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Lieutenant Carl W. Schoenweiss, USN, was the Commanding Officer of Patrol Squadron Fifty-Four and Lieutenant Henry G. Mc Donough, USN, the Executive Officer. Other principle officers were Lieutenant John W. Erhard, USNR., Flight officer, Lieutenant Paul T. Westervelt, USNR, Personnel officer, Lieutenant Alfred S. Cleveland, USNR., Intelligence and Communications officer, Lt.(jg.) Robert L. Engemann, USN., Navigation Officer and Lt.(jg.), Otho B. Bruce, USNR, Gunnery Officer. The squadron's initial personnel complement was approximately sixty officers and one hundred and fifty men. Twelve PBY5A Catalina amphibian aircraft were initially assigned to the squadron but during the latter part of the squadron's tour on Guadalcanal this was increased to eighteen PBY5A's.

Training of the newly formed squadron was carried out in navigation, gunnery, communications, airplane and ship recognition, and flight operations. The squadron also provided three crews and aircraft daily for daylight long range patrols of the approaches to the Hawaiian Area.

On February 12, 1943, VP-54 received orders to ready itself to deploy in about two weeks to the South Pacific as a Black Cat squadron. Training was intensified and the first nine airplanes departed Kaneohe Bay for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides on March 1, 1943. They arrived at their destination on March 7th and after appropriate briefings, they proceeded on north to Guadalcanal with the first Black Cats of VP54 arriving at Henderson Field on March 11th where they joined in operations immediately with Black Cats of VP12. The two squadrons operated together until about June 1, 1943, at which time VP12 returned home to the Hawaiian Area.

Life in a patrol squadron in the combat area in the South Pacific was a far cry from the comfortable life in the Hawaiian Area. The first Black Cat encampment was in a Lever coconut plantation with the officers and men quartered in Army tents. A few of the tents were screened in with a crude arrangement made from old crates, scraps of salvaged lumber and screening; a few of the tents were floored in with salvaged pieces of lumber but the majority had only dirt floors. After a heavy rain the camp was a regular quagmire of soggy black mud and the mosquitoes had a ball. During the first few months, the Jap Washing Machine Charlie made fairly regular nightly harassment visits over Henderson Field and the Red Alert siren routed all hands out from their cots and mosquito nettings to dive into the waiting foxholes. As could be expected under such living conditions there were a considerable number of cases of malaria and dysentery.

Fortunately for the squadron, on May 26th, 1943, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Artemus Gates and his party were flown to the Russell Islands for a brief inspection trip in one of VP54's aircraft. On the return trip to Guadalcanal, Mr. Gates visited in the cockpit and told Lt. Comdr. Schoenweiss that he wanted to visit a few of the squadron's camps at Henderson Field and the squadron CO immediately invited him to make the Black Cat camp one of them. Shortly after landing back at Henderson Field, Mr. Gates and his party visited a dive bomber squadron camp adjacent to the airstrip, and then came to the Black Cat camp. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy was obviously surprised to see the camp facilities that had been provided. When the Secretary make some comment to this effect, he was told by the squadron CO that he should see how it was after a heavy rain. That night there was a heavy rain, and at about 8 AM., the next morning, the Secretary and his party arrived unannounced at the camp and had the opportunity to walk around in the thick black mud and see for themselves. As a result of this, Mr. Gates directed that a new camp be built for the squadron and that it be reported to him when this had been done. On June 25th, 1943, the squadron and its support personnel moved into a brand new Quonset Hut camp built especially for them in the proximity of the airstrip; gone were the problems of drainage, fly and mosquito control, the Black Cats now had a home to be proud of! The improvement in health, overall efficiency and morale was tremendous.

The Squadron's operations may be conveniently divided into distinct periods, corresponding to changes that occurred in the general tactical situation. These periods were:
1. March 11 to June 15 Development and defense of Guadalcanal
2. June 15 to August 5 Rendova and Munda campaigns
3. August 5 to October 31 Japanese evacuation of New Georgia and Vella La Vella
4. October 31 thru December 1943 Bougainville campaign

The Black Cats' part in the first period consisted of night patrols, known as the "Mike Search", day and night anti-submarine patrols, Special weather flights, Dumbo rescue missions, logistic flights, bombing and harassing missions over the Japanese airfields at Vila and Munda, radar detection flights and flights involving the transportation of officers and materials to advanced bases. The Mike Search was an anti-shipping patrol designed to cover the channel and southern approaches to Guadalcanal and the track included the Russell Islands, the southern two-thirds of the southwest coast of Santa Isabel, the northern tip of Malaita and Savo Island. The patrol required approximately 13 hours of night flying and was distinctive largely from the standpoint of monotony; Convoy and anti-submarine patrols were ordinarily flown to the southeast of Guadalcanal or between Guadalcanal and the Russell Islands, the most advanced Allied base during this period.

The Munda and Vila harassing missions consisted of flying over those bases at periodic intervals during the night and dropping a single bomb on each run. The objective was of course to keep the Japs awake and in their fox holes. If the Black Cat was as successful as was "Washing Machine Charlie" over Guadalcanal the missions were well worth the effort.

On June 1, 1943, Patrol Squadron 12 left the area and all Black Cat missions were assumed by Patrol Squadron 54. From approximately this date to August 5th (the end of the Rendova and Munda campaigns) the Black Cats were extremely active. At the Squadron's suggestion the Mike search was discontinued. A number of more useful night patrols were substituted which took the Black Cats far into enemy territory to hunt for Jap shipping at the top of the "slot" and off the southwest and northeast coasts of Bougainville. At the inception and during the 32-day Rendova and Munda campaigns the Japs attempted to land reinforcements, to shell our land positions and to oppose Allied task forces. Four to six Black Cats were sent out nightly to search for, report and attack Jap warships. Contacts were numerous and the Black Cats were frequently able to guide Allied warships or aircraft strike groups to attack the Jap forces, and to illuminate after the enemy had been engaged. The Squadron takes pardonable pride in the fact that virtually every major contact with Jap surface forces was first developed by search planes of VP-54. Black Cat contacts led to each of the several battles of Kula and Vella Gulfs. In nearly every instance the Black Cats dropped their four 500 pound bombs on the ships contacted or, in the event of no contact, bombs were dropped on the Vila airfield.

The number of other types of missions was also increased. Numerous convoys were escorted to Rendova and Munda, special bombing and harassing missions were undertake, a considerable number of pilots were rescued and a large number of spotting, weather and transportation flights were undertaken.

The period from August 5th to October 31 saw the occupation by Allied forces of Arundel and Vella Lavella Islands, intense bombardment of Jap positions on Kolombangara and, during the latter portion, the attempted evacuation of Japanese troops from New Georgia area. Several Jap task groups were used during these operations but the bulk of the shipping consisted of barge convoys and single troop-carrying ships. A considerable increase in transport, rescue and anti-submarine missions also, occurred during this period.

October 31 marked the beginning of the Bougainville campaign. Black Cat operations again increased with search areas extending as far as Rabaul on New Britain. Six Black Cats spotted and searched for the Task Force that shelled Buka, Bonis, Kahili and the Shortland-Faisi area and the planes of VP-54 contacted a number of Jap task forces dispatched to oppose our landings on Treasury Island and at Empress Augusta Bay. The Cats also provided air cover for the numerous large convoys which carried men and equipment to advanced Allied positions, and served as transports for officers and urgently needed supplies. Many searches during this period were flown from Munda but despite this, patrol missions often required 14-17 hours of continuous flying. When the crews of the SB-24 unit were grounded because of Pilot fatigue the Black Cats took over a portion of their night patrols in the St. Georges Channel area between New Britain and Rabaul.

The pilots and crews of the Black Cats flew primarily at night under every conceivable weather condition. They successfully completed the missions assigned them and pressed home bombing and strafing attacks despite the inadequacies of their planes for attack operations. The Black Cats brought to the Solomons Islands area were the best available, but they had put in a high number of hours and were not in desirable condition for combat operations. A great deal of credit is due the officers and men of Patsu 1-1 for their work in keeping the Black Cats flying. This unit operated without adequate facilities, equipment or supplies yet very few flights were rejected by VP-54 for lack of aircraft.

After a few weeks turn over period, VP81 relieved VP54 of all operations in the Solomons Area, and the squadron personnel proceeded homeward for a well deserved rest in mid December 1943.

The famous Naval historian Rear Admiral Samuel Elliot Morison in his History of the U. S. Naval Operations in WWII, Vol. VI, makes several references to the Black Cats and their involvement in various critical phases of operations in the defense of Guadalcanal and the subsequent offensive actions of the Allies to recover the Solomons Islands. For the most part, the Cats' mission was to locate and destroy the "Tokyo Express" which consisted of Japanese cruisers, destroyers, and landing craft which were used to support and supply the Jap forces in the Solomons during their frequent nightly runs down the "Slot" from the Shortland Islands to Guadalcanal. On many occasions the Cats had to refrain from dropping their bombs since our own surface forces were indistinguishable from the enemy once they became mingled in the proximity of each other. Attached are a few excerpts form Vol. VI of Admiral Morison's accounts which were based on reports of our own forces as well as reports from Japanese records.

The Black Cats operating under Commander Air Solomons (COMAIRSOLS) were included in the below quoted appraisal by Historian Morison (Vol. VI, page 290)

Airsols, despite a heterogeneous composition (planes of U. S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal New Zealand Air Force), was one of the world's finest, with matchless Esprit de corps. Its fighter planes kept guard over every convoy running north of Espiritu Santo; its "Black Cats" scoured the darkness, its "Dumbo" rescue planes picked up shipwrecked mariners and bailed-out aviators, delivered rations to beleaguered coast watchers, and rushed spare parts to the fighting front. Its photographic planes performed hydrographic services inestimable in that neck of the Pacific where German and British chart makers alike had been content with 18th century surveys by Bougainville and D'Entrecasteaux. For, as Admiral Merrill once observed, "The possibility of viewing the sunrise from the sloping deck of a ship stranded on an uncharted shoal is thought not pleasant to contemplate, especially if said shoal is under the guns of the enemy's coast defense batteries."

Information from W. J. Sneed to Mr. Robert F. Monroe
October 26, 1984

Your articles and request were forwarded to me by Richard Teubert who is the Permanent Secretary for our VP & VPB 54 Reunion.

There are so many stories to tell about the PBY's. You just don't know how to start.

A short time chronology may be of help to you. I was born in Mooringsport, Louisiana (14 miles north of Shreveport, Louisiana) on June 25, 1917. I enlisted in the Navy Cadet Flying Program on September, 1941 at Portland, Oregon, and was released to Reserve duty in April 1946 from Anacostia Naval Air Station in Washington, D. C.

In 1941 - War was almost felt as being inevitable. My brothers and I were working in Curry County in Southwest Oregon and on one of our trips to Portland, I was challenged by the sign in front of the Post Office with a pair of Navy Wings most predominant and the quotation "Do You Have That Something Extra?"

I signed up that day in September. Reported to Sand Point Naval Air Station in Seattle, Washington for duty on November 28, 1941. Our class finished Elimination Base on February 5, 1942.

The expansion of the Air Arm of the U. S. Navy was causing many growing pains and therefore, "P" Bases had to be established. So we were sent to Hensley NAS at Dallas, Texas for our Pool Base. Much cramming was done on ground school work and learning to be a line officer.

We were sent to the University of the Air at Corpus Christi, Texas on March 20, 1942 and had our first hop in an N3N3 on March 29, 1942. For our Basic Training here at Corpus we were assigned to Class 3A42. We were still Flying Cadets. On August 29, we received our Navy Wings of Gold, and was commissioned as Ensign and became officers and gentlemen.

October, 1942 found me at North Island Naval Air Station at San Diego, California. I was assigned to Transition Training Squadron, Pacific Fleet, Operational Training Division. it was at this time we were to start our training for the PBY5A. The "Ole Cat" with the wheels on her sides. We alternated working in San Diego Bay and then over to Salton Sea. We were also, indoctrinated to the Good Life at Palm Springs while at Salton Sea. We had a big Christmas 1942 at Balboa Park in San Diego.

Shortly after this Christmas Ensign Chester Phillips and I were sent to San Francisco with a short leave in Los Angeles. Our orders from San Francisco simply read "To the Fleet" at Kaneohe Bay. On arrival at Naval Air Station on January 12, 1943, I was assigned to a newly formed Squadron of PBY5A';s. Chet Phillips was sent to VP10 flying the PB4Ys or Coronada Flying Boat.

VP54 was formed in November, 1942 and I had my first hop as a Fleet Aviator on January 27, 1943. Our new Skipper was Carl Schoenweiss and Lt. Greg McDonough was made our Executive Officer.

My first Patrol Plane Commander was Lt(jg) George Cook and after some "shake down" work, we were in the first contingent of three airplanes sent "South".

The first stop was Palmyra Island and then on to Canton Island. We were all neophytes as to crossing the equator, so we had to be initiated into the Court of King Neptune for having crossed the equator for the first time on this flight. We were initiated into this court by surrendering our hair. Here we had our heads shaved also we were initiated into the war. On April 8, 1943 a high altitude Jap Betty came over and scored a direct hit on the revetment area where we had our PBY5A's parked. All three airplanes were destroyed by the bombs and the gasoline fire afterward.

The crews had not removed any of our possessions, so all of our personal possessions were destroyed. There was some moaning as to this turn of events by the greatest moaning was done by Pete Maravich (Pistol Pete of LSU fame's father who is now called "Press" is the Maravich I speak of) who had saved for weeks both money and his rations of "Mail Pouch" chewing tobacco to have while away in the jungles.

My Patrol Plane Commander, Lt.jg George Cook was injured on Canton and was returned to Oahu. We had to double up crews on the next contingent of planes and on April 12, 1943, we landed on Espiritu Santos. I was then assigned to fly in the crew of Lt. H. G. McDonough, the executive officer of the squadron. We were a part of the first group of PBY5A's to be based and to work off of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. It was at this time our planes were painted black. Other PBY5s were working off the water and were painted black but we were the first Black Cats flying the PBY5As.

We had a routine set up. The Crew flew a night patrol up the slot to Bougainville and further. Stopping off at Munda for fuel, then out all night and back to Munda for breakfast. Many of these hops were in excess of 15 hours. The next day would be our "off day" to rest and sleep and then the third day we were on Standby "Dumbo" or rescue work.

We were from Buttons to Cactus to Villa on many hops (code names for Espiritu Santos and Guadalcanal) flying more night time hours than day time hours. We brought our navy on to the Jap Fleet on more than one occasion while working up the "slot" and our crew was over the top of our USS Denver when she was crippled and our squadron picked up her sailors for many days thereafter.

We lost some of our crews and some of our planes and our time stationed in the Solomons was stretching out to almost nine months from April to December was beginning to take it's toll.

The PBY5 was a 1930 Vintage airplane, so with the great strides in aviation in the 30's everyone was thinking the Catalinas was obsolete. As a result of this thinking Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft in San Diego had discontinued the building of PBY5As. The job that was done with the ole Black Cat Amphibians had made ComAir So Pac give the orders for us to stay on the "Rock". They were not going to be without "Black Cats". They laughingly would say that "we flew at a 100 knots - we dived at a 100 knots - we landed at 100 knots but we came and went and did the job that the Japs did not think was possible.

There was rumor that we were going to get some spot promotions and advance some of the younger pilots and bring in some rested boys to allow us to continue operations. As a result my log book shows that I qualified as a Patrol Plane Commander on December 7, 1943 over the signature of Lt. H. G. McDonough, Commander. On December 14th our relief came aboard our camp on Henderson Field and we were relieved to go to the United States.

We flew our planes back to Espiritu Santos and I then elected with about ten other people to ride a "Liberty" ship back to San Francisco. Christmas of 1943 was at sea and we had a lot of rest and relaxation and dreams about coming home.

All of the younger boys in our squadron just knew we would be able to stay stateside after having been overseas for more than a year. This was a far cry from what was to be.

We were ordered back to North Island NAS and a new squadron of PBY5A's to be called VP54 (which was redesignated on October 1, 1944 as VPB54). Our new skipper was Commander Kenneth J. Sanger USN and Larry P. Geis USN executive and both Annapolis graduates. This was done in February 1944. In March of 1944 my log book indicates 66 hours of Link Trainer and 51.4 hours of flying. In April, 1944, it indicates 108.7 hours of flying and on May 1, 1944 as a Lieutenant jg AV(N) USNR, I qualified as a Patrol Plane Commander over the signature of K. J. Sanger - Commander USNavy (Commanding). After flying over 70 hours in May we flew in a contingent of three planes our Trans Pac from San Diego to Kaneohe. It took us 18.3 hours to make this flight the night of May 20, 1944.

I must admit that this was the hardest flying I ever have experienced. Over 200 hours in preparation. It saved our lives and also Lady Luck was on our side. Our second squadron did not lose a crew. Some planes, yes, but not any full crew. I must add, it also interfered greatly with my girl chasing in San Diego. I was still single then and it made me go fly some mornings when I sure was sleepy.

We were all over the Pacific. From Owi to Emirau from Hollandia to Peleliu to Kossol Passage. From Noumea to Funafuti, VPB54 was all over the Pacific doing night patrols, bombing runs to rescue mission.

On November 1, 1944, we were the first Allied Plane to land on Peleliu. We were on Bombing runs and night Barge Hunts and Rescue Missions. We have a good story to tell about a Black Cat Bombing.

On December 19, 1944 our orders were to Leyte and there to work off of the USS Orca. Our first time as a group to be aboard ship. January found us working hard out of Leyte Gulf. Our squadron dropped our first torpedoes at night during this period. On January 10, 1945 we were sent to Lingayen Gulf. The USS Orca joined us there and we went back aboard and worked off the water.

On February 14, 1945 we were nearly to the China Coast on Patrol, my crew was ordered to return to base. We got back to Lingayen Gulf and USS Orca after daylight on February 15 and we were told to report to the USS Tangiers in Leyte Gulf. We all anticipated the move up to Formosa and just knew this was our orders. We, all crews and Support People were in the officers mess waiting for the verdict. Our Skipper K. J. Sanger came in following Admiral Spruance. The Tangiers was his flagship. The Skipper was trying to look so stern but I could recognize a smile in his eyes. The Admiral commended us for a job well done and advised us that if we could have all of our planes turned over to our PatSu Group and could be aboard a troop ship (The USS Whorton) we could come to the states. Needless to say we taxied those planes on to the island made the Whorton. Some 22 days later we went under the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco.

My next flying in the log book indicates flying an R5O Lockheed Lodestar on May 2, 1945 out of Anacostia NAS at Washington, D. C. That entailed a lot of stories about girls and other kind of airplanes and not the great ole gals of the fleet - The PBY5A's.

The airplane (PBY5A) that my crew and I called ours, had the Navy Number 48294 and for your informations where ever she is today she has painted on both sides of her nose these letters -----BALSENALL----- Say this real fast and this was our feeling about the Japs.

My two crews were:

VP54 Crew #8
Lt (jg) Henry G. McDonough, USN. PPC
Ens. John H. Love, USNR 2nd Pilot
Ens. William J. Sneed, USNR 3rd Pilot and Navigator
Jim W. Martin, CAP (AA) Pilot
Theodore E. Kimmell, ACMM (AA) Plane Captain
Clifford L. Savage, AMM1/c 2nd Mech
Ernest L. Kendall, AMM 1/c V-3 3rd Mech
Aaron W. Keen, ACRM (PA) 1st Radioman
Leonard J. Gonzales, ARM 2/c V-6 2nd Radioman
William B. Hacker, Jr., AOM 1/c Ordnance Man

VP/VPB54 Crew #10
Lt. (Jg) William J. Sneed
Ens. H. Johnson
Ens. A. M. Christ
J. R. Trout, AMM 1/c
L. E. Latimer, AMM 3/c
L. J. Gonzales, ARM 2/c
A. J. Csutoras, ARM 3/c
A. Topalian AOM 3/c
Grover C. Smelley, AOM 1/c

This is a chronology dating of the two squadrons that was spent overseas. So you see there are some of us that were in the two squadrons from January 1943 with the first squadron to February 1945 with the second squadron. This is two years out of a young man's life and to be sure it created a lot of love and respect that each of us have one for the other to this day.

There are many anecdotes, many tall tales and a lot of stories that I can recall. To be sure to have a good story it takes a lot of preliminary verbage to build the background of the story.

I, therefore, shall close this bit of background to you for what it is worth and if more detail is needed or if you want some real war stories about the ole PBY5A, I think I could qualify to give you several.

A Marine told his buddy on Guadalcanal
The Army is coming, think of it Pal.
His corporal answered him "Alright Men"
Let's build a nice clubhouse for Our Fighting Men.

Then they can have entertainment and maybe a play
Recreation advisors from the WPA
USO hostesses and movies galore
For the Army gives morale a very good score.
"One thing", said the chowhound, "We'll eat better now"
Depend on the Army to drag in the chow
They start a Post Exchange, have ice cream no end
Life has to be pleasant for Our Fighting Men.

A Sea-Bee rolled up and asked "What's the score
the Cruisers and Battlewagons are laying off shore
While scads of Destroyers are sweeping the bay
Don't tell me that the army is landing today"
They dashed on the beach when the boats hit the sand
Steel helmets, fixed bayonets and rifles in hand
Marines washing clothes asked, "You lads going Far?
What the hell's the hurry? Have you heard of a war?"
"Shut Up' said the Sergeant, "Go limber your legs
and swap this Jap helmet for a case of real eggs.
This barking at soldiers must come to an end.
We must be respectful to Our Fighting Men."

Their Generals outrank ours, so they'll take command
New Rules, new orders will govern out land
They have M. P.s to show us around,
When the Army takes over it sure shakes the ground
"We'll take it." said a Raider, "It won't be long
till the Admiral bellows, and we'll shove along
and a little while later we'll be landing again.
To make Bougainville safe for Our Fighting Men."

Written by a Marine Captain on Guadalcanal
Submitted by Woody Woodruff
From the Beverly Times Thursday September 27, 1984

Letters

Memories returned

To the editor:

As Sunday last was such a nice day, my wife and I traveled to Hampton Falls, New Hampshire to pick some apples - a place we've visited for years. It cost us $7 for 20 pounds now, where we once paid $2 for the same weight. To further remind me of the "good old days," there was a 1934 Packard - a car that I learned how to drive back in 1936. Oh, the memories that car brought back to me!

Tuesday morning at King's Grant off Route 128 I spotted the sign: "Welcome Black Cat Command, W. W. II." Could it be? It was. A group of 150 Navy flyers and their wives have formed an organization that meets every two years at different locations in the U. S. A.

As a signal corps man, 26th Signal Co., U. S. Army, Americal Division, I worked the radio contacts nights on flights they went on into Japanese held islands. Those Navy P. B. Y. Planes painted completely black were invisible in the night sky, yet it took a lot of courage for them to fly night after night into enemy territory. Besides their reconnaissance of troop movements, they rescued many of our pilots downed by enemy fire. Brave men indeed.

To the men and their wives in the "Black Cat Command" from all parts of the U. S. A. And now in our midst, a most hearty welcome!

Memories of days long gone, brought back to me in just two days time!

Frank J. Curtis
Beverly

Fine Record of Service
By J. C. BRENNAN.
"Sun" War Correspondent with US Navy Headquarters in the South Pacific.
(Aug 8, 1944)

The "Black Cats" have left Guadalcanal.

There still are Catalinas flying by night in the South Pacific. They are still painted black. They do just the same work that made the "Black Cats" famous and they still retain the name.

But the squadron that night after night flew the heavy, lumbersome Catalinas out of Guadalcanal on wearying shipping searches up and beyond Bougainville, Rabaul and New Ireland, has been relieved at last.

It had been longer in the Solomons than any other air squadron. Its proud title to all that it made the name "Black Cats" come to mean, can never be taken away from it.

This is the story of that squadron as it goes into the records.

It was a Navy squadron, commissioned in November, 1942. It came to Guadalcanal early in March of 1943. Its black-painted, amphibian Catalinas were new then. Before the squadron was relieved they were dirtied, patched and battered and creaking at every joint in their hulls.

Members of the squadron took over immediately the great bulk of night patrol and reconnaissance by air. Their job kept them 13 hours in the air night after night, flying blind, relying solely on instruments, and maintaining a constant watch for enemy submarines, surface forces or barges.

They were to report Japanese shipping and to guide Allied naval task forces. Between times they flew low over Japanese positions, keeping the Japs awake, dropping a bomb or two every now and again and generally harassing the enemy wherever they could find him.

Till the middle of June their work was chiefly concerned with the protection of the Guadalcanal area while it was built into a base for future operations in the Solomons.

In June came the attack on Rendova and New Georgia, and the troubles of the "Black Cats" increased a hundredfold.

Their Catalinas, slow, waddling and with little protection against fighter planes, were called upon to assist in the bombing and strafing of barges and task forces. They made a nightly run over Vila, the Japanese airbase on Kolombangara.

AIDED NAVAL VICTORY
During this time the four or five planes that made the patrols dropped 89,000 lb. of bombs on Munda and Vila fields, and another 40,000 lb. On Japanese shipping which ventured into the Kula and Vella Gulf areas to attempt the evacuation of their hard-pressed garrisons.

The Catalinas have never been considered attack aircraft, but these nights the "Black Cats" took them out on combat patrols under all conceivable weather conditions. When every other aeroplane in the area was grounded, the "Cats" were down on the operations board to make their hops.

It was the squadron-commander, Lt.-Commander Schoenweiss, flying with Lt. Carter, who first found and tracked the Japanese task force that was almost obliterated by an American naval force in the first battle of the Kula Gulf.

Schoenweiss went in on a bombing run against the cruisers and destroyers at 400 feet. Then he circled the force, keeping it in sight while he radioed for the American detachment. That was on the night of July 12.

It was another "black Cat" that found the enemy force that was engaged in the Kula Gulf five nights later. Later in the month, while the Japs still held Munda field, the squadron's executive officer, Lt. McDonough took his plane down on the water not two miles from Munda Point. He had been given the job of delivering sorely-needed field pieces to the American forces on Rendova Island. He flew without fighter escort.

PART IN LANDINGS
While the Japanese still held Vella Lavella, one of the Cats was forced down a few miles off-shore. The crew swam to the island and hid in the jungle. They were there for some days and had a brush with a Japanese patrol in which one member of their party was killed. A few nights later another Cat came down just offshore to pick them up. They got safely away.

In mid-October, as preparations for the landings on Choiseul, the Treasuries and at Empress Augusta Bay were being made, the "Cats" were asked to extend their patrols up and beyond Buka, across the Japanese supply routes from Truk, to Green Island and New Ireland and New Britain. It meant that now they were flying 14 to 17 hour patrols. They continued at that game for another two months, sending out four or five planes every night.

All told, the "Black Cats" flew on 376 combat missions at night; they logged 3204 combat hours.

Besides, there were 110 daylight missions, another 718 hours. They contacted 260 enemy vessels and bombed and strafed the majority of them. They took the lumbering Catalinas in against anything afloat, cruisers, destroyers, barges, submarines and transports.

When there was nothing else to do they were called on for rescue work, picking up fighter pilots who had been downed at sea, bringing severely wounded men out of campaign areas, hunting for survivors of wrecked planes. They took up 52 people that way.

In all that time they lost only two planes.

8/3/44/EAE.

This copy submitted by Woody Woodruff
By LEIF ERICKSON

GUADALCANAL - July 13 - (Delayed) - (AP) - A Navy patrol bomber scouting over the Central Solomons early today sighted an approaching Japanese flotilla, radioed the word to a U. S. Task force and then stood by to watch an hour's blistering surface action - the second battle of Kula Gulf.

The story of this engagement (which later reports said cost the Japanese one cruiser and at least three destroyers sunk against American losses of one destroyer sunk and an unstated number of other warships damaged) was told by the bomber's two pilots, Lieuts. (j. g.) William H. Carter, 28, of Coushatta, Louisiana, and Harry G. Sharp Jr., 23, of Greensboro, N. C.

A little after midnight, they spotted a line of six enemy destroyers and one cruiser bearing toward Kula Gulf, off which a U. S. Task force previously had sunk nine Japanese cruisers and destroyers in a brief night engagement July 6.

TAKES CAREFUL LOOK.
Carter flew low along one side of the line of ships to silhouette them against the moon and make their identification positive. He then radioed the position and strength of the enemy to the commander of our task force. The American ships at that time were about 35 miles away and heading in the direction of the enemy.

Not long afterward the action was joined.

"Our ships opened fire first." Carter said. "The enemy cruiser trained a searchlight on our ships. Not long after the cruiser turned on her lights, there was a big red explosion aboard her. That must have been a hit on the magazine."

"Our tracer, as far as we could tell, were going right in there. Our shooting couldn't have been better."

When the firing started Carter's plane was flying at about 1000-foot altitude and directly between the two forces, which stood approximately 14,000 yards apart.

"The big shells came by just aft of us and right on our level," the pilot said. "We were in dangerous territory.

Carter swung westward and ranged back and forth over the enemy ships, observing the results of our ships' firing. Intense shelling lasted only five minutes, he said. The enemy cruiser and a destroyer were silenced quickly.

But four destroyers, running for cover in a storm squal, kept returning fire until covered by rain. (The official reports on the battle said that, in addition to the Japanese destroyer immobilized at the outset, two others and perhaps four were sunk, indicating that only one ship in the flotilla escaped without at least severe damage.)

Carter followed the ships into the squall. Finding them emerging from the western edge of the storm, he made two glide-bombing runs, releasing his bombs from a low level on one enemy vessel and scoring a near-miss.

ACK-ACK HEAVY
On the second run, Carter related, "But the destroyers really let us have all the ack-ack they could throw."

One shell gouged a hole three feet in diameter in the leading edge of the right wing. Fragments slashed many smaller holes in the bomber and one fragment sliced through the trouser leg of one crewman, who was unhurt. With that, the bomber turned home.

Other members of the bomber's crew included: Ensign Raymond Hempen of St. Louis, Missouri; Ensign Paul Pfister of Terre Haut, Indiana; R. D. Doull, Staten Island, New York; L. G. Black, Bosman, Montana; E. M. Bruce, Portland, Oregon; A. S. Monell, Suffield, Connecticut; B. J. Woodruff, Wilburton, Oklahoma, and J. D. Geddes, Woodland, California.

Editors note: The crewmember who was nicked in the knee was Woody Woodruff . He says that even though he still has a scar on the knee from this shrapnel hit, he chose not to apply for the Purple Heart medal. This article was submitted by Woody Woodruff .

TO MOST OF THE WORLD she's the PBY Catalina patrol plane, but her friends know her as "The Cat."

Back in 1941 when the war began there were those who looked at her and smiled wisely and said she was too old and tired and obsolete even then, and that she wouldn't last a month in the give-and-take of air-sea warfare.

Their wise smile grew wiser when in the Philippines the little men with the slant eyes and the buck teeth struck out of nowhere and caught her on the ground before she got her back up. They didn't know then that she had nine lives and that she would live to find her way to Australia, and there go strong and learn the tricks of fighting back.

She showed them she could fight, all right, when they backed her up into that little corner in the Southwest Pacific, and she turned and swished her tail ans shot a sharpened claw across the leering, buck- toothed face that cut a gash from Santa Cruz to Morotai.

Yes, she showed them she could fight all right, and the story of her victories will shine as long as the archives of World War II lie open. The men of the Cats - the pilots and Aircrewmen - they know that story. They know but they don't say much about it because it's kind of private like a man's homelife or his girl. But they know it and think it and feel it just the same.

They've sat behind her yoke and felt her purr as she rubbed against the tall white billowey clouds of the Caribbean.

They've swelled with pride as her cat's-eyes reach throught the blackness of the South Pacific night to spot her unwary prey a score of miles away.

They've laughed with her as she howled at night from the back fences outside of Munda and Rabaul and Paramashiru while the men with the slant eyes hurled their old-shoe ack-ack into the darkness.

They smiled and patted her nose when she donned her Black Cat garb and bad-lucked the path of the Japanese supply line to New Guinea.

Yes, Her's is a story, all right.

Remember the Bismarck? She found the Bismarck when the whole Allied world was looking for that scow of the North Atlantic.

Remember Pearl Harbor? She spotted the sub that was sunk that morning - the first Japanese casualty of World War II.

Remember Corregidor and Wake? She was the last to leave both of these besieged fortresses, taking out people and equipment and information up until just before the enemy arrived.

Remember Midway? She discovered the Jap air and sea fleet on its way to begin that historic battle - and then struck at that fleet in the dark in the first night aerial torpedo attack.

Remember the submarine war? She sent that famous message. "Sighted sub, sank same."

And so it goes. Enemy battleships, carriers, cruisers, destroyers and transports have all felt the sharpness of her claws - claws that have reached out at night to rip a milion tons of shipping out of the lifelines of Nippon's Pacific Empire.

But there's another side to the Cat, too. If you want to know about that side ask any of the hundreds of downed airmen who, floating helplessly on rubber life rafts on every one of the Seven Seas, have reached out their arms and cried "Thank God" for the Cat that found and rescued them.

That's how the story of the PBY Catalina goes - the plane they smiled about and said was too old when the Japs first struck at Pearl Harbor - the plane that lived to leat the trimphant parade back to the Philippines.

That's the story the men of the Cats carry around inside them - the story they know but don't say much about. It's the story of the airplane, yes, but it's something more than that, too -- it's the story of their "Dear Old Girl."

Submitted by Woody Woodruff

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Lieut. Greg McDonough Executive Officer VP54, Lieut. John Erhard Flight officer, Lieut. Commander Carl Schoenweiss Commander VP54
Photo submitted by Bob Norcott

   The insignia on the side of the plane was created and painted on the ole PBY by Howard Miner. He also with the help of others created the Drink to the Black Cat PBY (our drinking song to the tune of the Notre Dame Fight Song.) He is and was a man of many talents. The picture is on p.105 of "Black Cat Raiders of WWII" Richard C. Knott, 1981, Nautical and Aviation Publishing Co. of America, 8 Randall St. Annapolis, Md. 21401.
   The published picture has been cropped. The left hand person has been eliminated. The caption reads "Lt. Commander Carl W. Schoenweiss (right) gets an after-action report from one of his pilots. VP-54's insignia, a Black Cat riding a bomb, looks down from the hull of a PBY.
(Captain C. Schoenweiss collection)
-Thanks to Willie Sneed and Fred M. Staudaher for the history of this photo.

CAPTION: Originally designed for long-range patrols, the slow-moving PBYs were easy targets for Japanese anti-aircraft and fighter planes until technological innovations changed their role.

When war broke out in the Pacific in late 1941 the seaplanes known as PBY's were among the least feared weapons in the American air arsenal. Slow and cumbersome, these flying boats - the British called them Catalinas, Americans shortened the name to Cats - made extremely inviting targets.

Designed originally for long-range patrols, PBYs were fitted with bombs or torpedoes and sent out to engage enemy shipping. The ponderous old birds proved to be nearly defensless against Japanese fighters, and they were simply too slow to evade most anti-aircraft fire.

PBY CONSIDERED OBSOLETE
During the war's first months, Japanese gunners and fighter pilots shot so many PBYs out of the sky that it seemed doubntful any would survive the conflict. In the Philippines, for example, there were 28 seaplanes operating when fighting began. By the following spring, only three were still flying.

In almost every respect the PBY seemed to be militarily obsolete. Yet, by war's end, pilots flying the same aircraft would be responsible for saving countless American lives, sinking several hundred thousand tons of enemy shipping and making an invaluable contribution to the Allied cause in the Southwest Pacific.

How the ineffectual PBY evolved into the deadly Black Cat is one of the war's least-told stories. It is a story of courage and resourcefulness that begins with a technological innovation.

Ironically, in light of their subsequent fascination with technology, the Japanese were slow to grasp the military significance of radar. The concept had been known in the United States since at least 1922, and a system had been successfully tested in 1939 during Caribbean fleet exercises.

The British, however, were the undisputed leaders in radar development; airborne radar systems helped them win the Battle of Britain. They shared the new technology with the Americans, and by early 1942, a number of PBY Catalinas had been fitted with radar.

At 9:15 p.m., on Jun. 3, 1942, four PBYs, each equipped with a 2,200 pound torpedo, took off from Midway Island. Their task was to find and attack elements of a huge Japanese fleet steaming toward Midway. The fleet's exact location was unknown, but it was hoped that radar would enable the PBYs to find it. If they were successful, it would be first night torpedo attack in Navy history.

Four hours after takeoff andsome 550 miles from Midway, the Cats found what they were looking for. With lights extinguished and engines throttled down. They glided in toward their quarry on the fleet's down-moon side. The Japanese were taken completely by surprise; their anti-aircraft guns were silent until well after torpedoes were launched.

Two of the torpedoes hit home. One found the tanker Akebono Maru, and the other apparently struck a transport. None of the Cats was damaged. Though it probably had little impact on the ensuing Battle of Midway, the incident was significant in one sense. It marked the beginning of a change in the way the old seaplanes were utilized.

Radm Raymond A. Spruance, USN, hero of the Battle of Midway, would later note, "Night torpedo attack, employing radar, represents one of the few profitable offensive uses of our patrol seaplanes." PBYs were about to assume a new aggressive role - a role that would eventually find them operating almost exclusively in the dark.

The place where that role came to be defined was the Solomon Islands. The Marine landing at Guadalcanal on Aug. 7, 1942, was the first serious challenge to Japanese expansion in the Western Pacific. The Japanese were absolutely committed to driving the Americans from the island; the Marines were equally as determined to remain where they were.

Fortunately there were no nearby airfields from which land-based fighters could provide cover for Japanese naval vessels. Consequently Marine Corps aircraft based at Henderson Field controlled the seas around Guadalcanal during daylight hours. After nightfall, enemy ships slipped down New Georgia Sound ("The Slot") to off-load men and equipment and shell Marine positions.

It was an unusual arrangement in that each side had relative freedom to reinforce its troops. Not surprisingly, a stalemate developed. The men who flew Catalina PBYs played a critical role in breaking that stalemate but only after they learned how best to operate in darkness.

In the fall of 1942, an innovative PBY crew came to a rather obvious conclusion. The visibility of their unit's aircraft was inversely related to their survival chances. Using soap and lampblack, they improved those odds and, in the process, created the first Black Cat.

Soon non-reflective black paint was standard on all Catalinas. With the addition of exhaust flame arrestor, the sinister-looking Black Cats were all but invisible on dark nights.

Cat pilots discovered that the traditional hazards associated withnight flying could be turned to their advantage. At night, depth perception becomes difficult; cloud shadows and moon shadows can create false images. Before World War II, the dangers of vertigo prevented pilots from attempting swift aerial maneubers in the dark; if the horizon is not visible it becomes all too easy to lose one's sense of up or down.

None of these problems were particular concerns for Black Cats. Not only could they "see" in the dark, but they came equipped with a recently-developed altimeter much more reliable than previous models.

When attacked by enemy fighters at night Cat pilots soon learned to head directly for the ocean's surface. That maneuber made it impossible for their attackers to get underneath them. From above, the Cat's silhouette blended in with the dark waters; any fighter making a diving pass risked flying right into the sea.

Such tacticve were learned during the course of missions that lasted, on average, 11 hours. Typically the big seaplanes would take off at dusk from either Guadalcanal or some remote lagoon. They would remain aloft the entire night searching for enemy shipping. To minimize the chances of being ambushed by fighters their arrival back at base was usually timed to coincide with the first light of day.

A noteworthy early mission occurred in late 1942. Intelligence sources reported a buildup of naval vessels on the island of Bougainville. Japanese units there were preparing a major offensive in support of ground troops on Guadalcanal. At dusk on Oct. 22, three PBYs took off for Tonelei Harbor, 900 miles to the north.

FLAWLESS NAVIGATION
Nearly the entire mission would be flown over enemy-held territory. Navigation had to be flawless since, to avoid detection, the last 150 miles were flown at only 20 feet above the ocean. At 2 a. m., the PBYs flew undetected into Tonelei Harbor. Lt Charles Willis, USN, one of the pilots, recalled crossing a spit of land and coming upon an awesome sight - silhouetted against the moonlight were at least 80 ships lying at anchor.

Another pilot, Lt George Poulos, USN, described his actions as the Cats broke formation:

" Ships were visible everywhere, mostly destroyers and harbor craft, then a larger ship appeared, a heavy cruiser in an uncluttered area - a very good target. I swung to the right to allow enough room to make a good torpedo run, a quick turn to the left with just enough time to stabilize the run, and I pulled the release handle at about 300 yards. During the pull-up to get over the top of the curiser I pulled the handle to release two 500-pound bombs. The PBY shuddered as the weapons exploded."

Meanwhile the other PBY had torpedoed an armed transport ship, and Lieutenant Willis slammed a torpedo into another cruiser. He then dropped two 500-pound bombs on a destroyer, one of which apparently hit an ammunition magazine since the big ship appeared to break in half as it exploded.

By this time, enemy gunners were alerted, and they threw up an extremely heavy anti-aircraft barrage. "We stayed right on the deck as we made our escape, and the Japanese had to depress their guns to shoot at us," Willis remembered. "I'm sure they must have hit each other with all that stuff flying around."

While few Black Cat missions were as spectacularly successful, most had a similar objective - to deny the enemy nighttime use of the waters in the Solomons. That job was complicated by the weather. Storms were common, and it was not unusual for a Cat to spend 12 hours or more flying on instruments. Conditions sometimes made it impossible to determine whether torpedo attacks were successful.

Undoubtedly many were not successful; the torpedoes initially used were notoriously unreliable. In the long run though, torpedo non-performance did not seriously hamper Black Cat effectiveness. Their harassment took a toll on Japanese nerves; eventually the mere suspicion that, somewhere out there in the tropical dark, an invisible foe was about to strike might be enough to induce an enemy convoy to turn back.

In November 1942, the Japanese began construction of an airfield on New Georgia Island, only 150 miles from Guadalcanal. Once completed, the airfield at Munda would almost certainly tip the balance of power in the Solomons. It never did become operational due to the Black Cats.

On Guadalcanal, "Washing Machine Charlie" flights had plagued the troops for months. After dark, a small Japanese plane would circle overhead dropping small bombs at irregular intervals. The construction at Munda allowed Americans to retaliate with "Louie The Louse" flights. PBYs were loaded with bombs of various sizes and empty beer bottles (alleged to fall with an eerie whistle).

Such flights climaxed, from a morale standpoint at least, on Dec. 31, 1942. At the stroke of midnight, a Black Cat flying over Munda dropped a 500-pound bomb and sounded its horn while crewmembers shouting "Happy New Year" tossed dozens of empty beer bottles overboard.

More importantly, Black Cats acted as aerial spotters for the Navy. Circling high overhead, they ensured that nighttime naval bombardments of Munda and other prospective Japanese airfields were accurately targeted.

ENEMY SUPPLIES RESTRICTED
To thwart PBY radar the Japanese tried using coast-hugging barges. The tactic was somewhat successful, but the Cats still found enough of them to severely restrict re-supply efforts.

In early February 1943, the Japanese conceded the futility of the situation and evacuated Guadalcanal. Monentum in the Solomons had shifted; the Allies worked their way up the island chain. PBYs and the men who flew them (now known as Black Cat Raiders) played a crucial role in strangling enemy supply lines.

Meanwhile, Black Cats operating in the vicinity of New Guinea would score stunning successes. But first they had to find a way around a coumbersome Army/Navy command structure that initially forbade them to operate offensively. Their mission was limited mostly to patrol activities (memories of the war's early days died hard).

PBY pilots chafed under the restrictions, and in time, commanding officers began making somewhat liberal interpretations of their patrol functions. The early morning hours of Oct. 24, 1943 for example, would find the crew of the PBY "Black Magic" braving intense anti-aircraft fire off New Britain in order to drop a 500-pound bomb on the destroyer Mochizuki. Ablaze from amidships to stern, the Mochizuki eventually sank.

Similar successes finally persuaded the bureaucracy to let PBYs take the offensive, Black Cat Raiders were given freedom to prowl the coves and islands of the Coral and Bismarck Seas; some pilots even flew up jungle rivers to attack vessels anchored there.

Attacks were ususlly made at masthead level and , ideally, along the length of a ship. That maximized the chances of bomb hits (torpedoes were rarely used) and minimized the plane's vulnerability to anti-aircraft fire.

Operating without restrictions, Patrol Bombing Squadron 52 sank or damaged two cruisers, three destroyers, two subnmarines and 76,000 tons of merchant shipping during December 1943. Impressive as those totals were, they would be far surpassed, but not before Lt Bob Dilworth, USN, and his crew became instant celebrities among fellow Raiders.

On the night of Feb. 11, 1944, Lieutenant Dilworth decided to drop in on the large air base at Wewak on Japanese-held New Guinea. He approached the airfield using rain squalls as cover. As the PBY dropped below the clouds, Dilworth was surprised to find himself in the midst of a group of enemy planes, all with their lights on.

By pure chance the Black Cat had blundered into a Japanese landing formation. One of the enemy pilots, apparently annoyed at being cut off, pulled alongside and flashed his lights at the darkened PBY. He was so close that Dilworth's waist gunner could see the enemy pilot's instrument panel. Dilworth kept his cool and acted as if he belonged there.

As the unlikely formation neared touchdown, Dilworth veered off toward a cargo ship anchored at the end of the runway. Before the Japanese could react, he sank that ship with two bombs, demolished the Wewak lighthouse with another and, for good measure, strafed shore facilities before departing the area.

COOLNESS UNDER PRESSURE
The near-landing at an enemy airfield was a prime example of the coolness under pressure and nose for trouble that characterized the best PBY crews. As the war progressed those crews became extremely proficient at their jobs.

Nothing demonstrated that growing proficiency better than the performance of Patrol Bombing Squadron 33. The weeks prior to Gen Douglas MacArthur's invasion of the Philippines saw a large increase in enemy naval activity. Squadron 33 came on station Sep. 1, 1944, and from the very beginning made a maximum impact.

Operating from a seaplane tender off Middleburg Island, squadron Cats sank nine ships during their first four nights of duty, several others, including a destroyer, were damaged. As the month wore on, the toll continued to mount.

On Sep. 23, Lt William "Wild Bill" Sumter, USN, chanced upon two destroyer escorts refueling from a 10,000-ton seaplane tender. He set an accuracy record of sorts by sinking all three ships on one bombing run. By the end of September, Lieutenant Sumter and his crew had sunk 13 ships and damaged three others.

The Cats of Squadron 33 destroyed 43 enemy ships and severely damaged 20 more during their five-week tour of duty. In total, they sank or damaged 157,000 tons of enemy shipping. General MacArthur, in a note of gratitude to the commander of the Seventh Fleet, praised Black Cat accomplishments. "No command in the war," he said, "has exceeded the brilliance of their operations."

The Philippine Campaign was the last great offensive opportunity for Black Cats. By the time it ended, much of Japan's once-mighty Navy was resting on the ocean bottom. As they had throughout the war, PBYs continued to conduct rescue missions.

In an age before helicopters, they made ideal rescue vehicles. Hundreds of sailors and airmen owed their lives to PBY rescue missions, many of which were undertaken during the heat of battle.

Still, there were undoubtedly thousands of other sailors and soldiers who just as assuredly owed their survival to the men who climbed into the "obsolete" seaplanes and went out to prowl the Pacific night.

From the Retired Officer / July 1986 - provided by Woody Woodruff.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
OF LIFE ON GUADALCANAL
SO NEAR THE JAPS CORRAL
THE BROKEN RUNS
THE ACK-ACK GUNS
THE NIGHTS THIS SIDE OF HELL
WE THANK YOU SO MUCH

YES THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
OF DEHYDRATED SPUDS
ASSORTED DUST AND MEALS
FOR SAGGING TENTS
WITH GAPING VENTS
THAT LET IN FREQUENT FLOODS
WE'LL THANK YOU SO MUCH. . .

OH, MANY'S THE TIMES THEY BOMBED US
BUT MANY'S THE TIMES THEY MISSED US
CHARLEY'S VISITS JUST PLEASED US
NO HITS, NO FUSS
HOORAY FOR US

AND THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
OF THE ETERNAL SPAM
BREAD WITHOUT THE JAM
MALARIA
HYSTERIA
CO'S NOT WORTH THE DAMN
WE THANK YOU SO MUCH


THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
OF LIZARDS IN OUR SACKS
MOSQUITOES ON OUR BACKS
THE RUNNING SORES
THE LACK OF WHORES
OR ANYTHING WITH CRACKS
YES, THANK YOU TOO MUCH

SO THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
OF SWIPES THAT MADE US HEAVE
OF NEWS MEANT TO DECEIVE
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
THE SAME OLD ROT
OF NON-EXISTENT LEAVE
WE THANK YOU SO MUCH

OH MANY'S THE TIME THEY ATTACKED US
AND MANY'S THE TIME THEY STRAFED US
SO MANY ALERTS REALLY CHAFED US
THEY HAD THEIR FUN
NO HARM DONE

PLEASE GIVE US MEMORIES
OF FRISCO'S FRIENDLY BAY
AND GIRLS BY NIGHT AND DAY
OF MOTOR CARS
AND OPEN BARS
AND FREQUENT LEAVE AND PAY
WE THANK YOU SO MUCH

Contributed by Woody Woodruff

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