VP-201 Miscellaneous
BOOKs: Title: "VPNavy! USN, USMC, USCG and NATS Patrol Aircraft Lost or Damaged During World War II" by LCDR Douglas E. Campbell, USNR (Retired) dcamp@aol.com "VPNavy! USN, USMC, USCG and NATS Patrol Aircraft Lost or Damaged During World War II" Thousands of hours of research have culminated in this First Edition of U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and Naval Air Transport Service patrol aircraft lost or damaged during World War II. Within these 600+ pages can be found more than 2,200 patrol aircraft across nearly 300 squadron designations; the majority of the aircraft complete with their stories of how they were lost or damaged or simply Struck Off Charge (SOC) and removed from the Navy’s inventory. Of interest to the reader may be the alphabetical Index to the 7,600+ names of Officers, aircrewmen and others mentioned in the book. Squadrons, etc. mentioned include: VB/VP/VPB, FAW, VD, VH, VJ, VMD, VR, NATS, NAS, etc. You may purchase as copy through: Lulu Press, Inc.. Contributed by LCDR Douglas E. Campbell, USNR (Retired) dcamp@aol.com [26FEB2018]
BOOKs: Title: "Wings over Bermuda - 100 years of aviation in the West Atlantic" by Ewan Partridge and Tom Singfield. Contributed by Tom Singfield tomsingfield@gmail.com [09JUL2015]
The first fixed wing aircraft in Bermuda in 1919 was a USN Curtiss Jenny from the ship SS Elinor. In 1924 the USN sent the first "operational" aircraft to Bermuda in the shape of a Vought UO-1 seaplane from the USS Cincinnati. Visits by the airship Los Angeles commencing in 1925 are detailed as are the much later operations by a variety of US Navy blimps from the airport.
Other pieces in the book that will interest VP Navy readers include the US Navy Naval Operating Base (always known as the NOB) (1939-1965). This massive base (no runway) was built from re-claimed land and housed warships and submarines as well as flying boats and seaplanes. After WW2 the flying boats became the front line force in the Cold War anti submarine "battle". Types operated there included Kingfisher, Goose, PBM Mariner, P5M Marlin and Albatross.
The US Navy was very active in Bermuda during WW2. The book has details of the early neutrality patrols of late 1940 and has extensive coverage of the Battle of the Atlantic and the specialist fleet training operations. The exploits of the Patrol, Scouting and Utility squadrons that were based at Darrell's Island and the NOB are also told.
Post war, the stories continue of the Patrol Squadrons through the cold war and details of support units, accidents, incidents at both the NOB (flying boats and amphibians) and Kindley Field are revealed. The book also includes the never before told story of the Navy Bermuda Flying Club. It also includes details of the many US Navy aircraft carriers that visited Bermuda and the surrounding seas to carry out operations and exercises.
The following US Navy Squadrons are all mentioned in "Wings over Bermuda".
FAW-9, VAQ-141, VB-105,VC-1, VC-13, VC-19, VC-42, VC-58, VC-69, VCS-8, VF-15, VF-41, VF-72, VGF-27, VGF-28, VGS-27, VGS-29, VGS-30, VJ-4, VJ-15, VP-8, VP-10, VP-11, VP-15, VP-16, VP-23, VP-44, VP-45, VP-49, VP-51, VP-52, VP-54, VP-63, VP-74, VP-92, VP-201, VP-204, VP-207, VP-215, VP-661, VP-MS-5, VP-MS-9, VQ-4, VR-1, VR-6, VR-8, VR-44, VRC-40, VS-2D1, VS-32, VS-35, VS-36, VS-41, VS-71, VS-72, VS-201, VS-5D4, VX-1, VX-4. In addition there are stories from FASRON 104, FASRON 111, FASRON 795 and the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS).
US Navy ships mentioned include USS Akron (airship), Bogue, Charger, Chenango, Cincinnati, Cobbler, Core, Croatan, Currituck, Effective, Elinor, Gannet, George E. Badger, Guadalcanal, Hamilton, Hornet, Intrepid, Laffey, Long Island, Mission Bay, Odum, Owl, Patoka (airship), Ray, St. Louis, Sicily, Philadelphia, Ranger, Santee, Savannah, Stansbury, Theodore Roosevelt, Thrush, Timbalier, Valley Forge, Wainwright, Wake Island, Wasp, Yorktown.
Many military bases with US Navy connections are mentioned including Patuxent River, Norfolk VA, Elizabeth City, Keflavik, Azores, Argentia, Charleston, Miami, Newfoundland and San Juan.
The book can be obtained direct from the National Museum of Bermuda for $60 plus P&P. Contact info@nmb.bm for details. The authors (both British) have some signed copies in the UK, contact tomsingfield@gmail.com for details of costs etc.
This book was published in 2014 by the National Museum of Bermuda and for the first time ever tells the intriguing story of aviation in and around the British Colony islands of Bermuda. Historians, former Bermuda US Navy servicemen and women, and relatives of USN personnel based there will be delighted to see such a good coverage of all types of US Navy operations
BOOKs: Title: The Fighting Flying Boat: A History of the Martin PBM Mariner by Richard Alden Hoffman dickdot@san.rr.com.
Squadrons, Tenders, etc. include: VP-13, VP-16, VP-17, VP-19, VP-20, VP-21, VP-22, VP-25, VP-26, VP-27, VP-28, VP-32, VP-55, VP-56, VP-73, VP-74, VP-98, VP-100, VP-104, VP-111, VP-117, VP-119, VP-120, VP-201, VP-202, VP-203, VP-204, VP-205, VP-207, VP-208, VP-209, VP-210, VP-211, VP-212, VP-213, VP-216, VH-1, VH-3, VH-4, FAW-3, FAW-5, FAW-9, FAW-11, FAW-12, FAW-16, USS Albemarle (AV-5), USS Pocomoke (AV-9), USS Casco (AVP-12), USS Chincoteague (AVP-24), USS Pocomoke (AV-9), and USS Chandeleur (AV-10).
The Fighting Flying Boat mentions each and every PBM squadron in both WW2 and Korea as well as details of the RAF, RAAF, Dutch, Argentine and Uruguayan service. Also USCG and commercial activities in US, Colombia and Portugal. Also includes every PBM casualty by name, details of every PBM vs Uboat engagement and every PBM vs Japanese fighter and Korean era vs MIG engagements. [22OCT2004]
BOOKs: "The Flying Boats of Bermuda" I am just coming to the end of writing a book recording the marine aviation of Bermuda: 1909 to 1987, and including the whole story of US Naval operations (1941 to 1964) from, initially, Darrel's Island and, later, the Naval Annex on the former Morgan's and Tucker's Islands. I have a really good amount of material on the USN marine aviation activities in Bermuda during the war years (VPs and the VSs) - attacks on submarines, air sea rescue missions, aircraft losses, operating procedures, etc - but so very little in the way of photographs. If any of your colleagues could help in any way, you can imagine just how grateful I would be (and, of course, will meet any costs). If the photographs were not specifically NAS Bermuda associated, anything would be a lot better than the virtual blank I have at the moment! VP Squadrons includ: VP-15 Coronado aircraft. May 1943 to May 1944; VP-51 Catalina aircraft. October to December 41; VP-52 Catalina aircraft. June 1942 to May 1943; VP-63 Catalina aircraft. Known to have been at Bermuda in March 1943; VP-74 Mariner aircraft. March to August 1942; VP-105 Catalina aircraft. "Sometime during 1943; VP-201 Mariner aircraft. May 1943 to June 1944; VP-207 Mariner aircraft. June 1944 to June 1945; and VP-215 Mariner aircraft. April 1944 to April 1945. Please contact Colin Pom CPomeroy@aol.com for further information.[29DEC98]
"...The main chapters are: "The Early Years", "Darrell's Island - The Civil Story", "Darrell's Island - The RAF Story", "HMS Malabar - The Fleet Air Arm Base", "The United States Navy Operating Base", "The Final Years" and "Today in Bermuda". (VP-15,VP-45, VP-49, VP-51, VP-52, VP-63, VP-74, VP-105, VP-201, VP-207, VP-215, VS-32, and VS-35 all get referred to). There are 12 detailed annexes, including the only list that I have ever come across of Bermuda-Associated Flying Boat and Seaplane Losses. Perhaps of the most (but not only) interest to the VP Community will be the USNOB Chapter. It covers the years from 1940 to 1964 - the Second World War and the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis and includes the early days out on Darrell's Island before the NOB was completed. Incidentally, the first ever flight above Bermuda (1919) was flown by an ensign in the USN!..." Please contact Colin Pom CPomeroy@aol.com for further information. [30MAR2000]
"...It has now been published! "The Flying Boats of Bermuda" tells the story of marine aviation in Bermuda from 1919 to 1987 - at war and in peace; military and civil; American, British and other nationalities - and runs to 254 pages with over 200 photographs, diagrams and charts (the vast majority of which have never been published before), and is complemented by a host of annexes on such topics as Bermuda-associated aircraft losses, communications and navigation, destination airports, the loss of "Cavalier", aircraft types and much more. The section on the USN at Darrell's Island and then at The Annex goes into great detail, with references to VP-15, VP-51, VP-52, VP-63, VP-74, VP-105, VP-201, VP-207, VP-215, VS-32, and VS-35 - plus, of course the post war squadrons VP-45 and VP-49. Reviewers have been very generous with their comments on the book. Full details of where to obtain the book ($27.50) from the author, Sqn Ldr Colin Pomeroy, RAF (Retd) at CPomeroy@aol.com..." [21JUN2002]
"VP-201 Summary Page"
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