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VMF-441
Marine Fighting Squadron 441 (VMF-441) was a fighter squadron of the Marine Forces Reserve during the Cold War. Originally commissioned during World War II, the squadron fought during the Battle of Okinawa. Nicknamed "The Blackjacks", VMF-441 was credited with 49 planes shot during the course of the war. Following the surrender of Japan, the squadron was decommissioned on July 11, 1946. They were reactivated in the Marine Air Reserve and were based out of Naval Air Station Niagara Falls, New York. History World War II Marine Fighting Squadron 441 (VMF-441) was activated on October 1, 1942, at Tutuila on American Samoa from elements of VMF-111 and flew the F4F Wildcat. By the end of May 1943 the entire squadron had moved to Funafuti in the Ellice Islands and this was followed on September 28, 1943, by another move to Nanumea. The squadron moved back to Tutuila in December 1943 where they transitioned to the F4U-1 Corsair. On January 1, 1944, VMF-441 joined Marine Aircraft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanumea Airfield
Nanumea Airfield is a former World War II airfield on the island of Nanumea in the Ellice Islands (now known as Tuvalu). History World War II Nanumea Airfield was built by United States Navy Seabees during the Pacific War as an alternative strip to Nukufetau and Funafuti airfields to allow for further dispersal of aircraft in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu). On 5 September 1943 elements of the 16th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Nanumea and on 11 September they started work on a by bomber strip. On 7 September 1943 ten ''Betty'' bombers of the 755th '' Kōkūtai'' (air group) from Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, drop 20 bombs on Nanumea. The next day ''Betty'' bombers again bombed Nanumea. On 19 September F4F-4s of VMF-441 landed on the strip and continued to use the runway during the remainder of the construction period. The first bombers landed on 12 November. The Seabees also built the camp and operation facilities for the airfield, including an 8,000-ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Aircraft Group 31
Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) is a United States Marine Corps aviation group based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina that is currently composed of two F/A-18C Hornet squadrons, one F/A-18A++ Hornet squadron, two F/A-18D Hornet squadrons, one F-35B Lightning II training squadron, an aviation logistics squadron, and a wing support squadron. It falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Mission Provide air support to Marine Air Ground Task Force commanders. Subordinate units F/A-18 Hornet Squadrons * VMFA-115 "Silver Eagles" * VMFA(AW)-224 "Bengals" * VMFA-312 "Checkerboards" * VMFA(AW)-533 "Hawks" F-35B Lightning II Training Squadron * VMFAT-501 "Warlords" Aviation Logistics Squadron * MALS-31 "Stingers" Wing Support Squadron * MWSS-273 "Sweat Hogs" History Marine Aircraft Group 31 was commissioned at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, on 1 February 1943 under the command of Major Ralph K. Rottet. In September 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funafuti International Airport
Funafuti International Airport is an airport in Funafuti, in the capital city of the island nation of Tuvalu. It is the sole international airport in Tuvalu. Fiji Airways (trading as Fiji Link) operates between Suva and Funafuti. Air Kiribati provides one flight a week from Tarawa to Funafuti. History Funafuti Airport was built by a Seabee detachment of the 2nd Naval Construction Battalion of the United States Navy in 1943 during World War II. The military airfield included an airstrip, control tower and facilities, with a radio station at Tepuka, connected by cable to the airfield. The base headquarters buildings were at the present-day Teagai Apelu's residence, and a bunker is there to this day. The first offensive operation was launched on 20 April 1943 when 22 B-24 Liberator aircraft from 371 and 372 Bombardment Squadrons bombed Nauru. The next day the Japanese made a predawn raid on the strip at Funafuti that destroyed one B-24 and caused damage to five other planes. O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine United States Minor Outlying Islands, Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in Compact of Free Association, free association with three Oceania, Pacific Island Sovereign state, sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Palau, Republic of Palau. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders Canada–United States border, with Canada to its north and Mexico–United States border, with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the List of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VMF-111
Marine Fighting Squadron 111 (VMF-111) was a reserve fighter squadron in the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed the "Devil Dogs", the squadron was one of the first aviation squadrons in the Marine Corps and gained national attention in the 1930s as the Marine Corps show unit. The squadron fought in World War II and was later transferred to the Reserves where they fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 41 (MAG-41) and the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing (4th MAW) while stationed at Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas. They were decommissioned on 22 October 1965. History Early years Marine Fighting Squadron 2 (VF-2M) was commissioned on September 1, 1925 at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. The directive authorizing the formation of the squadron stated, "The primary mission of this squadron will be the training and perfecting of pursuit pilots and the testing and development of pursuit aircraft." They were redesignated VF-9M on July 1, 1927 which was changed again to VF-5M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, San Diego, California, about north of Downtown San Diego. The airfield has been named Mitscher Field since 1955, after Admiral M.A. Mitscher, who was the commander of Task Force 58 during World War II. The air station is the former location of Pacific Fleet fighter and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (F-4 Phantom II, F-14 Tomcat, E-2 Hawkeye) and is best known as the former location of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), its TOPGUN training program and the movie of the same name. In 1996, NFWS was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in western Nevada, 60 miles east of Reno and merged into the Naval Strike and Air Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka
or is a United States Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, Seventh Fleet and other operating forces assigned in the Western Pacific. CFAY is the largest strategically important U.S. naval installation in the western Pacific. Fleet Activities Yokosuka comprises 2.3 km2 (568 acres) and is located at the entrance of Tokyo Bay, 65 km (40 mi) south of Tokyo and approximately 30 km (20 mi) south of Yokohama on the Miura Peninsula in the Kantō region of the Pacific Coast in Central Honshu, Japan. The 55 tenant commands which make up this installation support U.S. Navy Pacific operating forces, including principal afloat elements of the United States Seventh Fleet, including the only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, , the group she heads, Carrier Strike Group Five, and Destroyer Squadron 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occupation Of Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States with support from the British Commonwealth and under the supervision of the Far Eastern Commission, involved a total of nearly 1 million Allied soldiers. The occupation was overseen by American General Douglas MacArthur, who was appointed Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers by US President Harry Truman; MacArthur was succeeded as supreme commander by General Matthew Ridgway in 1951. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union had little to no influence over the occupation of Japan, declining to participate because it did not want to place Soviet troops under MacArthur's direct command. This foreign presence marks the only time in Japan's history that it has been occupied by a foreign power. However, unlike in German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city of Okinawa Prefecture, with other major cities including Okinawa, Uruma, and Urasoe. Okinawa Prefecture encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands, including the Okinawa, Daitō and Sakishima groups, extending southwest from the Satsunan Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture to Taiwan ( Hualien and Yilan Counties). Okinawa Prefecture's largest island, Okinawa Island, is the home to a majority of Okinawa's population. Okinawa Prefecture's indigenous ethnic group are the Ryukyuan people, who also live in the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture. Okinawa Prefecture was ruled by the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 and unofficially annexed by Japan after the Invasion of Ryukyu in 1609. Okinawa Prefecture was officially founded in 1879 by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstructure consists of the parts of the ship or a boat, including sailboats, fishing boats, passenger ships, and submarines, that project above her main deck. This does not usually include its masts or any armament turrets. Note that in modern times, turrets do not always carry naval artillery, but they can also carry missile launchers and/or antisubmarine warfare weapons. The size of a watercraft's superstructure can have many implications in the performance of ships and boats, since these structures can alter their structural rigidity, their displacements, and/or stability. These can be detrimental to any vessel's performance if they are taken into consideration incorrectly. The height and the weight of superstructure on board a ship or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 ''kamikaze'' pilots died during the war, and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by ''kamikaze'' attacks. ''Kamikaze'' aircraft were essentially pilot-guided explosive missiles, purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft. Pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in what was called a "body attack" (''tai-atari'') in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedoes and or other explosives. About 19% of ''kamikaze'' attacks were successful. The Japanese considered the goal of damaging or sinking large numbers of Allied ships to be a just reason for suicide attacks; ''kamikaze'' was more accurate than conventional attacks and often ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaluit Atoll
Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . Most of the land area is on the largest islet ( motu) of Jaluit (10.4 km²). Jaluit is approximately southwest of Majuro. Jaluit Atoll is a designated conservation area and Ramsar Wetland. In 2011 the population of the islands of Jaluit Atoll was 1,788. It was the former administrative seat of the Marshall Islands. History The British merchant vessel '' Rolla'' sighted Jaluit in 1803. She had transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales and was on her way to China to find a cargo to take back to Britain. In 1884, the German Empire claimed Jaluit Atoll, along with the rest of the Marshall Islands, and the Germans established a trading outpost. Jaluit became a German protectorate on September 13, 1886 and had several imperial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
