A BIT OF HISTORY: The following is from log book entries and my recollection of events from July 1944 to October 1944 concerning assignment to VPB-45 and the ferrying of two PBN-1's from Elizabeth City, NC Coast Guard Station to NAS Kodiak, Alaska. Following operational training in PBY's at Jacksonville, that ended on June 5, 1944 and some leave, I was assigned to report to VPB-45 at Belem, Brazil. My records on the date of arrival at Belem is not clear but I had my first hop in a VPB-45 PBY-5A on July 11, 1944. I was assigned to the crew whose PPC was Ensign Hjalmer Jordal and 1st pilot was Lt. (jg) Boynton. My first flight with this crew was on July 15, 1944 for convoy coverage off the mouth of the Amazon River where we crossed the Equator many times that day.

In late July or very early August, our crew, and at least one other VPB-45 crew, was assigned detached duty to ferry PBN-1 aircraft from Elizabeth City, NC to NAS Kodiak, Alaska where they were to be turned over to the Russians. Our crew left Belem on August 6, 1944 via an ATC C-46 to Miami, FL. We then flew NATS from Miami to Norfolk in a R4D arriving on August 8th. On the 9th, a HEDRON 5-2 PBM ferried us to the Elizabeth, NC Coast Guard Facility where the PBN's were waiting. The PBN-1 was essentially a PBY-5 but was manufactured at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. It had a sharply pointed nose (no turret) instead of the rather blunt nose of the PBY-5. Otherwise, they were almost identical. Although on a number of occasions, I had been vaccinated for Small Pox, the vaccinations had never produced any reaction but of course this time was different and I was quite sick for a few days.

We departed Elizabeth City on August 10 in PBN 02868 and arrived at Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas after a 9.3-hour flight. Eagle Mountain Lake was a Marine Base just west of Forth Worth where beaching facilities were available. Due to the Small Pox vaccination reaction, I spent the entire flight in the sack. We then flew from Eagle Mountain Lake to San Diego on the 11th in 8.6-hours. I was feeling considerably better by day's end. Of course, one of the engines (just by rare happenstance) required some essential work that would take a number of hours to accomplish. Since PPC Jordal and 1st pilot Boynton were both from nearby Long Beach, their wives drove down and took us up to Long Beach to spend the night.

We departed San Diego on the 13th and after an 8.6-hour flight arrived at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. I was in the starboard cockpit seat as we passed Hollywood and a P-38 with one engine feathered pulled up along side, waved, did a slow roll and left us in the dust! We did not depart Whidby Island until the 17th and then flew for 11.1-hours enroute to Kodiak. These PBN's had Russian red stars painted on them and we turned them over to the Russians at Kodiak. Although, chocolate candy was very difficult to find in those days, each PBN had a full box of Hershey bars that were understandably almost depleted by the time we got to Kodiak. The Russians were furious. I understand that we sold the PBN's to Russia on the lend-lease program for three dollars; $1.00 for each engine and another $1.00 for the hull and we never got paid even that token amount.

We departed NAS Kodiak, Alaska in a R5Don the 18th for a 7.1-hour flight to Seattle (with a short stop at Anchorage) arriving on the 19th. We left the same day for Oakland in a NATS R4D. On the 20th and 21st, we rode a NATS R4D for 19.6-hours from Oakland to Norfolk with stops at Amarillo and Kansas City. On the 22nd, it was another flight in a HEDRON 5.2 PBM to Elizabeth City to begin the process all over again. We left Elizabeth City on the 23rd in PBN 02885 for Eagle Mountain Lake; left there for San Diego on the 24th; left San Diego on the 25th and stayed 2 days at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington before leaving there and arrived NAS Kodiak, Alaska on the 28th.

Our next trip back to Norfolk was memorable. We left Kodiak late on the 29th in a NATS R5D and arrived Seattle on the 30th and went to a dance that evening in Seattle. We left Seattle on the 31st in a NATS R4D and after 15.1-hours, arrived at Kansas City ( NAS Olathe, Kansas) on September 1st and went to a dance in Kansas City. Our flight on the 2nd of 10.0-hours from Olathe to New York was in a NATS R4D with stops at Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland before landing at NAS Floyd Bennett Field, New York. We went to a dance at the Roseland Ballroom that night in New York City. The next day, September 3rd, we flew from New York to Norfolk in a NATS R4D.

On September 10th, I caught a NATS R4D from Norfolk to St. Louis to begin 15 days leave in Waterloo, Iowa. I almost got bumped from that flight by a Navy Captain's WAVE yomen but I raised a quite a ruckus and got the seat. On September 29, the crew caught a NATS R4D from Norfolk to Miami. On October 2nd, we flew NATS from Miami to Trinidad with a stop in San Juan and on the 3rd flew NATS from Trinidad to Belem with a stop at Zandry Field (Dutch Guiana). I logged a total of 202.7-hours pilot and passenger time between August 6th and October 3rd. Needless to say, our rear ends were all just a little tired of bucket seats! On October 6th, we settled back into the routine at Belem in VPB-45 PBY-5A's..." Contributed by Roger D. Ferguson rdferg@softhome.net Naval Aviator 11399 [13NOV2000]

Circa 1943 - 1945

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...This is from my Dad's (LCDR Hjalmer A. Jordal) personal collection - April 1943 - April 1945..." Contributed by La Dona ladonam@prodigy.net [11FEB2011]

A BIT OF HISTORY: Naval Historical Center, Department Of The Navy, Washington, D. C http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/dictvol2.htm [28APR2001]

VPB-45 20KB

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Circa 1943

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History of FAW-16 - History from 16FEB43-20DEC43 - Submitted December 29th, 1944. Squadron's Assigned: VP-45, VP-74, VP-83, VP-94, VP-107, VP-127, VP-129, VP-130, VP-134, VP-143, VP-145, VP-203 and VP-211..." Official U. S. Navy Records (National Archives and Records Administration) via Fold3 http://www.fold3.com/ [08DEC2012]

A BIT OF HISTORY: Squadron History "...Information from Odis Homer Strickland (FAW-6, CASU-7, NAS Hutchinson, Kansas, NAS Jacksonville, Florida, VP-45 and VPB-136)..." WebSite: EBay http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/goodjunquebin [27NOV2007]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Location of U. S. Naval Aircraft - Dated 31 May 1943..." WebSite: Naval Historical Center http://www.history.navy.mil/ [02OCT2006]

VP SQUADRONS MENTIONED

CASU

PATSU

VD-1, VD-2 and VD-3

VJ-1, VJ-2, VJ-3, VJ-4, VJ-5, VJ-7 and VJ-10

VP-1

VP-11, VP-12, VP-13, VP-14 and VP-15

VP-23

VP-32, VP-33 and VP-34

VP-43, VP-44 and VP-45

VP-52, VP-53 and VP-54

VP-61, VP-62 and VP-63

VP-71, VP-72, VP-73 and VP-74

VP-81 and VP-84

VP-91, VP-92 and VP-94

VP-101, VP-102, VP-103, VP-104, VP-105, VP-106, VP-107, VP-108 and VP-109

VP-125, VP-126, VP-127 and VP-128

VP-130, VP-131, VP-132, VP-133, VP-134, VP-135, VP-136, VP-137, VP-138 and VP-139

VP-140, VP-142, VP-144 and VP-146

VP-201, VP-202, VP-203, VP-204, VP-205, VP-206, VP-207, VP-208 and VP-209

VP-210, VP-211 and VP-212

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Location of U. S. Naval Aircraft - Dated 09 Nov 1943..." WebSite: Naval Historical Center http://www.history.navy.mil/ [01OCT2006]

VP SQUADRONS MENTIONED

CASU and PATSU

VD-1, VD-2, VD-3 and VD-4

VJ-1, VJ-2, VJ-3, VJ-4, VJ-5, VJ-15, and VJ-16

VP-6 Coast Guard

VP-1

VP-11, VP-12, VP-13, VP-14, VP-15 and VP-16

VP-23 and VP-24

VP-32, VP-33 and VP-34

VP-43, VP-44 and VP-45

VP-52, VP-53 and VP-54

VP-61, VP-62 and VP-63

VP-71, VP-72, VP-73 and VP-74

VP-81 and VP-84

VP-91, VP-92 and VP-94

VP-101, VP-102, VP-103, VP-104, VP-105, VP-106, VP-107, VP-108 and VP-109

VP-110, VP-111, VP-112, VP-113, VP-114, VP-115 and VP-116

VP-125, VP-126, VP-127, VP-128 and VP-129

VP-130, VP-131, VP-132, VP-133, VP-134, VP-135, VP-136, VP-137, VP-138 and VP-139

VP-140, VP-141, VP-142, VP-143, VP-144, VP-145, VP-146, VP-147, VP-148 and VP-149

VP-150

VP-201, VP-202, VP-203, VP-204, VP-205, VP-206, VP-207, VP-208 and VP-209

VP-210, VP-211, VP-212, VP-213, VP-214, VP-215 and VP-216

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-45 History "...This photo was taken from the personal collection of Raymond Lutz. Raymond was a crew member aboard VH-3 out of NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands..." Contributed by John Lucas JohnLucas@netzero.com [20MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "00JUL43--Under the expert leadership of Commodore Leslie E. Gehres, Fleet Air Wing FOUR, had participated in the big push to out the Japs from Attu in May of 1943, and the retaking of Kiska in July of 1943 and was now pressing the attack closer and closer to the Japanese positions in the Northern Kuriles with the big Naval Base on Paramishiru as the main objective. FORTY-THREE's stay in Adak was of slight duration and after reporting to Commander Fleet Air Wing FOUR, for duty, the squadrons ten planes took off for NAS Attu, Alaska were they were to be based fot the next seven months. Immediately upon FORTY-THREE's reporting for duty, VP-45, operation from the U. S. S. Casco, anchored in Casco Cove (names after the gallant ender) and VP-61, stationed at Anchitka returned to NAS Seattle, Washington, and FORTY-THREE possessed the dubious honor of being the only "P" Boat squadron in the Alasks Aleutian area..." Archive: NARA-San Bruno, Record Group: 321534009, SubGroup: TBD, Page: 07, Unit: VP-43..." Contributed by Eric Mitchell eric_mitchell@ccmail.com WEBSITE: www.pby.com

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Circa 1942

HISTORY: "The currently active duty VP-45's designation history: 1 November 1942 Established as VP-205 at NAS Norfolk, Virginia with PBM aircraft. 1 October 1944 Redesignated VPB-205...15 May 1946 Redesignated VP-205...15 November 1946 Redesignated VP-MS-5...1 September 1948 Redesignated VP-45. Transitioned to P-5M seaplanes in 1954, and to the P-3 Orion in January 1964. There have been three VP-45's. The first was a redesignation of a Hawaii based PBY squadron in 1938 and retained that designation for only six months. The second VP-45 was established at NAS Seattle, Washington in April 1943 with six PBY aircraft. It was deployed immediately to the Aleutian area and was positioned at NAS Attu, Alaska in Cosco Bay (named for the Seaplane Tender there). It was redeployed to Belem, Brazil with 12 PBY-5A aircraft in 1943 and conducted antisubmarine patrols and convoy escort throughout the south Atlantic area until June 1945 when it was disestablished at NAS Norfolk, Virginia. One of its PBYs is located at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida. The third and still active VP-45, flying the most advanced P-3, is as shown above. Its homeport is NAS Jacksonville, Florida..." Contributed by Charles Caldwell cbc222.cald@gmail.com

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"VP-45 History Summary Page"

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