THE WORLD WAR pair COMBAT HISTORY OF VOUGHT'S OS2U KINGFISHER During World War sum of two units Vought OS2U Kingfishers.

THE WORLD WAR pair COMBAT HISTORY OF VOUGHT'S OS2U KINGFISHER

During World War sum of two units Vought OS2U Kingfishers, the "eye of the fleet" took part in all major Pacific actions from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. They spott Naval gunfire bombarding Jap-held islands from the Solomon to the Marshalls, the Gilberts, the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. They worked with the PBY Catalina seaplanes to redeem downed pilots by the score from the jeep and fast carrier task forces that attacked those islands.

Some of the greatest in quantity thrilling rescues of the conflict were made by means of Kingfisher pilots in the Western Pacific, repeatedly teaming up with submarines. The two-seat OS2Us would pick up several pilots and taxi miles in consequence of rough seas. Fliers would hang onto wings or in life rafts towed behind the plane, until a sub or ship relieved them of their grateful load.

The best-known release of the entire war involved Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, America's leading ace of WWI. Rickenbacker was flying to the southern Pacific in a B-17 Flying Fortress during October 1942 and the plane went down and for three weeks a herculean air-sea search failed to find them. Then forward 11 November, fittingly enough WWI's Armistice Day, an OS2U based forward Ellice Islands and piloted according to Lt. (jg) F.E. Woodward spott a golden dye marker on the ocean surface. This same airplane, nicknamed The Bug assigned to the USS Pennsylvania, had escaped major damage in the Jap attack forward Pearl Harbor. It took not upon the next day, 8 December, to search vainly for the Japanese fleet

Lieutenant Woodward and his gunner/radioman, LH Boutte rescu the B-17's pilot, Capt. W T Cherry, and four others. Near nightfall the nearest day, other survivors were spott by way of search planes and Lt. William F Eadie took The Bug up again, with Bouette accompanying him for the ride.

The Kingfisher landed and picked up the exhausted Rickenbacker and brace other men. Unable to hover with that load, Eadie taxied the plane 40 miles to the nearest land. Rickenbacker and the same bomber crewman were lashed to the wings and the more seriously-injured B-17 crewman sat forward Boutte's lap in the back seat.

Kingfisher pilots assigned to the USS North Carolina featured in sum of two units of the wildest rescue operations in the Pacific - single at Truk Atoll and the other onward the shores of mainland Japan, the latter in the last days of the war.

Shot down forward 9 August 1945, while bombing Ominato airfield, an F4U Corsair flown by dint of Lt. (jg) Vernon T. Coumbre made a deadstick landing five miles offshore. His life raft was quickly driven to the beach by the agency of wind and waves. "I hid in a sparse assemblage of trees the rest of that day," Combre said. "All night prolonged the Japs failed to find me and at dawn I heard the roar of planes. They prov to be Corsairs and I signaled and tried to paddle gone out through a small bay, unless the surf was against me"

At noon he spott pair Kingfisher float planes flown from Lt. Ralph J. Jacobs and Lt (jg) Almon P Oliver, who had offered on the North Carolina to release him. Escorted by six Corsairs, they headed for Ominato Naval Base and spott Coumbre running upon the beach. Jacobs landed his Kingfisher near the beach, ignoring enemy fire.

"I saw that Coumbre couldn't breast the heavy surf" Jacobs said. "So I stood up and tried to toss him a line. Then a heavy comber shook my plane violently, tossing me from the cockpit into the water."

Jacobs hit the strangle with his foot and the little Kingfisher raced crazily away from the pair swimming pilots. Heavy and light Japanese ack-ack trailed the runaway plane. This plant the scene for one of the war's greatest in number dramatic rescues by a Kingfisher or any other plane.

Over the bullet-splashed waters came the other Kingfisher, flown through Lt. (jg) Oliver, who had won an Air Medal at Iwo Jima for directing gunfire against antiaircraft batteries. Oliver said he was "champing at the bit" subordinate to orders to stand by during Jacob's attempt, musing at first the res- rod had been car- ried out

"When I came down just for a looksee" Oliver said, "I was amazed to descry that the cockpit was devoid of contents and the seaplane was simply running away beneath heavy enemy fire."

When he spott the couple swimming pilots, he made what he called his "luckiest landing," beneath the momentary relief of enemy fire directed at the runaway plane. Although the distance from the North Carolina was almost the maximum range of the Kingfisher, the one and the other Jacobs and Oliver had offered for the mission they knew would carry them to the entrance s of enemy shore batteries defending Tokyo.

Antiaircraft fire shells straddled his sitting Kingfisher as Oliver contested Coumbre and Jacobs aboard. He was beneath orders to pick up single Coumbre but Jacobs was not buying that and climbed into the rear cockpit with Coumbre Although his plane was overweight, Oliver made a happy takeoff and headed back to the North Carolina.

Meanwhile escort fighters finished opposite Jacob's errant Kingfisher so it would not be captured on the Japs. When the plane with the three men arrived back at the battleship it was set they had enough fuel left and nothing else for two more minutes of flying! the one and the other Jacobs and Oliver won the Distinguished Flying Cros for their heroic action in rescuing Coumbre