V.J. Day, 15  August 1945:  V.J. Day was celebrated twice on Saipan---one false alarm with all the flares, horns, whistles, smoke pots, etc., then the real one a day or two later with "ho hum"---a flare or two and a whistle or two.

To Tokyo Bay:  Before daylight on 28 August 1945, CincPac Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz went aboard PB2Y 7073, Assistant CincPac Rear Admiral Forrest P. Sherman cam aboard PB2Y 7099, and we took off from Saipan for Tokyo Bay.  Somewhere along the way we picked up fighter escort---the only time we'd ever experienced that.  The fighters dropped away before we reached Tokyo Bay, however.

For the flight to Tokyo, we had two navigators aboard: Lt. Phil Harris from Massachusetts and Lt. Leonard Cowan from Mississippi.

Upon arriving over Tokyo Bay, Admiral Sherman instructed then Lcdr. Robertson to land.  Mr. Robertson hesitated and reminded the Admiral that in the briefing Admiral Nimitz was to land first.  Admiral Sherman repeated his instruction a bit more sternly to "land now".  We did and 7099 thereby became the first aircraft to land in Japan after cessation of hostilities.  This occurred about five days before General MacArthur arrived and made his famous speech about how he "led" the vastest armada of fighting men and ships into Tokyo Bay, etc.  Incidentally, as an enlisted man, I never found out if there were repercussions of our violating protocol and landing first.  I'm not sure I want to know. 

While at Tokyo: Only our officers were permitted to go onto the U.S.S. Missouri or any other ship in the Bay.  One pilot was rotated each day by personnel boat to the plane.  The 7099 was tied up to a buoy about 100 yards offshore with a gun boat circling us around the clock.  The shoreline was lined up with thousands of blank faces staring at us with no expression and in silence---in disbelief I suppose

On 2 September 1945, we took a Navy photographer aboard for a low-level 3 1/2 hour photo flight over Uraga, Yokosuka and Tokyo.  One cannot describe or imagine the devastation---miles and miles of burned out and flattened structures.  The Emperial Palace appeared to be miraculously untouched, however.  We circled important landmarks like that under 500 feet to get pictures.  The photographer must have taken several hundred pictures that day with his K-20 aircraft camera.

The peace was signed, the war over, the PB2Y Squadrons had won it with the help of the rest of the Navy (Marines included), and we thought we could now all go home.  Wrong!  We flew back to Saipan on 3 September 1945 for new orders and subsequent additional opportunities to be of service to and detached to the 7th Fleet.

Lcdr. Leonard D. Braswell, USNR Ret.

August 15, 1945

(Japan Surrenders)

On August 15, it was announced to the world that Japan had indeed surrendered!  There was a tremendous amount of excitement and everyone on the island was talking about going home.  We spent most of the day swimming and playing horseshoes at our camp. 

VJ Day Announced, Japan Surrenders August 15, 1945 

Of course, we did have to see that our aircraft was in top condition and ready to go upon short notice.  We took it up for a two to three hour test flight.  We made practice hops on the 17^th, 22^nd and 26^th of August.  By that time, we were wondering if we’d ever get off that rock! 

On August 28, we were ordered to have the plane ready for an early morning departure the next day.  Our destination was Tokyo Bay.  We were ready and eager to go at dawn.

August 29, 1945

(Taking Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz to Tokyo Bay)

The Flag Party was flown over to Saipan from Guam, which was the Pacific Fleet Advance Headquarters, in a land plane at dawn on August 29.  They were then driven over from Isley Field to board our plane, Bureau No. 7073, on the seaplane ramp at Tanapag Harbor.

Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz   (USN) 

The Flag Party consisted of Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet; Marine Corps General A.A. Vandegrift, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps; five other high ranking Admirals and Marine Generals plus a number of lesser ranked staff officers.  There was lots of brass on one airplane! 

Ironically, the seaplane base and ramps where we loaded at Tanapag Harbor were constructed by the Japanese for their large seaplane operations during the early phase of the War.  They were used until the U.S. bombed them out.  There was some terrible fighting on Saipan, from the initial U.S. landings on June 15, 1944 until the island was finally taken July 9, 1944.  The fighting led to 4,442 U.S. troops killed and 12,724 wounded. 

We were launched at Tanapag, took off, climbed to 7,000 feet and headed north towards Tokyo Bay, some 1,270 miles distant.  Lt. Commander Robertson and crew, in another squadron seaplane (Bureau No. 7099) followed us carrying lesser ranked Admirals and Generals. 

We passed directly over Iwo Jima which was the scene of even more bloody fighting by the U.S. Marine Corps.  There were 5,563 Americans killed and 17,343 wounded in 26 days of fighting!  Most of the Admirals and Generals that we had aboard were involved by commanding fighting units in these island campaigns.  It was their first chance to observe the islands from the air.  Iwo Jima was finally taken March 17, 1945. 

As we continued north and crossed the small island of Aoga Shima, about 200 miles south of Tokyo, we were joined by a 48 plane fighter escort of P-47’s, who stayed with us to Tokyo Bay.  They were around us like a swarm of bees and it was a real thrill to have the buzz boys join up and then to see the Japanese homelands come into view! 

The fighter escort was probably mostly ceremonial but there was the possibility of a sneak attack on us from some hidden base as fanatical as the Japanese were known to be!  They claimed to have unconditionally surrendered but since our aircraft were completely unarmed just one Jap fighter plane could have easily shot us down.

August 29, 1945

(First view of Japan and the huge U.S. Fleet ) 

We spotted the tremendous fleet of Allied warships under the command of Admiral William “Bull” Halsey anchored out in Sagami Bay, just offshore from the towns of Hiratsuka and Chigashi.  There were many hundreds of ships, close to one thousand, which consisted of the United States Third, Fifth, and Seventh Fleets plus several Special Task Forces.  There were also British, Canadian, Australian and other Allied nation warships anchored. 

Fleet Admiral Nimitz was up on the flight deck with us, standing behind the pilot’s seats, as we watched this impressive sight come into view.  Nimitz remarked that this was really a beautiful sight and we surely agreed.  The Admiral asked if we could circle the Fleets so I informed our fighter escort leader by radio of our intentions.  The fighters broke away and we circled twice.

Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz (center) aboard PB2Y BuNo 7073 August 29, 1945 getting his

first view of the Japanese coastal area near Yokosuka Naval Base.  This was the flight

from Saipan to Tokyo Bay for the Japanese Surrender Ceremonies. 

We were somewhat in doubt as to where should land.  Our orders were to land near the battleship South Dakota in Tokyo Bay but we couldn’t see any ships up there because of the smoke and haze from burning cities.  We didn’t recognize the South Dakota among the six or seven battleships anchored with the Fleets below so we started letting down and headed over to the entrance of Tokyo Bay.  As we passed over the huge devastated Japanese Naval Base at Yokosuka, with the sunken wrecked battleship Nagata, Admiral Nimitz told us he had waited forty-eight years to see just that!!

Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz aboard our PB2Y BuNo 7073 landing at Tokyo Bay. 

At this time, we received a radio call from the seaplane tender U.S.S. Mackinac, which was acting as control base for seaplane operations in Tokyo Bay.  They cleared us to descend to one thousand feet and proceed north towards the center of the Bay.

 Soon, we sighted four more battleships anchored in the center of Tokyo Bay.  They were surrounded by a protective screen of destroyers.

Lt.(jg) G.J. Grimm standing on the wing of PB2Y-5Z Coronado BuNo 7073

Seaplane after landing in Tokyo Bay.

August 29, 1945

(Tokyo Bay:  End of the long War road)

We recognized the U.S.S. South Dakota as we approached and then off its port beam a half mile we noticed the U.S.S. Missouri.  The other two battleships in the group were the U.S.S. Iowa and the British H.M.S. Duke of York. 

This was our destination at the end of the long War road! 

I called the control bridge of the South Dakota on a radio frequency given me by the Mackinac.  I requested the current wind direction, velocity and altimeter setting.  We circled the ships and landed between the South Dakota and Missouri.  We came to a stop just astern the South Dakota, which was to be Fleet Admiral Nimitz’s flagship while he was there.  The water was quite rough but we made a good landing as we were being watched by thousands of men aboard the ships.  Most of the crew of the U.S.S. South Dakota were “manning the rail” in salute to Fleet Admiral Nimitz.  It was a very impressive sight!

USS Missouri BB-63    USN     File photo 

We cut the engines and drifted while a small boat came out from the ship to pick up the Flag Party.  Admiral Nimitz thanked all of the crew before he disembarked.  He told Lt. Shockey, our plane commander, that this was the best flight he’d ever had!  He also said he would request that our crew fly him back, which made us feel proud.

Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz (center) and Marine Corps Commandant General Vandegrift (left) departing  PB2Y BuNo 7073 along with five other Admirals and Generals and staff heading for

the battleship U.S.S. South Dakota, Nimitz’s Flagship while awaiting the surrender ceremonies

aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 1945. 

After the group departed, we received instructions to proceed over to the seaplane tender U.S.S. Suisun.  It was anchored near the Mackinac, offshore between the cities of Yokosuka and Yokohama. 

The wind had picked up considerably and the water was getting pretty rough for a safe take off so we decided to taxi the five miles over to the Suisun.  We didn’t want to risk damaging a wing float or possibly an engine out there with no spare parts readily available. 

The seaplane tenders were taking care of two squadrons of PBM patrol bombers so the ships carried engines and parts for PBM’s and PBY’s but none for our larger PB2Y’s.  The Suisun sent out a rearming boat as we approached in order to guide us to our mooring buoy.  Then they took half our crew back to the ship while the other half stayed aboard the airplane.  We rotated standby crews every twenty four hours. 

It is necessary to keep a minimum crew on board large seaplanes secured to an anchorage in open water in the event of a sudden storm.  The inboard engines have to be fired up to relieve the strain on the buoy line when high wind conditions exist.  This also keeps the airplane from dragging the anchor.  It is not much fun to stay aboard an anchored seaplane all night when the water really gets rough!  We all looked forward to our turn to stay aboard the ship where we got hot meals, hot showers, movies and a good sleep.  That first evening here we watched the sunset over Mount Fujiyama, a very pretty sight. 

The next morning, August 30, 1945, we watched the first Marine and Naval Forces landing on Japanese soil near the huge Naval base at Yokosuka.  General MacArthur’s soldiers were expected to start landing later in the day at Yokohama.  During the next two days, many more landing ships came into Tokyo Bay to off load troops and supplies of all kinds for the occupation of Japan.

September 2, 1945

(Tokyo Bay:  VJ Day and the Surrender Signing) 

During and after the surrender signing ceremonies aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri, the air reverberated from the masses of aircraft over flying the ship.  Approximately 400 B-29 bombers flew over in formations at high elevations while 1,500 Navy carrier planes of all type, in formations, came over in wave after wave.  Some were barreling across barely mast high!  That was a fantastic display of power to behold and I’ll never forget it.  It was certainly a dramatic salute to final victory over Japan.

Allied planes and ships in Tokyo Bay for the surrender September 2, 1945 

Since all of our other Navy buddies were flying that day, we decided we’d better go up for a “test hop” ride too.  In mid-afternoon, we went out for about three hours and saw a pretty good cross section of Japan.  The industrial cities were a terrible mass of devastation.  This was in stark contrast to the beautiful green forests and small farms in outlying areas. 

After our sightseeing jaunt, we landed back in Tokyo Bay then taxied over to the stern of the Mackinac.  We refueled our airplane before securing it near the Suisun. 

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, signs the Instrument

of Surrender as United States Representative on board USS

Missouri (Dept of Navy 80-G-701293) 

September 3, 1945

(Taking Fleet Admiral Nimitz back to Saipan)

On the morning of September 3^rd, we flew over to the South Dakota and picked up the Flag Party.  We departed for Saipan again which was a flight of nearly ten hours.  Admiral Nimitz came up onto the flight deck about mid-flight and chatted with us for awhile.  I got his autograph. 

The weather was pretty good on the return trip.  We did have about an hour and a half on instruments but no rough stuff.  We landed back at Tanapag Harbor and the Flag Party stayed aboard until we beached the plane.  Admiral Nimitz took the time to shake hands with each of us on the crew and to thank us for a good trip.  He was a wonderful officer and gentleman.  A highly respected man!

Lt. George J. Grimm, USNR Ret.

About 10:00 P.M., our gunner in the top turret called over the intercom, "We have fire!"  The flight had been uneventful until then but now all hands were on alert.  I asked, "What is the location?"  The answer came back, "Sir, it's the pitot tube."  This was an instrument extending about 18 inches above and behind the cockpit.  Its purpose was to measure airspeed and certainly not a spot for a fire.

I ran from the cockpit and climbed up to the navigator's dome and sure enough....blue flames trailed for two feet behind this tube.  What could cause flames here?  There was nothing flammable within the tube but this eerie blue flame was there for sure.

Within moments, the tip of each propeller blade produced a fine blue circle of light at the tip.  These four blue rings were an awesome sight.  The flames here were of far more concern since we were in enemy territory and several hours from home base.

At this point, the thought struck me.  From stories I had read of old sailing vessels, they often encountered "St. Elmo's Fire" coming from the masthead in electrical storms.  Seamen considered it a good omen.  I now had to try and convince my crew that all was well.

As I related my theory to my twelve man crew, I am sure there were some non-believers.  However, this strange phenomenon continued.  The blue circles at the prop tips now progressed inward to the prop hubs and became four blue eerie and fiery wheels glowing in the darkness.

Once the initial fear and almost panic subsided, the whole crew watched in amazement as this "light show" continued for more than ten minutes.  My tail gunner, facing aft in his turret, was missing the show until he reported in that his two 50 caliber guns were also trailing blue flames.

Gradually the whole process reversed itself.  The four blue circles at the engine slowly reduced to four outline rings and finally the "light show" ended.  We continued on until daybreak with no further incident.

The explanation is, of course, static electricity in the sky which is energized by the movement of the plane through the charged fields.

Back aboard ship, I had a hard time recanting this to my squadron buddies but I had eleven witnesses in my crew who would attest to a night we all would remember!

Ens. Joseph T. Carson, USNR Ret.

“CROSSING THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE, SMOOTH WATER, ROUGH WATER, TYPHOONS AND MORE”

By William “Bill” Davenport, Lt (jg) USNR Ret. 

During World War II in the South Pacific Theatre aboard a PB2Y Coronado…

THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE 

On one of our flights we crossed the International Date Line at high noon and the flight engineer lost his birthday. On the way back, we had Thanksgiving dinner on Majuro.  The next day we flew to Honolulu and it was Thanksgiving Day again so he had his second Thanksgiving dinner.  He lost his birthday but had two Thanksgivings! 

WATER SMOOTH AS GLASS 

We were in the south Pacific at Manus on a very hot night with no wind blowing.  The water was very clam.  I knew that the take off was going to be long.  I advanced the power and got up to 100 Knots, rocking the Big Boat she just refused to break the water.  I was going about 120 mph.  I knew that she would soon fly so I stuck with her.  Finally, she began to fly.  The take off run was 189 seconds long.  That’s 3 minutes 9 seconds at 120 mph = 6 miles. 

ROUGH WATER 

On arriving in Manila I had to dodge flack.  At first I didn’t know what it was.  I had to be very careful on the landing because there were many ships that had been sunk and parts were sticking out of the water. 

After loading the passengers who were survivors of the Death March, I taxied away from the buoy that I was tied to and prepared for take off.  The airplane felt different.  I thought it was because the water was very rough.  The flight orderly came up onto the flight deck and said, “Mr. Davenport, the plane is a little wet down below.”  I told him that it was not unusual.  He said “I think you should take a look.”  He had a worried look on his face so I figured that I would take a look.  Looking from the flight deck below…WOW!  The mail bags were floating!  We got to the ramp just in time to get the wheels attached before she sank.  We must have snagged one of the sunken ships. 

After repairs to the hull, it was time to go.  The water was extremely, extremely rough and we had to use every trick in the book to take off.  My co-pilot Rosie Rossillon, a wonder guy, had to lock his arms forward on the yoke, put his left knee forward on the yoke and his right foot on the right rudder.  The rudder pedals were must like a shoe.  This was so that your foot would not slip off.  There was a metal strap across the top so that you could pull back as well as push.  The safety seat belt was also used to hold you in the seat.  At times you had to pull back so hard that without the belt you would end up standing.  I maneuvered the Sea Plane with the right wing low so that the wind would be coming at me to my left.  The airplane would be pointing to the right out of the wind.  This had to be done to overcome the high torque of all four engines and the rough water.  The take off was very difficult and dangerous.  As soon as I felt that we had the airplane in control I yelled “Turn her loose!”  After the third try we had a very bad take off.  It scared the hell out of all of us. 

TYPHOON! 

Between Manila and Saipan we went through a typhoon that would soon strike Saipan.  We entered the storm just before dark.  I could see the swells from the air.  The looked to be extremely high, perhaps twice as high as your house.  The turbulence was not as bad as I had expected but the rain was so heavy I wondered how the engines could take the punishment.  The St. Elmo’s fire on the plane was interesting and a little scary.  The fire would start with small purple dots on the windshield then they would get larger and larger before changing to fingers.  Looking at the wings, long fingers of purple would run up and down the wings and the propellers had a purple halo around each.  We had it so bad that could actually smell it.  The radio man took a hammer and knocked the radio connections looses so that the radios would not be burned out.  The glow would reach a peak and there would be a very bright flash.  The glow was gone only to start over again.  Places on the skin of the airplane had a few holes burned as large as your little finger.  These were found after we had landed. 

All of a sudden we were out in the clear.  I could see the stars but all around us were lightning storms.  I figured that we were in the eye of the storm.  The navigator got some fixes and found us to be 90 miles off course. 

We held the same hading and came out of the storm back on course. 

On arrival at Saipan it was about 3:00 a.m., the typhoon was getting close.  The eye arrived at about 5:00 a.m.  It was raining with a high wind that was across the landing area.  I made my approach for the landing and realized that I was a little too high.  I was on course to touch down on the water where I knew that the water would be rough.  I elected to abort the landing and try again.  I am glad that I did.  I didn’t want to lose those men who had gone through a living hell of the Death March and the Japanese prison camps.  I was a little concerned about myself too! 

There were five airplanes in the area and I am the only one that survived that night.  A B-29 got lost at sea and went down.  Another B-29 crashed on landing on the other side of the Island.  A Douglas DC-4 crashed on Guam.  One of the Coronado’s of my squadron had crashed there on Saipan on landing.  When I landed, I didn’t know it at the time but I landed over where he was on the bottom.  A sad end to a long day. 

When we went ashore, the rain was getting heavier.  My rain suit with its hood felt good.  A Jeep took us to the officer’s quarters for a good night’s sleep.  The Quonset hut did not have any sides and the bunks were stacked three high.  I elected to get in the highest bunk that was closest to the roof.  I crawled into the bunk with my rain suit on, by boots on and the hood over my head.  The wind started picking up and coming through at a 90 degree angle so I turned my back to the rain and wind.  I got a good nights sleep. 

BACK TO THE MAINLAND 

The flight back to the United States was uneventful except for the fog.  I can’t remember seeing San Francisco many times from the air due to the fog.  When we got back to San Francisco on this trip, the fog was very heavy.  It was Zero Zero. 

On my landing, I left the radio beacon and set myself up for the landing.  I had to time myself to make sure that I was over the Bay.  The last 50 feet I was at 89 Knots speed and a rate of decent of 50 feet per minute.   

The rate of descent instrument started showing that we were not descending so I pulled off some power.  Nothing happened so I pulled off more power.  Nothing happened so more power off.  The airspeed was at about 45.  My co-pilot started laughing.  “What’s wrong?”, I said. 

“You have been on the water for over a mile,” he replied. 

REFLECTIONS ON THE PB2Y CORONADO FLYING BOAT 

This giant flying boat is a dream to fly from protected water.  With no ground swells and about a 15 Knot wind making a small chop it is very easy to handle.  One of the beauties is being able to see the wind streaks on the water telling you exactly the direction of the wind. 

If the Coronado starts to porpoise, a gentle back pressure on the yoke will pull it up on the step and will correct the porpoising. 

Touching down on landing is a beautiful sight to see.  On instruments, in calm air, it is a very stable platform and will settle down to the exact speeds and rates of descent that you ask for. 

The flight deck is so large that I would invite the passengers up to observe the cockpit area.  One day I counted 14 people on the flight deck.