P-38

Flight Journal, Winter 2003 by Tillman, Barrett

The mission: strategic assassination-16 American fighters dispatched to kill one Japanese naval officer. The means: Lockheed's 11-38 lightning. The victim: japan's greatest admiral. The venue and date: Bougainville Island, April 18, 1943. It was a long, difficult mission with only a marginal chance of success. Using deciphered Japanese codes, the Solomons Air Command learned of Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto's inspection tour of the Bougainville area, and a plan was hastily conceived. Flying a dogleg route of 450 saltwater miles from Guadalcanal to Bougainville, the Lightnings flew at 50 feet for more than two hours. The navigation had to be perfect; Yamamoto was known for punctuality, and there was almost no leeway for error. But Maj. John Mitchell was equal to the task. Flying with a Navy compass in his P38 and armed with a strip map drawn in pencil, lie made landfall within 60 seconds of his predicted time. Four decades later he said, "I could never do that again if my life depended on it."

The combat was over in minutes. While Mitchell led a dozen Lightnings to provide top cover from the expected Japanese combat air patrol (CAP), his four-plane "trigger" flight engaged two Mitsubishi G4M bombers escorted by six Zero fighters. In a confused combat that still stirs conflicting claims six decades later, both "Betty" bombers were shot down with their entire crews. One Lightning pilot was lost; so was Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack and the prime target of one of the most ambitious fighter missions in history-a mission that only the Lightning could have carried out.

The Lightning (like the Mustang, it was named by the British) was a landmark design. From its first flight on January 27, 1939, Lockheed's Model 22 gained immediate notice. Apart from its twin-boom, single-seat configuration, it featured tricycle landing gear and contra-rotating propellers. It was undoubtedly the first American production aircraft capable of 400mph in level flight, and its sleek airframe introduced compressibility to a generation of pilots.

The Allison V-1710 series of liquid-cooled engines with turbo superchargers boosted horsepower from 1,000 in the prototype to 1,475 in the L model-1,600 with water injection. A 2,600-mile ferry range was equivalent to more than half that figure with a useful combat load.

The Army Air Force placed considerable faith in the Lightning: 50 percent more P-38s than Mustangs were produced from 1941 through 1943 when the P-51 was mated with the Rolls-Royce Merlin. In all, nearly 10,000 Lightnings were built including 1,400 F-4 and F-5 "photo joes."

Throughout WW II, the Army Air Force committed 16 P-38 groups to combat, excluding photoreconnaissance units. Yet on V-E Day, only one Lightning group remained in the European theater; three were still active in the Mediterranean for a total of four among the 10 that fought Germany. By early 1945, the other units had switched to P-47s or Sls. In contrast, by V-J Day, all six P-38 groups that fought Japan were still flying Lightnings. It was a clear indicator of the Lockheed's greater suitability for the ocean expanse of the Pacific, where range was a major factor.

Lightnings claimed 1,700 aerial victories in the Pacific plus another 150 or more in China. The total against Japan was almost exactly duplicated against Germany and the Western Axis powers, but the P-38's greatest contribution certainly came in the southwest and western Pacific. In party terms, the Lightning came early and stayed late. Originally, P-38s were too rare-and, therefore, too valuable-to concentrate in dedicated Lightning groups for much of the Pacific campaign. Generally, one squadron per group was assigned -38s while the other two continued to fly P-39s, 40s, or 47s. Consequently, in early 1943, the Sth Air Force "designated hitters" were the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Group; 39th Squadron, 35th Group; and 80th Squadron, 8th Group.

The late W.K. "Kenny" Giroux of the 8th Group was a pilot who transitioned into the P-38 in combat. Still flying P-47Ds, his 36th Squadron checked out in P-38Fs in early 1944 while based at Finschafen, New Guinea. It was love at first flight: "I really didn't have a dislike for the `Jug.' I had some success with it-two probables-but it was like a mother-in-law who stays too long. I was glad to see her go!"

Kenny Giroux became a Lightning double ace, concluding, "From the E series to the L series at the War's end, the P-38 was always the airplane in the Pacific; and yes, I've flown the P-51!"

Certainly, the Lightning inspired confidence among those who had been on the receiving end of Japanese fighters. Capt. Harry W. Brown, who survived Pearl Harbor in a P-36, said, "I flew better than 200 combat missions in P-40s without a kill, whereas I flew about 70 in P-38s with five kills."

Pacific Lightnings began to score in November 1942, about the time that P-38s became active in North Africa. On November 18, during a 339th FS mission in the Solomon Islands, Ist Lt. Deltis Fincher claimed two Zeros, and 2nd Lt. James E. Obermiller tagged one over Tonolei Harbor. One week later, in New Guinea, the 39th Squadron claimed a Zero over Lae. The Lightning was on its way.