VB-135 2nd Tour, May- October 1944

 

Preparations for the 2nd tour:

3 January to 15 April 1944: training with PV-1 type aircraft for duty in the Northern Pacific, with special emphasis on instrument flying, bombing, gunnery and navigation. Meager training in the use of photo-flash bombs in connection with night photo- reconnaissance was done.

2/18/44 Five new PV-1s were assigned to the Squadron to total of 10 planes.
48880
48937
And eight more

 

Other BuNos flown during March 1944: 29121, 33121, 29129, 29137, 33137, 29930, 29767, 34630

4/16/44 48880 suffered major damage by Army handling during a hangar fire in Yakutat enroute to Adak. The plane was transferred to Seattle, WA for overhaul. Lt. Vivian's diary:

 “One of the crewman had removed the tail wheel and was patching the tube when the word “Fire” was passed. This ship was blocking the exit of all planes and it could not be pushed because the tail wheel was off. Someone threw a a steel cable around the tail and a tractor hauled the ship to safety. But not until it had snapped the strut lowering the under gun station onto the deck. The cable bit through the soft aluminum doing major damage. All the remaining planes were pushed to safety. The (damaged) plane had to be returned to Seattle.”

19 April to 1 May 1944: Loran training

4/21/44 VB-135 arrives to Adak for Loran training. While there, some crews were scheduled to perform operational searches.

4/27/44 48937/11V lost at sea with all hands during special test search flight on the use of LORAN for long-distance navigation SW of Adak. 

Crew: Lt. James J. McNulty, Jr.; James G. Rocke; Leroy M. Sellers; Richard L. Jackson; Roman C. Czaplick; James J. Duffin; James L. Gartland; and William B. How. 

Vivian: “Near the conclusion of our (LORAN) schooling, each crew took his plane out on a short navigational flight and see how this new gear operated under flight conditions. Jim McNulty borrowed Bill Clapham's plane for his LORAN flight. He never returned from that flight. We received just one message from him that indicated he was having engine trouble and was coming in on one engine. The entire squadron was immediately alerted. We searched for two days in the area without so much as seeing a floating object. It was the opinion that he was too low and too heavy for just one engine.”

4/30/44 Total of six new and six old planes



2nd tour

VB 135, arrived to Casco field, Attu, AK on 5/2/44 with 12 PV-1s after completion of advanced operational and navigational training in LORAN equipment.

Squadron number/BuNo's:

1V/48733, (c/n 237-5969, #206 in the batch) 5/5/44 Lt A.A. Wheat is missing from the first mission to the Kurils. Radio Tokyo confirmed one plane was shot down over the Northern Kurils.

2V/48889 (White 889) no Black 2 on the nose.
5/23/1944, upon take-off from NAS Attu, the engine failed and the plane crashed into the sea and exploded, killing all hands. Crew: Pilot Lt.(jg) Carl E. Clark; Lt.(jg) Kemble White, Jr. ; Ens. Vernon A. Wagner; AMM3c James W. Reeve; AOM3c James J. Lee; AMM2c Walter J. Burkowski; and ARM2c John Jalacic. 

2VR/48909. 7/23/44 Lt. John Vivian attacked and sank a Japanese picket boat but suffered right engine damage from AA fire.  "I nursed the engine along as we set course for home," he recalled, "but it just wasn't going to run." As Vivian crossed the beach near Petropavlovsk, coastal batteries opened up. By now the Soviet antiaircraft gunners on Kamchatka had been ordered to fire behind American aircraft to ward off any Japanese fighters that might be following. Vivian looked aft: "The bursts were behind us but correct on altitude." Vivian's landing went badly. He overshot the concrete runway and came to a stop in the sod overrun. He glanced across the field and spotted three disabled Venturas lined up and weathering in the open (BuNos 48934, 48930 and 48928). Crew: Pilot Lt. John P. Vivian, Jr., A-V(N) USNR; Ens. David Ross Wilson, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. Thomas Henry Edwards, A-V(N) USNR; AMM2c Kenneth Guy Anderson; AOM3c Emil Arnold Nomensen, Jr.; AMM2c Paul John Schasney; and ARM2c Frank Andrew Viran 

Note: PV-1 BuNos 48938 and 48910 crashed outside of Yelizovo airfield.

​

2VR2/49527

3V/48891 (White 891) no Black 3 on the nose, fuselage art. Scrivner, pp. 3, 16, 19,        
Wetterhahn, p. 49

4V/48892

4VR/49420

9/10/44 Lt Sparks in 4VR, searching sector 9, at 1140W at position 48-40N, 158-50E attacked and shot down a B6N Tenzan of the 553 Ku. Sighting the plane ten miles distant on his starboard bow, Lt Sparks gave chase, pursued the Tenzan in a tight circle, and on his third burst from his bow guns set fire to the Japanese plane, which plunged to the water.

"Dark brown with red circles on fuselage and wings, bright red white stripe around fuselage forward of tail. Possible bombs under fuselage; may have been drop tanks". 

Crew: PO1c (Ippiso) Yuda Yoshimori, PO1c (Ippiso) Eikichi Nakano 中野栄吉, PO1c (Ippiso) Hachisuga Sachio 

10/21/44 the 49420 was transferred to VPB-136 where it became 73VR

5/48919 Photo reconnaissance plane with extra cameras mounted in the tail in trimetrogon configuration. This a/c was transferred from Hedron to VPB-136 on 3/9/45, and remained there until 9/1/45

6/48923  6/12/44, Lt. (jg) Jackson W. Clark - unable to orient himself in the fog over the area for 45 min, jettisoned bombs and turned to the base. Ditched his plane north of Agattu because of the fog and lack of fuel, everybody was rescued.

 

6R/33352

7/48928 7/22/44, after the bomb run on Shimushu, Lt. (jg) Jackson W. Clark was attacked and chased by four Japanese fighters. For a hundred miles the fighters poured fire into the PV-1 before turning away. The starboard engine was steadily losing oil, and remaining fuel was too low to recover in the Aleutians. They turned northwest and landed in Petropavlovsk without difficulty. Crew: Pilot Lt.(jg) Jackson Wilson Clark, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. John Franklin Mathers, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. Berwyn J. Miller, A-V(N) USNR; AMM1c Hoyle Afma Simes; ARM2c John (n) Brennan; and AOM2c Herbert Charles Rowe.

7R/49540

8/48933

9/48934 5/12/44 Lt Hardy V. Logan failed to return; shot over the target by Nakajima J1N Gekko (月光 "Moonlight”) fighter of the 203rd Air Group (Kokutai) flown by CPO Yasuro Baba and WO Yoji Amari at 2139, Japan time. Another Gekko flown by WO Masanobu Maehara and CPO Kunizo Miyazaki was shot by friendly fire and did not return from the mission.

 

203 Ku ACA report

 

Aircraft 1  

前原眞信　Maehara Masanobu  WO (Hicho 飛長)

宮崎国三　Miyazaki Kunizo (CPO/Johiso 上飛曹)

Took off at 22:05

Did not return

 

Aircraft 2

馬場康邦　Baba Yasuro (CPO/Johiso 上飛曹)

甘利洋司　Amari Yoji WO (Hicho 飛長)

Took off at 21:19

Shot down a Ventura over the ocean at 21:39

Returned at 22:50

9VR/48910 6/15/44, Lt Russel P. Bone: no communication since take-off. Probably, reached the target before the other planes. Was seen by Vivian flying low south across Paramushiro Strait under intensive AA fire, making erratic maneuvers, and "was obviously in difficulty". Last seen turning toward Kataoka naval base. 

Direct hit of an AA projectile brought down one of the engines. Violently maneuvering on maximal power settings, Lieutenant Bone managed to fly his plane out of the anti-aircraft fire zone. However, squeezing the last power out of the overheated remaining engine, he realized that his chances to return to the base are less than slim. Lieutenant Bone made a one-engine emergent landing on Yelizovo  airfield in Kamchatka. His PV-1 became the first aircraft of the US Navy, which safely landed in the Soviet Union.

Crew: Pilot LT Russell Price Bone, A-V(N) USNR; ENS Ralph Wayne Stevens, A-V(N) USNR; ENS Glen Wallace Mantle, A-V(N) USNR; AMM1c Laurence Edward Somers; ARM2c Sam (n) Geiber; AMM3c Frank Lee Crow, Jr. ; AOM3c Joseph Patrick Horvath 

 

9VR2/48908

10V/48936 (White 936) Black 10 on the nose and by turret, tail art- Scrivner, 6, 46  

 

11V/48937 4/27/44 lost at sea with all hands during special test search SW of Adak (McNulty)

 
11VR/48930  Landed in Petropavlovsk 6/15/44 (Lt. Howard B. Schuette)

11VR2/33278 Landed in Petropavlovsk 9/11/44 after heavy damage from fighter attack. (Lt (jg) Darryl F. McDonald)

12V/48938, George A. Mahrt 6/19/44  accidentally siphoned fuel overboard near Paramushiro, and was forced to land in Kamchatka. 

His urgent message back to base was simple: "Out of gas. Russia." Still in the dark as he crossed into Soviet territory, Mahrt found the area fogbound. He orbited above the clouds until dawn, when he spotted a hole in the weather. Mahrt slid the bomber through the gap in the clouds, then saw rising terrain ahead. Too late to react, the Ventura plowed through a stand of trees. One wing slammed into solid lumber. The nose was ripped off forward of the cockpit as the plane plowed through the forest. Fortunately, the crew escaped without serious injury and there was no fire. Crew: Pilot Lt. George A. Mahrt, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. Richard Henry Johnson, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. William A. King; ARM3c Clifford Clarence Patzke; AMM2c William Edward Dickson; AOM2c Richard Thomas Everard, Jr.; and AMM2c William Dewey Strom. 

 

12VR/33345


Other BuNos flown by the Squadron, per Pat's logbook:
March 1944

29767
33121 (11V, VB-136 1st tour)
33129 
33137 
39930
48880

48918 29 April search for 11V (McNulty)
X-11 4 May 
34630 5 May Adak to Attu (30V, VB-139)
33433 27 Sept  (36V, VB-139)
33110 18-26 Oct (Attu to Whidbey) Ex-1V of VB-136 during their 1st Aleutian tour. It appears that 33110 sustained some sort of damage between 11/26 and 12/6/43 and was left behind with the Hedron at Amchitka after the completion of the VB-136 tour. From Hedron to VPB-135 18 Oct 1944. Flown to Whidbey Island by  Lt (jg) L. Patteson 23-26 Oct 1944.

Missions

5 May to 14 June 1944: night photo- reconnaissance over Paramushiro and Shimushu.

5/5/44: combined mission (9PV-1s) with 5 PV-1 of VB-139 and one PBY5A of VP-6, heavy AA fire was met.
Lt English 12V 48938 
Lt Mabus 11VR 48930 
Lt Blakeney 3V 48891
Lt Vivian 5V 48919
Lt Schuette 10V 48936 
Lt Clark 2V 48889 
Lt Clapham 8V 48933
Lt Cmdr Stahl 7V 48928
Lt A.A. Wheat 1V 48733 c/n 237-5969, is MIA. Radio Tokyo confirmed one plane shot down over Northern Kuriles.

5/12-5/13/44,
The first night recon/bombing mission to Shimushu- 7PV-1s
Lt Hardy V. Logan in 9V failed to return; per Radio Tokyo he was shot over the target (BuNo 48934, c/n 237-6170, #282 in the batch, some art on the port side ) Jap: 13 May 1944 at 21:19 two Nakajima J1N "Gekko" night fighters of 203 Ku shot down PV-1. One "Gekko" was lost during the attack.

Lt Mason 3V 48891
Lt Sparks 4V 48892
Lt Bone 6V 48923
Lt Patteson 8V 48933
Lt Mabus 10V 48936 
Lt Clark 11VR 48930 

5/13-5/14
Night bombing mission to Shimushu #2- 4 PV-1s
Due to severe weather 3 returned to the base, 1 dropped bombs in the center of the island
Lt Clark 2V 
Lt Vivian 5V
Lt Mabus 6V
Lt English 12V

5/17-5/18/44
Night photo recon and bombing of Shimushu - Paramushiro #3
Lt Mabus 3V
Lt Sparks 4V
Lt Bone 6V tail window broken from AA fire
Lt Patteson  8V
Lt Rumford 11V
Lt Schuette 12V

5/17-5/18
Night mission #4
Blakeney 3V
Vivian 5V
Clark 2V
Stahl 7V
Clapham 8V
English 12V
6 and ...returned to the base, mechanical failures

5/19
Night mission #5
7 planes, 2 returned (mechanical problems)
2V C. E. Clark
3V Blackeney
5V Vivian
6V
7V Stahl
8V Clapham
12V English

5/20-5/21 Night mission #6
6 planes, 2 turned back
Severe weather conditions, all bombs dropped by radar, no photos
3V Mason
5V Mabus
7V Bone
8V Patteson
11V Rumford 
12V Schuette 


5/23, night mission #7
5 planes, only one located target
2V BuNo 48889 one minute after takeoff crashed into the sea and exploded, engine failure, 7 killed, Carl E Clark
6V J W Clark
7V Stahl
8V Clapham
12V English


5/29 5V 48919 
Solo plane day recon mission- unsuccessful due to overcast. The first daylight run over Kuriles by Navy planes (Lt. (Jg) Blakeney) Crossed the shoreline of Kamchatka about 40 miles north of cape Lopatka, then turned south along the west coast of Kamchatka in an effort to prevent radar detection. On the way back passed below Lopatka on the course 230T.
Cameras :
Three F-56 with 5 3/4 inch lenses in the tail, center for verticals, starboard and port at 32 degrees to the vertical. From 9000 ft it covered a strip of approx. 9 miles in width. Each camera had films for 200 exposures. Electrically operated.
K-17 camera with 12 inch lens was mounted in the bow for additional vertical pics (100 exposures)
F-56 with 20 inch lens- hand held and hand- operated for obliques trough the porthole on the port side of the plane. Film for 200 exposures.
Two hand- held and hand- operated K-20 cameras with 6 3/8 inch lenses for incidental pics, 50 exposures in each.

Standard cameras for night photo missions: K-19A in the bow with 13 1/2 inch lens, electrically- operated, tripped by solenoid. 4 photo flash bombs of 1 million candle power brilliance - in the tail; the rear bomb bay filled with fuel. The rest of the bomb load- a dozen of 22-pound fragmentation bombs under the turret, for harassing purposes during photo runs.


5/30
Night mission #13 (?)
4 planes, 1 returned
Many accurate searchlights reported

5/31
Solo plane day recon, 315 photos obtained
Night mission #14, 4 planes
Night mission #16, 4 planes
Considerable development at Lake Bettobu, extensive road system and second airstrip in central Shimushu
6/1 (night mission 5/31?) Pat-48891
6/4 weather hop, Pat, 48936

6/8/44 Conference at the FAW HQ on completing plans for bombardment of Matsuwa Island by Task Force 94. The planes are to bomb Shimushu and Paramushiro airfields the day before, and cover the force retirement within 500 miles of Attu.

6/11/44
Daylight photo recon of Shimushu
Vivian, 2V211
"Number of excellent photographs of Myoshino airfield, never photographed before", also high oblique pics of Kataoka airfield.

6/12/44
Daylight bombing Shimushu, Paramushiro
3,4,6,7,8,11
Clark 6V3- unable to orient himself in the fog over the area for 45 min, jettisoned bombs and turned to the base. Ditched his plane north of Agattu because of the fog and lack of fuel, everybody was rescued.
Patteson 48933/8V3- landed at Shemya (alternate base) due to fog

14 June to 26 October 1944: daylight and night photoreconnaissance of the Islands of Paramushiro and Shimushu. Almost without exception, on all Photorecon missions general purpose or incendiary and fragmentation bombs were carried to harass the enemy.


6/14/44
Daylight bombing and photo recon of Shimushu, Paramushiro
2 Hamps (light tan or grey) and 12 Oscars (colored brown) met
2 Hamps were damaged
364 photos taken of Myoshino, Kataoka, Kashiwabara, Kakumabetsu, and Kurabu Zakii airfields.
2,3,4,5,7,9,11
Sparks in 4V3 passed over the tip of Lopatka on the way home; observed Soviet AA fire black bursts "a considerable distance" beyond the plane"

Bone in 9V3: no communication since take-off. Probably, reached the target before the other planes. Was seen by Vivian flying low south across Paramushiro Strait under intensive AA fire, making erratic maneuvers, and "was obviously in difficulty". Last seen turning toward Kataoka naval base. The first US Navy crew that landed in Petropavlovsk successfully.

Lt. Howard B. Schuette in 48934/11approached the target together with 2V3 (Vivian), 3V3 (Mabus), and 7V3 (Clapham). Was seen making successful bomb run over Myoshino airfield, then crossing Suno Zaki 110* at 6000 feet in the midst of heavy AA bursts. Later reported to Vivian over the radio an oil leak in starboard engine and intent to land in P-K. Mabus reported 3 fighters following Schuette's plane at one time during the action

6/18/44 Pat 48938/12V incomplete mission
6/18-19/44, second mission of the day, 4 PV-1s to Kurabu Zaki. Navigator of one of the planes sighted enemy fighter over Kurabu Zaki, but the plane did not attack. Lt. George A. Mahrt, piloting PV-1 48938/12V, accidentally siphoned fuel overboard near Paramushiro, and was forced to land in Russia. 

His urgent message back to base was simple: "Out of gas. Russia." Still in the dark as he crossed into Soviet territory, Mahrt found the area fogbound. He orbited above the clouds until dawn, when he spotted a hole in the weather. Mahrt slid the bomber through the gap in the clouds, then saw rising terrain ahead. Too late to react, the Ventura plowed through a stand of trees. One wing slammed into solid lumber. The nose was ripped off forward of the cockpit as the plane plowed through the forest. Fortunately, the crew escaped without serious injury and there was no fire. Crew: Pilot Lt. George A. Mahrt, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. Richard Henry Johnson, A-V(N) USNR; Ens. William A. King; ARM3c Clifford Clarence Patzke; AMM2c William Edward Dickson; AOM2c Richard Thomas Everard, Jr.; and AMM2c William Dewey Strom. 

6/21/44 Pat- weather hop 48936

6/23/44 Pat 48918 Paramushiro

6/25/44
Daylight photo recon of Paramushiro.
121 photos of Kakumabetsu area and area below Kashiwabara along the NE coast
48909/2V3, Patteson
Attacked by total of 11 fighters (all Hamps), 13 passes were made on his plane.
1  Hamp was damaged, 1 probable kill (disappeared in clouds in back dive, before hitting the water)
600 feet of additional runway surfacing was found to be completed at Kakumabetsu strip

6/26/44
Night bombing of Shimushu and Paramushiro (Kataoka, Myoshino, Kashiwabara)
1 (Lt Pool)
2 (Vivian)
5 (Mabus)- returned immediately due to engine overheating
8 (Clapham)
10 (Rumford)
X13V3 (Mason)- turned for base due to fuel siphoned out from left main fuel tank
Crews reported seeing fires in the central Shimushu, where no bombs were dropped, suggesting possibility of dummy fires set up by Japs to mislead bombardment.

6/28/44
8V Mabus
4V Sparks made radar landfall from 54 miles, crossed Kamchatka and flew south down the west coast of the peninsula 
2V Mason 
48928/7V Patteson made visual landfall from 8 to 10 miles, crossed Kamchatka, and took a southwesternly course across Shimushu 
Map added to gallery

7/1/44
2V Vivian
1V Pool
10V Rumford 
4V English- crossed Lopatka on the way to the target, as well as 1V and 2V (map in the gallery
7/10/44- Night bombing and photo recon of Shimushu, Paramushiro
Kurabu hangars- 1,2,7,8,10 (Patteson, Mason, Mobus, Clapham, English)
Suribachi airfield- 4 (Sparks)
The 1st mission after removal of the paint from plastic nose, which improved radar range to 65 miles for landfall.. 



7/22/44
Four planes met heavy enemy fighter opposition. All planes were ID'ed as Tojos, their runs were made in echelon formation.
One PV-1 reported starboard engine problem after being attacked by Tojos, and low fuel, intended to proceed to P-K (48928/7, Lt (jg) Jackson W. Clark)


7/23/44 Daylight high altitude glide bombing mission
2V Vivian
10V Rumford Offensive sweep with negative results, returned in Attu safely.
X13V Pool attacked by fighters believed to be Tojos. One is a probable kill from the bow guns, the other one was damaged (cowling broke off). Another two sections of the fighters were observed directly above, 4 or 5 planes in each, at the altitude 10 to 12,000 feet. Three crew members were injured, planes hydraulic system and inter phones were shot off, numerous holes in fuselage and tail assembly.
8V Patteson Bombed Kakumabetsu airfield, observing several fires. Then strafed several large fishing vessels offshore of the west side of Daigo Zaki. Meager but accurate AA fire met, Ens Rice (navigator) sustained slight head wounds
First colored photographs of Paramushiro ever obtained


7/24/44
One PV-1 received battle damage during attack on the picket boat, ans sent a msg it was going to Petropavlovsk (48909/2, Lt John P. Vivian). 2 other planes were attacked by 7 Tojos. 2 Tojos damaged. Radio Tokyo confirmed that 1 fighter was damaged, and another one did not return to the base. 

BI: The presence of Ki-44 Tojo interceptors in the Kuriles is not supported by available Japanese documents. However, it is possible that on the peak of the Kurile air war, a small detachment of Ki-44s could have been sent there for a short period of time, to reinforce battle capabilities of Ki-43-IIs of the 54th Sentai.

8/12/44
One Hamp was struck by PV-1 turret fire and fell off damaged at 10,000 feet

8/20/44
One Oscar made 2 passes on PV-1 48908 9VR2 (Lt. Charles Mobus). As a result of turret fire, it was seen to fall over on its back and go down in a dive into fog at 500 feet.

8/25/44 BuNo 49527 to VB-136, new 75V

9/1/44
Six aircraft took off, one returned, four could not orient themselves due to "reduced Russian radio beacon schedules"


9/10/44
6 planes, search duties to relieve PBY5 squadron for a day.
4 returned uneventfully
Lt Sparks in 4V intercepted and shot  down "Tenzan" of 553 Kokutai, that bursted in flames and crushed into ocean with no survivors.

PO1C Yoshimori Yuda, PO1C ... Nakano, PO1C Sachio Hachisuga
1 bombed Kataoka (radar bombing), no results observed. Engine failure after bombing, set course for P-K, but was able to fix the engine, and returned to base.

9/11/44
48th mission
4 planes encountered heavy AA fire

The squadron lost its 10th crew (the 9th in combat) and the 12th PV-1: BuNo 33278 11R2 (Former 25V/VB-139) Lt. (jg) McDonald crash-landed in Petropavlovsk after sustaining heavy damage from fighter attack.
Crew: Ens Kenneth G. Miles, Ens Donnie L. Broadwell, John W. Rosa, AMM1c, Jack G. Ross, AOM3c, W.F. Nicodemus, ARM2c

9/14, 9/16, 9/17, 9/18, 9/24, 9/25, 9/26:
4 planes each day, all turned back by patrols of enemy fighters without engagement. (Good weather, except for 9/26, when 1 plane was met by 4 fighters and retired, and the other 3 did not make it due to weather )

9/19
4 planes, radar drop and strafing runs at Hayake Gawa and Suribachi


10/1/44: 48891 and 49420 transferred to VPB-136

10/26/44 the squadron arrived to NAS Whidbey with 12 PV-1s (FAW6 diary)



3/26/45 29731 Lt James Rumford, taking off from Naval Outlying Field in Coupeville, WA (10 miles south of Whidbey Island), lost power in one engine on take-off, swerved off runway causing considerable damage to a/c which later was struck off charge. No injury to personnel.