1943-Contin ued

1 March Air Transport Squadrons, West Coast, was

established at NAAS Oakland, Calif., with control over

all NATS squadrons west of the Mississippi except

those on the mainland to Honolulu, Hawaii, run.

1 March A revision of the squadron designation

system changed Inshore Patrol Sq uadrons to

Scouting Squadrons (VS), Escort Fighting Squadrons

(VGF) to Fighting Squadrons (VF), Escort Scouting

Squadrons (VGS) to Composite Squadrons (VC) and

Patrol Squadrons (VP) operating land type aircraft to

Bombing Squadrons (VB). This revision also redesig-

nated carrier Scouting Squadrons (VS) as VB and VC

and as a result the types of squadrons on Essex Class

carriers was reduced to three. In spite of this

change, the aircraft complement of their Air Groups

remained at its previous level of 21 VF, 36 VSB and

18 VTB.

1 March Fleet Airship Group 2, Captain Walter E.

Zimmerman commanding, was established at NAS

Richmond, Fla., and placed in charge of lighter-than-

air operations in the Gulf Sea Frontier.

4 March Changes to the characteristics of Essex Class

carriers were authorized by the Secretary of the Navy,

including installation of a Combat Information Center

(CIC) and Fighter Director Station, additional anti-air-

craft batteries, and a second flight deck catapult in lieu

of one athwartships on the hangar deck.

5 March Bogue, with VC-9 on board, joined Task

Group 24.4 at Argentia, Newfoundland, and began the

escort of convoys to mid-ocean and return. Although

Santee had previously operated on hunter-killer duty,

Bogue was the center of the first of the hunter-killer

groups assigned to convoy escort.

15 March Fleet Air Wing 4 headquarters moved

westward on the Aleutian chain from Kodiak to Adak,

Alaska.

20 March Forty-two Navy and Marine Corps

Avengers, on a night flight from Henderson Field,

mined Kahili Harbor, Bougainville. A coordinated

attack on Kahili airfield by AAF heavy bombers con-

tributed to the success of this, the first aerial mining

mission in the South Pacific.

23 March The Training Task Force Command was

established with headquarters at NAS Clinton, Okla., to

form, outfit and train special units for the operational

employment of assault drone aircraft.

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

125

Rocket weapons, being installed on a plane 468849

29 March Tests of forward firing rockets projectiles

from naval aircraft were completed at the Naval Proving

Ground, Dahlgren, Va., using an SB2A-4 aircraft.

29 March Air Transport Squadrons, Atlantic, was com-

missioned at Norfolk, Va., to supervise and direct opera-

tions of NATS squadrons based on the Atlantic seaboard.

1 April Aircraft Antisubmarine Development

Detachment, Commander Aurelius B. Vosseller in com-

mand, was established at NAS Quonset Point, R.1.,

under Air Force, Atlantic Fleet, to develop tactical train-

ing programs and techniques that would make full use

of newly developed countermeasures equipment.

1 April The first Navy night fighter squadron, VF(N)-

75, was established at Quonset Point, R.1., Commander

William J. Widhelm, commanding.

4 April The Naval Aircraft Factory reported that, in

tests of an automatic flying device for use on towed

gliders, the LNT-l had been towed automatically with-

out assistance from the safety pilot.

14 April Fleet Air Wing 16 transferred from Norfolk,

Va., to Natal, Brazil, to direct patrol plane antisubma-

rine operations under the Fourth Fleet in the South

Atlantic.