1944-Contin ued
17 May Saratoga participated in the carrier air strike
of the British Eastern Fleet on the Japanese base at
Soerabaja, Java.
19-20 May Third Raid on Marcus-Planes from a
three-carrier task force (Rear Admiral Alfred E.
Montgomery) hit Marcus with a predawn fighter
sweep and strafed and bombed the island for two
consecutive days.
23 May Third Wake Raid-Carrier Task Group 58.6
(Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery) shifted from
Marcus to hit Wake with five composite bombing,
strafing and rocket strikes.
29 May The only U.S. carrier lost in the Atlantic,
Block Island, was torpedoed and sunk by a German
U-boat while engaged in hunter-killer operations in
the Azores area.
Airships of ZP-l4 from
South Weymouth anjve Port
Lyautey, Morocco, for ASW
patrols over Gibraltar
232195
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
139
31 May Commander, Training Task Force was directed
to establish on 1 June, within his command at NAS
Traverse City, Mich., a detachment to be known as
Special Weapons Test and Tactical Evaluation Unit to
conduct such tests of special weapons and other air-
borne equipment as were assigned.
1 June Airships of ZP-14, assigned to antisubmarine
operations around Gibraltar, completed the first crossing
of the Atlantic by non-rigid airships. The flight began 29
May from South Weymouth, Mass., and ended at Port
Lyautey, French Morocco, covering a distance of 3,145
nautical miles in 58 hours. Including time for stop overs at
Argentia, Newfoundland, and the Azores, the airships moved
their area of operations across the Atlantic in 80 hours.
1 June Air Transport Squadron 9 (VR-9) was formed
at Patuxent River, Md., and VR-12 at Honolulu, Hawaii,
to function as headquarters and maintenance squadrons
for their respective commands, NATS Atlantic and
NATS Pacific.
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