MARINER TO THE RESCUE

Air Classics, Aug 2005 by Way, Leroy

OVERSHADOWED BY THE MORE NUMEROUS CATALINA, THE HUGE MARTIN MARINER PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PACIFIC WAR

The following accounts relate three rescue missions flown by VH-3 on 5 April 1945. Squadron flight crews were assigned rescue standby on aircraft tied up at the buoys... meaning crews and aircraft were ready at a moment's notice to takeoff in the event friendly aircraft were in trouble or down at sea. Everything contained herein is documented by rescue reports from VH-3. Also the class-B war atrocity which occurred on this date is verified in the book Oldnawan Testimony, published by the Okinawa Times Newspaper Company and in a personal letter from a Japanese professor in Naha, Okinawa, Japan.

FIRST FLIGHT

On 5 April 1945, Lt. Cmdr. R. R. Barrett Jr. USNR and crew one, under direction of Commander Air Support Control Unit on the USS Eldorado departed the seadrome at Kerama Retto in PBM-3R A-162. They headed on a southwesterly course toward Miyako Retto in the Sakashima Gunto Island group, approximately 180-mi away. Miyako Retto was located some 60-mi northeast of the island bastion of Ishigaki Shima.

Rendezvousing with fighter escort cover, the flight proceeded without enemy opposition. Arriving on station at 1215, theMariner found friendly fighters orbiting two men in one life raft and' one man in another raft along with a lone swimmer in a life jacket about .5-mi away. The Dumbo first dropped a smoke flare to mark the swimmer's position. Then, because of the rough sea conditions with about 15-ft swells, both bomb bay fuel tanks were jettisoned to lighten the plane. In attempting to close the bomb bay doors, the starboard side was found to be jammed. Despite the problem with the open doors, the pilot elected to make the open-sea landing.

Although the landing was an extremely hard one a quick inspection of the aircraft found that no damage had been done and the hull was still watertight. Once on the water the port engine was cut and the Dumbo taxied toward the survivors in the two life rafts. The heavy sea made headway to the survivors a slow process. But with careful maneuvering the pilot was able to bring the port side close enough to the two rafts so a life ring tied to a line could be thrown to the survivors. They were then pulled alongside and brought in through the waist hatch. The small raft was also brought aboard and the larger one was slashed and left to sink.

With the three survivors safely on board, the pilot then began taxiing toward the fighters still orbiting the lone swimmer in the distance. It was then that two crewmen climbed up inside the starboard wing and manually closed the bomb bay doors. Fortunately they had not been damaged upon landing. After about 15-min taxiing in the heavy sea, the survivor was spotted and appeared to be completely exhausted. Flight corpsman Frank Gussoni, sensing the swimmer's plight, secured a life belt around himself and went over the. side. Both men were then pulled back to the safety of the rescue aircraft. With all four of the downed airmen safely aboard, the flight crew made preparations for takeoff.

Two JATO bottles were secured to a rack on the outside of each waist hatch. The electrical connections were then plugged in and tightened. With both waist hatches secure, all crewmen and survivors reported ready for takeoff. The giant seaplane, with full power, struck two small swells and then was catapulted into the air by a larger one, as the four JATO units were ignited. The JATO aided in keeping the lumbering giant from settling back down onto the water and made possible a 5-sec takeoff. No trouble was encountered on the return flight which touched down safely at base at 1430. The swimmer was Ens. H. M. Hudspeth from VT-9 based aboard USS Hornet. He had dropped his 500-lb bomb on the airfield at Mayako and was returning to strafe the field when he was hit by antiaircraft fire and forced to ditch. He had lost his life raft in getting out of the cockpit and was unable to reach the life rafts dropped to him during the morning. The other three survivors were Lt. (jg) E. D. Kemp; R. J. H. Carry, ARMZc; and J. P. Dulmage AMMZc, from a torpedo squadron also based on board the USS Hornet. They had come in to glide bomb Hara 'Field about 0930 when their plane was hit by antiaircraft fire and they were forced to ditch. After ditching all three airmen inflated the two life rafts and used a Very pistol to attract the attention of friendly fighters which orbited them until the arrival of the rescue aircraft. The survivors had been in the water from three to four hours prior to their rescue.

SECOND FLIGHT

On 5 April 1945, Lt. E. J. Mansueto USNR and crew three, under direction of Commander Aircraft Support Control Unit based aboard the USS Eldorado was assigned a double rescue mission. lieutenant Mansueto and crew three in PBM-3R A-146 departed the seadrome at Kerama Retto at approximately 1500, setting a northeasterly course that would carry them into the northern Ryukyu Islands. One survivor was spotted down about 150-mi from the base and a second man was reported down about 5-mi offshore from the enemy airfield on Kikai Shima. Rendezvousing with the fighter escort cover, the flight proceeded north without opposition from enemy aircraft.