A History of Coast Guard Aviation

The Growth Years (1939-1956)

The Coast Guard was transferred to the Navy Department by executive order 8929 on November 1, 1941. In actuality, certain units of the Coast Guard had been under Navy control for some time. Congress had passed the Neutrality Act on November 4, 1939. This legislation was designed to preserve the neutrality of the United States and made it unlawful for any U.S. vessel to carry material or passengers to any designated belligerent State. Coast Guard aircraft and vessels were used to enforce this act. In April of 1941 an agreement was signed with Denmark for the protection of Greenland. Cutter based aircraft played an important part in this operation.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and by December 11 a state of war existed with both Japan and Germany. The German U Boats immediately conducted a devastating attack on allied shipping along the Eastern Seaboard and then moved into the Gulf of Mexico in mid 1942. Chief of Naval Operations ADM Ernest J. King did not aggressively oppose the German operation. The Coast Guard had a series of coastal air stations ideally suited for anti submarine patrol. They were located at Port Angeles, Washington; San Francisco, California; San Diego, California; Biloxi, Mississippi; St. Petersburg, Florida; Miami, Florida; Elizabeth City, North Carolina; Brooklyn, New York; and Salem, Massachusetts. The problem was lack of aircraft. There were a total of 51 aircraft, none of which were armed. In the spring of 1942 the Coast Guard acquired 53 OS2U-3 Kingfisher aircraft for ASW patrols. It would be 1943 before the Coast Guard acquired aircraft that could be considered combat capable and by this time the German submarine offensive had relocated to the North Atlantic. Nevertheless, beginning in January of 1942, the existing aircraft were armed to the limit of their capabilities and patrols commenced. Coast Guard aircraft delivered 61 bombing attacks on enemy submarines during World War II.

From the beginning Coast Guard patrol aircraft played an important roll in rescuing survivors from torpedoed vessels. There are numerous stories in which these aircraft were landed in the open sea and picked up survivors of torpedoed ships. Many times they were so overloaded with survivors that they could not take off. In some cases they could taxi to shore but most of the time they would transfer the survivors to small vessels as soon as possible. At other times they would direct surface vessels to the survivor's location. The experience the Coast Guard had acquired over the years served them well in the effective coordination of surface and air assets and the greatly enlarged search and rescue operations that would come.

In 1943 the loss of life associated with the tremendous increase in aircraft training activities and operational missions became a major concern of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Navy. Admiral Waesche, Commandant of the Coast Guard, proposed that the Coast Guard be assigned Air Sea Rescue responsibilities to address this situation. The Joint Chiefs determined that the scope of the operation was beyond the capability of the Coast Guard but an Office of Air Sea Rescue, under the Commandant, was established to coordinate and develop Air Sea Rescue equipment and operational procedures. The Army and the Navy would remain responsible for providing their own Air Sea Rescue. The Navy, in turn, assigned Air Sea Rescue responsibility for all continental Sea Frontiers to the Coast Guard. This more than doubled the size of Coast Guard aviation. The first Navy Air Sea Rescue squadron was formed at San Diego, California under the command of LCDR Chester Bender USCG to provide SAR coverage for extensive West Coast pilot training. It was an all Coast Guard squadron equipped with nine PBY-5A aircraft and AVR rescue boats.

The Coast Guards association with the International Ice Patrol and its experience in Arctic operations lead to a primary role in the Greenland area. On 5, October 1943 Patrol Squadron 6 (VP-6CG) was officially established. This was an all Coast Guard unit. The home base was at Narsarssuak, Greenland, code name Bluie West-One. It had 9 PBY-5A's assigned. Commander Donald B. Mac Diarmid was the first commanding officer. As additional PBY's became available, the units area of operation expanded and detachments were established in Argentia, Newfoundland and Reykjavik, Iceland, furnishing air cover for North Atlantic and Greenland convoys. Hundreds of rescue operations were carried out during the 27 months the squadron was in operation.

During early stages of the war the Coast Guard became a driving force in the development of the helicopter. CDR. William J. Kossler, chief of the Aviation Engineering Division at Coast Guard Headquarters, was the Coast Guard representative on the Inter-Agency Board administering the Dorsey Act which pertained to the development of rotary-wing aircraft. The first official American helicopter demonstration occurred on 20 April 1942. CDR Kossler and CDR Watson A. Burton attended this demonstration. Impressed by the demonstration, both Coast Guardsmen agreed that the helicopter would meet many of the service's requirements. During the summer of 1942 the number of merchant ship sinkings was horrendous. Erickson wrote a letter to Vice Adm. Russell Waesche, Commandant of the Coast Guard, outlining how the helicopter could be used in anti-submarine warfare. This was followed up by Kossler. During this period, the British who had also witnessed the original demonstration put in an order for 200 helicopters. A helicopter demonstration was arranged for Waesche. He was very impressed. He contacted Adm. Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations on the subject. On February 19, 1943 King issued a directive which placed the development of the helicopter with the Coast Guard. There were no objections from the Army.

The first tests got underway in May of 1943 to develop the helicopter as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. The CGAS Brooklyn, NY was officially designated as the helicopter training base. CDR Erickson was the commanding officer. In January of 1944, Coast Guard helicopter pilot LTJG Stewart Graham made the first flight from the deck of a merchant ship in convoy in the North Atlantic. In April of 1944, experiments with dipping sonar commenced. By January 1945 the monthly sinkings of US merchant vessels had declined to 15,745 tons. With the threat of the submarine all but gone, the helicopter program was cut back.

Erickson, however, had simultaneously continued multi-purpose testing of the helicopter and submitted design recommendations to facilitate its use as a rescue vehicle. Perhaps the most significant development during this period was the development of the hydraulic hoist. On 6 February 1945 the training base at Brooklyn was closed and the aircraft stored. The Coast Guard was not interested in further development. It was a setback for Erickson but his work had not gone unnoticed. It was valued by both the Army and the Navy. His dream of a rescue helicopter and lifesaving machine came to pass during the Korean War. The Navy developed a helicopter ASW program using the expertise of Coast Guard. In 1951 the Coast Guard was the recipient of the nations top aviation award. President Truman presented the Collier Trophy for the development of the helicopter.

Starting in early 1945, Capt. MacDiarmid, who was now the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Air station San Diego, initiated a multi-year study of open sea landing procedures. Tests showed that landing and taking off parallel to the swell was the safest course. Further experiments revealed that reversible pitch propellers shortened the landing run and jet assisted takeoffs (JATO) reduced the takeoff run. The results of this research work resulted in an internationally accepted manual on air sea rescue techniques. The Octave Chanute Award for 1950 was presented to Commander MacDiarmid for his work.

After the war suitable search and rescue aircraft became readily available. The flying boat had always been associated with Coast Guard operations and reached its peak during this period. At one time, midway between 1945 and 1950, the service was operating some 56 PBY-5As plus 23 PBM-5 Mariners. It is fortunate that a surplus of existing Navy aircraft was available. The Coast Guard was downsized significantly and the budget was severely restricted. Additional Air Detachments were established but they were limited in size. The PBYs were phased out and replaced by long range search aircraft such as the PB-1G flying Fortress, the P4Y-2G Privateer, and the R5D Skymasters. It was not until 1951 that the UF-1G Albatross and the HO4S were procured. The PBYs were gone by 1954. The PBMs were reduced in number with the procurement of the UF and were gone with the purchase of seven P5M-1Gs acquired in 1954 and the T-tailed P5M-2G that followed.

North Korean forces crossed the thirty-eighth parallel in June of 1950 resulting in the Korean War. The Coast Guard remained under the Treasury department throughout the conflict. The Navy requested that the Coast Guard assume the responsibility for port security and also requested additional Ocean Stations and search and rescue capability in the Pacific. Search and Rescue Groups with enhanced communication equipment and one or more cutters assigned and were established at Sangley Point in the Philippines and Midway, Wake, Guam islands. This was necessitated by the dramatic increase in air traffic between the United States and the Orient. The Navy and the Air Force desired more extensive LORAN coverage and Coast Guard aviation soon found itself in an increased role in LORAN station supply efforts. LORAN station supply would continue long after the war ended and the Coast Guard began to set up air stations with logistics as the primary mission..

World War II had a profound affect on many things. This was the case with Coast Guard Aviation. It more than doubled in size; assumed a primary roll in Search and Rescue; and over the next several decades assumed additional missions and expanded horizons.

Search and Rescue

Prior to World War II Coast Guard Aviation operated a total of 51 aircraft from nine air stations along the coastal regions of the United States. Search and rescue was local in scope. During the war Coast Guard aviation was assigned a specific roll in developing the capability and operational evolution of Search and Rescue. Rescue Coordination Centers were established and effective utilization of both aircraft and surface vessels over a wide area was established. The budget was tight but by the mid 1950s there were 127 aircraft assigned to 22 Air Stations and Air Detachments stretching from Sangley Point in the Philippines and on the islands of Midway, Wake and Guam to San Juan Puerto Rico. The number of survivors rescued and lives saved increased dramatically and would continue to do so.

The rescue aircraft of choice was the seaplane/amphibian. Starting in late 1947 the first of a small number of HO3S helicopters was purchased. By 1951 the number of helicopters had doubled with the procurement of 14 HO4S-1/2's. This was followed by an order for 23 HO4S-3Gs. They had a more powerful engine, carried hydraulic hoists and the Coast Guard designed rescue basket. They also were fully equipped for instrument and night flight operations. With the loss of life and aircraft while attempting open sea landings and a series of stunning helicopter rescues, such as the one at Yuba City, Arizona where two crews alternated flying a HO4S and rescued 138 people, took place, it became obvious that the helicopter could perform missions that no other aircraft could perform. The helicopter had become, and would remain, vital to Coast Guard rescue operations.

1939 - Grumman JRF-2/3 and 5G Purchased:

JRF-3G

Grumman developed the G-21 Goose as a civilian transport aircraft designed to meet the needs of wealthy business organizations. It was put on the market in 1937. The Goose was a high wing monoplane amphibian with a two step hull. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr radial engines mounted on the wing leading edge forward of the cabin. The engines were fitted with collector rings exiting above the wings to reduce noise in the cabin. Positions for two pilots were provided in a cockpit forward of the wings and accommodations for four to six passengers were provided in the cabin below the wing. An entrance door was located on the port side just aft the cabin. Baggage storage compartments were provided aft of the cabin and in the bow of the aircraft.

The aircraft had hand cranked landing gear. The main gear retracted upward into the side of the fuselage and a steerable tailwheel retracted into the hull behind the second step. The wing floats could be removed, if desired, for land operation and the airplane could be equipped with skis for winter operation.

The Navy began acquiring the G-26 version in 1938 and designated them as JRF, Seven G-39 design aircraft designated JRF-2, built to Coast Guard specifications, were purchased by the Coast Guard in 1939 and 1940. Three additional JRF-3s were purchased in 1940. The JRF-3 had deicing boots on the leading edges of the wings and tail surfaces. In addition to utilizing these aircraft for transports and utility purposes the Coast Guard saw their value as search and rescue aircraft. . All were fitted with electric starters and automatic pilots and were capable of carrying a single-lens aerial mapping camera.

Beginning in 1941 Grumman Aircraft Corporation commenced delivery of the G-38 design JRF-5. The Coast Guard purchased 24 of the G-38 model, designated JRF-5G, beginning in 1941. The JRF-5 engines were Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-6 radials.

Prior to World War II these aircraft carried out search and rescue as well as aerial mapping flights and participated in the Coast Guard's contribution to the enforcement of the Neutrality Patrol. During the war, the JRFs conducted search and rescue operations, transported supplies and personnel and were utilized for ASW operations. Depth Charges or Bombs were carried externally under the wing.

Most of the remaining Coast Guard's JRF-2/3s were disposed of shortly after the end of World War II while many of the JRF-5Gs remained in service with the Coast Guard until 1954.

1939 - Coast Guard Participates In the Neutrality Patrol:

On 3 September 1939, two days after the German invasion of Poland, France and Great Britain declared war against Germany. The war would expand to all of Europe. European allies, much the same as in World War I, would again look to the United States for munitions and supplies which could reach them only by ship. It was realized that the Germans would make every effort to halt such traffic and the Atlantic Ocean would become a major battleground. The mood in the United States was isolationist and the Neutrality Act of 1935, made further restrictive by amendment in 1937, forbade arms exports, either direct or by trans-shipment, to any belligerent. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued his first proclamation of neutrality on September 5, 1939 declaring in part that any use of United States territorial waters for hostile operations would be regarded as unfriendly, offensive, and in violation of United States neutrality.

On 6 September, the Chief of Naval Operations directed the establishment of air and ship patrols to observe and report, by classified means, movements of belligerents approaching or leaving the east coast of United States or the eastern boundary of the Caribbean. Ships were to be identified by name, nationality, estimated tonnage, color, markings and were to be photographed. Course and speed was to be estimated and included in the report. By the middle of September, Atlantic coastal waters from Nova Scotia, Canada to the Lesser Antilles, were under daily surveillance by surface and air patrols.

Forces involved were primarily patrol planes from Patrol Squadron VP-51 (12 PBY-1s) which was deployed to San Juan; Patrol Squadron VP-52 (6 P2Y-2s) which deployed to the Coast Guard air station at Charleston, SC; Patrol Squadron VP-53 (12 P2Y-2s) initial based out of Norfolk and in November deployed to Key West; Patrol Squadron VP-54 (12 PBY-2s) based at Norfolk and deployed a detachment to Newport RI; Patrol Squadron VP-33 which deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Navy patrol effort was expanded by Coast Guard coverage of inshore areas by aircraft based out of Miami, Charleston, Brooklyn and Salem (19 aircraft). The Coast Guard aircraft utilized were the Curtiss SOC-4 , Douglas RD4, Fairchild J2K, Grumman JF-2, and the PH-2 Hall Boat.

Grumman JF-2	Hall PH-2
RD-4 Dolphin	Curtiss SOC-4

Surface forces assigned were ships of the Atlantic Squadron, four seaplane tenders and the aircraft carrier USS RANGER with her air group. Coast Guard cutters supplemented the effort and were assigned inshore areas.

The scope of the Neutrality Patrol expanded during 1940. The war in Europe saw the apparently invincible German Forces defeat France and bring Britain to her knees by the success of the U-Boat actions in the Atlantic. The specter of a British defeat and the danger to the United States was obvious. In September of 1940 President Roosevelt announced that, by executive agreement, the United States would exchange 50 World War I destroyers and 10 Coast Guard cutters for 99 year leases on British sea and air bases in the Western Hemisphere. The "Destroyers for Bases Deal" marked the functional death of U.S. neutrality and the beginning of a period of "non-belligerency." Two of the sites, Argentia, Newfoundland and Bermuda became key elements in the Battle of the Atlantic. Patrol Squadrons VP-55 and VP-56 were commissioned and both equipped with PBM-1s. VP -54 deployed to Bermuda and VP-52, after acquiring PBY aircraft and finding the Coast Guard air station at Charleston no longer large enough to support a PBY operation, deployed to San Juan and then to Argentia, Newfoundland. The Coast Guard acquired Grumman JRF amphibians in 1940 and the Grumman J4F amphibian came on board in 1941. These aircraft replaced the RD4s and the JK-1s. On April 8, 1941 VP-51 moved to NAS New York (Floyd Bennett Field) and together with VP-52 based at Argentia, patrol activity was expanded to include convoy escort and ASW search in the northern offshore shipping lanes.

Grumman JRF

Grumman J4F

As the countdown toward WW II continued during the final months of 1941, the Neutrality Patrol operations moved ever farther from "neutrality" toward active support of the Allies. Convoy escort and ASW patrol planes began carrying general-purpose and depth bombs during the summer months. Orders for attacks on hostile forces threatening U.S. and non-Axis foreign flag shipping were in force and were amplified and extended by Navy Argentia Air Detachment Op Orders in September and October. Based on Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CinCLantFlt) orders, these directives were explicit regarding the protection of shipping. With the torpedoing of the USS Kearny (DD-432) and the loss of the of the USS Reuben James (DD-245) Congress took action to relax the restrictions of the Neutrality Act by allowing U.S. ships to escort convoys into combat zones and U.S. merchant ships to be armed.

Just five weeks after these final events in the history of the Neutrality Patrol, the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into WW II.

1940 - The Coast Guard and the Birth of the Helicopter:

Starting in 1909 a series of attempts at vertical flight was conducted. The concept was feasible but the technology had a long way to go before any significant advances could be made. Apart from the lack of a suitable engine, powerful, and light enough to enable a helicopter to lift more than its own weight, the principle problem which all the early pioneers encountered was controlling the helicopter. Vertical flight did not really progress until the arrival of the autogiro. Both the Army and the Navy evaluated the military application of a Pitcairn autogiro in the mid thirties but it did not meet their needs. The Navy dismissed the idea of vertical flight but the Army Air Force continued to show interest. The then LT. H.F. Gregory who became the Army's Rotary Wing Project Officer remained faithful to his belief that rotary-wing aircraft had great potential for military applications.

German FW-61 Helicopter

In 1937, Professor Heinrich Focke and another German named Achgelis joined forces to conduct helicopter research. The result was the production of the FW-61 based on the fuselage of a small biplane trainer with two outriggers supporting the contra-rotating rotors. The cut-down propeller mounted on the front of the radial engine was used only for cooling. The control was so precise that the machine was demonstrated by Flugkapitan Hanna Reitsch inside the Deutschlandhalle stadium in Berlin. There were skeptics in the United States but there were also believers. The Platt-LePage Company had already begun designing a similar machine. The Army was interested in the project but there was no money appropriated for development. Representative Frank Dorsey of Pennsylvania introduced a bill in Congress for funds to develop the autogiro and procure a sufficient number of service tests. The bill passed on June 30, 1938 and was not limited to autogiros.

It appropriated $2,000,000 for rotary wing and other aircraft research. An Inter-agency Board, representing all possible government users of rotary-wing aircraft, was created to administer the program. Commander William J. Kossler, a strong advocate of the potential of helicopters, was the aviation engineering officer at Coast Guard Headquarters and served as the Coast Guard representative on the board. In 1940 this board, chaired by the U.S. Army, had secured $300,000 of the $2 million appropriated by Congress. It met to consider a proposal by Platt-LePage and Sikorsky who had again become involved in the development of helicopters. Kossler said the Platt-LePage proposal for an experimental helicopter was chosen because it was considered more practical. Igor Sikorsky did not give up and continued to make impressive progress without government help. By the end of the year the United Aircraft Company (Sikorsky) had sunk $100,000 into the development of Sikorsky's first experimental helicopter, the VS-300.

Platt-LePage XR-1 Helicopter

Unlike most other designers he opted for the Main Rotor plus Tail Rotor configuration. However, Sikorsky was not so much an inventor as a designer who made use of the best of all the currently available designs and melded them together.

The Platt-LePage XR-1 helicopter was experiencing difficulties and did not make its first tethered flight until May 22, 1941. By this time Sikorsky had already tested the VS-300 in tethered flight and established a new International helicopter endurance record. The board, impressed by Sikorsky's accomplishment met on December 17, 1940 and decided that two helicopters of different design were better than one, but only $50,000 of the appropriations remained unspent. United Aircraft agreed to provide an additional $50,000. Additional funds came later.

Igor Sikorsky flying the VS-300

The Sikorsky XR-4 flight test program began on January 14, 1942 when the second Sikorsky helicopter lifted off the ground for the first time in free flight. By April, Gregory, now a Lieutenant Colonel, decided that the XR-4 should be demonstrated before the Board. Not all of the Board was present but CDR Kossler who had invited CDR W.A. Burton, Commanding Officer Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, to accompany him, witnessed the demonstration. Also present was Wing Commander Reggie Brie, RAF who had been sent to the United States to investigate the potential of helicopters for anti-submarine duty on board British merchant ships. Brie's support would later be of significant value to Kossler. Sikorsky Chief Test Pilot Les Morris performed aircraft maneuvers that if they had not been demonstrated would have been considered fictional. The helicopter lifted off the ground about seven feet and then remained in that position. It then settled gently back to earth at the spot it first lifted off. The aircraft was flown forward, sideways, and backward. Morris then flew a twisting course between rows of trees followed by a vertical climb to 500 feet.

The helicopter pitot tube extended out in front of the aircraft. A Sikorsky employee, using a pole, held aloft a ring about 10 inches in diameter and Morris flew the probe into the ring and lifted it off the pole. The helicopter was hovered at 25 feet and a man climbed up a lowered rope ladder. He pulled the ladder in after him and the helicopter flew away. Morris followed this with an intentional power off approach from a 2000 foot altitude to a perfect landing. (Autorotation).

Since the beginnings of Coast Guard aviation the concept of a "flying life boat" for air rescue work was pursued. The aircraft chosen were lightweight, landing and takeoff speeds were low, and the distances required across the surface of the sea was short. Successful open-sea landings became common - so did crashes. The frequency of these crashes prompted a request by the Commandant that each aviator submit suggestions for developing safe procedures for open-sea rescues by airplane. The danger in these operations became a deep concern for CDR Kossler and a young aviator by the name of Frank Erickson who had worked on developing methods for aerial delivery of survival equipment without the necessity of landing in the open sea. After witnessing the Sikorsky demonstration Kossler had found his answer. He was so impressed that he would dedicate the rest of his life to achieving a Coast Guard aviation organization built around the rescue helicopter.

The demonstration caused great excitement in all that viewed it. Kossler, openly enthusiastic, wrote a report to the Commandant pointing out the many advantages of using the helicopter for rescue work. CDR. P.A. Leamy, Aviation Operations Officer was impressed and advocated the purchase of several helicopters for training and experimental development. Kossler thought that three should be purchased for $250,000, but neither the Coast Guard's Engineer-in-Chief, Rear Admiral Harvey Johnson nor the Assistant Commandant, Rear Admiral Lloyd Chalker were in favor of the purchase. Chalker, in 1939, had attended a conference that set performance criteria for rotary-winged aircraft. Due to lack of real data the committee established parameters that mirrored general requirements for fixed wing aircraft of this period. This most probably influenced his reasoning. The reasons cited for disapproval were that the cost of acquisition was too great for the limited performance capabilities of the aircraft and the helicopter was not essential to the war effort. Kossler was told; "Hell, Bill, the Navy isn't interested in life saving; all they want to do is get on with the business of killing the enemy." Without the support of these two officers- next in rank to the commandant- the future for Coast Guard helicopters looked bleak. Kossler was upset with the reception his helicopter proposal received but he remained undaunted. Over the next several months he would orchestrate a series of events which would lead to the Coast Guard's involvement with the helicopter. The emphasis would be placed on a machine that had the capability "to get on with the business of killing the enemy."

Sikorsky XR-4

The German submarines were extracting extraordinary losses. Surprisingly it was the Army Air Force, that recognized the helicopter might have a potential as an antisubmarine weapon. The Army was already flying antisubmarine patrols using fixed-wing aircraft and Gregory, speculating that the helicopter could be an extension of this mission, began experimental development with the XR-4. Kossler, aware of this, discussed the situation with LCDR Frank Erickson and enlisted him as part of the team. Erickson was the Executive Officer at Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn. Burton was the Commanding Officer and had been favorably impressed with a helicopter demonstration. CGAS Brooklyn would make be an ideal location to develop and evaluate the helicopter. Several days later LT. Bill Healy, Kossler's assistant, arrived at the air station and during lunch he asked if someone could fly him to Bridgeport for an appointment with Igor Sikorsky. Erickson quickly volunteered. Erickson spent hours with Sikorsky and his Chief Engineer, Michael Gluharoff, discussing possible uses for the helicopter. He witnessed a convincing demonstration of the VS-300 which including repeated landings within an inch or two of a given point. This was an important factor if the aircraft was to be operated from a small platform on board ships in rough water.

Erickson put together a proposal to Headquarters. Fully aware of Kosslers set back in his proposal of the helicopter as a rescue aircraft, he stressed the use of the helicopter as an anti-submarine weapon to operate from vessels in convoys. In the proposal he pointed out specifics. He said that a 30-foot square platform would be needed on ships that would carry helicopters. He further stated that the XR-4 could give greater protection for a convoy than a similar number of blimps or airplanes. With a crew of two and a 325 pound depth charge on board the helicopter could scout for enemy submarines at a speed of 25 to 60 miles per hour for up to four hours per sortie. A top speed of 100 miles per hour could be obtained when desired. Additionally he suggested an arrangement for rescuing survivors of torpedoed ships. He also pointed out that the British were switching from the autogiro to the helicopter for anti-submarine protection. This was based on the recommendation of Wing Commander Brie who had witnessed the XR-4 demonstration. CDR Burton strongly endorsed Erickson's proposal alluding to the fact that the Coast Guard was actively engaged in this type of warfare. CDR Burton's endorsement pointed out:

Erickson's proposal arrived in Headquarters in early July, 1942 immediately after one of the most disastrous months in the anti-submarine war. During June, 55 U.S. Merchant ships comprising a cumulative total of 289,790 tons or more than 4% of the total U.S. Tonnage, had been sunk. Kossler's endorsement advised haste knowing the Army planned on completing a six month test program and return the XR-4s to Sikorsky. This time the helicopter proposal was given serious consideration. Appearing at the bottom of Kosslers endorsement is a handwritten note: "I concur. HFJ." (Harvey F. Johnson , Engineer-in-Chief USCG). Kossler had his support. Kossler suggested that the British, who were procuring helicopters under lend lease, might turn a few helicopters over to the Coast Guard if requested. On July 24,1942, the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics ordered four helicopters - one YR-4, similar to the XR-4 (Navy designation HNS) and three XR-6s (a later model that would become the XHOS).

The Commander Coast Guard Forces, Third Naval District, Rear Admiral Stanley V. Parker, a World War I aviator, still very interested in aviation, let it be known that he would like to see the VS-300. He and Kossler flew to the Vought-Sikorsky plant at Stratford, Connecticut on December 21. Dr. Sikorsky was delighted. It was his first opportunity to show his helicopter to an officer of flag rank. RADM Parker was also a former dirigible pilot. He was forward thinking and had requested his training in LTA aircraft when going through flight training. He also required it of those pilots going through training at the time of the first Coast Guard air station on the premise that it might prove valuable to Coast Guard search and rescue efforts. He was converted to the helicopter that day by a pull-out-all-stops demonstration by both Dr. Sikorsky and Les Morris.

RADM Parker wrote to the commandant:

As a result of Parkers comments, ADM Waesche, the Coast Guard Commandant, decided to go to Bridgeport. He and several high ranking officers arrived at Bridgeport on February 13, 1943. They were greeted by Igor Sikorsky and Michael Gluharoff. During the demonstration, Sikorsky flew the VS-300 while Morris flew the XR-4. Two helicopters in precision maneuvers, impressively showed their potential for anti-submarine warfare. ADM Waesche was completely "sold." He conferred with CNO, ADM King, who then issued a directive placing upon the Coast Guard the responsibility for developing the sea-going helicopter. Kossler had the beginnings of his program, the support of his superior and a direct conduit to the Commandant.

This project and the subsequent development of the helicopter laid the groundwork for the extensive Navy and Marine Corps helicopter programs that followed.

1940 - Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City Established:

An Act of Congress approved by President Wilson on August 29, 1916 authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a total of 10 Coast Guard air stations distributed along the coast line of the United States. Unfortunately the Act made no provisions for funding. During the 1934-1939 time period a number of Coast Guard air stations were established utilizing federal public works funding. In 1938 a combination of circumstances took place that would establish a Coast Guard air station at Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Located sixty miles north of Cape Hatteras, north of Albemarle Sound and along the east coast's northern most ice-free river, the old Holowell Plantation near Elizabeth City was selected by the Coast Guard for its potential strategic value as a seaplane base. The Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City was commissioned on August 15, 1940 with four officers, 52 enlisted men and ten aircraft including three Hall PH-2 seaplanes, four Fairchild J2K landplanes, and three Grumman JF-2 amphibians. The assigned mission was two fold; The preservation of life and property at sea and the assumption of Neutrality Patrol duties which had been a responsibility of the Coast Guard air station at Charleston, South Carolina. By Executive Order the United States Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury Department to the U. S. Navy on 1 November 1941 and on December &,1941 the United States became fully involved in World War II. Spurred by the demand of war, the station was in a rapid state of expansion and served as a training base for both Army and Navy personnel, as well as a base for Coast Guard coastal patrols.

Initially there were very few resources available to combat the German submarines. The Coast Guard aircraft, not designed for combat, were equipped with locally fabricated depth charge racks and pressed into service. During the first six months of 1942 resources were strained in a concentrated effort to rescue survivors of torpedoed ships. In March the OS2U Kingfishers arrived. When coastal shipping was organized in convoys after April, 1942, the Elizabeth City Air Station was designated to furnish an escort in its assigned area. This proved to be effective. Navy Fleet Air Wing Five deployed three PBYs to the station in May 1943 to transition Coast Guard aviators to this type aircraft. After the establishment of VP-6 in Greenland initial training for replacement crews was conducted at Elizabeth City. The first adequate aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare to be assigned to the station were the PBMs, the first of which arrived 5 December 1943. The submarine menace along the East Coast had subsided materially by this time as the German Navy redeployed their submarine assets to the North Atlantic.

PBIG, C-130 and R5D On the ramp Elizabeth City

Search and rescue became the primary mission in 1944. PBYs and PBMs were the initial aircraft; PBIG long range search aircraft came on board in 1946; the P5Ms in 1954; R5Ds in 1958 followed by the C-130s in 1960. The operational helicopters arrived in 1948 with the assignment of two HRPs. The HO3S followed which were in turn followed by the HO4S; the HH-52; and then the HH-60J. The capabilities of the rescue aircraft increased exponentially.

In April 1946, a repair and supply facility was added to the Air Station. By 1948 it had expanded and became a separate Headquarters Unit. In 1949 training enlisted personnel in some aviation rates become another responsibility. The training facilities were later expanded and consolidated into an independent command. In 1964, the Fifth Coast Guard District established Air Base Elizabeth City and in 1966 The Air Base expanded after absorbing the air stations located in Bermuda and Argentia, Newfoundland. The Atlantic Strike Force was welcomed aboard in 1973.

AS of 2006 the complex consists of The Support Center, Air Station, Aircraft Repair and Supply Center, Aviation Technical Training Center, and the National Strike Force Coordination Center.

P5M-2 launching at Air Station Elizabeth City (cir 1950)

1940 - Coast Guard Provides Aircraft and Crews for The US Coast and Geodetic Survey:

On February 10, 1807 Congress authorized an accurate survey to be taken of the coasts and harbors of the United States. The Survey of the Coast was established to provide this service. The name of this organization evolved into the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. (C&GS). Each chart was built from two types of surveys. The first was a hydrographic survey, which mapped the depths of the waters and depicted hazards. The other was a topographic survey which mapped the land, including the shoreline, natural features, and elevations above the sea. The first shoreline map drawn by the Coast Survey covered the shore of Great South Bay on Long Island, New York. The Coast Survey relied on a method called plane table surveying. This was the primary method of mapping for the next 80 years.

Nine-Lens camera designed by O.S. Reading. It was state-of-the-art for many years.

By the late 1800s photography was recognized as a useful tool in mapping. The C&GS first used a surveying camera with a plane table for mapping the international boundary between Alaska and Canada in 1894. The use of ground photos continued and in the early part of the next century, aerial cameras were developed with multiple lenses, producing a much wider field of view. The rapid development of the aircraft during World War I provided an effective platform by which the cameras could be used for mapping. The C&GS started work with the US Army Air Service using Air Service aircraft and crews to provide photographs to compile coastal topography. Between 1920 and 1928, a series of aerial surveys were made of the New Jersey coastline, the Florida coastline, and the Mississippi River delta. Topography from aerial photographs not only proved to be more detailed and accurate than the plane table but could be done for about one-third of the cost. Multiple photos were taken but because of the narrow fields of view it required many photos to cover a moderately sized area. Area could be increased by taking the photos at higher altitudes but detail was lost. A multi-lens, high resolution camera could take several photos looking downward at different angles simultaneously. These could be combined into a single quality composite image that covered a much larger area of ground. In 1935, the C&GS had a precision nine-lens camera built. The camera was large weighing 750 pounds when fully equipped and the roll of film it used was 200 feet long and 23 inches wide. A satisfactory aircraft was needed as a platform for the camera. The C&GS, except for a short period of time, had been and was under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. It was thus logical for the Treasury Department to turn to the Coast Guard to provide the needed aircraft and crew. The Coast Guard purchased PBY, Bureau Number 2290 from the Navy on 18 October, 1940 and renumbered it V-189. The aircraft was purchased for the specific purpose of aerial mapping in conjunction with the C&GS.

The aircraft was configured to include a mount to accommodate the nine-lens camera in the "waist gunners" position. The first assigned crew under the command of LCDR George Bowerman included Captain Kay, a C&GS officer. This crew and aircraft conducted the first aerial survey assignment utilizing a Norden Bomb-sight in the aerial mapping process.

The marine and aeronautical charts of Alaska were less than satisfactory; especially along the Alaskan Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Upgrading the existing charts became the immediate tasks for the summer months of 1941. PBY V-189 operated from both Kodiak Island and Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island. Poor weather and inadequate facilities, especially at Dutch Harbor, effected both operations and results. In August V-189 returned to its home base at San Francisco and was immediately given a new assignment. This mission included aerial photo-mapping of the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the United States from the southern tip of Florida to Maine. Shortly after V-189 returned to San Francisco the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States was at war. On December 15, 1941, PBY-189 and crew were transferred to Navy Patrol Squadron 44 (VP-44) at Naval Air Station, Alameda California. In May of 1942, V-189 was transferred back to the

Mapping operations continued and were carried out with a second aircraft obtained by the Coast Guard for this purpose. The camera was transferred to PBY-5A Bureau Number 08055. This was an amphibious aircraft and the availability of landing gear made it more versatile in the extreme environment of Alaska. Unfortunately this aircraft crashed on Mount Moffet, Adak, Alaska, on 18 July 1943. Only two crewmembers survived. The nine lens camera, the only one in existence, was severely damaged. It was recovered and rebuilt and then installed in a specially adapted Coast Guard PB-1G aircraft after World War II.. During the war II a Coast Guard Beech JRB aircraft was specially equipped to assist in C&GS photo-mapping operations.

L to R - LCDR Fred Merritt USCG; LCDR Art Benton C&GS; J.T. Smith C&GS; T.K. O'Driscoll C&GS: The nine-lens camera is installed in PB-1G 7254

The PB-1G selected was transferred to the Coast Guard in 1946 and given the CGNR 7254. It had only 52 and ½ hours on the airframe at the time of acceptance making it for all practical purposes a new aircraft. The bomb bays were sealed and oxygen tanks installed. The aircraft construction readily accepted the nine-lens camera under the fuselage. The Norden Bomb-sight was retained. The capability of the aircraft was such that most of the photo-mapping missions were flown between 20,000 and 30,000 feet. At 22,000 feet the camera could photograph 315 square miles of terrain with one click. For twelve years the 7254 flew mapping missions ranging from Alaska to Puerto Rico. During these years the aircraft, home based at the Elizabeth City air station, flew just under 6000 hours covering more than one and a half million miles.

As the years past the nostalgia generated by the aircraft continued to increase. Coast Guard crews stated that in cases when they would transit or base out of an Air Force installation, where the commanding officer had flown B-17s during World War II, the reception was especially warm. The 7254 was the last PB-1G/B-17 operated by the United States military services. The last flight was made on 14 October 1959.

Coast Guard PB-1G 7254 and the ramp Adak, Alaska

The Coast Guard operated 15 R5D-3/4 (C54) aircraft, nine of which had been acquired from the USN and six from the USAF. The first six R5D-3's were acquired from the USN in 1945. The remaining nine were acquired after 1949. In addition to logistical and transport duties, these aircraft were used for search and rescue (SAR), service with the International Ice Patrol. Specific missions such as electronic testing and photographic mapping were assigned to specially equipped aircraft. The R5D CGNR 2486 had been an RC54V aircraft, V denoting photo reconnaissance, and in 1960 the nine-lens C&GD camera was installed. This became the photo-mapping aircraft for the next four years.

In 1964, after 25 years of working together the Coast Guard and the C&GS service ended their arrangement for aircraft services. In 1965, the C&GS was reorganized along with the Weather Service and some other agencies to form the Environmental Sciences Service Administration (ESSA) in the Department of Commerce. Under ESSA the C&GS leased aircraft and in 1969 acquired a surplus deHavilland Buffalo aircraft. Converted to aerial photography, this aircraft served for ten years.

The ESSA was reorganized in 1970 and became the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

1941 - Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco Established:

Coast Guard Aviation expanded significantly during a nine year period which saw the construction of nine aviation patrol stations along the coastlines of the United States. The Construction of the Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco was the last of this group. The station was constructed during 1940 on a 20.5 acre piece of property adjacent to San Franciscol Airport, then know as Mills Field. The air station was formally dedicated on February 15, 1941, LT George H. Bowerman commanding. The facility was designed to operate seaplanes and also had access to the runways at Mills Field for landplane operations. The initial aircraft complement was a PBY-5 Catalina and two RD-4 Dolphins. The primary mission was the saving of life and property in the maritime environment. The Coast Guard was transferred to the Navy Department by executive order 8929 on November 1, 1941 and Air Station San Francisco was placed under the operational command of the 12th Naval District. In April 1942, the station was assigned to the operational control of the Commander, Western Sea Frontier, U.S. Navy. The Station continued to conduct Search and Rescue operations and commenced Coastal Patrols. Coast Guard and Navy personnel flew joint ASW patrols in OS2-U Kingfisher aircraft. The Coastal Patrols became limited as Japanese submarine activity on the West Coast of the United States was minimal during World War II. The station was also tasked with aiding in the construction of the highly classified and secret Long Range Navigation (LORAN) stations in the North Pacific during 1943. The Navy leased 85 acres at Mills Field and

In addition to PBY-5A Catalinas the PB2Y Coronado flying boat had been flown out of San Francisco in the last years of World War II. In 1946 Boeing PB-1G flying fortresses were assigned and then replaced by P4Y-2G Privateers. In 1947 the first helicopter, a HO3S-1 Dragonfly arrived and was followed by the HO-4S. The HU-16 Albatross, known to many as the "Goat," arrived in the 1950s and was supplemented by R5Ds until the C130s came on the scene. The HH-52 amphibious helicopter came on board in 1963. In 1978, due to space limitations and an increase in operational requirements, all fixed-wing aircraft were moved to the newly constructed Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento. San Francisco became a helicopter only air station. The HH-52As were replaced by HH-3F Pelicans which were in turn replaced by HH-60J JayHawks. Restructuring in Coast Guard Aviation lead to the replacement of the HH-60s by the HH-65 in June of 1996.

P4Y-2G Long Range Search Aircraft

While the airframes evolved, the primary mission of Air Station San Francisco remained unchanged for six decades - maritime search and rescue along 300 miles of coastline from Point Conception to Fort Bragg. In addition to SAR, Air Station San Francisco expanded its missions to include maritime law enforcement, environmental, aids to navigation, and logistics. In 2003, the USCG became part of the Department of Homeland Security, further expanding the Air Station's role in protecting America's shores and its citizens.

Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco - Mills field

1941 - The Coast Guard and the Greenland Operations:

During 1940 the United States had been looking to the defense of Alaska, Hawaii, and the Panama Canal. An exchange of Atlantic and Caribbean bases for destroyers was being negotiated with the British. Canada and Britain were consolidating their position in the North Atlantic by stationing troops in Iceland and were contemplating countering reported German activities in Greenland. A charting and aerial survey flight of the west coast of Greenland was completed and several possible sites for airfields were determined but there was no follow up on the part of the War Department. American diplomacy went through a good many convolutions during this period. The official American position, simply stated, rested on nonintervention but as the War in Europe progressed the United States became more and more involved. On 9 April 1940 Germany invaded Denmark. Totally unprepared for war the Danes capitulated on the same day. This precipitated an immediate response as Denmark exercised sovereignty over Greenland and the U.S. did not want to see a German presence in the western hemisphere. In addition, located at the small village of Ivigtut, Greenland was the only known sizeable deposit of cryolite, a soft translucent mineral that looks like quartz, which when in a molten state and subjected to an electric charge, was used to extract metallic aluminum from bauxite ore. This was the standard means of producing industrial aluminum and was vital to the American aircraft industry. The State Department adopted the position that the Danish Ambassador, Dr. Henrik de Kauffmann, was still the legitimate representative of his country and agreed to work with the Greenland authorities to protect the cryolite mine.

On May 20, 1940, the USCG Cutter COMANCHE transported James K. Penfield, the first American Consul to Greenland, and a new American consulate was established at Godthaab. Over the next three weeks the Coast Guard Cutters CAMPBELL, DUANE and CAYUGA worked in the Davis Straits and Baffin Bay, taking soundings and making preliminary charts of the coast line. The source of the extant charts of Greenland was located in German occupied Copenhagen. The Duane carried a Grumman SOC-4 seaplane which augmented this operation and additionally identified possible locations for the construction of airfields Two pilots, Lieutenant Shields USCG, Captain Lacy US Army Air Corps, and Coast Guard Aviation Radioman Merada were the aircraft crew. The cutter NORTHLAND put a 3-inch gun ashore at Ivgtut and the CAMPBELL delivered assorted small arms. Fourteen Coast Guard personnel were recruited from within the Coast Guard, accepted discharges, but retained their ratings, and formed the nucleus of an armed guard at the mine. This became the model used to form the American Volunteer Group, Flying Tigers, for operation in China prior to the US entry into WWII.

American bases were under construction in Newfoundland, American troops were present and strategic planning was changing to include the defense of Iceland and Greenland. A joint meeting of the State Department, War Department, and Navy department took place on 6 February1941. It was agreed that it would be desirable to have the defense of Greenland under U.S. control. The conference further recognized that efforts by the Germans to obtain weather data from Greenland were to be expected. During the late summer of 1940 the British had dismantled several weather stations under German control in northeastern Greenland and intercepted a vessel off the coast of Greenland with fifty Germans, some of them meteorologists, on board. In March a survey expedition made up of American diplomats, military commanders and a representative of the Royal Canadian Air Force departed Boston on the Coast Guard Cutter CAYUGA to locate sites for airfields, weather stations and other military installations. Narsarssuak was reported to be the most promising. On 9 April 1941 an agreement signed by Secretary of State Hull and Hendrik Kauffmann, the Danish Minister to Washington, established an American protectorate over Greenland for the duration of the war.

As soon as the negotiations with the Danish Minister were sufficiently advanced, President Roosevelt authorized the War Department to go ahead with preparations for building the airfields. During the following months various details were worked out. The Greenland force consisted of the Army transport USS MANARGO, the troopship CHATEAU THIERRY, the 21st Engineers battalion, a composite battery of the 62nd Coast artillery (AA), plus the necessary service troops. Colonel Benjamin Giles, Army Air Corps was in command. The Greenland force proceeded to Narsarssuak and construction on the major U.S. Army and Navy airbase, Bluie West I, began in July 1941. The infrastructure was erected, the grading was completed and the first runway was ready for use in February 1942. This airfield was one of the first to make use of steel matting in runway construction, an important engineering development that contributed greatly to winning the war, especially in the Pacific. Construction began on the airfield at Bluie West 8 at Sondre Stromfjord in October and this airfield was also ready for use in February 1942.

Bluie West 1 Narsarsuaq Greenland

The Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Harold Stark directed naval operations in the Greenland area be expanded to serve two purposes. The first purpose was to support the Army in establishing Greenland airdrome facilities for use in ferrying aircraft to England. This generated convoy escort responsibilities. The second purpose was to defend Greenland and specifically to prevent German operations in Northeast Greenland. This would be a coordinated multi-tasked operation in a harsh environment and the U.S. Coast Guard with its long experience conducting the Bering Sea Patrol, the International Ice Patrol and experience in Greenland waters was the logical choice to head up the operation. In the early summer of 1941 the American naval forces operating in Greenland waters were officially organized. The patrol consisted of two sections; the Northeast Patrol with CDR Edward "Iceberg" Smith in command consisted of the cutters NORTHLAND, NORTH STAR, and the USS BEAR, that had served many years on the Bering Sea Patrol and now had a modernized superstructure. The South Patrol with LCDR Harold Belcher was composed of the cutters MODOC, COMANCHE,RARITAN, and the Navy auxiliary BOWDIN. In October the two commands were consolidated under CDR Smith as the Greenland Patrol, designated Task Force 24.8, and placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

From Cape Farewell up the east coast of Greenland to the Scorseby Sound area where previous German weather station activity had taken place, was a distance of over 600 miles with only one settlement, the village of Ammassalik, in between. There was no habitation between Scorseby Sound and the northern tip of Greenland 1000 miles away. There were, however numerous fjords and other locations along the entire coast where German weather stations could be set up. The NORTHLAND the NORTH STAR and the BEAR. the nucleus of the initial northeast patrol, each carried a Grumman J2F-4. amphibian. Although cumbersome to put in and take out of the water they proved to be invaluable. These aircraft were sent on countless long search missions over the fjords and mountains looking for enemy activity. They greatly increased the cutters operating and search capabilities.

When the new cutters such as the STORIS and Wind Class icebreakers arrived they continued to utilize on board aircraft.

USCG Cutter NORTHLAND

War with Germany was declared December 11, 1941 and Smith, who had been promoted to Captain, found himself extremely short of aircraft and escort vessels to convoy the intensive increase in Greenland shipping and to supply the outposts and the Army weather stations on the Greenland coast. Navy Patrol Squadron 93 was assigned to the Naval Air Station Argentia Newfoundland in May of 1942 to combat the German submarines and provide convoy cover. Six aircraft were based at Argentia and six were based in Greenland; three at Bluie West 1 and three at Bluie West 8. The aircraft based in Greenland were also used by Task Force 24.8 for search, rescue and supply purposes. Smith located ten 120-foot fishing trawlers in Boston, and recognizing their potential for the Greenland operation, requested assistance in obtaining them from the Commandant of the Coast Guard Vice Admiral Russell R. Waesche. They were very capable navigating the narrow fjords, dense fields of icebergs and ice cake, and their maneuverability could not be equaled by larger ships. They served well until a new generation of ships especially designed for the Greenland operation arrived in mid 1943.

Smith was also largely responsible for the creation of the Greenland Sledge Patrol, a contingent of Eskimos, Danish and Norwegian hunters, recruited by the Greenland government, supported by the Coast Guard cutters and supplied by the Army. They patrolled the northeastern coastal regions on dog sleds looking for German weather and radio installations. The NORTHLAND, with two Danish-speaking interpreters on board, became the nerve center for the Sledge Patrol's operations. The patrol had scarcely begun operations when it proved its worth by assisting in the capture of the trawler BUSKOE on 12 September, as that vessel, a small German-controlled Norwegian ship, was attempting to establish a radio and weather station in the Mackenzie Bay area. The patrol continued to be effective in this type of operation throughout the war. Although not one of the primary reasons for establishment, the patrol proved to be valuable for rescue operations as well.

From the beginning all European invasion plans called for the movement of large numbers of U.S. military aircraft to the British Isles. This began in late 1940 when the first Lockheed Hudson was ferried to Ireland through Gander and in March 1941 B-17s and B-24s commenced flying from Gander to Prestwick, Scotland. These aircraft had long cruising ranges and were instrument equipped for flying in bad weather. For fighter aircraft with more restrictive cruising ranges to make it to England, a northern flight route consisting of a series of legs was required. The distance concept between landing fields on the northern route was that a P-38 Lightning, chosen at that time to be the dominant fighter aircraft in Europe, need not fly more than 850 miles to advance to the next base. This left the aircraft with enough fuel to return to the departure base if the destination weather went down. This was part of a Top-Secret operation and was code named Operation Bolero.

In January of 1942 the Air Corps Ferry Command contracted to establish radio range beacons and weather communication facilities along the northern ferry route from the United States to Prestwick, Scotland. Construction began and on June 25, 1942 the first fighter group left Goose Bay, Labrador for Prestwick Scotland completing the trip on 9 July. Because of minimal navigation equipment the P-38s flew in groups of three to five aircraft with a B-17 as a mother ship to do the navigating, The remaining men and equipment would make the trip aboard C-47 transports or by ship. Weather along the northern route was generally poor and despite prodigious efforts there remained gaps in the communications, navigation, and support facilities and weather reporting was sometime faulty. The weather forecast reliability was improved by stationing Coast Guard cutters along the route of flight that conducted and transmitted weather observations. An auxiliary airfield Bluie East 2 was established on the east coast of Greenland and two additional airfields were constructed in Iceland. The Army expected

On 15 July eight aircraft, six Lockheed P-38s and two B-17s departed Bluie West 8 for Iceland after several days delay. They left with out of date communications codes (codes changed daily) and ran into blizzard conditions. They became lost -were unable to communicate - began icing up and the six P-38s were running out of gas. They reversed course and just barely got back to the east coast of Greenland where all eight crash landed on the icecap. The AAF contacted the Coast Guard and a PBY and crew was made available for a search. The downed aircraft were located near Bluie East 2 East. The Coast Guard cutter NORTHLAND happened to be there. Contact was made and the PBY, piloted by Lt. George Atterberry, USN, led a dog sled team to the crash site. All 25 crewmen were rescued and transported to the NORTHLAND, were picked up by the PBY and returned to Bluie West 1. LT. John Pritchard and ENS. Dick Fuller of the NORTHLAND lead a rescue party that reached the crew of a Royal Canadian Air Force bomber that had been stranded on the ice cap for 13 days and brought them safely back to the ship. Searches and rescues would continue throughout the year. When not needed by the Coast Guard cutters the assigned J2Fs flew out of Bluie West 1 or Bluie West 8. Seaplane ramps were constructed at Bluie West 1 and at Ivigtut.

Although good relations existed between the Coast Guard and Army Air Force personnel at the local level, with Coast Guard liaison officers assigned to the bases, the Army Air Force command was adverse to requesting search and rescue assistance from the Coast Guard unless circumstances forced them to do so. Such was the case in early November 1942. A C53 transport went down somewhere on the east coast of Greenland. It was never found. Several in transit B-17s were sent to look for it. One of the B-17s, PN9E, experienced a white out and flew into the ice cap near Comanche Bay. The ice cap in this area had multiple crevices. The base commander at Bluie West 8 commandeered a TWA C-54 and located the PN9E. Even though the NORTHLAND was in the area the Army decided to do the rescue themselves and set up at Bluie East 2 approximately 80 miles north of the crash site. An attempt was made to equip an Army aircraft with skis but it did not work. The base then sent its two motorized sleds to the downed B-17. One sled was lost in a crevass.

Lt. John Pritchard and ARM1 Bottoms First takeoff B-17 PN9E ice cap Rescue

Return to ship with two B-17 PN9E Crewmembers

On November 28 the Coast Guard entered the operation. The NORTHLAND launched Lt. John Pritchard, with ARM1 Bottoms as crew member, at daybreak and located the downed B-17. He dropped a note asking about landing conditions. The pilot of the downed B-17, 1st Lt. Monteverde signaled Pritchard not to land because the site was surrounded by crevices. Pritchard found a clear spot about two miles distant and landed in the snow with wheels retracted. Using a broomstick to test the snow, Pritchard and, Bottoms made their way on foot to the B-17. They returned to the J2F with three B-17 crewmembers and after pushing it free, departed with two survivors for the NORTHLAND and landed after dark. Early the next morning Pritchard took-off again for another load. After landing the weather deteriorated rapidly and they left with only one B-17 crewmember. A heavy fog engulfed the entire area and Pritchard was unable to locate the NORTHLAND and crashed on the ice cap. The wreckage of the J2F was located by an aircraft four months later but the crew was never found.

LT. Pritchard and ARM1 Bottoms were awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses for their efforts. Lt. Pritchard's citation is below.

Winter set in and the crew of the B-17 was sustained by airdrops. Lt. Spencer used the other motorized sled in attempt to get three badly injured men out. The sled broke down on the way back and a base camp was set up about 6 miles from the downed B-17. Lt. Bernard W. Dunlop USN, flying a PBY, made the first of three landings on the icecap on February 5 and got three men out taking them to BE-2. On March 17 he again landed on the ice cap bringing a dogsled party to travel to the B-17 and return to the landing site with survivors. On 5 April he returned to pick up the dog sled party but had engine problems on take off which required repair. The PBY departed with no survivors the next day with reduced power available in one of the two engines. The Dog sled team departed the site for Beach Head Station, Comanche Bay. The dog sled and team was picked up by ENS Henderson on April 18 and flown to BE2. On May 8 the Coast Guard party that had been searching for Bottoms and Pritchard were flown out of Comanche Bay for BE-2. Both PBYs returned to BW-1 on May 13.

Lt. B. W. Dunlop USN landed on the ice cap to deliver a dogsled party to travel to B-17 - PNPE
and get the remaining three survivors out.

The 230 foot Coast Guard Cutter STORIS, designed to serve as a supply ship for Bluie bases, was commissioned on September 30 1942 . The ship was lightly armed, had sonar, a hull strengthened for ice operations and carried an aircraft. In mid 1943 three of the new 180 foot Buoy tenders arrived. They were single screw and had icebreaker bows. They were used to install and maintain aids to navigation, supply duties and when required; convoy duty. The establishment of the airbases and Army installations in Greenland generated more marine traffic than had ever before been experienced. Prior to the Greenland Patrol the Danes had operated one light station and piles of rocks upon which kerosene lanterns were hung. Late in 1941 the Coast Guard began the implementation of a system of aids that would make the fjords and coastal waters tolerably safe for navigation. In the course of two years, in extremely primitive conditions, they set up range lights, shore lights, shore markers and radio beacons at more than 50 sites. In autumn of 1944 the new ice breakers EASTWIND and SOUTHWIND, specifically designed for artic operations, arrived. They were armed with four 5-inch guns, twelve 40mm anti-aircraft guns six 20mm anti-aircraft guns, depth charges, hedgehogs, and carried an aircraft on board.

Aircraft ferry operation plans for 1943 called for discontinuing the Bolero flights of fighter aircraft going to Europe. With convoy losses considerably reduced these aircraft and some twin engine bombers would again be transported by ship. During the Bolero operation, June 1942 to January 1943, 185 P-38s, 150 transports and 366 heavy bombers had been delivered to Great Britain over the northern route. Four engine bombers were to fly directly from Gander to Prestwick and two engine aircraft two engine aircraft were scheduled for the northern route via Greenland. However, in practice many four engine aircraft also used the northern route. . Ferried aircraft in 1943 moved over the ferry routes with much greater safety. Experience had been gained; communications had improved; weather reporting and forecasting had improved; and on March 11 the Coast Guard's Greenland LORAN station went on the air. The North Atlantic LORAN chain, the first of many throughout the war, vastly improved navigation capabilities of both surface and aircraft. The aircraft loss rate for 1943 was 1.14%.

The Greenland Patrol PBYs were organized into an all Coast Guard VP squadron in August of 1943. It is the only Coast Guard VP squadron to have been designated as such and was in reality an evolution. The development of VP 6 is treated as a separate Timeline narrative in order to provide a more complete and detailed history.

Coast Guard Cutter STORIS with J2F-5 on board

RADM Smith had been appointed to flag rank in June of 1942 and in November of 1943 was given the command of all of Task Force 24 which included both Iceland and Greenland and surrounding waters. Coast Guard combat operations continued and as late as the end of 1944 units were still engaged in locating and destroying German weather stations and support operations.

The cutter NORTHLAND left dry-dock at the Boston Naval Yard at the end of May 1944, for the trip back north.. The ice-blue-and -white camouflage, which proved to be very effective in the Greenland ice pack, had been painted on both the hull and superstructure. LTJG Ken Bilderback, his aviation crew, and a J2F-5 joined the ship in Casco Maine. The initial destination, via Bluie West 1, was Reykjavik Iceland where 20 Army Commandos were picked up for northeastern Greenland operations.

J2F-5 being hoisted aboard the NORTHLAND, Ken Bilderback, pilot and Spike Wojicki radioman

Many reconnaissance flights were made along the coast and to plot open leads through the ice. On one flight a German weather station was located near the Shannon Island, about 50 miles north of the Artic Circle and two miles off the Greenland Coast. The Army commandos checked out the station. The station was destroyed after finding that it had been abandoned earlier in the year. Later a German trawler, of 180 feet in length, was sighted in the ice floes about 20 miles southeast of Shannon Island. It was determined that it had been caught in the ice, burned out, and an attempt had been made to scuttle it. The German crew was not present having apparently been rescued. Fog set in but after three days at anchor the NORTHLAND resumed patrol. Rounding the southeast point of Shannon Island a vessel, similar to the burned out German trawler, was spotted. The ship appeared to be headed for Dove Bay, about 75 miles north of Shannon Island, and the chase was on. The NORTHLAND was a short distance into the icepack when a strong concussion was felt and a geyser of ice and water flew skyward off the port quarter. This was followed by another blast a little farther astern. Two torpedoes had been fired at the NORTHLAND.

These were initially thought to be mines as no one had heard of a submarine firing torpedoes in an ice pack. This changed the NORTHLAND'S tactics and the ice flows were used as cover as she pursued and gained on the trawler. After five hours the trawler came within maximum range of the forward 3-inch gun. No direct hits had purposely been made as it was desired to capture the ship undamaged. Three hours later, in open water, the NORTHLAND had caught the trawler and ordered it to surrender. The crew departed the trawler in lifeboats but had planted demolition charges which exploded and sank the ship. The German crew was taken aboard and as the NORTHLAND turned eastward the conning tower of a submarine was spotted. Several shots were fired at the submarine, with no effect, as it fully submerged. A search began to find an open lead large enough for the J2F to take off in. Finding a minimal area the Duck was launched and searched for a little over an hour and a half without sighting the submarine. The following day another attempt was made and a little over an hour into the search a German submarine was sighted. The J2F circled and commenced an attack from the stern of the submarine. Two bombs were dropped, landing close aboard, but apparently caused little damage to the submerging submarine. It was felt that a shipboard type depth charge, set for 30 feet, would be more effective and a system was jury-rigged to allow the aircraft to carry and manually drop a Mk VI depth charge. Aerial searches, weather permitting, continued through over the next week without success. The cutter EASTWIND made rendezvous a few days later. and the German Prisoners were transferred.

Ken Bilderback on board CG Cutter NORTHLAND - Greenland 1944

LTJG Ken Bilderback received the following citation.

The patrol was continued until the first week of October. By then it was semi-darkness most of the day. High wind sleet, snow, and fog were daily affairs. In mid October the NORTHLAND accompanied by the cutter STORIS arrived at Reykjavík and the J2F was put ashore.

The final campaign against the weather stations marked the end of American actions against the Germans in Greenland.

1941 - Grumman J4F-1 Purchased:

J4F-1 in Pre World War II Livery

The Civil Aviation approved type certificate for the Grumman model G-44 Widgeon was issued on 5 April of 1941. The initial production of 41 aircraft was delivered to civilian customers and the Portuguese Navy. Production then switched filling orders for both the Navy and Coast Guard for a light amphibian utility transport designated as J4F-1. The Coast Guard acquired 25 J4F-1 aircraft purchased in two groups. The initial order consisted of eight aircraft, purchased under contract TCG-33459, with the first aircraft delivered from Grumman on 7 July 1941. These aircraft were given USCG service numbers V197 through V204. The following year the second batch, consisting of 17 aircraft, was acquired under contract TCG-34026. The first J4F from this batch was delivered to the Coast Guard on 25 February 1942 and the final was delivered on 29 June 1942. These aircraft were given the service numbers V205 through V221. In addition to utilizing the J4F-1 as a utility transport the Coast Guard intended to use them for search and rescue purposes. The Coast Guard J4F-1, basically the civilian G-44 Widgeon differed only in the addition of a hatch on top of the fuselage, just behind the wing, for loading stretchers. With the advent of World War II these aircraft were assigned to coastal anti-submarine patrols and a wing rack was added to each aircraft beneath the starboard wing. These racks could hold a depth charge, a bomb, a raft, or search and rescue gear. A J4F-1 patrolling out of the Houma, Louisiana , piloted by Chief Aviation Pilot Henry C. White, was credited with sinking the U-166 on 1 August 1942 in the Gulf of Mexico. In the year 2001 this was determined to be in error when a diving operation located the U-166 in a position different from the location of White's attack. White's aircraft has been preserved in the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

1941 - Coast Guard Acquires Consolidated PBY-5A/6A Aircraft

Coast Guard PBY-5A on the ramp San Diego with airborne droppable life boat attached.

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was created in response to the U.S. Navy's request to replace the Consolidated P2Y and the Martin P3M. The XP3Y, designed by Isaac Laddon, distinguished itself clearly from its precursors by its monoplane configuration. First flown in 1935, it was an all-metal flying boat with internal wing bracing which greatly reduced drag. The wing tip floats retracted upward into the wing tip adding to the aerodynamics of the wing. Performance was modest but it was a sturdy, reliable aircraft, ideally suited for long patrols over the oceans.

The US Navy had given the prototype the designation P3Y, but then changed it to PBY because of the Catalina's ability to carry four 1000 pound bombs under the wing. PB meant "patrol bomber", and Y was the manufacturer letter assigned to Consolidated. Consolidated received an initial order for 60 PBY-1s, the first production model, in 1935. The first aircraft of this series entered service in 1937. They were followed by 40 PBY-2s, 66 PBY-3s, and 33 PBY-4s; the latter model introduced the large dorsal blisters that became so characteristic for the Catalina. Starting in September of 1940 there were 684 PBY-5s built. A retractable tricycle landing gear was added and the amphibian PBY-5A became operational in October 1941. The name Catalina was given to the aircraft by the British, but later also adopted by the U.S. Navy. It was called a Canso by the RCAF.

Two Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines were installed in the wing leading edge just aft of the cockpit. To keep the propellers away from the water, the wing was put on top of a sturdy pylon, and braced with two struts on each side. The fuselage itself had a two-step flotation bottom, and a rounded upper side. The fuselage was wider than it was high, an unusual feature for a flying boat, and inside there was only one deck. In the nose, there was a position for a gunner / bombardier. Behind him was the cockpit for the two pilots, and immediately aft of the cockpit there was a cabin for the navigator and the radio operator. Behind them was the flight engineer, whose workplace extended into the wing pylon. Aft of the wing there was a cabin with bunks; finally, there were two waist gun positions covered, in most versions, with large blisters. The PBY was one of the first US aircraft to carry radar. At first this was a metric wave radar with arrays of dipole antennas on the wings, and later a centimetric radar in a fairing on top of the cockpit. A Leigh light was installed under the wing.

The Naval Aircraft Factory built 156 Catalinas. These were designated PBN-1 and named Nomad. They had a new, sturdier wing, larger fuel tanks, a longer hull, and a taller tail surface. These changes were also incorporated in the PBY-6A.

The first PBY obtained by the Coast Guard, V189, was purchased from the Navy in the spring of 1941. It was specially outfitted at Air Station San Francisco with a nine-lens-camera for mapping coastal regions around the country. While the arrangement worked well in the lower 48, after two mapping trips to Alaska the camera was transferred to a newer PBY-5A (PBY BuNo 08055), an amphibian, making it more versatile in the extreme environment of Alaska. The detachment operated out of NAS Kodiak.

Because of the Navy's great need for PBY patrol aircraft in the North Atlantic and the Pacific it would be early 1943 before the Coast Guard acquired them in significant numbers.

In 1943 Construction of the Pacific LORAN chains began. Coast Guard PBY aircraft, V189, reported for duty, having been assigned by Headquarters to transport personnel, mail, supplies, and materials, to the various sites to expedite the construction. Flight surveys of the sites for the Loran stations were made. These inspections provided a good grasp of the problems involved in the landing of materials and the construction of the stations. Construction of the Loran chains began in Alaska and the construction of additional chains followed the battles across the Pacific to Japan. V-189 was permanently assigned to this Top Secret project.

On 5 October 1943 an all Coast Guard Patrol Squadron, VP-6 CG, home based at Narsarssuak, Greenland, code name Bluie West 1, became operational. Thirty officers and 145 enlisted men were assigned to the squadron. In the hostile environment of the North Atlantic VP-6 provided anti-submarine patrol, air support for convoys, search and rescue, intelligence survey flights, as well as mail and medical supply delivery.

In December of 1943 the Navy established the first Air Sea Rescue Squadron at Air Station San Diego. An all Coast Guard unit, it lead to the Coast Guards heavy involvement in Air-Sea Rescue. Starting in 1944 the Coast Guard had the Search and Rescue responsibility for the Continental Sea Frontiers. By the end of 1944 there were 114 PBY-5A/6As in Coast Guard service.

1941 - Coast Guard Aviation Anti- Submarine Operations:

Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz

As a result of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor Germany was bound by agreement to declare war on the United States. The United States and Germany declared war on each other on December 11, 1941. Unlike most navies operating submarines the primary target of German U-boats was merchant shipping in order to cripple the enemies' ability to wage war. Admiral Karl Donitz, the Commander of German Submarine Forces, immediately drew up plans for operation Paukenschlag ("Drumbeat"), a devastating attack on shipping along the North American eastern seaboard, arguably the most congested sealanes in the world, using 12 of the longer range Type IX boats. Donitz believed that the industrial cities of the eastern seaboard were vulnerable to the disruption of these sea lanes. Oil was critical for the American war effort. Most of the oil was provided by ships carrying it from the Netherlands West Indies, Venezuela, and the Gulf of Mexico ports of Houston and Port Arthur Texas. The Naval Staff in Berlin, however, would release only six U-boats, one of which encountered mechanical difficulties, leaving only five submarines for the opening moves of the campaign. As the U-boats exited the Bay of Biscay they were picked up and plotted by British intelligence. The progress of the submarines was observed and it was deduced that the target area was the North American eastern seaboard. This information was passed to Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations, but little or nothing was done about it.

There was a shortage of anti-submarine vessels partly because of President Roosevelt's 1941 decision to loan 50 obsolete destroyers and Coast Guard Cutters to Britain in exchange for bases and partly because available escorts were used for North Atlantic convoy duty. ADM King directed a frantic effort to reinforce the Pacific Fleet and compensate for loses. VP-51, VP-71, and VP-72 were ordered to the West Coast and thence to Hawaii. Patrol Wing 8 was transferred to the West Coast. VP-52 and half of VP-81 stationed at Key West were immediately sent to patrol the Pacific approaches to the Panama Canal in case of a Japanese attack. To compound the problem ADM King held the Atlantic Fleet in reserve. For all practical purposes the East Coast of the United States had been stripped of escort vessels and its anti-submarine aviation.

The German offensive began 11 January 1942 when U-123 sank the SS Cyclops south of Nova Scotia. The first wave ended operation on February 6 and headed back to Germany. They sank 25 ships for a total of 156,939 tons. They were replaced by succeeding waves of U-boats without interruption. During the first six months of the U-boat offensive in North American coastal waters 397 ships totaling over 2 million tons were sunk with the loss of roughly 5000 lives. In the process only 7 U-boats were sunk. Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, Commander of the Third Naval District was given the command of the North Atlantic Coastal Frontier consisting of the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Naval Districts. This would later expand southward and become the Eastern Sea Frontier. At the beginning of January the surface craft available to him to combat the U-boats were 4 - PY boats, 4 - SC boats, 1 - 165' Coast Guard Cutter, 6 - 125' Coast Guard Cutters, 2 - PG boats, and 3 - Eagle Boats. The review of the aircraft revealed similar conditions. There were 51 - Trainers, 18 - Scouts (OS or OB) 14 - Utility, 7 - Transport, and 6 - Patrol aircraft. Of this number 18 were Coast Guard aircraft; all of them unarmed at this time.

Tanker sunk off the east coast 1942.

Once in the hunting grounds, German submarines would rest on the continental shelf from early morning until late afternoon. During the day the U-boat would rise to the surface for air and sunlight, usually during late morning, for a limited time, submerging again if sighting any object. Late in the afternoon they began the night's activity against the shipping lanes. Unbelievably the merchant ships ran with their running lights on and were silhouetted against the fully-lit coastal cities and resort towns. All navigation aids were still lit and the ships followed the established sea lanes. The surfaced submarine would lay in wait for an appropriate target to pass by. Surface attacks were preferred by the U-boat commanders. The Type IX boat had a surface speed of 18 knots. The submerged range was limited to 70 mile at 4 Knots. Periscope depth attacks were made if operations dictated. With the advent of submarine tankers the VII boat also began operating in American waters.

An aerial patrol utilizing available aircraft was initiated. With the limited daylight operations conducted by the submarines and the effectiveness of aircraft limited by a lack of radar and darkness, the odds of locating a submarine were not good. What they did see were oil slicks where the tankers had been sunk, debris, lifeboats with survivors, people clinging to rafts, some in life jackets and dead bodies. This was the result of the previous night's U-boat activity. The aircraft would drop provisions to provide immediate help, find a ship or boat and direct it to the survivors. Many were wounded or badly burned and in great need of medical assistance. Others were beyond the point of endurance and slipped away into the sea. When evaluating the situation the lives of the survivors were balanced against the risks off an offshore landing. Many were made. Coast Guard records showed 95 landings in the sea and over 1000 rescued during the period Jan 1942-June 1943.

A favorite hunting ground for German submarines was in the waters off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The narrowness of the continental shelf enabled the U-boats to operate in deep water close inshore with great effectiveness. Ordinarily two U-boats were stationed there operating on a carefully prepared schedule. On the 25th of January three J2F-5s were taken from the Atlantic Fleet pool, configured to carry two 325 pound depth charges and stationed at the Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City. Elizabeth City was chosen because of its strategic location. Two days later Aviation Pilot Harry Logan made an attack on a submerging submarine straddling it with two 325 pound depth charges. On 28 January RADM Andrews attempted to obtain additional aircraft for the CG air station. He wrote to ADM King "It is understood, there are approximately twenty PBY-5s belonging to the Royal Air Force now at Elizabeth City, N.C. and due to lack of ferry crews they are not in transit. In view of the immediate demand for long range patrol planes - it is suggested that arrangements might possibly be made for temporary assignment for six of the PBYs at Elizabeth City until such time as suitable replacements can be furnished." The request was not approved. However, by means of local arrangement, two PBY-5As were made available for a short duration.

J2F-5

Arming a PH-3 Hall Boat with aerial depth charges

Commander, North Atlantic Naval Coastal Frontier in a memorandum written at the end of the month on conditions in the Fifth Naval District stated "The available forces have been entirely inadequate to handle the situation properly. Constant offshore patrols should be kept off the Capes and the critical Hatteras area. This is impossible with the forces available." It was pointed out that "From the 18th to the 25th, when there were no armed planes at Elizabeth City, six sinkings occurred within a radius of fifty miles of Cape Hatteras. On that day three armed J2F-5s began a patrol from Elizabeth City with the center of the assigned area the Diamond Shoal Light Vessel buoy. In the remaining six days of the month not one vessel was sunk in the area." RADM Andrews recommended to ADM King that armed naval aircraft for long range patrol be assigned to the Coast Guard Air Stations in the Frontier, in lieu of the unarmed obsolete equipment now being used for offshore patrol. He emphasized that "the Coast Guard pilots in question had Navy training and were exceptionally competent to carry out Frontier offshore patrol." There is a certain irony in the fact that the patrol planes at Norfolk could perform only limited service because they were being used to train pilots while the contribution of the experienced pilots of the Coast Guard was restricted because of the "unarmed obsolete" planes used.

In February negotiations were begun which promised to alter this situation. On the last day of January, the Commandant of the Coast Guard informed the Bureau of Aeronautics that personnel under his command were not being used to full advantage. It was his recommendation that forty-six additional planes be assigned to bases throughout the country. One week later the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics approved this recommendation with the suggestion that forty OS2U-3s be assigned to Coast Guard Stations as soon as possible. On the ninth of the month, the Chief of Naval Operations took further action in the matter by ordering that all of these aircraft be located on the Eastern Coast instead of dispersed throughout the country as originally planned. On the 13th, the planes were assigned to five Coast Guard air stations from Salem, Mass., to St. Petersburg, Florida, but the dates of delivery were estimated as February 27 through March 11. The first OS2U-3 was delivered on The 28th and the rest at the rate of four per day. Additional OS2U-3s were later delivered to the Biloxi and San Francisco air stations. The JRFs and the increasing numbers of J4Fs were fitted with bomb/depth charge racks and in some cases local fabrications provided additional capability to previously unarmed search planes. The Coast Guard air stations finally had armed aircraft.

OS2U-3s on the ramp -- Coast Guard Air Station Salem

By the end of 1941 the British Navy had developed convoy protection to the point where Admiral Doenitz elected to deploy assets to the mid-Atlantic. It was suggested to Admiral King that a similar convoy system be set up to combat the German submarine operations along the eastern seaboard of the United States. ADM King rejected the suggestion. In March representatives of the petroleum industry met with the Navy and War departments warning them that if the rate of tanker sinkings was maintained that America would be crippled due to the lack of oil. The situation was so serious that in the same month Winston Churchill wrote President Roosevelt "I am most deeply concerned west of the fortieth meridian and in the Caribbean Sea. The situation is so serious that drastic action of some kind is necessary." President Roosevelt got ADM Kings attention and RADM Andrews was directed to plan and develop a coastal convoy system. RADM Andrews put a temporary convoy system, referred to as the "Bucket Brigade," into operation which moved ships from protected anchorage to protected anchorage by whatever escort vessels were available.

During January and February the preponderance of sinkings occurred along the coastline between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to a point south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and then off shore on the route to Halifax Nova Scotia where Atlantic convoys were formed. By April the majority of all sinkings were occurring in the Cape Hatteras area. Based on this information the Commander Eastern Sea Frontier chose the Cape Hatteras area to evaluate the effectiveness of the convoy system. RADM Andrews's assets were still limited but more were coming available. Ships sailing between the Chesapeake and Cape Lookout spend the night in protected anchorages. In the early morning the merchantmen would form up in four ship columns. RADM Andrews had Two Coast Guard 165 foot cutters, Four Coast Guard 125 footers, eight British trawlers, four PC-110 footers and a pool of 20 Coast Guard 83 footers attached to the Fifth Naval District that were available. Aircover was provided. Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City had the patrol responsibility for the Cape Hatteras area.

The activity report of the Eastern Sea Frontier lists an attack on an enemy submarine by a Coast Guard OS2U on 7 April, another on 8 May, and on May 15 an OS2U spotted a U-boat off Cape Hatteras. Twelve men were seen on deck just as the aircraft started the bombing run. The U-boat at the same moment began to dive. Ten of the submariners were able to get down the hatch but two were left on deck. Two depth charges were dropped 150 ahead of the conning tower. The U-boat went under and the two depth charges exploded. The pilot continued to circle and was joined by another aircraft. He could no longer see the men in the water but he did see pieces of wood rising and then an oil slick. The destroyer Ellis came over and dropped more depth charges and more oil came up. They did not sink the U-boat. It was later determined that the Ellis had depth charged a sunken ship and that was where the oil came from. Still the Coast Guard plane made a nearly successful attack on a U-boat and this was a harbinger of things to come.

With the success of the "Bucket Brigade" a 20% increase in escort vessels and aircraft was made and the first full convoy took place on May 11. On May 10 RADM Andrews sent a dispatch to his command outlining his expectations. Very little had been left to chance including air support. A circle with a radius of 20 miles was patrolled around the ships and searches were to be made along the track of the convoy 25 miles to each side. It was a south bound convoy leaving Hampton roads and on the first day it was covered by planes from Langley Field and CGAS Elizabeth City, On the second day aircraft from Cherry point covered them at daybreak and then the convoy was picked up by aircraft from Wilmington and Charleston. On the third day the planes from Charleston accompanied the convoy all the way to Jacksonville and stayed there. On the fourth day planes from Banana River picked up the convoy and on the fifth day aircraft from the Coast Guard Air Station Miami took over. By the last of May a full convoy system had been established. During June Convoy escort and aircover, some of the aircraft newly equipped with airborne radar, were provided for coastal convoys from Halifax in the north to Key West in the south. ADM Doenitz had recognized in early May that the "American shooting season" as it was called in Germany was over. By use of submarine tankers placed in prearranged location he was able to deploy his submarines into the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

German type IX submarine

The success of the "Bucket Brigade" also had an impact on ADM Doenitz. He strongly felt that it did not really matter where the enemy merchant ship was sunk because the shipping network was employed to accomplish a single objective. His strategy, therefore, was that his U-boats should be employed wherever the most merchant tonnage could be sunk with the least cost to his submarine fleet. Thus he began operations off the South Florida Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. From May through August 1942 the Gulf Sea Frontier, consisting of the Gulf of Mexico, the northwestern Caribbean, most of the Bahamas, and the east coast of Florida from Miami up to Jacksonville was the deadliest place on earth for shipping. In the Gulf of Mexico alone, during a five month period, 58 ships of approximately 300,000 tons would be sent to the bottom. The Gulf Sea Frontier was formed to defend the southern coast from Jacksonville to Texas on February 6, 1942. The Seventh and Eighth Naval Districts headquartered in Key West and New Orleans respectively comprised the Gulf Sea Frontier under the Command of Captain Russell Crenshaw. The

The first ship sunk by a U-boat in the Gulf Sea Frontier was an American tanker, PAN MASSACHUSETTS. ADM Doenitz had moved his main point of attack southward to a position off the Florida coast. During the month of April 18 additional ships were sent to the bottom. During May, with the advent of RADM Andrews full convoy system extending down to Miami, the German U-boat emphasis switched to the Gulf of Mexico. The first U-boats U-506 and U-507 entered the Gulf of Mexico at the beginning of May to take up station southeast of New Orleans. There were six submarines operated in the Gulf during May and seven during June. They sank 38 ships. The initial surface force to oppose this consisted of two Destroyers, nine Coast Guard Cutters of various sizes, a limited number of small patrol craft and unarmed Coast Guard Auxiliary vessels. Aircraft available consisted of Navy Patrol Squadron VP-81 flying six PBYs and a detachment of three B-18 bombers at Key West, nine Coast Guard OS2Us at St. Petersburg, six CG OS2Us and two armed JRFs, and the first of the armed J4Fs at Biloxi. There were in addition 8 unarmed aircraft.

In mid May RADM James L. Kaufman took command and began taking action. He felt the Keys were too remote and moved the Frontier offices to Miami which provided better communications with air and surface forces. He instituted a coastal dimout and patrolled for compliance. A hunter killer group concept was launched and additional forces were obtained. On June 13, after being pursued through the Bahama Channel by a Key West Killer group consisting of two destroyers, the Coast Guard Cutter THETIS and Army B-18s the U157 was sunk by the THETIS. The B-18s were equipped with early air to surface radar, not as effective as the later microwave radar, but never the less a welcome addition.

During 1942 and 1943 the Coast Guard air station at St. Petersburg flew patrols over Tampa Bay and its approaches both south and north. The air station had nine OS2U aircraft assigned capable of carrying a 325 pound depth charge under each wing. A two plane detachment of OS2Us known as the 'Port St. Joe Detail" flew patrols in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico in the area of Cape San Blas. The tanker JOSEPH Mc CUDABY was sunk southwest of Tampa on May 4th and another ship off Cape San Blas on June 29th. Surprisingly this was the sum total off the west coast of Florida.

OS2U-3 with aerial depth charges attached

There were 10 U-boats that operated in the Gulf during July and 7 in August, usually for two week periods, resulting in 27 merchant vessels sunk. Most of the sinkings were concentrated in an area south of the Mississippi River delta. This was the mid point of the patrol area assigned to the Coast Guard air station at Biloxi. The Biloxi patrol area extended from a position east of Mobile Bay to the Galveston area.

J4F-1 Operating from a grass strip - Pre-war markings

Aircraft assigned to Biloxi were two unarmed Hall boats, Two JRFs with depth charge racks, and seven OS2U-3s. J4Fs began to arrive. Five brand new ones were assigned to an air detachment at Houma Louisiana in the first part of July in order to be closer to the patrol area and provide better coverage of the Mississippi River delta and the western Gulf of Mexico. There were no quarters or messing facilities so personnel lived on the local economy. Operating from a grass strip, the detachment flew five four hour anti-submarine patrols each day. The aircraft carried a single 325 aerial depth charge under the wing. There was no storage for depth charges at Houma, so once they were attached to the aircraft they remained there until used or removed for major maintenance. Light maintenance was performed by the flight crews but when major maintenance the aircraft were flown to Biloxi for the work and then returned to Houma. Another detachment, using six OS2U-3s was established at Barataria Bay which is just west of the Mississippi River Delta south of New Orleans. They also flew five four hour anti-submarine

patrols a day. Operations were from the water and the USS CHRISTIANA, YAG-32, a converted auxiliary vessel serving as a seaplane tender, supported the aircraft. The planes were moored to buoys between missions. Personnel lived on board the CHRISTIANA. Again the aircraft were flown to Biloxi for major maintenance.

On 1 August 1942 Chief Aviation Pilot Henry C. White with RM1 George H. Boggs as his sole crewmember was flying the afternoon patrol. They were at 1500 feet at the base of a broken cloud deck 100 miles south of the Houma base. Through the open windows of their twin-engine Grumman J4F-1 Widgeon amphibian they could see about 10 miles across the hazy gulf sea. White had just turned to the northeast to set up a ladder search for the assigned area and moments later they saw a surfaced German submarine. White started to maneuver the Widgeon behind the sub for a stern attack but it immediately ibecame obvious that as soon as White and Boggs had seen the sub, the sub had seen them, and the U-boat began to slide underwater in a crash dive. White banked sharply to starboard and from a half mile away began his dive towards the sub fully aware that he had only a sole depth charge under his wing and that he would have but one try. At an altitude of 250 feet the single depth charge was released. Boggs stuck his head out of the window and watched the depth charge fall into the Gulf waters, its fuse set to explode 25 feet below the surface. He estimated it entered the water 20 feet from the submarine on the starboard side. Boggs saw a large geyser of water rise from the explosion. White later wrote that the submarine was visible during the entire approach being just under the water but still clearly visible when the depth charge was released. When they circled back around they saw only a medium oil slick. German records obtained after the war verified that the U-166 had been sunk in that area during at the beginning of August. White and Boggs were given credit for the sinking.

Bottom searches of the area of the reported attack by the USCG J4F Widgeon have done by civilian divers and no wreckage of any kind has been found. Interestingly, another U-boat, the U-171, reported coming under attack by an Allied aircraft on 1 August 1942 in the general area of that White reported attacking a U-boat. The U-171 was sunk prior to the end of the war and the ships log is not available for verification.

Additional assets became available and by the end of July a full convoy system was in place. In addition the Army Air Force Anti Submarine Command had suppl