Marine Fighting Squadron 422 (VMF-422) was a

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contracts ...

squadron in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. The squadron, also known as the "Flying Buccaneers", fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but is perhaps best known for its role in the worst accident in

naval aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

history when 22 of the squadron's 23 aircraft were lost flying through a typhoon on 25 January 1944. After being reconstituted, the squadron participated in the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. VMF-422 was decommissioned on 7 April 1947. Since that date, no other Marine Corps squadron has carried the lineage and honors of VMF-422.

Unit history

Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF-422) was commissioned on 1 January 1943, at Naval Air Station San Diego. The squadron's commissioning came at the behest of Order No. 062354, from Commander Air Wing, Pacific issued in December 1942. On 27 January, VMF-422 moved to

Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara (MCAS Santa Barbara) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located in Goleta, California north of Los Angeles during World War II. It was also known as the Goleta Air Station in the 1940s. ...

under the command of Major John S. MacLaughlin, Jr. to begin training together as a squadron. Initially the roster consisted of forty pilots and 120 enlisted men. Three pilots, Captains Cloyd Rex Jeans, Charles Hughes and John Rogers were veterans of combat in the Pacific, all having served in other VMF units from Midway to

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

. Most of the pilots were new, having earned their wings in 1943 from either

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

Naval Air Station Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 Location NAS Jack ...

. These pilots completed Carrier Qualification Training (CQT) at Naval Air Station Chicago aboard either the ] or . For the most part the pilots flew North American T-6 Texan, North American SNJ trainers or six FM1 Wildcats until late August when they were transported to

Naval Air Station North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

, San Diego to take delivery of twenty-four new Vought F4U-1D Corsairs. They participated in gunnery and bombing training at the

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installat ...

in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

. The squadron was declared operational on 24 September 1943, and ordered to San Diego, where the lead echelon of twenty-four pilots and planes would be loaded aboard the new ''Essex''-class carrier for transport to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, arriving on 3 October. After arrival, the squadron was initially based out of

Marine Corps Air Station Ewa Marine Corps Air Station Ewa (MCAS Ewa) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located west of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The base was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later served as the hub for all Mar ...

on Oahu, however the squadron's lead echelon, was sent by transport to

Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...

for advanced air patrol training with

Marine Aircraft Group 22 Marine Aviation Training Support Group 22 (MATSG-22) is a United States Marine Corps aviation training group that was originally established during World War II as Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG-22). Squadrons from MAG-22, were decimated at the B ...

(MAG-22). There the squadron suffered its first casualties when First Lieutenants Stafford Drake and Edmund Farrell were killed in a mid-air collision with First Lieutenant William Aycrigg. Only Aycrigg survived. The deceased pilots were replaced by pilots from the rear echelon. Upon returning to Oahu on 15 December, the squadron was issued twenty-four new F4U-1D Corsairs. They received orders to board the escort carrier just after the New Year. Their destination was

Hawkins Field Hawkins Field is a baseball stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the home field of the Vanderbilt Commodores college baseball team.

on the island of

Betio Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll. Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. ...

Tarawa Atoll Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Fourth Marine Base Defense Air Wing (4th MBDAW) Colonel Lawrence Burke, who informed him that VMF-422 was to fly to the island of

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of la ...

, 820 miles to the southeast to await their role in Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall Islands, scheduled for 3 February. Maj. MacLaughlin was provided with weather, navigational and radio code information for the flight. An escort plane was standard Navy policy for single-engine fighters going on long, over-water flights. But despite having formally requested a multi-engine navigational escort plane from the Fourth MBDAW commander, Brigadier General Lewie G. Merritt, MacLaughlin and his pilots were told to make the flight alone. In addition, MacLaughlin was not told that the weather report, which forecast scattered clouds and rain showers down to their destination, was more than twenty-six hours old. Some of the radio call signs and navigational radio range frequencies were incorrect as well.

Doomed flight

Shortly before 1000 hrs. twenty-three F4U-1D Corsairs took off from

Hawkins Field Hawkins Field is a baseball stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the home field of the Vanderbilt Commodores college baseball team.

. One of the squadron's aircraft, flown by Lieutenant Robert Scott, had starter trouble and was unable to leave. The remaining Corsairs, which carried enough fuel to last until about 1600 hrs., flew south along the chain of

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

and

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

, headed for their first stop,

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 stri ...

, the home base of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

30th Bomb Group (Heavy). Nanumea was located approximately halfway along the route to

. But due to a procedural error among the air operations staff at Hawkins Field, neither Nanumea nor Funafuti had been informed of VMF-422's imminent arrival. At 1230 hrs., still short of Nanumea, the squadron encountered a massive Pacific cyclone measuring nearly 150 miles 240 km) in diameter and reaching to more than 50,000 feet, (1524 m). Having little choice, the pilots flew into the storm and were immediately blown far to the south and east by the clockwise rotation of the cyclone, which carried them beyond Nanumea. The base had its radar up and running but with no information that a Marine squadron was in the air, did not attempt to make contact. By the time the scattered Corsairs broke out of the first storm front nearly twenty minutes later they were already more than fifty miles (80 km) past Nanumea. In an attempt to find the Nanumea radio range beacon, Major MacLaughlin made two radical course changes that further broke apart the formation. Five pilots, Captain John Rogers, Lieutenants John Hansen, Don Walker, Robert Moran, Walter Wilson and Earl Thompson were missing. Lieutenant Christian Lauesen had engine trouble and was forced to ditch in the heaving seas. Against orders, Lieutenant Robert Lehnert chose to stay behind and circle the downed pilot while making continual efforts to contact a base. Walker soon rejoined the rest of the pilots, but the other four were still unaccounted for. The remaining pilots continued south, hoping to reach Funafuti. Another storm front swallowed them and at last, MacLaughlin agreed to turn back and try to find either Nanumea or Nui, which was closest to their estimated location. But when they reached the area, Major MacLaughlin was not among them. The last men to see him alive, as he was making desperate attempts to use his radio, were Lieutenants John Lincoln and Jules Flood. The squadron was now under the command of Captain Cloyd Jeans. He decided that with fuel running low, they should stay together and ditch as one group. Meanwhile, Wilson had miraculously ditched on

Niutao Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has ...

, east of Nanumea, and Moran had made brief radio contact with both Nanumea and Jeans. He parachuted over Nui, but due to injuries in the bail-out, died in the surf. Hansen was the only one of the pilots who managed to get a fix on the Funafuti radio range and landed safely. His unexpected arrival was the first indication to the Navy that a Marine squadron was missing at sea. Jeans and fourteen other pilots ditched as the storm drew closer. Two pilots, Lieutenants Bill Aycrigg and Ted Thurnau were too far away to be reached by raft. Lehnert, who had parachuted over the swimming Lauesen at the height of the storm when his own fuel ran out, was unable to find the other man. He spent the next three days alone on his raft until being found by a Consolidated PBY Catalina from Patrol Squadron 53 (VP-53) on the early afternoon of 28 January. The other thirteen downed pilots managed to survive three days of heavy wind-whipped seas, severe exposure and sharks until the afternoon of 28 January. A PBY Catalina out of Funafuti, piloted by Ensign George Davidson found the tiny band of rafts 143 miles (230 km) southwest of Funafuti. They had drifted more than two hundred miles (320 km). The landing damaged the flying boat and only by heroic efforts was the plane kept afloat until they were picked up by the destroyer USS ''Hobby'' (DD-610). A day later Thurnau was rescued by the destroyer USS ''Welles'' (DD-628). MacLaughlin, Rogers, Thompson, Lauesen and Aycrigg were never found. In all, six pilots died and twenty-two planes were lost. It was the worst non-combat loss of a Marine squadron in the war.

Investigation

A Navy Board of Inquiry was ordered by Rear Admiral John Hoover, commander of Task Group 50.2, which had jurisdiction over Marine air operations in the area. From 27 January to 10 February, eighteen witnesses were called to the wardroom of the in Tarawa Lagoon. The board concluded that the leading cause was the denial of an escort by the Fourth MBDAW commander, General Merritt. It also concluded that proper procedures for air operations on Tarawa had not been followed. These factors, along with an outdated weather report, contributed to the loss. The findings and recommendations went up the chain of command to Commander in Chief

U.S. Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

(CINCPAC) Admiral

Chester W. Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in C ...

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

Admiral

Ernest J. King Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was an American naval officer who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH-CNO, he directed the Un ...

and on to

James Forrestal James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic fami ...

Undersecretary of the Navy The Under Secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The Under Secretary, called the "Under" in Pentagon slang, reports to the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). Before the cre ...

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

. The recommendations were endorsed at each level which resulted in letters of censure for several officers, including General Merritt. But likely due to his political connections, Merritt was able to stay clear of any association with the loss of six pilots. However, the Navy did take steps to assure that no single-engine plane or unit was unescorted on an over-water flight. By order of CINCPAC, escort planes were official Navy policy for single-engine fighters ferrying long distance over water. The pilots who had survived the disaster had been sent back to the states in December for assignment to other squadrons. Few had ever known what had been the real cause of the loss of six of their number. The six men lost were officially declared dead by the Navy Department on 25 January 1945. Despite inquiries by relatives, there had never been an official explanation as to the cause of the disaster. John MacLaughlin was posthumously given the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Reconstitution, combat and decommissioning

VMF-422 was reconstituted after the disaster under the command of Major Elmer Wrenn with Captain Jeans remaining as the executive officer. The remnants of the squadron were sent to

Engebi Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

Eniwetok Atoll Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

on 19 February. The surviving pilots and new replacements arrived in March and a short period of additional training took place over the next few weeks. Among the new replacement pilots was Captain

Jefferson J. DeBlanc Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc (February 15, 1921 – November 22, 2007) was an American World War II Marine Corps fighter pilot and flying ace, credited with shooting down nine Japanese aircraft during two tours of duty in the Pacific at Guadalcanal an ...

, a well-known Marine

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

who had been credited with eight aerial victories over the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

while flying with

VMF-112 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 (VMFA-112) is a reserve United States Marine Corps McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet squadron. The squadron is based at NASJRB Fort Worth, Texas and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 41 (MAG-41), 4t ...

. On 27 May, a portion of the squadron was sent to

Roi-Namur Roi-Namur ( ) is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Today it is a major part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, hosting several radar systems used for tracking and characterizing missi ...

to conduct interdiction missions against Japanese bases and shipping in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

. During this period, the Flying Buccaneers hosted

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

in September 1944 and he also accompanied them on three strike missions against

Wotje Atoll Wotje Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Geography Wotje's land area of is one of the largest in the Marshall Islands, and en ...

. The VMF-422 echelon remained on Roi-Namur until 16 October when the squadron was reunited back on Engebi to begin missions against

Ponape Ponape may refer to: * Pohnpei, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia * ''Ponape'' (barque), a German sailing ship {{disambiguation ...

. On 26 April 1945, VMF-422 departed the Central Pacific bound for

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 ...

. The ground crew arrived at

Ie Shima , previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...

on 7 May with the aircraft in trace by an additional couple of weeks. During its first combat flights over Okinawa on 25 May, the squadron was credited with shooting down five Japanese aircraft. On 29 June, Capt DeBlanc led a large formation of Corsairs from multiple squadrons against targets on

Ishigaki Island , also known as ''Ishigakijima'', is a Japanese island south-west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group, behind Iriomote Island. It is located approximately south-west of Okinawa Hontō. It is within the ...

. En route to the target four of the formation's Corsairs exploded in the sky because bomb safety wires had worked loose, thus arming the bombs in flight. The squadron lost ten aircraft during the Battle of Okinawa. During the entirety of the Okinawa Campaign the squadron was credited with 15 Japanese planes shot down. After the war, VMF-422 returned to the United States in November 1945 and was assigned to MAG-22 at MCAS El Toro. At some point the squadron was transferred to

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

where it was decommissioned on 30 April 1947.

Notes

References