After graduating from Pensacola Naval Air Training
Station 30 May 1944, I was ordered to Melbourne, Florida for operational
training in the F6F Hellcat fighter. Near the end of training, the Navy
instituted a new policy of sending combat teams as replacements to the fleet
rather than single pilots. The teams would have the advantage gained by flying
together as a group before being integrated into an air group in the combat
zone. My instructor John A. McBrayer, had been on the USS Wasp when it was
sunk in 1942. He was being sent back to the Pacific and asked me to be his
wingman. He also chose Jack Auerbach, Sig Bajak, and Neil McLean from his
class to form his combat team. The idea of 5 pilots to a combat team was
to always have a replacement pilot in reserve.
Norm's
Combat Team
Click the image for large view
Early in September we qualified for carrier
landings aboard the USS Sable in Lake Michigan. From there we were sent to
the West Coast for further assignment. In San Diego we boarded a "jeep" carrier
for transportation to Hawaii. From there we flew to Guam on a DC-3 where
we picked up fighters to transfer to the fleet.
On 1 December 1944 each of us packed our gear,
placed it inside the fuselage of the plane we were to fly, and prepared to
join the Fleet at Ulithi Lagoon.
Because the weather was marginal for a part
of the distance, a multi-engine transport was assigned as a navigational
aid in the event we encountered trouble traversing the storm. The Ulithi
Group is situated some 460 Nautical Miles southwest of Guam. With the exception
of McBrayer, this was our first extended, over water flight.
We were in and out of the clouds for most of
the distance. Finally, about 50-75 miles from Ulithi we encountered the Fleet
heading for Ulithi Lagoon. As we neared, the blinker on one of the Carriers
signaled "PC", which stands for "Prep Charlie" and means "prepare to land."
The carrier turned into the wind and we entered the landing pattern and were
taken aboard.
We were informed we had landed aboard the USS
Hornet, present domicile to Air Group 11 (CAG-11). That night we finally
dropped anchor in Ulithi Lagoon. Entering the Lagoon the ships followed,
one by one in single file. It took several hours for the whole Fleet to navigate
the channel and drop anchor. That was a sight I will never forget. I looked
forward and saw at least six ships ahead of the Hornet. As I looked back,
I saw ships in a line that disappeared in the distance, hidden by the curvature
of the earth. Every time we returned to Ulithi the sight of such a mighty
Fleet would transfix me.
The Ulithi Group comprised several islands.
They had been inhabited by native islanders before the war. As the United
States moved westward in its island-hopping war with Japan, it became apparent
that the Ulithi Group presented one of the best anchorages in this part of
the World. The islanders had been transplanted to other islands, and these
commandeered, as the Fleet Anchorage, where ships could be repaired and
provisioned for extended forays into Japanese controlled territory, to the
west. During the next few days, I became aware that two Navy Hospital Ships
were semi-permanently anchored here. These were to take care of battle
casualties, and to stabilize the more serious cases before they were flown
out to Pearl. I also saw a floating drydock which was enormous. It appeared
to be large enough to accommodate everything up to a Cruiser.
Falalop island served as Naval Air Station for
the Fleet. It boasted a beautiful long runway, sufficient in length, to handle
any plane in existence at that time. All Combat Air Patrol missions, and
all transport flights were handled from the Operations building next to the
runway. The island also served as a storage area for aircraft brought to
the forward area by merchant ships. When needed these planes could be manned
by Carrier Pilots and flown aboard as the Fleet departed for upcoming raids.
4 December 1944 our team and two others were
transferred to the USS Essex. The Essex had been hit by a Japanese Kamikaze
pilot just before returning to Ulithi. The Kamikaze had dived at the deck
approximately at the position of the island. As he approached the deck he
had been hit by antiaircraft fire from the Essex. The hits caused his flaps
to come down. The extended flaps gave his plane just enough lift so that
he hit the port side of the carrier, tearing up a portion of the flight deck
and the port catwalks. If his flaps had not extended he would have hit the
center of the deck, and probably destroyed the Essex.
When repairs had been completed on the various
ships, fresh provisions laid aboard, and the magazines filled with bombs,
rockets and shells the 3rd Fleet was ready to move. On 7 December 1944, we
pulled out of Ulithi and headed for the Philippines. It was difficult to
realize that just three years before the Japs had left the United States
reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack. Now we were heading out to punish them
in their own back yard.
Returning to Ulithi
Click on image for large view.