOlb (680kg). The problem became Lindbergh's to solve. Soon after his arrival at Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls, early in September, Lindbergh worked mainly with Colonel Calvin B. Freeman and ordnance personnel of MAG 31, progressively raising the bomb load available to Corsairs, until finally the F4U was capable of hauling 10aJs of 4,OOOIb (l,800kg) of bombs. This was achieved by successfully mounting a 2,0001b (900kg) bomb under the centre section, and rigging a I,OOOlb (4S0kg) homb under each wing. Operating under conJitions of strict secrecy, on 12 September Lindbergh carried three I,OOOlb hombs on his F4U-1D (one 1,0001b bomb had to be removed because a 14 knot crosswinJ was gusting at take-off time) while raiding an enemy radio station at Wotje Atoll. Lindbergh successfully dropped his bomb load on the enemy target from 1,600ft (SOOm). Next day, 13 September, after working on a new belly bomb rack, Lindbergh returned to Wotje with 4,0001b of bombs - a 2,OOO-pounder

on the centre Iinc rack, and a I,OOOlb bomb under each wing - to drop the first 2,OOOIb bomb ever carried on a Corsair. Lindbergh approached h is target, a small concrete blockhouse, at 8,000ft (2,SOOm), and dived at 65 degrees, but he miscalculated and overshot, and dropped his bombs on the beach where they blew a naval shore battery to smithereens. It was still, nevertheless, a 'first'; Lindbergh had spent six months in the Pacific, and had flown fifty combat missions lasting 178 hours, and later that day he left for Hawaii, his work completed.

The Corsair on Land and Sea, 1944 The Corsair was assured of future employment in both the ground-attack and divebombing roles - actions that would continue long after World War Two had ended. Moreover, there were men such as jack Hospers, the Vought service rep, and men in high places in the Navy, who believed that the use of Corsairs at sea aboard its carriers was long overdue. Among them was Captain john Pearson, Fighter Design Officer at the Bureau of

Major Joe Foss MoH, commander of VMF-115 (left) and Charles A. Lindbergh (right!. who had joined United Aircraft as an engineering consultant early in the war and served in an experimental advisory capacity on Green Island. In May 1944 Lindbergh began flying missions in the Corsair with USMC MAG-14 pilots at Green Island and Emirau. USMC via Wally Thomson

69

TilE 'BLACK SIIEEP' AND TilE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG Bom y

THE 'BLACK SIIEEP' AND TilE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

Aeronautics, and Captain Hugh S. Duckworth, the USN Chief of Staff. There were some, however, who still firmly believed that the Corsair was only suitable for operations from land bases. The Chief of Naval Operational Training at NAS Jacksonville was one who believed that the Corsair's carrier decklanding characteristics were ~till too dangerous, and that the accident rate, especially with new pilots, was still unacceptably high. In March 1944 he drafted a letter condemning the Corsair's ability to fly from carriers, but his letter was pigeon-holed. By now, support for the orsair to operate at sea was LOO great, and 'Programme Dog' was carried out immediately by Vought engineers to get the bentwinged bird ready for carrier operation. In just ten days Vought modified the oleo legs with a longer stroke landing gear oleo shock strut, and eliminated the 'builtin bounce'. CommanderT. K. 'Kip' Wright USN, and Lt Col John Dobbins USMC, conducted successful fl ight tests at Jacksonville NAS, and they proved that the orsair was now safe for carrier operations. During April, VF-301, a training squadron on the West Coast, carried out carrier trials with the newly modified Corsairs aboard the escort carrier Gambier Bay (CVE- 73), and after 113 landings without incident, they declared their support for the Corsair to operate at sea. The move was rubberstamped on 16 May, when, after a series of comparative tests between the F4U-1 D and the F6F-3 Hellcat, a Navy Evaluation Board concluded that the Corsair was the best all-round Navy fighter available and suitable as a carrier aircraft. It was recommended that carrier and fighter-bomber units he converted to the F4U type. In May, the new landing-gear oleo struts were installed on production Corsairs, and new strut-filling procedures were introduced. F4Us no longer had to be 'dc-bounced' by using field modifications. (Later, in August 1944, a high level meeting o( Marine and Navy officials at Pearl Harbor decided that Marine air squadrons would be assigned to VEs.) In March 1944, Goodyear had been awarded a contract for 418 fixed-wing F2G-1 aircraft, and ten folding-wing versions, with the R-4360 engine. In April the F4U-ID Corsair model with two pylons for bombs or tanks entered production. Goodyear and Brewster were also contracted to produce the F2G-1 as FG-I 0 and F3A-1 0 respectively. On 22 April the

Navy accepted its first F4U-ID. By the end of the month the Navy had accepted 230 Corsairs from Vought, 220 from Goodyear, and 119 from Brewster. In May 1944 the Navy accepted a further 254 Corsairs from Vought, 220 from Goodyear, and 122 from Brewster, to make May 1944 the peak production month in the Corsair's history.

More Night Kills Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the USMC Corsairs continued to excel against Japanese opposition. On the night of 13/14 April 1944 a detachment of VMF(N)-532 at Engebi Island made the Marines' first and only successful night interception using F4U-2s fitted with SCR-270 radar, when Lt Edward A. Sovik and Captain Howard W. Bollmann each shot down a Betty bomber. LtJoel E. Bonner Jr. claimed a probable before his tail was damaged so badly that he had to bale out. He was picked up by a destroyer the following day. Lt Donald Spatz became lost and was never found. Such was the effect on the attackers, however, that the nine remaining Bettys dropped their bombs harmlessly in the sea and fled. In June 1944 the Engebi detachment started making night raids against Wotje, and in July moved to Saipan for operations there and over Guam. They returned to the US on 25 October 1944.

On the night of 18 February 1944, the of VF(N)-101, operating from the carrier Enterprise, Commander Richard E. 'Chick' Harmer, destroyed a Betty. On 17 April 1944, Marine Corps orsairs supported US landings in the Malabang-Parang area of Mindanao in the Philippines. On 24 April 'Chick' Harmer, again in an F4U-2, operating from the EnterJ)rise off Hollandia in New Guinea, shot down another Japanese aircraft at night. I-larmer later came upon five Japanese bombers in formation, and he fired at two that had their lights on. More night action followed on 15 June when Harmer and Lt (jg) R. F. Holden Jr attacked a formation of Sallys and Tojo fighters. On the night of 27 June, Holden shot down a Sally at 1O,000ft (300m), and the following night he and his CO destroyed three more enemy intruders, Holden getting tWO Bettys, ami Harmer, one. By July, when the night-fighting orsairs were withdrawn from the 'Big E', Harmer and Holden between them had accounted for five confirmed night victories, a probable, and four damaged. In June, VMF(N)-532 also began night raids against Wotje. On 12 July its twelve F4U-2 Corsairs were flown off a carrier to Saipan, but they were later pulled back to Guam, and VMF(N)-532 returned to the United States on 25 October, remaining there in training until the end of the war.

o

F4U-1s carrying 500lb (225kg) bombs at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands, August 1944. USN

The Pacific War moved on. In August 1944, MAG-21, comprising F4U-s of VMF-216 'Wild Hares', VMF-217 'Bulldogs' and Marine Fighting Squadron 225, as well as Hellcat night fighters, arrived on Guam immediately after the island's capture, and for several months MAG-21 carried out attacks on Rota and Pagan. On 26 September the 'Death Dealer' Corsairs of VMF-114 joined in providing close air support in the e1even-day-old battle (or Peleliu in the Palaus group, about 500 miles (800km) east of the Philippines. In October, the Corsairs of VMF-121 and VM-122, both of which were on their second deployment to the Pacific, with MAG11, arrived at Peleliu from Espiritu Santo. From then until the end of the war these two squadrons flew CAP and carried out strikes against Yap, Babelthuap and Koror.

Shimpu Tokubetsu KogekitQ (the Divine Wind) During October, the USMC Corsair pilots began training for shipboard duty aboard CVEs. Their presence was due in no ~mall

An F4U-2 being raised to the deck in the elevator, while on deck are F6F Hellcats Corsairs on patrol. USN via Philip Jarrett

of VF-1 O. USNA

70

71

THE 'BLACK SIIEEP' AND TilE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

THE 'BLACK SHEEP' AND THE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

It Richard Milhous Nixon with friends on Green Island. USMC via Wally Thomson

Bob Hope. Jerry Colonna and France langford entertain the troops at Green Island. USMC via Wally Thomson

72

part to the lack of Navy carrier pilots available. Each MAG would now consist of one squadron of eighteen F4Us, and one of twelve TBF Avenger bombers. Unfortunately - or luckily, depending on which way one wants to look at it - the move to carriers coincided, in October, with the start of the japanese kamikaze offensive. The japanese credo was 'One plane for one warship, one boat for one ship, one man for ten enemy and one man for one tank.' The waves of 'Divine Wind' suicide attacks would at least be met by an increasing number of Corsairs. In all, ten USMC F4U- fighter squadrons were authorized for carrier qualification and preparations were quickly carried out to put two F4U-l D aircraft on each of five fleet carriers.

On the morning of 25 October, nine

Zekes, five of which were 'human bombs' flown by suicide pilots, each wearing the traditional Samurai hachimaki scarf wrapped around their heads, took off from Mabalcat airfield ami headed for the four escort carriers in the US invasion fleet off Leyte. As the alarm was sounded and the pilots of the Corsairs ran to their aircraft, the Zekes began diving on their targets. japanese Lt Seik picked out the carrier St La and deliberately crashed into the CVE, whose rurtured fuel tanks began burning and then exrloded, sending flames 1,000ft (300m) into the air. The St La took two more hits, and began sinking. The Zekes struck three more escort carriers. The suicide attacks alarmed the US chiefs, and

73

more and more Corsairs would obviously be needed to intercept the suicide planes at low level and destroy as many of them as possible before the enemy could sink more ships. On 26 November a Navy conference in San Francisco finalized the decision to put a seventy-three fighter-percarrier complement on fleet aircraft carriers, and to put Marine fighters aboard. Meanwhile, many of the fixed-wing FGIA Corsairs, which could not be used aboard carriers, were operated by USMC orsair squadrons from land bases. On 3 ,lnd 4 December 1944, seventy-five fixedwing FG-IAs, F4U-ls and F4U-1Ds of MAG-12 arrived at Tacloban airfield in Leyte from Emirau ready for combat from the muddy, crowded field. On 5 December

THE 'BLACK SIIEEP' AND THE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

THE 'BLACK SHEEP' AND THE 'JOLLY ROGERS' BIG BOOTY

long-drawn-out war, which involved the Americans having to take one island after another. Fighting was dogged and bloody, and the enemy gave no quarter. Most of the island hopping was the province of the 'Grunts', supported by Corsairs and other land- and ship-based aircraft. Later that month the three Corsair squadrons in MAG-12 moved out of T acloban and transferred to Leyte. On 6 january, fifteen F4U-s of MAG-12 assisted Army aircraft in softening up enemy positions prior to the invasion of Lingayen by destroying key bridges in the area. The Corsairs continued with ground-support missions throughout january, for the loss of fifteen pilots. In january 1945 Marines from Green Island moved into Guiuan, Samar, and MAG-14 moved with them. First to arrive, on the 2nd, were twentytwo F4U-ls ofVMO (Marine Observation Squadron)-25I, to fly combat patrol the next day. (VMO-251 was re-designated VMF-251 on 31 January 1945.) VMO-251

was followed at Samar by F4U-Is and F4U4s of VMF-212 on 8 january, and shortly thereafter they were joined by VMF-222, and on 14 january, by the F4U-4s ofVMF223. MAG-14 movement was finally complete by 24 january. MAG-14's stay on Samar was marred by the loss of twenty Corsairs in crashes over a period of thirty days, the worst on 24 january when the crash on take-off of a VMF-222 resulted in the deaths of thirteen men and more than fifty injured. On 23 February 1945, four Corsairs of VMF-115 'joe's jokers' claimed to have destroyed a japanese midget submarine at Cebu City while skip-bombing with 1,0001b (450kg) bombs. On 10 March, Corsairs of MAG-14 flew ground-attack missions at Zamboanga near Mindanao prior to the landings by US troops, while the Corsairs of MAG-12 flew top cover. Four days later, F4Us of VMF-1l5 landed at San Rogue airfield and flew two missions the next day. The airfield was renamed Moret Field, and

Re-arming an F4U on Green Island. USMC via Wally Thomson

four of VMF-115's Corsairs on CAP over an American convoy off Leyte intercepted two Zekes and shot one down into the ocean. Next day, twelve Corsair fighterbombers of VMF- 211, led by the CO, Major Stanley j. Witonski, attacked a japanese convoy of seven ships heading for Ormoc Bay, protected by a mass of Zekes high above them. One of the enemy destroyers was damaged by a bomb blast. Flak and fighters shot down three Corsairs; one pilot was lost, but Major Stan Witonski was picked up safe and sound after ditching in the sea. Next day, 7 December, near San Isidro, twenty-one Corsair fighter-bombers of VMF-211, -218, and -313, supported by Army PAOs, made attacks on japanese destroyers and transports trying to reinforce Leyte. Four of the vessels, including a transport that was hit by four bombs dropped by VMF-

218, were sunk with 1,0001h (450kg) and 500lb (225kg) bombs dropped by the F4Us and P-40s. Four days later, on II December, the F4U-s and FG-IAs of VMF-115, VMF211, VMF-218, and VMF-313, made a further two strikes on a ten-ship japanese convoy in the area. In the morning, twenty-seven Corsairs attacked the enemy shipping 40 miles (65km) east of Panay Island, and in the afternoon, forty Corsairs and sixteen AAC P-40 Warhawks attacked again near Palompom on the west coast of Leyte. When the smoke cleared, it could be seen that two cargo ships had been sunk. Four FG-IAs of VMF-313 that were flying cover for the US re-supply convoy heading for the Ormoc, Leyte beachhead, intercepted sixteen Zeke fighter-bombers, and the combined firepower from the surface ships

74

and the Corsairs shot down four of the Zeros. But one of the Zekes got through and hit the destroyer Reid, which exploded and sank. VMF-313 bagged five more Zekes, bringing the total of enemy aircraft destroyed on the 11th to nineteen. MAG12 lost six Corsairs and three pilots killed to fighters and enemy anti-aircraft fire, and seven more F4Us were so badly damaged that they had to be written off. On 13 December, thirty-five Corsairs of MAG-12 helped provide close air support for US landings on Mindoro Island. Fierce fighting was made worse by the appearance in the Mindoro beachhead area of kamikaze; however, several of these were shot down by the CorsairsofVMF-211, which destroyed five Zekes on 14 December, and by the Hellcats of VMF(N)-541. In January 1945 the japanese still showed no signs of ending the

75

eventually many aircraft of various types were based there, including ninety-six Corsairs. On 18 March, Marine Corsairs flew air cover for the landings by the US 40th Division at Panay. Corsairs took part in the attacks on 26 March during the landings at Cebu, and on 29 March for the unopposed landings at Negros. Support missions continued to be flown during April, as the ground forces fought the japanese on Cebu and Negros. Operating from the island and from Zamboanga Island, MAG-12 conducted operations throughout the Philippines until the end of the Pacific war. On 17 April, American troops landed on Mindanao, and on 2 May Davao fell. On 12 july the last American landing in the Philippines took place at Sarangani Bay, and the last resistance on Mindanao was finally overcome. Meanwhile, from 22 May to june 1945, MAG-14's VMF 212, -222, and -223, moved to Okinawa to take part in the final battles of World War II.

CORSAIRS FOR KING AND COUNTRY

CHAPTER FIVE

Corsairs for King and Country Not for nothing was it called the bent-wing

then the lights came on - and there they were,

carriage alone could never have achieved suffi-

bastard from Connecticut.

Corsairs that filled the hangar Aoor, and I must

cient - the wings were of 'inverted gull' format,

Norman Hanson,

say that, of all the aircraft I had seen, these were

dipping downwards for about 4ft llm+1 from the

No.1833 Squadron Corsair pilot

the most wicked-looking bastards. They looked

wing root at the fuselage, then rising sharply to

truly vicious, and it took little imagination to

the wing-tip. Not for nothing was it called the

Late in 1943. while

realize why so many American boys had found

'bent-wing bastard from Connecticut'.

training. and in particular approach pattern flying. was continued aboard the escort HMS Ravager

Late in May 1943, representatives from 1830 Squadron, commanded by Lt Cdr D. B. M. Fiddes, DSO RN, travelled to US Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for a live-month conversion training course on the Corsair. In ] une they were joined at Quonset Point by the nucleus of 1831,1833 and 1834 Squadrons. 1831 Squadron was commanded by Lt Cdr Peter Allingham DSC RNRj 1833 Squadron was commanded by Lt Cdr H. A. 'Eric' Monk DSMj and 1834 Squadron was commanded by Lt Cdr (Acting) A. M. Tritton DSC RNVR. These personnel left Liverpool in]une aboard the RMS Em/Jyess of Scotland. The ship was also taki ng 1,300 Afrika Korps prisoners to America, as well as several hundred naval ratings to train on landing craft for D-DaYj it dropped anchor at Newport News, Virginia. Rommel's desert troops were destined for PoW camps in Canada, while the Royal Navy representatives travelled to Quonset Point (after an enforced two-week stopover in New York) to join the nucleus of 1830 and 1831 Squadrons there. (Four more FAA Corsair squadrons were to be formed by the end of 1943, bringing the total number of British Corsair squadrons to eight.) The Corsair's fearsome reputation had lirst come to the attention of the FAA squadron pilots Juring their sojourn in New York. Norman Hanson, an 1833 Squadron pilot, wrote:

it difficult, if not well nigh impossible, to master

Its armament consisted of six .5in Browning

them, especially in deck landing. We stared at

machine guns, hydraulically charged and elec-

them and hadn't a word to say.

trically fired. The radial engine was a Pratt &

Hanson saw no reason why a Corsair shouldn't kill him when it could obviously kill so many other pilots, and he soon found a typewriter to type out his last will and testament' He continues:

Illustrious waited to go to sea with its two new Corsair squadrons. deck landing

(pictured). Ravager was much smaller than a fleet carrier and had the smallest flight deck on which the Corsair could land. via Philip Jarrett

Whitney R2800, developing 2,000hp from

without any need to search or grope (infl11itely

eighteen cylinders arranged in two banks of

superior, I may say, to the cockpits of British

nine. Fuel was supplied to the engine through

aircraft of that time - which by comparison sug-

a Stromberg injection carburettor, which pre-

gested they had been designed by the adminis-

vented the aircraft 'cutting out' on the top of a

trative office charwoman).

loop - a disconcerting feature to which aircraft

The aircraft had two built-in safety devices

fitted with the normal carburettor were prone.

that were worth their weight in gold ifhydraulic

For some months, Corsairs were decidedly

A two-stage supercharger was fitted: the first

trouble arose. Both undercarriage and arrestor

tricky aircraft to handle. For one thing, they

stage was engaged at 10,OOOft [300m 1 and the

hook were hydraulically actuated. Should hydraulic pressure be lost, the hook fell auto-

were damnably big fighters for their day. They

second at 19,000ft [S,800mj. The aircraft was

had a vast length of fuselage between the

capable of producing a genuine speed of over

matically, ready for a deck landing. The use of

cockpit and the propeller which, together

400mph f650kmphl at its rated altitude of

the undercarriage, too, was protected. One

with a rather low sitting position and a

round 22,OOOft l6,700ml.

simply had to select 'down' on the undercar-

not-too-clever hood (both of which were

The Corsair was a rugged machine that could

riage lever, and then open a CO 2 bottle that

modified and greatly improved in the Mark II

take any amount of punishment on the flight

effectively 'blew down' the wheels into the

version), made for very poor visibility when

deck, and appeared to make light of it.

'landing-locked' position.

taxiing and landing. It was pretty long-legged

Everything about it was class, and great atten-

Rumour had it that the prototypes had been

in the undercarriage department in order to

tion to detail proclaimed itself wherever one

equipped with 'spin chutes' in their tails, to

give clearance to the great propeller, said to be

looked. The cockpit was meticulously arranged

help effect recovery from that deadly enemy,

the biggest ever fitted to a single-engined

with all dials readily visible, and every lever and

the spin. Whether it was true or not, the pilots'

fighter. To increase the clearance - the under-

switch comfortahly and conveniently to hand,

FAA Corsairs taking off from a British fleet carrier. via Philip Jarrett

handbook Pilots' Handling Notes was emphatic on the point that spins should not be deliberately undertaken because the chances of recovery were dubious, if not downright impossible. (In those days, these Notes were a highly important and integral part of becoming a fit and proper pilot for a single-seat aircraft. They had to be studied carefully, first on the ground for two or three days, and then sitting in the aircraft on the ground, learning the position of all the 'bits and pieces' in the cockpit. Nowadays

Each morning we heard dreadful tidings of

manufacturers build two-seat versions of most

pilots being killed in Corsairs. Then suddenly,

aircraft, so that dual instruction can be given

when I felt there couldn't be any Corsairs left

before a pilot fl ies solo.)

for us to fly, we found ourselves at Quonset Point.

The fighter had originally been ordered by

We walked up to the hangar that

the US Navy for carrier use to replace the

been allocated to us; there was an armed sentry

Grumman F4F, the Wildcat (Marrlet to the

on guard, but Eric told him to open up and turn

Royal Navy), but it had proved to be such a

on the lights. For some reason or other we

handful in Fleet trials, and particularly in deck

headed up a flight of stairs leading on to a

Corsair II JT228 6A of No. 1830 Squadron in flight. From June 1943 to July 1945 No.

balcony running the length of the hangar. Just

1830 was embarked aboard HMS

76

Illustrious. Charles E.

Brown

landing, that the new Grumman F6F - the Hellcat - had been adopted instead. This meant

Corsair 115 in formation. IWM

77

CORSAIRS FOR KING AND COUNTRY

CORSAIRS FOR KING AND COUNTRY

that the F4U - the Corsair - could now go to the shore-hased squadrons of the Marine Air Corps, and to the Royal Navy, if they wanted it. The Royal Navy accepted it willingly, since the only alternatives in sight were the Seafire and Sea Hurricane, RAF-production models fitted with arrestor hooks - and these were just not carrier material. Their range was patheti~ cally limited, even with drop tanks, and worse still their structure, whilst perfectly adequate for airfield flying, was not up to the rough and tumble life of carrier decks. In both Glses a heavy landing, caused either hy the vessel's pitch or by the pilot's hamfistedness, often hrought the undercarriage through the wings. Nevertheless, somehow or other the Royal Navy would see to it that the Corsair could he deck-landed.

FAA Corsair IVs in formation over Cape Town, South Africa. via Philip Jarrett

The Royal Navy's gruelling familiarization training flights at Quonset Point did not proceed without a few setbacks. Pilots practised low flying out to sea, formation flying in both close and open 'patrol' formation, and numerous circuits as well as practice firing and dummy deck landings. It had become obvious almost from the outset that the standard method of landing a fighter aircraft onboard an aircraft carrier would have to be rethought. In 1943 it was customary to fly the downwind leg abeam the length of the carrier opposite to the vessel's course, turn base leg perpendicular to the carrier's course, turn again to set up the final approach, and then head straight for the deck. But the FAA Corsair pilots were unaccustomed to the F4U-l 's uneven wing stalling and landing bounce, and this resulted in a number of fatal accidents until pilots realized that they could not carry out a standard carrier approach in the Corsair, and instead began landing them in a stalling turn all the way on to the deck. Late in September 1943, 1830 Squadron and the first of the FAA Corsair pilots who had yet to make any actual F4U deck landings - even though they had made numerous ADDLs ('assisted dummy deck landings) - flew their aircraft to the US Navy airfield at Norfolk, Virginia. There their aircraft were hoisted aboard the escort carrier HMS Slinger, and they and their crews were shipped home to Britain. During October, the remaining Corsair pilots continued training in Brunswick, before they too returned to Britain aboard the newly commissioned escort carrier HMS TrumJ)eter. During further training in December on the River

FG-l/Corsair IV KD178, one of 937 acquired by the FAA. via Philip Jarrett

Corsair landing mishap aboard HMS

Attacker.

via Philip Jarrett

78

Clyde in Scotland, deck landings were carried out on a full-sized deck for the first time on HMS Illustrious, exercising in the Firth of Forth prior to going to sea again. Upon arriving home, 1830 and 1833 Squadrons, which formed 15th Naval Fighter Wing commanded by Lt Cdr R. J. 'Dicky' Cork DSO DSC, were to go to sea on Illustrious, together with two Fairey Barracuda squadrons, Nos 810 and 847. Cork had been seconded to the RAF during the Battle of Britain, and had flown with Douglas Bader. It had been decided to increase Corsair squadron complement to fourteen aircraft, so 1831 Squadron was disbanded and its pilots and Corsai rs sent to bolster 1830 and 1833 Squadrons. These sqlladrons now came up with a new method of landing the troublesome Corsair on the carrier: it involved flying the F4U-I just above stalling speed, and judging the rate of descent exactly so that by the time the carrier height had been reached, the ship would be directly underneath, and the pilot could chop the throttle and drop the Corsair onto the flight deck. Unfortunately, not all the pilots were successful, and the Corsair could still prove more than a handful for even the more experienced pilot. One of these such crashes resulted in the death of the 1830 Squadron CO, Lt Cdr D. B. M. Fiddes DSO: despite his experience, Fiddes made a bad approach to the deck, and in trying to take a lastminute wave-off from the batsman, clipped his port wing-tip on the flight deck. (The batsman is the 'deck-landing

control officer', or DLCO, invariably an ex-pilot, who stood at the end and to one side of the runway waving extra-large 'table-tennis bats' covered with fluorescent fabric.) His Corsair toppled over the port side of the carrier and Fiddes drowned before he could be rescued. Lt Cdr Michael Tritton transferred from 1834 Squadron to take command of 1830 Squadron. While Illustrious waited to go to sea with her two new Corsair squadrons and two Fairey Barracuda squadrons, further Corsair deck-landing training, and in partiCLilar approach pattern flying, were deemed essential by Captain Cunliffe, captain of the Illustrious. This continued aboard the escort carrier HMS Ravager, one of the thinly plated 'Woolworth' carriers built in the USA on merchant-ship hulls. Ravager was much smaller than a Fleet carrier, and was equipped with the smallest flight deck upon which the Corsair could land. 1833 Squadron too, was brought up to speed on ADDLS at Stretton with the expert assistance of the Illustrious' batsman, Johnny Hastings, an ex-fighter pilot. When Illustrious sai led for the Indian Ocean on 30 December 1943, the Corsair Is of 1830 and 1833 Squadrons went with them. However, it would be another nine months before the US Navy began Corsair operations from the decks of its aircraft carriers. During that time the Corsairs of the British Eastern Fleet and those aboard carriers of the Home Fleet in the Arctic would sec action, proving once and for all the viability of the aircraft for successful Fleet operation.

Ravager was much smaller than a fleet carrier, and was equipped with the smallest flight deck upon which the Corsair could land. via Philip Jarrett

79

Escorting the Tirpitz Attacks While the British Eastern Fleet had been preparing for action on the other side of the world, in Britain two other Corsair Squadrons, Nos 1834 and 1836, had been embarked aboard Victorious on 12 February and 8 March 1944 respectively. The Victorious, together with Furious and four escort carriers, formed the main component of a huge Royal Naval strike force that was tasked to sink the TirJ)itz, the 42,000-ton German battleship that had proved a constant thorn in the side of the British war effort. It had been holed~up in Alten Fjord in Norwegian waters after being damaged in an attack by British midget submarines in September 1943, but now it would be only a matter of months before the Tirpitz would be seaworthy again, and it had to be put out of commission permanently before then because of the threat that it posed to convoys operating in the Atlantic or en route to Russia through the Arctic. The strike, code-named Tungsten, was to be carried out by torpedo-bomber reconnaissance wings comprising four squadrons of Fairey Barracuda divebombers. Top cover would be provided by twenty-eight Corsairs, fourteen each from 1834 Squadron, commanded by Lt Cdr r. N. Charlton RN; and 1836 Squadron, commanded by Lt Cdr Chris Tomkinson RNVR(A). Fighters that were to act as close escort to the dive-bombers and to carry out flak suppression would be the responsibility of sixty aircraft from four squadrons of Martlets, and two squadrons of Hellcats. TirJ)itz was armed with a main battery of eight 15in guns, each capable of firing 1,750lb (800kg) shells; twelve 5.9in guns in its secondary batteries; and sixteen 4in heavy anti-aircraft guns. In addition, nine single and nine quadruple 20mm flak guns had recently been installed on top of the existing gun turrets, each gun capable of about 8,500 rounds per minute. Tirpitz was also very well protected, with 12 1/zin (275mm) thick side armour plating. Antisubmarine patrols would be undertaken by eight Martlets, and twelve Swordfish from the carrier Fencer, while two squadrons of Seafires would carry out CAP to protect the fleet. After a full dress rehearsal on 28 March, the strike force sailed from Scapa Flow in the Orkneys in two formations, joining up on the afternoon of 2 April about 220 nautical miles to the north-west of Alten

CORSAIRS FOR KING AND COUNTRY

CORSAIRS FOR KING AND COUNTRY

Fjord. From there, the force sailed to the flying-off position, 120 miles (190km) north-west of Kaa Fjord, 80 miles (130km) from the main entrance to Alten Fjord. On 3 April, between 0415 and 0423 hours, eleven Corsairs and twelve Barracudas of 827 Squadron took off from the Victorious, and were joined by nine Barracudas off Furious. Despite the difference in speed, the Corsairs formed up with the Barracudas without difficulty. Though visibility was 'excellent', nine-tenths snow cover on the ground made it difficult to see the aircraft below. After sixty-five minutes flying, the Corsairs' long-range tanks were jettisoned, between Alta and Lang fjords. As the target came into view, a German smoke-screen was beginning to form, and as the bombers began their dives from 8,000{t (2,400111), the Corsairs ranged over Lang and Kasa fjords, wh iIe the closeescort Martlets and Hellcats attacked the flak guns. The Tir/Jitz seemed to be caught unawares and the Barracudas scored several hits on the battleship. At 0600, about half an hour after the first-wave attack, the Corsairs set course for Victorious. All the strike aircraft, except {or one Barracuda that was shot down, were safely recovered aboard the carriers. The longest of the Corsair sorties lasted 2hr 30min. Between 0515 ami 0520 hours Victorious sent off ten Corsairs, and between 0525 and 0535hr they were {ollowed by eleven Barracudas of the second-wave attack force. Furious despatched its nine Barracudas, and they joined with the others to head for the target, climbing to 15,000{t (4, 500m). In the meantime, Hellcats and Martlets made their attacks on the battleship's guncrews and flak defences ashore. The second-wave attack had meanwhile gradually reduced height to 10,000{t (3,OOOm), and the divebombers made their final dive from 7,500ft (2,280m). They also scored hits on the Tir/JitZ, for the loss of one Barracuda that crashed into a hillside after releasing its bomb-load, and another that was shot down in flames as it pulled out of its dive. Furious and Victorious each put up two AP Corsairs over the fleet when the second-wave aircraft returned. One of the returning Corsairs missed the arrestor wire on Victorious and crashed on its nose about 25-30ft (7. 5-9m) beyond the second barrier: incredibly, no one was hurt. Altogether, the Barracudas were believed to have hit the Tirpitz with three 1,6001b armour-piercing bombs, eight 500lb semi-

armour piercing, five 500lb MC, and one 600lb Anti-Submarine bomh. The twowave attacks killed 122 sailors and wounded 316 more, while the FAA had lost three Barracudas and one Hellcat, whose pilot was saved. Most importantly of all, the Tir/JitZ was put out of action for three months. Over the following three months the weather and enemy interception prevented any more attacks on the Tir/Jitz. On 14 May, an FAA strike force of twenty-seven Barracudas and twentyeight Corsair escorts, with {our Seafires and four Martlets, was flown from Victorious and Furious, but ten-tenths cloud at 1,000ft [300m] in the target area forced a recall while the aircraft were en route. Operation Mascot was mounted on 17 july using the fleet carriers Indefatigable (twenty-four Barracudas, twelve Fireflies and six Swordfish), Fonnidable (twentyfour Barracudas and eighteen Corsairs o{ 1841 Squadron) and Furious (twelve Seafires, twenty Hellcats and three Swordfish). Forty-eight fighters, including the eighteen Corsairs of No. 1841 Squadron from Formidable, escorted fortyfour Barracudas to the target. Twelve of the Corsairs carried cameras to photograph the bombing attacks, and the other six were to be used in flak suppression duties, providing no enemy fighters were encountered. The attack was detected early on German radar and the defenders were able to fill Kaa Fjord with smoke, obscuring the Tir/Jitz. None of the Barracuda's bombs hit the battleship, and a second strike was cancelled when fog threatened. One Corsair was shot down, its pilot being captured by the Germans. In August the FAA carried out four more attacks on the Tir/Jitz under the code-name Operation Goodwoocl. All three fleet carriers were involved, and the Navy, worried by the possibility of heavy fighter opposition, added two escort carriers: Trum/Jeter (With eight Avengers and six Martlets), and Nabob (with twelve Avengers and four Martlets). Indefatigable carried twelve Barracudas, twelve Fireflies, twelve Hellcats and sixteen Seafires; Formidable twenty-four Barracudas, plus 1841 and 1842 Squadrons respectively with eighteen and twelve Corsairs, mainly for top cover escort duty, but also for divebombing if needed; while Furious carried twel ve Barracudas and twenty-four Seafires. Bad weather delayed the operation, and when it went ahead on 22

80

August, conditions were still marginal and prevented the participation of the Avengers. A strike force of thirty-one Barracudas and their twenty-four Corsair escorts was forced to turn back 15 (24km) miles short of the Norwegian coast. The orsai rs of 1841 and 1842 Squadrons from Formidable did not take part in Goodwood 1/: this was left to a handful of Ilellcats and Fireflies to make attacks the on the Tirpitz. Goodwood 1lI went ahead on 24 August after fog had prevented a strike the previous day. Twenty-four Corsairs of 1841 and 1842 Squadrons from Fonnidable escorted thirty-three Barracudas all the way to the target, but the attack inflicted only minor damage to the battleship. Two Hellcats and three Corsairs were shot down by anti-aircraft fire as the F4Us traversed Kaa Fjord to strafe the 88mm flak gun positions, and a fourth Corsair ditched close to Fonnidable on the return flight. Later, a Barracuda pilot - Sub Lt R. Fulton - praised the Corsair pilots for their 'sheer cold-blooded gallantry'. Goodwood IV went ahead on 29 August, but this, too, met with little success. This time two Corsairs from Fonnidable, each carrying a 1,000lb (450kg) bomb apiece, and three Hellcat fighter-bombers joined twenty-six Barracudas. Fifteen more Corsairs and ten Fireflies flying as close escort were used on flak suppression. When the bombers arrived, the target area was covered in a thick smokescreen and the attackers were forced to bomb blindly. Of the 52 tons of bombs dropped, several near-misses and just two hits were claimed. One Corsair and a Firefly were lost over Kaa Fjord, and later two Barracudas had to be pushed over the side of their carrier after crash landings. In the wake of Goodwood, the resul ts were analysed, and they made for pretty grim rcading: basically, it had bcen the most costly Fleet Air Arm operation of the war. One of the 1,000 AP bombs that had 'possibly' hit the Tir/Jitz had been dropped by one of the Corsair fighter bombers, and it was mooted that future carrier attacks on Tir/JitZ should be carried out either by '... Mosquitoes, or as many Hellcats and Corsair fighter bombers as possible with suitable anti-flak support, provided thcse can be adapted to carry 1,6001b [730kg] bombs.' In fact Tirpitz was later moved south to Troms¢ for repairs, and it was there that, on 12 November 1944, the battleship was capsized by I2,0001b (5,500kg) Tallboy bombs dropped by Lancasters of

Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons. Afterwards,

()()odwood, Victorious and

Formidable

headed for Scapa Flow, and later they both left home waters to join thc British Eastern Fleet.

Corsairs and the British Eastern Fleet Meanwhile on 5 january 1944, Illustrious had reached the Straits of Gibraltar without incident; but the first Corsair was lost off Alexandria one cvening shortly after, when the standby Corsair flight was scrambled to intercept a high-flying ju 88 reconnaissance aircraft. The Corsair, piloted by Sub-Lt D Montieth of 1833 Squadron, crashed on take-off, the pilot having omitted to lock his wings properly in the 'spread' position: when he retracted his undercarriage as he passed over the destroyer screen, his wings folded and the Corsair plunged into the Mediterranean without trace. Illustrious continucd hcr passage, through Port Said, the Suez Canal ,Iml rort Tewfik into the Red Sea. The carrier refuelled at Aden and headed across the Indian Ocean to China Bay, Ceylon, where the Corsairs were moved to T rincomalee airfield and further pilot training. On 22 February Illustrious put to sea to intercept a possible German blockade-runner sailing between the Cocos Islands and the Sunda Strait. The Corsairs and Barracudas flew exercises for two days hefore bad weather halted proceedings. Illustrious returned to Ceylon on 3 March, and five days later made another 'Calcutta sweep' after a japanese cruiser force ventured into the India Ocean {rom Singapore and sank two ships; hut again it was to no avail. Accidents continued to happen, and two Corsairs ami one pilot were lost during further training. The Royal Navy planned to carry out strikes in Sumatra, but not bcfore Illustrious could he supported by the arrival of a second carrier, HMS Victorious. To fill the gap the USN agreed to loan one of its carriers, and on 2 April Illustrious was joined by the arrival from Esperitu Santos in New Britain, of the USS Saratoga and her air fleet, Air Group 12. For two weeks the two carriers worked up their routine prior to rutting to sea, and the Corsairs continued to be upgraded. Sadly, during this time, Lt Cdr Dicky Cork was killed landing his Corsair at China Bay, Ceylon. During thcir time in Ceylon, the Corsair Is werc

Corsair taking off from a British carrier. via Philip Jarrell .•ton was pmhahly correct. The hest weapon

the monster spinning 12ft 14m 1prop', coming at

hundred railmad tics!

again"'l tfucks Oil a winding road was ...trating

us at ahout 200 kn<m.

There were so m,my fires we couldn'r assess

The heautiful twin cities of llamhung and

With explmive (20mm) ammo, which the jels

a 2,OOOlh homb for a

rhe damage fm the smoke. I guess we clobbered

had and we didn't. We jusr had solid 50 calihre

Ilungnam were not far nhcad, and they were

it good, rhough. Just like we got Puckchoni the

chunk- of met,d As we saw, we could pour those

clear of clouds. Time to get ready for the attack.

day hefore, hig mass stnkes of thirry m forry

rounds tnto the truck> fore,·er, and perhaps

Ensign Owen Dykema of VF-192 in his Corsair at Moffett Field, California, just

We were just beginning m appmach Ilungnam

plane,. I heard rumours thar the MiGs were also

damage them severely (we had a hard t lI11e

before his war cruise to Korea, 18 February 1952. Owen Dykema

when the long-range flak hegan to appear: It was

down our way during lhe nighl .

MiG Alley TF-77 now prepared for strikes in concert with the US 5th Air Force, on the North's four principal hydroelectric plants, at Fusen, Kyosen, Choshin and Suiho on 23 June. The big generating plant at Suiho was the most dangerous target, situated in MiG Alley less than 40 miles (65km) from Antung where 250 MiGs were based; this would be attacked by fighter bomhers from TF-77 and the Fifth A ir Force. Meanwhile, Fifth Air Force Mustangs would bomb Nos 3 and 4 plants at Fusen, while USMC Panther jets raided Choshin's Nos 3 and 4 plants. A short time after, Skyraiders, Corsairs and Panthers from Boxer, Princeton and Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) would attack

apparent t har rhe defences would he fairly

tellmg), hUI usually we couldn'r set them a!lre like the exploding 20mm Clluld. Once on hre

heavy, as expected. Because of thi" we phmned

the whole truck would go, cargo and all.

to dmp all of our ordnance in a single pass and then get the hell our of rhere. Whde setting up

In all, Ensign Owen Dykema flew six missions in the two weeks before R&R in Japan. The one on 12 May was a 'special hop':

fm the allack, and all the while 11 lasted, the

flllk

of all kmds - wa, pretty heavy, and Siruce took what seemed then to he a minor h,t m the engine an,'H.

I set

,111 my ordnance on ,alvo, mlled mto my

dl\'e (adrenalm pumping freely) and Imed up on

You bet it was special. It seemed thai our mtelItgence guys had a direct observer of some sort

my two tiny huddmgs, firing all guns

IIwolved in a big meeting of all the North

All the way down rhe orange halls were floating

,I>

J went.

Korean and Chine,e intelligence communit y. It

up and the hlack puffs of ,moke were magically

was being held in a small mwn well up the coast

appearing on all ,ides. At 2,500ft 1760ml I

from the homh line (the frond, m a hlg hudd-

Rocket-armed Corsairs of VF-192 on the way to the beach. Ensign Owen Dykema

released my whole load and hauled out of there.

ing like a resort hotel in rhi, ,mall town. They

is flying No. 214. Owen Dykema

No wonder 1didn't see (or care) If I hll or not, I was already gone and clawing for ever-mme dIS-

even professed to knoll' the exaCt moms where the intelltgence hig wigs were hilleted, and the

In the event, ollr Ilflvig.Hion \\'as fb\\'lcs~. We

exact schedule for hreakfast. Our joh was to sur-

did the pull up and pop over thing, and there

was pmhahly less than one minute. One pass,

gmund. Once again, miraculously, everyone

prise them just afrer first lighr and hefore thel

was the huildmg' The sun was Just up and

and surprise was gone, so back hotTIe

survived the attack and got joined up. 1jockeyed

got up to go to hreakfa", pmhahly just when

shining fmm behind us on the Side of the build-

they were m rhe head for their \1Hlrt1lng 'ahlu-

mg. I could easdy Identify my personal ,,'mdow

liOns" and hlast them all.

and it looked exactly as hriefed. We strung our

In the hrlehng for the ,trike we were shown

a liltle hit to avoid conflicting with one another

good pictures of the huilding, a large two-storey

and went . . traight on in. I was numher ~ix in

cad, of liS was assigned a windo\\', We

and I could see rhe leaders' napalm going right

Joh, and

were ...uppo...cd

(0

throw our napalm right

aSSigned II'mdoll'. We didn't thmk

It

our

mm and directly amund those wmdo,,"s. By the

would make

time I gnr up close I had Just ahout lost sight of

111

much difference If we hit the window or not,

my window in the smoke and flames fmm the

hecause at 250- 300 knots thai napalm was going

earlier hit,. Nevertheless, I think I gnr mine

go thmllgh the wall no matter where It 1111.

right in there. I cleared the mof of rhe huilding

We took just two di,·isions (eighl), and II'l'

by only ahout 20ft 16ml, and gm a clear, close-

10

launched m the darkness just before dawn. We flew In to the heach right on the water, at 50ft

was

Wl'

went.

apparent11

complete.

I was Sixth In, so th1l1gs hadn't dctenor;lted too already stepped down off thc leader hI' ahout

115ml altitude or "', to avoid radar detection.

Nnrhing was ,tirnng in the town, and no AA

50ft [15ml, and only ahour 150ft [45ml off the

Navigation wa"'lricky

responded. On circling hack we could sec that

w,Her. After that I ju" sucked in right to my

ttl

hCCClUSC

we were . . uppo...cd

.11111 right al the beach, pull up at the coast,

tance and altitude hI' rhe rime my load hll the

amund and looked over Struce's pLlI1e prellI'

Princeton was back on station in the Sea of Japan on 2 June, and VF-I92 recommenced strikes on North Korea. Ensign Owen Dykema flew his seventh mission on 5 June, against rail targets near Wonsan, and on the 8th, VF-192 launched twenty-three Corsairs under a 200(t overcast for a strike on Hungnam. He recalls:

much when I slid into place. However, we were

up view of rhe whole thmg. Our surpnse

tallltOps and headed in until rhe first napalm hit

carefully, hur other than a posSlhle thm haoe of :-.mokc Of oil ~lre(\Ining hack from

hiS

englnc,

everythmg ,eemed okay. I don't know for ,ure If I knocked my targer; out - a pair of,wrage huildings

hecause we didn't go hack

w look, hut 1

tried. They were such riny huildmgs ' Then we had Wlel down rhmugh the soup agam, to return wthe ship. Made it okay, rhough.

On 16 June 1952, aircraft from TF-77 pasted Kowon, supported by an effective rope chaff cloud to 'snow' enemy radar-controlled AA guns. Two days later, VF-I92 (rom Princeton struck at rail targets again, as Ensign Owen Dykema remembers:

the huilding was lOtally l'ngulfed in flames. If all

leader (Struce) and tried to occupy as lit tiL-

scemeJ to he, the

space as posSlhle, and out of the corner of my

We went way up norrh and bomhed the devd

eye watched the rest come in.

out of another little railmad rown. We used

pop over the mountain range, and find ourselves

of our info was as correLt, as

bOring right down on rhe buddmg. Any ml>-

Nonh Kmean and Chmese mtelilgence com-

take, and we would gIve rhem rime to get out of

munity pmbahly suffered Its largest Single loss in

At one r01nt there werc two C:orsairs coming

napalm fm the !lrst rime. Some of the guys had

F4U-4s and Skyraiders on the crowded flight deck of the USS

the huilding and into the bomb shelters.

hisrory. Fmm the time we cleared the moun-

in too steeply, one ,lightly hehind the other.

2,OOOlh 1900kgl homhs. They rried to dmp them

to a strike over Korea. Roland H Baker

148

It

149

Philippine Sea prior

WAR IN TI IE LAND OF MORNING CALM

WAR IN THE LAND OF MORNING CALM

Fusen's Nos 1 and 2 plants. Finally, when darkness fell, B-29s would hit the Nos I and 2 plants at Choshin using radarbombing techniques. For the initial strike on Suiho, thirty-five AD Skyraiders and thirty-five flak-suppression F9F Panthers, from Boxer, Princeton and Philip/)ine Sea, with eighty-four USAF Sabres as top cover, would be involved. A second strike, consisting of seventy-nine F-84s and fortyfive F-80s, would go in an hour later. Bad weather delayed the start of the operation, which went ahead at 1400 hours. Ensign Owen W. Dykema was one of the VF-192 Corsair pilots from Princeton at the time of the operation. He recalls:

The problem began, however, when damage reports late on Monday indicated that, while we

in the strike

fly nightfall we were all really upset. Word

dUlll

to demonstrate cowardice in

the eyes of my own personal world. So I was

finally came through thar we would indeed strike

had torally destroyed two of the plants, the

the Choshin plant the next day, first launch, hut

between a rock and a h"rd place, which simply

Suiho and the Kyosen, and pretty well damaged

unfortunately thar still would give the Commies

dictated that I go out ,md get killed, if that was

a third, at the Fusen Reservoir, the fourth, the

all night to prepare their hest reception. And as

to be my fate. There was no way out. The morning

W"S

bright and clear - cheery,

big hydroelectric plant at the (famous) Choshin

luck would have it, I was indeed assigned to thar

Reservoir, was still operating. We all immedi-

strike. As the evening wore on we began getting

actL",lIy. I kept looking around to savour the

ately hegan clamouring to launch a second

reports from the night pilots who had heen

,·iew. As we approached the target rhe AA

massive strike as soon as possihle, at least as

scouting the area that every road and railroad

began appearing. In true form, the skipper flew

early as possihle Tuesday Illorning, to knock

they could see had convoys of lights, all con-

up "Iongside rhe r'lI'ger, p"st it "nd began cir-

that plant out before they could beef up the

verging on Choshin. We fully expected that by

cling hack, to line everyone up in the circle sur-

defences. This was the last significant remain-

Tuesday this would be the most strongly

munding the target. Good tactics, the trouble

ing source of electric power for all of North

defended target we had hit to date. The ship's

was thar the skipper and I (and a few orhers)

Korea, and the element of surprise was gone. A

operations people were estimating 10 per cent

were sitting up there like ducks in a shooting

child of six could predict thar this remaining

losses (acceptable). So I was looking at a I-in-I 0

gallery, for whar seemed like hours (just a few

plant would soon be the most heavily defended

chance of getting killed the next dayl

site in the world. Since I was one of the fell'

I don't think I slept at all Monday night. Lying

The end of June 1952 was an exciting, even his-

who had not flown on Monday's strike I was

there in my sack, I was never so scared or lonely

tory-making time in TF-77 in the Sea of Japan.

assured a place on this second strike.

in my life. I kept thinking how this might be my

minutes). The AA was extremely heavy, with white and hlack (the heavy stuff) puffs appearing all around, and orange rracers drifting by from all qu"drants. AI' times the big stuff was close enough to hear the sharp 'crack" over the

UN allies had ruled out attacks on the electric

Down safely, a F4U-4 Cotsair is arrested on board the USS Philippine Sea off Korea, and the yellow-shirted LSD ('landing signals officer'j returns to his station.

power system and network in North Korea as

Roland H Baker

prohahly within 50-100ft 115-30mJ of us.

As those of us in the trenches under>tood it, the

noise of the engine and the wind. That was I was scrunched up inro as small" b,,11 as pos-

long as there was a chance that we might have the way down, so the enemy gunners tended to

sible, there in the cockpit, looking over at the

ended up taking it over. However, hI' June 1952

Ia~[ night, my la~r few hours on earth, and I \Vas

it had hecome amply clear that we were going

spending it lying there "lone in a bunk on a ship

keep their heads down, from the time the first

skipper and silently screaming at him to 'Go,

to settle for some kind of armistice that left

far from home in rhe Sea of Japan. The ship and

guys (the skipper and I) started firing until the

man, go" Bur he just kept calmly (unafraid' -

everything north of the 38th parallel to the

the squadron were already fully anticipating the

last, tail-end Charlie pulled out of his dive. In

hardly) flying around the target, looking over

Communists. So the High Command decided

loss of several pilots tomormw and they were nor

addition, if they were firing back at us during our

his shoulder to be sure everyone was in his

that that was an appropriate time to take out all

p"rticularly concerned that one of these might

dives, they h"d to keep rorating their aim as we

proper posirion for the attack. So far there were

generating capacity up there.

be me. They were already geared up to perform

c"me in fmm all parts of the compass.

no losses th"t I could see; rhough I failed to see

The power plants were the only remaining

the necessary norifications of next of kin, to

The re"lIy sensitive parts of the attack were

why not. 11011' could they have missed us in thar

targets of any significant, concentrated value in

adjusr the squadron roster to fill in the empty

just before and after our defensive firing, jusl

shooting gallery I However, it was at this time

all of North Korea, and so, as you might expect,

spots (my place), and to go on operating "s

before the first plane went in, when everyone

that one of the A Ds from VF-195 had his rail

they were heavily defended, with all sorts of

though I had never existed.

was close in and surrounding the target but no

shot off - fortunarely the pilor gO( out, though how or where I never found out.

anti-aircraft guns, of all types. Our hope was

As advertised, we were up very emil' Tuesd"y

one was yet into their dive, and just after the

that, after a couple of years of ignoring them as

morning (who slept/). I really felt rotten, and

last guy pulled out, when the ground defences

Fin"lIy the skipper seemed satisfied, waggled

targets, the North Koreans might have hecome

so did everyone else on the strike. Nobody

could safely pop up out of their bunkers or

his wings and went in. I dutifully followed, with

complacent, and might actually have diverted

talked about it, though, or shared their fears. As

tunnels and fire at everyone going "way. Of

an enormous sigh of relief, at least to get

some of the idle defences elsewhere. The plan

far as I could tell, I was the only one so scared.

course, gun emplacements off to the sides of the

moving and defending myself. We rolled into

was to hit them all at once, throughout all of

By 0430 we were in the cockpit and ready to

target area would he firing all the time.

the dive and I began concentrating on the

F4U-4s at launch time on board the USS Philippine Sea in Korean waters. Roland H Baker

target, lining it up, putting the proper lead into

go. Unfonunately, the weather over the target

The skipper "nd I were expmed to the firsl

massive strike. They got four carriers on the line

was poor so we were put on hold. For 3 th incrcd~

sensitive period the longest, as we led everyone

it, and firing all guns almost continuously. It's

on Sunday, the 22m!, and that single massive

ible hours we s"t there, strapped in the cock-

else into diving position around the target. The

hard for me to believe th"t I was doing all this

strike went out on Monday the 23rd.

North Korea, and knock them all out in a single

pits, fidgeting, worrying, panicking (isn't the

skipper was a real professional and I knew he

while nlcked with such fear. Apparently fear is

Although they launched almost every avail-

waiting always the worsr?). I could just see hun-

would do it just right regardless of the danger.

not necessarily paralysing. Fin"lly I reached the

ahle plane from the four carriers, I somehow

dreds of AA guns "rriving at the plant, setting

We were exposed to the groundfire at closer

proper altitude and everything seemed right on,

failed to get on the schedule. In particular the

up, stockpiling the ready ammo, firing a few

rcHlgc, and for a longer time than anyone else

so I dropped my bombs.

guys who went way up north, to hit the Suiho

checkout rounds, getting ready for me (not us,

in the strike was. Who more appropriate than

But just then my windshield exploded into "

plant on the Yalu river, had an exciting time.

me). Finally, around 0800, the word came:

the skipper and I to number among the 'accept-

million fragments of Plexiglas, hlown back into

This plant was only ahoul 40 miles 160kml from

'Launch all aircraft!' - sink or swim, survive

able' 10 per cent losses'

the cockpit by a 400 mile-an-hour wind coming

the hig MiG hase at Antung, across the river in

not, here we come!

Of

Nevertheless, I knew without" doubt th"t I

through a large hole. I thought: 'So this is what

Manchuria. F9F-2 Panthers from VF-191 were

Due to a number of other pilors being ill, I

would fly my wing position and do my best to

it is to die" However, I seemed to be srill flying,

flying high cover on thar raid, hut no one really

ended up flying on the skipper's wing. The strike

hit the target, regardless of the fear. Anything

though still hurtling eanhw"rd at" great rate. I

expected that they would he capable of shooring

consisted of about fony planes, from all of the

less would rate as 'cowardice in the face of the

paused a moment (a few milliseconds/) to thank

down any MiGs. Air Force F-86s were up there

PrincelOn squadrons. Our skipper led the strike,

enemy', and I knew I would never be able to

God, first that I was still (apparently) alive and

for that. flut the surprise worked

the anti-air-

so I was number two onto the target. We made

live with that shame - I would never again be

in no pain, and second thar I had followed

craft defences were heavy, but many were caught

the kind of attack where we all lined up gener-

able to look my fellow pilors, my friends or even

squadron doctrine and lowered my goggles as we

napping, and it wasn't all thelt had - and alll ,hlp. lie amwered, 'We'll

that four 20mm machine cannons replaced the

concemrarion was suddenly interrupted with a

to 7,000ft 12,000ml, and noticed thar our side

pUI them on the dock at Kohe and you'll have

popular guns of World War II: six 50-caliher

feeling of heing crushed into my seat, which I

of the From was much more lit up than the

General Clifton B. Cates, commandant of the USMC, pins the Silver Star on Lt Col

machine guns. Nobody had given much thought

instantly knew was caused by a violent change

enemy's side. Until my gang of night fighters

change his m1l1d, although I pointed oul thai

J. Hunter Reinburg at HQ, USMC, Washington DC, for Reinburg's achievements

about what effect the 20mm cannon recoil

of direction. The suspected culprit causing the

entered the Korean fray, both sides were almost

our plane, were IllO large for the ,mall and

during the Korean War. DoD/USMC

might have on the delicate radar: the jolt of the

excessive G-Ioads on my body was the auto-

equally illuminared every night, and this had

to tow them

III

the ,mpon.' lie ,ttll would nm

160

161

KOREAN NIGIIT-FIGI n ER CLOSE AIR SUPPORT

KOREAN NIGIIT-FIGIITER CLOSE AIR SUPPORT

Vought AU-1 Bu No. 133843 of the USMC in flight. Vought

F4U of VMA·212 in Japan at the time of the Korean War. USMC I heard my call sign over the radio agam, and

horizon! I was awarc of atmospheric refraction,

days Imer, the enemy was in full and rapid

lights wa, only on the northwest SIde (Chinese

was enough to make me forget my electrol1lc

caused when hright stars were low on the

ret real. On 12 Octoher, my night fighters were

Manchuria) of the Yalu Rlvcr. Agam, rhere was

trouhles. 'Hello, Bateye One. Th" is Flash One

horizon, and of course I had been getting sleepy

movcd out of japan and onto the newly cap-

no AA greeting, so I turned north-cast and fol-

again, That artillery has come all\'e from

agam, which

why that bright light had awak-

tured airport al Kllnpo ncar Seoul, the capital

lowed the IlIle of Itghts, makmg sure to sray on the south-cast side of the fiver. After gOl11g past

made it easy to find and hIt targets. But It dIdn't

continuous circling and watchmg, I radIoed,

take the enemy long to reake that they h,ld

'Flash One, Bateye One, Looks lIke they've qUIt

It

better ,,,e 'blackout' p[<Jellces, and now, If \\'e

shooting. What do you thmk" 'Bateye, tim "

spotted hghts, they were usu,llly extingu"hed as

Flash One. The sound of your bomhs seemed to

IS

another area. Can you help us one more time!'

ened me with such a jolt. Half an hour later, I

city of South Korea. We were all amazed at the

Gunfire scattered across no man's land' made

'This is Bateye One. I'll go look for some other

The voice sounded fired. 'Bateye to Flash.

was safely on the field at lta:uki.

rapid advance of our ground noops into North

the illuminated area, I selected a south-cast

it easy to locate the Front; sporadic machine-

tmgets, and come hack in a little while.' I

RighI', I'm commg hack. J have three homhs

Korea. On 14 Octoher we moved again, this

course unt il reaching the Sea of japan at

gun tracer bullets arced back and forth across

decided to reconnoiter some other enemy areas,

left.' Each of the three bombs was dropped on

soon as they heard our aircraft engine

IlUI\CS.

I

be in the tight mea. Thanks a lot'

Following the instant succe" of our night Sl

rikes, I set up a regular schedule to have my

time to the newly captured airport al Wonsan

Ilungnam, Fifteen minutes later, I was huzzing our airport at Wonsan: this was

signal for my

the river in dispute, The muzzle flashes of heavy

and manoeuvred accordingly, While being care-

a separate fla,h area, and I also emptied my

night fighters airborne over Korea every night

on the eaSl coast of North Korea, north of the

artillery flickered often, I reported in by mdlo

ful not to fly into the h,ml-to-see mountains

C