Operation Hula
The North Pacific Offensive

Potential Joint US/Russian Operation
in the North Pacific, 1945

Part 5: The US 9th Fleet up to Summer 1945

by Brooks A Rowlett, brooksar@indy.net

The 9th Fleet was an Administrative Fleet in nominal command of the operations in the Aleutians and Alaska. The war had been a backwater in the Aleutians since the recovery of Attu and Kiska, consisting only of patrols by a very small cruiser/destroyer force, headed by three old Omaha-class light cruisers. Day-to-day operational command fell on the admiral in charge of the cruiser division and the commander of the Fleet Air Wing. For land-based air, the US Navy had operated Fleet Air Wing Four, which normally consisted of two PBY-5A squadrons and two squadrons of PV-1s and later PV-2s. In August 1945 one of the Harpoon squadrons was replaced by a PB4Y-2 Privateer squadron. All these units were capable of night operations and the PBY squadron had carried out many "Black Cat" (night reconnaissance and attack) missions in the northern Kuriles. The Ventura and Harpoon squadrons carried out considerable photo recon-naissance of the Kuriles, and they had started carrying rockets for attacking shipping such as cargo vessels bringing supplies out to the garrison, and canned fish home to Japan. The Harpoons had even attacked some of the canneries.

FAW-4 in August 1945 was a mix of new squadrons arriving and old ones departing: VPB-120 PB4Y-2 Privateers, freshly arrived VPB-131 PV-1 Venturas, being relieved by VPB-120 VPB-139 PV-2 Harpoons, being relieved by VPB-135 VPB-135 PV-2 Harpoons, freshly arrived Probably also operating under FAW-4 were VP-43 and VP-61, with PBY-5A Catalinas. Because of the squadrons being in various stages of transition, it seems that by early July 1945, most of the FAW-4 aircraft missions were searches rather than attack missions.

The US Naval cruiser and destroyer forces had made a daring dash over to the Kuriles in summer 1944 and carried out a quick, harassing shore bombardment. There were some fourteen sporadic followups to this, although on one occasion the returning bombarding force was hit by one of the horrible "williwaw" storms of the Bering Sea and every ship had to spend time in dockyard hands for repairs from the storm damage. Nonetheless, the raids intensified in the summer of 1945 as Japanese resistance began to crumble. In late June 1945, two of the Omahas and several destroyers penetrated into the Sea of Okhotsk and operated for a day, catching and sinking a couple of small Japanese supply vessels. They fell back upon the third cruiser and other destroyers, which had remained outside the Kuriles, and returned home triumphantly.

The USAAF unit that remained in Alaska was the Eleventh Air Force. It consisted of only the 343rd Fighter Group at Alexai Point, Alaska, with P-38 and P-40N aircraft; and the 28th Bombardment Group, equipped with one squadron of B-24 Liberator and one of B-25 Mitchells, apparently only the glass-nosed bomber versions, never any gunship versions. There was also a squadron of B-17s, but they were mainly used as extra patrol assets. At least one B-24 was a radar-detector equipped "Ferret" aircraft. Most or all of the B-24s were equipped with at least one of the bombing radars available in 1945, and the records indicate that many of the missions flown in August 1945 had one or more aircraft bombing using radar only.

The fighters provided air defense for the Alaskan Territory, because of the Japanese four-engine flying boat bombers in the Kuriles, but the USAAF fighters were, in most of 1945, too far away to participate in the Paramushiro raids. However, on 11 August 1945 the 11th Fighter Squadron (P-38s) transferred to Shemya, although it is possible that they had moved to Adak only recently - I lack a complete chronology. The B-24 bombers carried out sporadic raids by a half dozen or so aircraft against Paramushiro and Shumshu, operating about every five days. Sometimes the gunship version of the Venturas and Harpoons were their fighter escorts.

In their solo operations as Navy bombers, the Harpoons actually were fast enough that the short-legged Japanese Army interceptors had to give up pursuit of raiders, because they would run out of fuel before catching up to the PVs. However, the Harpoons were found to have inadequate wing spars and had restrictions placed on their operations at this time also.

The raids by B-24s in August were as follows:

  • 2nd August: 5 B-24s attack Kataoka, one attacks Hokutan
  • 7th August: 5 B-24s attack Kataoka
  • 12th August: 4 B-24s attack Kataoka, 3 attack Suribachi airfield on Paramushiro, one flies radar ferret mission.
  • 13th August: Last 11th AF combat mission, 6 B-24s attack Kashiwahara staging area on Paramushiro with incendiaries
  • 21st August: 6 B-24s attempt a photo mission over Paramushiro and Shumshu but are blocked or aborted by bad weather
  • 23rd August: Successful photo mission by 4 B-24s over Paramushiro and Shumshu.
  • 24 August: Unsuccessful photo mission by unknown number of B-24s.

A final element for the US in the war in Alaska was the establishment of some of the first LORAN navigation stations, among the most important postwar radio aids to navigation for many years. By providing position indication to the long-range aircraft in the miserable Alaskan weather they may have saved hundreds or thousands of air crews' lives, who, thanks, to the LORAN signals, were able to find their way back to base in the most grotesque IFR conditions.

More Operation Hula

BT

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