VH-2 (Rescue Squadron 2) was one of six dedicated (VH) Rescue Squadrons of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during World War II. A more comprehensive write-up on the VH squadrons can be found in the history of Rescue Squadron 3 (VH-3), which was the US Navy's most active VH squadron. VH-2 was established in August 1944 and disestablished in November 1945. Unlike the other VH squadrons, VH-2 mostly employed the PB2B Catalina during its wartime operations. Late in the war, the PB2B Catalina was no longer used for open sea rescues, since it had proven less rugged in the open sea than its successor the

Martin PBM Mariner The Martin PBM Mariner was an American Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and Consolidated PB2Y Coronado, PB2Y Coronado in s ...

. Thus VH-2's primary mission was to "spot" survivors in the water and direct other craft to the site to effect the rescue. On at least two occasions, VH-2 did effect rescues with open sea landings. VH-2 was credited with the initial spotting, direct rescue, or assistance in the rescue of 96 downed bomber crewman. After the war, they were assigned the

Operational history

* August 1944: VH-2 was established at

NAS San Diego 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 (NB ...

, California.. * February 1945: VH-2 commenced rescue operations from

Tanapag Harbor Tanapag Harbor () is the primary harbor of Saipan, and is located on the western side of the island in the city of Tanapag. It is separated from the Philippine Sea by a barrier reef, located about 3 km (2 miles) off the shore. This reef forms ...

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

in support of the

Invasion of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA ...

and

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

strikes against Japan. * 28 February 1945: Two VH-2 planes were deployed to

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

, operating from the USS ''Chincoteague'' (AVP-24). * March – June 1945: VH-2 conducted 190 search, standby and spotting missions. VH-2 was credited with the initial siting of 30 survivors. VH-2 made an open sea landing to directly rescue one other (by Lt DePrato). VH-2 was also credited with assisting in the rescue of 54 additional survivors. * 8 July 1945: VH-2 located an outrigger with three "survivors" on board who appeared disinterested and unfriendly. The USS ''Austin'' (DE-15) was dispatched to the scene and warned by the still circling VH-2 plane about the unusual behavior of the "survivors". The "survivors" revealed themselves as Japanese on a suicide mission when they threw a hand-grenade onto the deck of the ship. The destroyer opened fire and no prisoners were taken. * 27 July 1945: A PB2B Catalina from VH-2 on a

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

standby mission crashed in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...

100 miles west of Alamagan killing seven crew members and seriously injuring three. * July – September 1945: VH-2 conducted 116 missions in support of

strikes against Japan, prisoner-of-war missions to Japan, and "ferry movement" of aircraft after the war. VH-2 spotted eleven survivors of a downed

crew, rescuing six of them in an open sea landing. The other five were picked up by a surface vessel. * 27 August 1945: The original VH-2 squadron was relieved "en masse" with six PBM-5 planes and nine new crews. * 21 October 1945: VH-2 left

and departed for

NAS Alameda Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were ...

. * November 1945: VH-2 was disestablished.

References

External links

VH-2 squadron

{{United States Navy Aircraft Squadrons Rescue squadrons of the United States Navy

Operational history

See also

References

External links