VH-3 (Rescue Squadron 3) was one of six dedicated VH rescue squadrons of the U.S. Navy during WW II. Prior to their creation, the rescue function was performed as an additional "spur of the moment" duty by regularly operating patrol squadrons. The Fleet Commanders made clear "that the men who risked their lives to rocket, bomb, and strafe the enemy wherever and whenever possible, should under no circumstances, be left to fend for themselves when disaster struck them." After the war the Japanese related that they could not understand why so much was risked to save airmen. This was a tremendous morale builder for the flyers, but there was a cold calculated logic behind this as well. It meant that very expensively trained and experienced aviators could be rescued from a watery grave or brutal captivity and put back into the fight. American aircrews captured after being shot down over the Japanese home islands faced a grim fate. VH-3 squadron members related "how intense, intense every crew member became .. over this business of saving lives", "the marvelous feeling of reward when saving a downed pilot's life", and "nose-thumbing at the Japanese military .. when we swiped near-prisoners under their eye".
Overview In the closing 5 months of World War II, VH-3 rescued 183 downed air crewmen and sailors in the open seas - some while under heavy fire. VH-3 also assisted in the additional rescue of 54 men when the seas were too rough for a landing, and a surface ship or submarine was required to complete the rescue. This was dangerous work. Survivors in the water and the planes making rescues were regularly harassed by enemy surface craft, shore fire, and aircraft. VH-3 planes, with survivors on board, were saved from attacking fighters by their own fighter escort on several occasions. In another instance, while in the midst of a rescue landing under very accurate fire, a fighter escort covering the rescue was itself shot down and VH-3 rescued this pilot as well.
VH-3 was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation award for the period from 29 March 1945 to 30 June 1945. It had been enthusiastically recommended for the higher Presidential Unit Citation (endorsed by most of the carrier task force commanders), but this was not granted probably due to VH-3's perceived role as only supporting offensive operations. Several VH-3 pilots were recognized for their (and their crew's) heroism with the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In these cases, the air crews of those pilots would be awarded a lesser award (usually the Air Medal).
The squadron was composed of 6 PBM Mariner aircraft shared by 9 different 12-man crews. Six replacement crews came on board to relieve crews that had reached 20 missions. They were initially assigned the PBM-3R and then later the fully armed PBM-5. At least 5 of their PBM's were declared a loss after suffering major damage during rescue operations and one shoot down by their own fleet.
One key capability of the PBM was its JATO rocket-assisted takeoff, which generated extra lift, allowing the PBM to take off in under 10 seconds versus about a minute without. This was critical for taking off in heavy seas under heavy load or under fire. Another key capability of the PBMs was that they were seaworthy boats if need be. On a number of its missions, VH-3 would land its PBMs in less rough seas close to shore and then taxi many miles to the rescue site. JATO allowed them to take off in seas they could not land in. In one rescue, after a very rough landing had caused severe structural damage making the plane unflyable, a PBM taxied back to base in open seas.
There were 12 crewman on board. There were three officers (2 pilots and 1 navigator), 2 Aviation Machinist Mates to keep all aviation systems functioning, 2 Radiomen, 2 Aviation Ordnancemen for all armament (including rocket canisters for JATO takeoff), 1 Pharmacist Mate to care for the wounded survivors, and 2 air crewmen. Everybody was cross trained out of necessity. There were more machine guns to man than there were Ordnancemen. Open sea rescues were physically demanding work, and everybody pitched in to load and care for the survivors. The words of one survivor of a kamikaze attack rescued by VH-3 bears witness to the commotion of a PBM during operations:"My battle station was in No. 1 gun. When ordered to abandon ship, I jumped and the wake of the ship almost pulled me under....I swam for about thirty minutes without a life jacket and found a raft with other men on it....picked up by rescue plane.... a lot of commotion... the plane's crew was running back and forth.... there was a Japanese fighter plane on their tail but was driven off by the Corsairs..... kept praying and saying 'let's not get shot down now'.... one man died of wounds...." VH-3 performed many long range and long duration rescue missions. PBMs would fly hundreds of miles to stage on a standby station in readiness for planned air raids on Japanese forces in China, Korea, and the Japanese home islands. This allowed them to more quickly pick up survivors and hopefully enjoy the protection of the fighter planes escorting the attack aircraft. When sea conditions were too rough for a landing, PBMs would provide cover and aid until submarines could complete the rescue. Rescues were also assisted by the USAAF Dumbo drops of lifeboats. Many rescues occurred just in a nick of time due to the close coordination between bomber groups, attack squadrons, fighter escorts, surface ships, submarines, and the rescue squadrons of both the Navy and USAAF.
Operational history
August 1944: VH-3 was established at NAS Alameda, California. October 1944: VH-3 flew to NAS Kaneohe Bay to continue training. December 1944: VH-3 flies to Eniwetok Atoll and then onto Saipan. January 1945: VH-3 commences rescue operations based out of Tanapag Harbor in Saipan in support of the Invasion of Iwo Jima and B-29 strikes against Japan. The squadron loses two planes when both lose all engines in mid flight for unknown reasons. Both crews are rescued by surface ships after being located by sister rescue squadron VH-1. The squadron is grounded for two weeks during an investigation of cause. Between the period from 23 February 1945 and 11 March 1945, VH-3 locates and directs surface ships to 31 survivors from 3 downed B-29 crews. On 3 March 1945, Lt Kouns makes the squadron's first open sea landing and rescue of a lone survivor of a B-29 crew. 28 March 1945: VH-3 flies to Kerama Retto and immediately commences rescue operations in support of the Okinawa Campaign and the ongoing air campaign against the Japanese home islands and other occupied territory. Rescue operations continue through to the end of the war. During this time, VH-3 made 77 open sea landings to rescue 183 survivors. They also assisted with the rescue of 54 others. Several of these rescues are further detailed. 1 April 1945: Invasion of Okinawa commences. Within hours the aggressive standard by which VH-3 will conduct itself for the rest of the war is set by their squadron commander, Lt. Comdr. Bonvillian, who is awarded the first of his 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses. He rescues the crew of a Grumman TBF Avenger from VT-29 that had been shot down onshore and then had managed to scramble into the water with their raft to await rescue. Bonvillian landed within the main enemy held harbor 500 yards offshore and then taxied through the coral reef to within 200 yards of shore to effect the rescue of the 3 aircrew. The PBM came under attack from small arms fire and a Japanese surface craft during the rescue, but was saved by two Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters that blasted the harassing enemy craft. 30 April 1945: Lt Edgar Palm of VH-3 earns the Distinguished Flying Cross by rescuing a fighter pilot from VF-9 while under shore battery fire at Kikaijima. Lt Palm's aircrew are credited in a separate action on 3 June 1945 with the shoot down of a VAL bomber that challenged them. 12 May 1945: Lt Eddy of VH-3 rescues 13 airmen from a downed PBM piloted by Lt Simms in Patrol Bombing squadron VPB-21. The day before they had been shot down after an hour and a half engagement with 5 Tojo fighters, but not before splashing one of the attacking fighters. VH-3's rescue PBM makes a violent landing in 15 foot swells, causing much structural damage. They risk a takeoff and gingerly make their way back to complete the rescue. The damage to VH-3's PBM is determined to be too severe for repair and it is declared a loss. There are points worth mentioning, unrelated to this rescue, about both the rescued and rescuing pilots. The rescued Lt Simms had previously been cited in dispatches for his role in locating and tracking for 5 hours the Japanese battleship Yamato until carrier based planes could destroy her. He also assisted in the rescue of a downed fighter pilot during the Yamato action. The rescuer Lt Eddy had previously been awarded the Silver Star when he was with VP-102, which was sacrificed during the Japanese conquest of the Philippines. He was a crew member on one of the last two PBY Catalinas flying out senior personnel and army nurses to Australia prior to Fall of Corregidor. 27 May 1945: The is hit by two Kamikaze planes, suffering 67 dead and 102 wounded which is the highest casualties by a destroyer that did not sink. Some are thrown into the water from the force of the explosions. Part of the crew are isolated and trapped by fires and are ordered to abandon ship, taking the wounded with them into the water. Many are attacked by sharks in a feeding frenzy. A PBM-5 from VH-3 piloted by Lt Kouns lands in moderate swells and rescues 10 wounded survivors from the water, but one dies en route to the hospital ship of burns and wounds. A Japanese fighter tailing the PBM is driven off by F4U Corsairs. 2 June 1945: Lt Robert Dorton of VH-3 earns the Navy Cross rescuing 12 survivors of two stricken planes while under heavy anti-aircraft fire. A fighter pilot from VBF-9 off the was downed in Kagoshima Bay in Kyushu. A PB2Y Coronado from VPB-13 capsizes while attempting a rescue, resulting in 12 aircrewman in the water. Lt Dorton lands a off the beach under continuous heavy fire and rescues the 12. 15 June 1945 through 1 July 1945: Replacement crews "reported on board" to relieve 6 of the original squadron crews that had reached 20 missions. 17 June 1945: While protecting a rescue landing under very accurate fire, one of VH-3's fighter escort from VMF-314 is shot down by AA fire off of Kikaijima. Lt Lofgren of VH-3, who made the landing, diverts and taxis to rescue this newly downed pilot. Lt Blumenstock of VH-3, under the same very intense AA fire, makes a landing to rescue the first downed F4U pilot also of VMF-314, and he is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for this rescue. 20 June 1945: Lt Cmdr William Bonvillian of VH-3 earns the Silver Star for the rescue of 15 survivors of two stricken planes. After determining the seas were too heavy to safely land nearby the downed planes, Bonvillian chose to land under fire close to shore, then taxied 30 miles through heavy seas to get to the survivors and complete the rescue. 18 July 1945: The 12 man crew of a B-24 bomber from the 494th Bombardment Group, which has been badly damaged on a bombing mission near Shanghai, are forced to bail out after three engines fail. The next day 7 survivors are located and rescued by Lt (jg) Sudlow of VH-3.