Palikulo Bay Airfield or Bomber Field #1 is a former

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 ...

airfield on the island of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

in the

New Hebrides Islands New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

at the

Espiritu Santo Naval Base Naval Advance Base Espiritu Santo or Naval Base Espiritu Santo, most often just called ''Espiritu Santo'', was a major advance Naval base that the U.S. Navy Seabees built during World War II to support the Allied effort in the Pacific. The base ...

History

World War II

The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 11 August 1942 and began construction of more extensive air facilities to support the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

. After completing a second fighter airfield at Turtle Bay they began constructing a bomber field at Palikulo Bay. The runway was by built of PSP over a coral base. The 15th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 13 October 1942 and added taxiways, revetments, and a extension to the runway for air transport operation. Units of the 5th Bombardment Group based at Palikulo included the 23d Bombardment Squadron operating B-17Es and later B-24s from 1 December 1942 until 3 January 1944, and the

72d Bombardment Squadron 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

and 394th Bombardment Squadron both operating B-17s. On 13 August B-17E #41-2463 of the 394th Bombardment Squadron piloted by

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...

crashed on takeoff due to mechanical failure. Navy and USMC units based at Palikulo included: * VMD-154 operating PB4Ys * VMD-254 operating B-24s * VMO-250 operating J2Fs. Following the sinking of the

USS Wasp (CV-7) USS ''Wasp'' (CV-7) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1940 and lost in action in 1942. She was the eighth ship named , and the sole ship of a class built to use up the remaining tonnage allowed to the U.S. for aircraft c ...

on 15 September 1942,

VF-71 Fighter Squadron 71 or VF-71 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. Originally established as Bombing Squadron 7 (VB-7) on 1 July 1939, it was redesignated as VF-71 on 5 November 1940 and disestablished on 7 January 1943. It was the first ...

operating

F4F The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlant ...

s was temporarily based at Palikulo. On the nights of 15 and 23 October 1942 Palikulo was shelled by a Japanese submarine however no serious damage resulted.

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

(RNZAF) units based at Palikulo included: *No. 1 (Islands) Group Headquarters from 1 March 1943-January 1944 * No. 3 Squadron operating

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and prim ...

s from 9 October-6 December 1942 and later operating

Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in 1 ...

s in July 1944 * No. 9 Squadron operating Lockheed Hudsons from March 1943 * No. 14 Squadron operating P-40s from April–June 1943 * No.25 Squadron operating SBDs from 30 January to 22 March 1944 The RNZAF operated a base depot at Palikulo that assembled aircraft that arrived aboard US ships and were then assigned to RNZAF Squadrons. SBD-4 RNZAF Espiritu Santo 1943

Postwar

NOB Espiritu Santo disestablished on 12 June 1946. Part of the airfield forms part of the main road along Palikulo Bay, while the remainder together with all taxiways and base facilities is largely overgrown with vegetation.

References

{{authority control World War II airfields in the Pacific Ocean Theater Airports in Vanuatu Espiritu Santo Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations closed in the 1940s 1942 establishments in the New Hebrides 1945 disestablishments in Oceania Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

World War II

Postwar

See also

References