Marine Night Fighter Squadron 532 (VMF(N)-532) was a

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 ...

night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

squadron that was commissioned during

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 ...

. The squadron, which flew the F4U-2 Corsair, was the second

squadron commissioned by the Marine Corps, the first to fly a single-seat, radar-equipped night fighter, and the only Marine squadron to fly the F4U-2 in combat. VMF(N)-532 saw extensive combat operations throughout 1944 in support of Marine Corps operations at

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

and the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. The squadron was decommissioned on May 31, 1947, as part of the post-war draw down of the service. Since then, no other Marine Corps squadron has carried the lineage and honors of VMF(N)-532.

History

World War II

Commissioning, training and, deployment

Marine Night Fighter Squadron 532 (VMF(N)-532) was commissioned on April 1, 1943, at

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 ...

by the authority of ''

Headquarters Marine Corps Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) is a headquarters staff within the Department of the Navy which includes the offices of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps and various staff functions. The function, ...

Confidential Dispatch 012005 dated April 2, 1943''. The first 4 officers and 51 enlisted men for the squadron were taken from

VMF(N)-531 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) was a United States Marine Corps fighter squadron consisting of F/A-18 Hornets. Known as the "Grey Ghosts”, the squadron participated in action during World War II and the Vietnam War. They were dec ...

. The squadron was the first Marine Corps unit to fly the F4U-2, an experimental conversion of the F4U-1 Corsair that made it into a carrier-borne night fighter, armed with five machine guns (the outboard, right gun was deleted), and fitted with Airborne Intercept (AI) radar set in a

radome A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and ...

placed outboard on the

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

wing. When first commissioned, the squadron's complement of twelve F4U-2s and three additional spares were in the Naval Aircraft Factory in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

getting modified. These aircraft received additional modifications at

Naval Air Station Quonset Point A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, home of

Project Affirm A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

, and

Marine Corps Air Station Quantico Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico (MCAF Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located within Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. It was commissioned in 1919 and is currently home to HMX-1, the squadron that flies the President of ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. While waiting for aircraft modifications, squadron pilots flew SB2As and SNJ-4s. The squadron arrived at Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

on December 24, 1943. VMF(N)-532 embarked planes,

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...

, and equipment on board the and departed

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

on December 26. The squadron arrived at

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 ...

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

1944 and disembarked at

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 ...

where it was joined by 1stLt

Hugh Gallarneau Hugh Harold "Duke" Gallarneau (April 2, 1917 – July 14, 1999) was an NFL halfback from 1941 to 1942 and 1945 to 1947 for the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Stanford, where he was an All-American. College career Gallarneau at ...

and 2ndLt Thomas M. Schriber, night fighter directors from Air Warning Squadron 1. These two controllers had worked with the squadron during training at MCAS Cherry Point and were tasked to accompany -532 as it deployed forward. The unit departed Pearl Harbor on January 7, 1944, on board the and sailed via

Funafuti Atoll 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 lan ...

before finally arriving at

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

Mullinix Field on

Ella Island Ella Island, or Ella Ø, is an island in eastern Greenland, within Northeast Greenland National Park. Geography Ella Island is located at the mouth of Kempe Fjord in the northern end of King Oscar Fjord. To the east lie larger Traill Island and Ge ...

for a short time. While there, the squadron was responsible for flying nighttime

combat air patrol Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, ...

s (CAP) in defense of

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

SCR-527 The SCR-527 (''Signal Corps Radio'' model 527) was a medium-range radar used by the United States for early warning and ground-controlled interception (GCI) during World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviat ...

radar operated by the Navy's Argus Unit 17. During that time period the radar was in such a poor state of repair that it made nighttime intercepts nearly impossible.VMF(N)-532 War Diary - February 1944 On February 12, 1944, utilizing

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

to fool radars belonging to the 15th Defense Battalion, Japanese seaplanes from

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

bombed

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 ...

causing a massive explosion in one of the island's ammo dumps in the process. It turned out to be the most destructive Japanese air raid against the United States since the

attacks on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...

. 26 Marines were killed, 130 wounded and 80% of the islands supplies and 20% of the construction equipment were destroyed. Because of this, on February 15, a six plane section from VMF(N)-532 was immediately moved to Roi-Namur to begin providing night CAP over Roi-Namur,

Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

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 ...

, and

Eniwetok 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 February 17 the squadron's fighter controllers and a skeleton ground crew flew to Roi on two R4Ds. The squadron's ground echelon embarked upon the , , and and arrived at Roi on February 21. Seven additional planes from the squadron arrived on February 23. On February 27, eight planes from the squadron were sent to Engebi to assist with night operations in that portion of the atoll. On April 14, 1944, night fighters from VMF(N)-532 successfully intercepted a flight of 12 Japanese bombers that had departed

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

and were inbound to bomb Engebi. The initial bogey was spotted at 0013 at 83 miles out bearing 235 degrees. Seven more planes appeared shortly thereafter and an additional four planes from the squadron were launched to intercept. Working with the

Ground-controlled intercept Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was p ...

controllers from Air Warning Squadron 1, squadron pilots shot down two Mitsubishi G4M bombers, possibly destroyed another and more importantly caused all of the remaining bombers to drop their ordnance in the waters surrounding the island with no loss of personnel or material. Capt Howard W. Bollman and 1stLt Edward A. Sovik were each awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their actions that evening. In May 1944, Vice Admiral

Marc Mitscher Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during the latter half of ...

visited the squadron and was so impressed that he took possession of two of the squadron's F4U-2Ns for inspection. He replaced the aircraft with two F4U Corsair day fighters that then had to be modified into night fighters. On June 11, 1944, VMF(N)-532 was relieved by

VMF(N)-533 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 533 (VMFA-533) is a United States Marine Corps F-35B squadron. Also known as the "Hawks", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Grou ...

on Engebi and the detachment returned to Roi-Namur. With the squadron reassembled on Roi Namur, it began flying nighttime raids against the Japanese seaplane base on

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 ...

starting on Jume 30. On July 5, 1944, the squadron received verbal orders to prepare for movement and soon embarked upon the sailing for the

. -532 arrived on

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 ...

, which had recently been secured. Originally based at

Aslito Airfield Saipan International Airport , also known as Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, is a public airport located on Saipan Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The airport is owned by Commonwealth Port ...

, -532 began flying nighttime CAP from dusk to dawn and conducted

air interdiction Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of fr ...

missions against

Rota Island Rota (Chamorro: Luta), also known as the "Friendly Island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. In early Spanish records i ...

. The squadron later moved to a smaller fighter airstrip in the northeast part of Saipan. Because there were still a large number of Japanese stragglers in the area, Marines from the squadron regularly patrolled the nearby mountains. There were a number of engagements with Japanese troops during this time frame. On September 12, VMF(N)-542 received orders to return to the United States. Ten days later squadron pilots flew eleven F4U-2s to Guam to be transferred to other units. VMF(N)-532 departed Saipan in October 1944.

Return to the United States and reorganization

Departing from Guam in early October 1944, the squadron arrived back at MCAD Miramar on October 25, 1944. On December 2, 1944, the squadron relocated to

Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake (MCAS Eagle Mountain Lake) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas during World War II. Commissioned on December 1, 1942, the air station was ori ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

joining

Marine Aircraft Group 53 Marine Aircraft Group 53 (MAG-53) was a United States Marine Corps night fighter training group that was commissioned during World War II. It was the first night-fighter group in the Marine Corps. During the course of the war the group trained e ...

. During this time the squadron converted to flying the Grumman F6F-3N Hellcat and quickly thereafter the

Grumman F7F Tigercat The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While ...

. The squadron remained at Eagle Mountain Lake for the duration of the war. VMF(N)-531 returned to MCS Cherry Point with the rest of Marine Aircraft Group 53 in February 1946. VMF(N)-532 fell victim to the dramatic cuts to Marine Aviation that occurred after the war and was decommissioned on May 31, 1947.

Aircraft accidents

*August 27, 1943 - 1stLt Archie W. McPhee from

Montesano, Washington Montesano is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, Grays Harbor County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 4,138 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Grays Harbor County. Hi ...

was killed when his SNJ-4 crashed near

New Bern New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

during a nighttime familiarization flight. *September 29, 1943 -

BuNo In the United States, all military aircraft display a serial number to identify individual aircraft. These numbers are located on the aircraft tail, so they are sometimes referred to unofficially as "tail numbers". On the Northrop Grumman B-2 S ...

430929 - 2ndLt Connor N. Gilfillan crashed his F4U-2 while returning to MCAS Cherry Point, NC while returning from a daytime training flight. *April 14, 1944 - 1stLt Joel E. Bonner Jr from Dallas, TX was forced to parachute from his F4U-2 when its windshield was covered in engine oil from a damaged Japanese bomber. *April 14, 1944 - BuNo 440414 - 1stLt Donald Spatz from West Reading, PA was flying an F4U-2 when he was improperly vectored by a Navy ARGUS controller and became lost at sea. His remains were never recovered. *September 2, 1944 - BuNo 440902 - 1stLt Richard Pfizenmaier's F4U-2 crashed during takeoff. Plane was destroyed and pilot was seriously injured.VMF(N)-532 War Diary - September 1944

Notable former members

* Frank C. Lang * Robert Baird

Citations

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Web * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vmf(N)-532 N Inactive units of the United States Marine Corps