73d Bombardment Squadron
Encyclopedia
- See 73d Bombardment Squadron (World War II)73d Bombardment Squadron (World War II)The 73d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the Second Air Force, stationed at Pyote Army Air Base, Texas. It was inactivated on 1 November 1943.-History:...
for the United States Army Air ForcesUnited States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
squadron
The 73d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit. It was last assigned to the 4241st Strategic Wing, based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located to the southeast of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for Navy test pilot Seymour Johnson, a native of Goldsboro...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. It was inactivated on 15 April 1963.
History
Established in late 1941 as a pursuit squadron in the Hawaii Territory, initially equipped with obsolete P-26 Peashooters, later with some early model Curtiss P-40C Warhawks. Most aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Wheeler Field during the Pearl Harbor Attack; squadron was reassigned to Bellows Field for re-equipping, being re-formed by May 1942 and redesignated as a Fighter Squadron assigned to the new Seventh Air ForceSeventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
. Deployed to Midway Island after the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
as a defensive squadron, providing air defense of the island. Reassigned back to Hawaii at the beginning of 1943, remained part of the Territory's air defense forces.
Received P-47D Thunderbolts in late 1943; deployed to Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
in the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
. During the Marianas Campaign, worked closely with Marine ground forces, pioneered close infantry support and employed the first use of napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
. On Saipan the squadron was attacked by Japanese ground forces in June 1944 on Aslito Airfield soon renamed Isley Field, Saipan, sustaining modest casualties. Pilots and ground personnel took a crash course in infantry tactics afterward. Received the new long range P-47Ns in early 1945, before moving next door to Okinawa on Ie Shima.
With the P-47N the squadron pioneered Very Long Range (VLR) fighter operations across the Pacific with missions of historic length and duration: Kauai to Midway Atoll, Midway to Kaneohe and Makin to Jaluit and Maloelap. By 1945, with the long range P-47Ns, VLR sorties were the rule rather than the exception. In April 1945 the squadron began flying 1300 mile escorts and sweeps from Iwo Jima to Honshu. In May 1945 the 73d advanced to le Shima where they reached out to Japanese targets in Kyu-shu and China.
During the summer of 1945 was reassigned to the Twentieth Air Force
Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...
and continued its fighter sweeps against Japanese airfields and other targets, in addition to flying long-range B-29 escort missions to Japanese cities, until the end of the war. Assigned to Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
on Okinawa in August 1945, shortly after V-J Day. Returned to the United States and inactivated in Jan 1946.
Activated in the postwar air force reserve, but never manned or equipped. Inactivated due to budget shortages in 1949.
Reactivated in 1952 as a Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
RB-36 Peacemaker strategic reconnaissance squadron at Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico; flew very long range intelligence gathering missions over the borders of the Soviet Union, North Korea and Communist China .until 1959 when the B-36 was retired. In 1959 was reassigned to SAC provisional 4241st Strategic Wing, being re-equipped with B-52G Stratofortress intercontinental heavy bombers. Was reassigned to Seymour Johnson AFB, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
by SAC to disperse its heavy bomber force. Conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and providing nuclear deterrent.
Was inactivated in 1963 when SAC inactivated its provisional Strategic Wings, redesignating them permanent Air Force Wings. Squadron was inactivated with aircraft/personnel/equipment being redesignated 51st Bombardment Squadron
51st Bombardment Squadron
The 51st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 68th Bombardment Wing. It was inactivated at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina on 30 September 1982.-History:...
in an in-place, name-only transfer.
Lineage
- Constituted 73d Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 4 October 1941
- Activated on 5 October 1941
- Redesignated 73d Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942
- Inactivated on 12 January 1946
- Activated in the reserve on 1 August 1947
- Inactivated on 27 June 1949
- Redesignated 73d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 4 June 1952
- Activated on 16 June 1952
- Redesignated 73d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 October 1955.
- Discontinued, and inactivated on on 15 April 1963; personnel/aircraft/equipment redesignated as 51st Bombardment Squadron51st Bombardment SquadronThe 51st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 68th Bombardment Wing. It was inactivated at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina on 30 September 1982.-History:...
Assignments
- 18th Pursuit (later Fighter) Group18th Operations GroupThe 18th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 18th Wing, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan....
, 5 October 1941 - 318th Fighter Group318th Fighter GroupThe 318th Fighter Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.-History:...
, 15 October 1942-12 January 1946 - 72d Reconnaissance Group72d Air Base WingThe 72d Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center . It is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
, 1 August 1947-27 June 1949 - 72d Strategic Reconnaissance (later Bombardment) Wing72d Air Base WingThe 72d Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center . It is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
, 16 June 1952 - 4241st Strategic Wing, 5 January 1959-15 April 1963
Stations
- Wheeler Field, Hawaii Territory, 5 October 1941
- Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory, 22 May 1942
- Henderson FieldHenderson Field (Midway)Henderson Field on East Midway Island is a former World War II airfield in the Central Pacific. The airfield was abandoned after the war....
, Midway Eastern IslandMidway AtollMidway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
, 17 June 1942 - Kaneohe Field, Hawaii Territory, 26 January 1943
- Mokuleia Field, Hawaii Territory, 5 May 1943
- Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory, 8 November 1943
- East FieldEast Field (Saipan)East Field is a former World War II airfield on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.-History:Saipan had been occupied by the Japanese since World War I, and by mid-1944, the Americans had advanced inside the Japanese ring of defense in the Pacific Theater...
SaipanSaipanSaipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, Mariana IslandsMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, c. 23 June 1944
- Ie Shima AirfieldIe Shima Airfieldis a gunnery and training facility, managed by the United States Marine Corps and a former World War II airfield complex on Ie Shima, an island located off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island in the East China Sea...
, Okinawa, 30 April 1945 - Naha Airfield, Okinawa, November-December 1945
- Fort LewisFort LewisJoint Base Lewis-McChord is a United States military facility located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord....
, Washington, 11-12 January 1946 - Hamilton Field (later AFB), CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 1 August 1947-27 June 1949 - Ramey AFB, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, 16 June 1952 - Seymour Johnson AFB, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, 5 January 1959-15 April 1963
Aircraft
- Boeing P-26, 1941
- P-40 Warhawk, 1941–1943
- P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
, 1943–1945 - P-38 LightningP-38 LightningThe Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
, 1944–1945 - RB-36 Peacekeeper, 1953–1958
- B-52G Stratofortress, 1959–1963