|
A Japanese
Naval Air Station during the Second World War, Iwakuni was
commissioned July 8, 1940. The station served as both a
training base, operating 96 trainer aircraft, and as a local
defence station operating 150 Zero fighter planes. A
seaplane station was attached to the SE corner of the
station which itself was built on a flat, roughly triangular
shaped, island on the river Nishiki delta in the Yamaguchi
Prefecture. The eastern side was bound by the Inland Sea,
the other two boundaries by arms of the Nishiki River. The
airfield had two concrete runways and six small hangars.
Aircraft were parked in a large open parking area in front
of the hangars; the low lying land was prone to flooding at
very high tides.
The
Japanese Navy established a Yokaren (Preparatory Flight
Training Program) base during 1943 and in September of that
year a branch of the Etajima Naval Academy was established
there, with approximately 1,000 cadets undergoing training
in the Basic, Junior and Senior Officer's schools at any one
time. A fighter squadron called the Kure Naval Air Group
Fighter Squadron operated from Iwakuni; it was reorganized
in August 1944 to become Naval Air Group 332.
The
Airfield managed to escape serious damage during the US B-29
bombing raids on Iwakuni in May and August 1945, the raids
concentrated on the nearby oil refinery and Rail station and
yard areas. On August 6th 1945 the US dropped an atomic bomb
(Little Boy) on the city of Hiroshima, 30 miles to the NE;
three days later, on August 9, a second bomb (Fat Man) was
dropped on the city of Nagasaki and the Soviet Union issued
a declaration of war. On August 15, Japan announced its
surrender to the Allies (V-J Day). On September 2nd, the
instrument of surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay, effectively
ending World War II.
After the
surrender a detachment of US Marines arrived to accept the
surrender of the base from Japanese officers. A US team
arrived on September 7th 1945 to assume command of Japanese
survey materials on the site that related to the effects of
the Atomic bomb.
Post WW2 use
Initially
plans were made to establish Iwakuni as a US Marine air base
to house the transport squadrons of Marine Air Group 21,
VMR-353 and VMR-952, to support operations in the Iwakuni
Hiroshima-Kure area. The airfield was to be manned by US
Navy ACORN-52, at that time stationed at Puerto Princesa,
Palawan, Philippines. The first echelon of the unit arrived
by air and landed on the airfield on October 5th; they had
been aiming to land in Kure but were diverted to Iwakuni due
to the facilities at Kure being unsuitable. This party
included the prospective commander of the marine air base,
the public works officer of ACORN 52, and seven enlisted
men; they carried rations for fifteen days. On the 9th the
commanding officer flew to Kure in a Japanese training plane
that had been found in airworthy condition on the station,
to report to the area HQ. The second echelon comprising of
16 officers and 178 men, and 1,000 tons of material,
embarked on the USS LST-202 on October 1st, arrived in the
port of Hirowan on the 11th to await further orders. A third
echelon of 7 officers and 90 enlisted, with 330 tons of
materials embarked in USS LST-640 on the 23rd but the
planned base was cancelled the following day, ACORN-52 was
reassigned to the Island of Truk. The party ashore at
Iwakuni withdrew to join the second echelon aboard LST-202
on November 1st.
Responsibility for the demilitarisation of the Iwakuni area
passed from the US marines V Amphibious Corp to 6th Army on
November 18th. It passed to the British Commonwealth
Occupation Force (BCOF) on February 21st 1946. The BCOF was
an Australian led joint British, Indian and New Zealand
force; Lieutenant General J. Northcott, an Australian, was
appointed as Commander-In-Chief with his headquarters in
Kure. The BCOF was also responsible for the occupation of
the western prefectures of Shimane, Yamaguchi, Tottori,
Okayama, Hiroshima and Shikoku Island. Iwakuni airfield and
seaplane base was chosen to house the Headquarters of the
British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) Air Group. The
BCOF Air Group was a multinational force comprising of
squadrons and support units from Australia, Britain, India,
and New Zealand, it came under the operational control of
the Fifth U.S. Air Force.
On February 22nd the lead
elements of No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron (5 ACS)
Royal Australian Air Force arrived in three LSTs which
grounded at the seaplane slipway to unload. Three days later
the unit established itself in the hangars and existing
buildings at the slipway and work began on the
reconstruction of the airfield and its facilities; by this
time much of the corrugated iron had been stripped from the
almost brand new hangers for use as building materials to
house the homeless at Hiroshima only 30 miles away to the
NE, after the atomic bomb blast. The first buildings to
receive the attention of 5 ACS were seven accommodation
blocks, work starting on March 1st to replace windows,
doors, and ceilings, electrical and plumbing installations.
On the same day Air Vice-Marshal C.A. Bouchier opened
Iwakuni as the headquarters of the British Commonwealth Air
Group (BCAG). The following week, the 81st Wing, Royal
Australian Air Force, flew in from Borneo completing a ferry
flight of 3,000 miles. The Wing comprised of three fighter
squadrons Nos. 76, 77 and 82 Squadrons, operating P-51
Mustangs; 76 and 77 squadrons began arriving at Iwakuni on
March 9th, 82 Squadron went directly to British Commonwealth
Air Station (BCAS) Bofu. 76 Squadron departed for BCAS Bofu
two days later.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) arrived on the station during
March 1946 with the establishment of several units in the
area; No.91 Air Stores Park, (EP) moved here from Singapore,
No. 241 Air-Sea Rescue Unit (ASRU), 56 Mobile Field Hospital
arrived from India and became the British Commonwealth Air
Hospital, Iwakuni. No. 5 Hygiene and Malaria Control Unit,
also recorded as present was No. 21 M.T.R.U., (Motor
Transport Repair Unit?). In April No.211 Staging Post was
established along with No. 704 Forecast Centre and the
Dakotas of 1315 Transport Flight arrived on the base. On
April 23rd the RN Light Fleet carriers HMS GLORY and
VENGEANCE arrived off Iwakuni to deliver squadrons for the
BCAG. VENGEANCE carried the 22 Spitfire Mk VIII aircraft of
No. 4 Squadron Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) and the
Spitfire Mk XIVEs of No. 11 and 17 Squadrons AF; it had been
planned to fly them off the carrier but this decision was
changed when it became clear that excellent facilities were
provided for offloading and transporting the aircraft, all
the Spitfires were transported ashore on barges, from where
they were pushed to the Air Station. The following day GLORY
unloaded the 24 Corsair FG-1Ds of No. 14 Squadron Royal New
Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and the unit’s stores and
personnel.
No.s 4, 11 and 17 squadron’s
stay at Iwakuni was only a temporary however as they all for
their permanent base, BCAS Miho on May 7th, leaving 77
squadron RAAF and 14 Squadron RNZAF as the main flying
units., The RAF, RAAF and RNZAF had established their own
station headquarters on the site; this situation remained
until early in 1948 when the BCOF began winding down
operations in Japan. The RAF also began winding down; 211
Staging Post and 1315 Transport Flight had disbanded in
August 1946, 704 Forecast Centre, disbanded at the end of
July 1947, followed by 241 ASRU which closed in November.
No. 5 Hygiene and Malaria Control Unit disbanded in 1948,
during March the remaining un its 21 M.T.R.U., British
Commonwealth Air Hospital, and 91 ASP disbanded in March
1948; 91 ASP the was last RAF unit to be closed there.
The RAAF presence in Japan was
to be reduced to a single flying squadron and plans were put
in motion to reorganise the force. No. 76 Squadron returned
from BCAS Bofu in February 1948, being replaced by 14
Squadron RNZAF, who remained at BCAS Bofu until they
disbanded there in October 1949. BCAS Iwakuni became a RAAF
Base at the start of March 1948, the RAAF now being the only
Commonwealth nation operating from the base.. No. 76
Squadron eventually disbanded at Iwakuni on October 29th
1948, and 5 ACS gradually transferred its remaining
responsibilities to the works officer of No. 77 Squadron and
the unit was disbanded at Iwakuni on June 30th 1949.
The Royal Navy appears to have
first made use of Iwakuni in April 1950 when HMS TRIUMPH,
part of the Far East Fleet, disembarked her air group on the
15th, these were the 12 Seafire Mk 47s of 800 squadron and
12 Firefly FR.1s of 827 squadron. During their time ashore
TRIUMPH’s squadrons conducted exercises with 77 squadron;
two days after their arrival tragedy struck when Firefly
PP434 ('274/P') collided with a 77 Squadron Mustang about 3
miles South of Hiroshima during a practice interception,
both aircraft plunged into the Inland Sea. Lt. A. Baillie
bailed out but was unable to inflate his dinghy as he had a
broken arm, but was picked up by a Japanese fishing boat
then transferred to a rescue launch and taken to RAAF
Hospital at Kure; The Firefly Aircrewman S.W. Gibbons failed
to bail out and was killed. The Mustang pilot was injured
but was picked up by the ships’ flight Sea Otter. The
squadrons re-embarked in TRIUMPH on May 9th and sailed for
Northern Japan for exercises off Ominato.
The Korean War
Almost exactly a year later, on
Sunday, June 25th 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea and
the station and 77 squadron were placed on standby for
operations under the operational control of the US Fifth Air
Force as part of the United Nations Command. With a build-up
of UN forces in Japan RAAF Iwakuni soon became a very busy
station.
On June 25th HMS TRIUMPH was on
route to Hong Kong, having left Ominato the day before. On
Monday the 26th she was ordered to Kure to prepare for
combat operations. She arrived back at Kure on the 28th and
unloaded 4 unserviceable Seafires and 2 Fireflies onto the
jetty before embarking stores and ammunition. Her support
ship, the aircraft maintenance carrier
HMS UNICORN, had
already departed the area and was already in Singapore
disembarking aircraft, equipment and her air engineering
department (AED) personnel at Aircraft Holding Unit at RNAS
S Sembawang, HMS SIMBANG, in preparation for her return to
the UK and the reserve fleet. Her orders too were changed;
the Admiralty decided that rather than re-embarking the
entire air department they would remain at Sembawang and
UNICORN would be used primarily as a ferry/replenishment
carrier transporting aircraft and supplies to the Royal Navy
and Commonwealth aircraft carriers operating in Korean
waters. She did not sail until July 11th and rendezvoused
with TRIUMPH at Sasebo on July 20th where 7 Seafires and 5
Fireflies were transferred. On the 24th she sailed for
Iwakuni to collect the unserviceable aircraft left by
TRIUMPH and to deliver spares. She next sailed for her first
round trip voyage to Singapore, via Hong Kong to collect
more aircraft and stores; on average these trips would take
six weeks.
From June 1950 the Royal Air
Force operated a detachment of Maritime Reconnaissance
Sunderland GR.5 flying boats out of the Sea Plane Base at
Iwakuni, these aircraft were initially from 88 squadron
based at RAF Kai Tak, Hong Kong, and from 205 and 209
Squadrons from RAF Seletar, Singapore; from the middle of
1951 initially only No 88 Squadron but after a few months, also Nos 205 and 209 Squadrons of the RAF Far East Flying Boat Wing, mounted rotational detachments to Iwakuni from their home base at RAF Seletar, Singapore. While at Iwakuni they flew maritime patrol missions by day, identifying and photographing all shipping in the Tsushima Strait and Yellow Sea as far West as 10 nm from the coast of Communist China. At night they flew over the Yellow Sea gathering weather data which they radioed to US Navy Task Force 77 at sea. The RAF shared these flying duties equally with US Navy Mariner and Privateer squadrons, also based at Iwakuni. Each RAF Squadron detachment normally comprised 3 or 4 Sunderland Mk 5s, each with its own 10-man crew. Individual RAF crews typically flew between 70 and 100 hours per monthly detachment, flying in all weathers by day and at night in sorties lasting 9 to 13 hours. These operations continued even after the Korean Armistice had taken place, until September 1954 when they ended.. On October 12th
1959 No. 77 squadron moved to Pohang, South Korea and a new
command organisation was establish at RAAF Iwakuni when 91
(Composite) Wing was formed on October 20th.
UNICORN next arrived off
Iwakuni on December 14th 1950 and flew a series of Aerodrome
Dummy Deck Landings (ADDLs) ashore followed by Deck Landing
Practice (DLP) at sea for replacement pilots for HMS
THESEUS, the carrier now on station (she had replaced
TRIUMPH at the end of September, her Sea Fury FB.11s and
Firefly AS 5s replaced TRIUMPH’s Seafire 47s and Firefly
1s), before sailing for Kure on the 27th. On her return to
Singapore in January 1951
UNICORN's Air Engineering
Department complement was increased by transferring
Lieutenant Foster and about 25 ratings from the AHU at
Sembawang. This was done in the hope that in addition to
acting as a ferry carrier a limited amount of aircraft
repair work would be done on board. Experience had shown
that quite a number of aircraft discarded by THESEUS
required 14 to 21 days work and it was uneconomical to send
them on a 14 day passage to Singapore, have the work done
and the aircraft then wait four to six weeks for
UNICORN's
next round trip. It was at about this time that the pattern
of the ship's routine changed. Rather than a continual ferry
run back and forth, a lot more time was spent at anchor in
Sasebo acting as Depot Ship with occasional trips to Kure.
She would not return to Iwakuni
until March 24th 1951 when she delivered a number of
Gloucester Meteors for 77 Squadron, which had been embarked
in Singapore. She sailed for Sasebo on March 27th. During
this visit the shortfall in ’in theatre’ support became
apparent; two aircraft from THESEUS— a Firefly with one wing
shot up and a Fury with half one propeller blade missing —
were stranded ashore at USAF Suwon (K13), an air base about
30 miles south of Seoul, Korea. THESEUS could not spare the
manpower to carry out the necessary repairs so Lieutenant
Robin Foster with a team of five ratings, a mainplane, a
propeller and some tools were despatched from
UNICORN,
tasked with the job. They went from Kure to Iwakuni and then
by midday they were embarked in a USAF C-110 with the spares
and equipment and flown to Suwon. The repairs were done but
only after resorting to the barter system to get any
assistance from the USAF who knew nothing about them and had
no orders concerning loaning a crane or even accommodation.
The repair party re-joined
UNICORN at Kure just before she
sailed again for Sasebo.
RN Aircraft Holding Unit and Repair Section established
By the summer of 1951
UNICORN was being utilised as a
ferry/repair carrier, a stores carrier and a troop ship,
this heavy work load meant her ability to deliver stocks of
aircraft was affected. When she was required to make another
round trip to Singapore in early June 1951 to exchange
aircraft damaged beyond her repair capability, to RNAS
Sembawang, and also to collect general stores from Singapore
and Hong Kong, an alternative solution was sought. The trip
would take six weeks and during this time GLORY (which had
relieved THESEUS at the end of April) would require new
aircraft several times during this period; the solution was
to establish a small Aircraft Holding Unit (AHU) and
Aircraft Repair Section (ARS) ashore at Iwakuni. Lieutenant
(E) R.B.L. Foster was again in charge, this time of a party
consisting of one Chief Aircraft Artificer, four Petty
Officers and 20 junior ratings,. This party would hold and
maintain a stock of 24 aircraft for issue as needed as well
as attempt local repairs. They were made very welcome, but
there were no facilities for the RN party, who found
themselves on a remote hardstanding with only a three-ton
truck and their aircraft. The truck served as office, crew
room and store, a tent was loaned for accommodation.
By now Iwakuni was very busy, 77 Squadron RAAF was now undergoing
their conversion to Meteors and the station was home to many
lodger units, the largest was about 80 USAF B-25 Marauders,
some US Navy Neptunes and a flight of four RAF Sunderlands.
It was also a staging post for QANTAS, US Military Air
Transport Service (MATS) and RAF Transport Command. There
was no hangar space for the RN to use at first, later half
of one hangar was cleared, sufficient to hold four aircraft
with wings folded, essential for maintenance in the winter
months.
The AHU aimed to have one Firefly and one Fury kept at 24
hours notice, other aircraft would then be brought to
readiness as required based on numbers of A25s (accident)
Signals generated by the carrier. The work was on a fairly
predictable 20-day cycle, the average length of a carrier
patrol. On carriers return to Kure harbour the replacement
aircraft would be delivered by lighter and any wrecks
brought back, either for on-site repair or to await the
return of
UNICORN which would transport them to RNAS
Sembawang. Often the carrier would send over some pilots to
test fly the aircraft and inevitably there would be other
pilots who needed ADDL sessions or armament practice. This
would result in a four or five day intensive flying
programme. Depending on the work load, they could relax
while the carrier returned to station and started generating
more A25s.
HMS GLORY returned to Kure on July 22nd for a rest period
between patrols and several aircrews were sent to AHU at
Iwakuni to carry out test flights on recently repaired
aircraft. It had been intended to exchange 6 aircraft before
sailing for her sixth patrol but she was sailed at short
notice to support the American carrier USS SICILY, she left
Kure on the 24th; the aircrew left ashore at Iwakuni flew
out by helicopter later. She returned to Iwakuni, on route
to Kure, on August 11th and this time eleven aircraft were
exchanged before the ship proceeded to Kure harbour later
the same day.
On July 17th a further batch of Meteors and the 6 Auster Mk
5s and personnel of No. 1903 (Independent) Air Observation
Post Flight were put ashore from
UNICORN at Iwakuni. A
second Auster equipped unit, 1913 Light Liaison Flight
arrived in September, both had moved by the end of October
1951.
HMAS SYDNEY was to relieve GLORY on station at the start of
October 1951, the first, and only, commonwealth manned
carrier to participate in the Korean War. GLORY returned to
Kure September 27th and moored on the opposite side of the
pontoon to SYDNEY which was already there; over the next
four days all serviceable Fireflies from 812 squadron, and
associated air stores, were transferred to SYDNEY for 817
squadron. On the 29th an SAR helicopter, a Dragonfly HR.1
VZ965 was issued from ARS Iwakuni to operate as Ship's
Flight aboard HMAS SYDNEY.
September 1951 was also the month that commonwealth aircraft
began using a beach emergency landing ground (ELG) (K53) on
the Island of Paengyong-do, off the west coast of North
Korea; the first recorded use was on December 7th when Sae
Fury VX764 of SYDNEY’s 808 Squadron landed there, making a
wheels-up landing after suffering flak damage. Over 20
aircraft made use of the ELG during the conflict, many were
repaired on site and re-joined their ship; a number were
salvaged and taken to ARS Iwakuni.
HMAS SYDNEY sailed for Sasebo on September 30th and did not
return to Kure until January 9th 1952 when she completed her
sixth patrol; she exchanged eleven aircraft with AHU Iwakuni
before sailing for her seventh and final patrol of her tour.
She was relieved by HMS GLORY at Hong Kong on February 1st
1952; 5 Fireflies were flown across to GLORY to bolster
squadron strength.
HMS GLORY began her second tour as Commonwealth carrier on
February 6th sailing from Sasebo. On February 10th
Lieutenant (E) P.J. Rugg took over as OIC of the RN party at
Iwakuni, Lieutenant Foster re-joined
UNICORN’s AED. At the
end of her second patrol GLORY returned to Kure at the start
of March and 1 Sea Fury and 1 Firefly were exchanged, plus
one spare Firefly, embarked by lighter from at Iwakuni. On
her return from her fourth patrol on April 11th she found
UNICORN present alongside the jetty at Kure and replacement
aircraft were passed over by dockyard crane. Before sailing
again for her fifth and final patrol of her tour, she
received Dragonfly HR.1 VZ965, issued from AHU Iwakuni to
the Ship's Flight on the 16th.
HMS GLORY was relieved by HMS OCEAN at Hong Kong on May 3rd,
stores, aircraft and personnel were ferried over before
OCEAN sailed for Sasebo. OCEAN arrived at Kure on completion
of her second patrol on June 6th and replacement aircraft
were exchanged by lighter from AHU Iwakuni. On June 10th a
fire broke out in the dockyard when AVGAS, which had leaked
during transfer to OCEAN, ignited and set fire to the ship’s
paintwork and damaging three Fireflies on the flight deck.
One Firefly had to be exchanged with one from the AHU, it
required the entire rear half of the fuselage to be
replaced. The other two required rudder charges and minor
repairs done on board. On her next stay in Kure, on August
1st, three RNVR pilots joined 802 squadron and spent time
ashore at Iwakuni doing familiarisation flights and ADDls.
Two replacement Fireflies were issued from the AHU before
OCEAN sailed on August 8th for her sixth patrol. One of her
Fireflies, WE733 ('103/0') of 802 Squadron was the first
aircraft to be delivered to ARS Iwakuni after being salvaged
from Paengyong-do ELG on August 19th, after making a wheels
up landing on the beach, following flak damage to hydraulic
lines on the 14th. During August Lieutenant (A/E)(P) A.
Pegler took over as OIC of the RN party at Iwakuni,
Lieutenant Rugg re-joined
UNICORN; being a pilot, Lieutenant
Pegler’s arrival helped ease the test flying situation,
previously test flights had to wait for
UNICORN or the
operational carrier to return to Kure in order to borrow
some pilots.
Occupation ends
The British Commonwealth Occupation Force ceased to exist on
April 28, 1952 when the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into
force and Japan's independence was fully restored,
Commonwealth forces still stationed in the country were
re-titled British Commonwealth Forces Korea. Control of the
Iwakuni air base was handed over to the USAF in April 1952.
The US Navy established Naval Air Facility Iwakuni on a
section of the station on 15 May 1952.
HMS GLORY returned for a third operational tour on November
8th 1952, rendezvoused with OCEAN off Hong Kong on the 4th
for exercises before embarking 5 Sea Furies, 2 Fireflies and
2 Dragonfly helicopters from OCEAN, along with some aircrew,
before sailing for Sasebo on the 6th.
UNICORN anchored off
Iwakuni on December 3rd to exchange aircraft in preparation
for her return to Singapore for a refit. She sailed on
December 5th. OCEAN returned to Kure for a short stay, 9th –
15th December and several new pilots joined her from Iwakuni
where they had been carrying out ADDLs. She spent Christmas
on patrol, allowing her US counterpart the USS BADOENG
STRAIT to remain in harbour for the holiday; she arrived
back at Iwakuni on the 28th to embark 3 replacement
Fireflies before sailing for Sasebo later in the day. A
fourth replacement Firefly flew out later and landed on
during passage. On completion of her fourth patrol she again
anchored off Iwakuni to receive replacement aircraft and to
disembark one Firefly due for full rigging check before
proceeding to Kure on January 13th 1953.
HMS UNICORN was waiting at Kure
when GLORY returned from her eighth patrol on March 28th,
where she the ships were moored on opposite sides of the
pontoon and replacement aircraft were exchanged directly.
Glory sailed for her nit patrol on April 4th, UNICORN sailed
for Singapore, calling at Iwakuni to exchange airframes
before proceeding to Hong Kong. HMS OCEAN returned for her
second tour, relieving GLORY at Sasebo on May 17th. On
departing from Kure on the 15th GLORY flew off 5 Fireflies
and 3 Sea Furies ashore to AHU Iwakuni to swell the stock of
spares available for OCEAN. The following day the AHU and
GLORY exchanged unserviceable aircraft by lighter; those
needing minor maintenance going ashore, in exchange for
those needing major work which were embarked for passage to
RNAS Sembawang. She sailed for Sasebo (and then the UK via
Singapore) on the 17th.
OCEAN was in Sasebo at the end
of May; while at anchor on June 1st she launched 13 Sea
Furies of 807 squadron to fly to Iwakuni for a planned
fly-past over the Commonwealth Division at Seoul to
celebrate Coronation Day, June 2nd. This unique evolution
was accomplished using Rocket Assisted Take Off Gear (RATOG),
the ship’s head being pointed on a safe bearing by a small
tug. The weather was bad all the way there and the aircraft
had to be parked outside overnight in pouring rain –as were
all the ‘serviceable’ spare aircraft held by the AHU. On the
2nd problems starting up, problems with radios and general
moisture ingress plagued the squadron, eventually 12 reached
Seoul; one had to return to Iwakuni unserviceable. The
aircraft returned to Iwakuni on the 3rd remained ashore
until the ship arrived off Iwakuni on the 8th. Twelve
aircraft flew aboard in the afternoon; one flown by Sub-Lt.
ML Hayes made a forced landing at Iwakuni, his engine
repeatedly cutting out. OCEAN sailed for her second patrol
that evening.
Armistice
HMS OCEAN was nearing the end
of her fourth patrol when the armistice was signed at 10 am
on July 27th 1953; it came into effect at 10 pm, ending
three years, one month, and two days of war in Korea. The
Armistice also called upon the governments of South Korea,
North Korea, China and the United States to participate in
continued peace talks. The war is considered to have ended
at this point, even though there was no peace treaty.
During her fifth patrol OCEAN’s
captain took over as Officer in Tactical Command on August
6th 1953, the task force with which she and other
commonwealth carriers had operated was dissolved on this
date and many ships were released for duty. She carried out
patrols in international waters off the west coast of North
Korea for most of August. She carried out four more patrols
before sailing for the UK on October 21st to pay off.
On October 27th 1953 HMAS
SYDNEY departed Fremantle for her second tour of duty in
Korean waters. She relived HMS OCEAN as the commonwealth
carrier at the start of November. On the 6th 2 Dragonfly SAR
helicopters embarked, ex HMS OCEAN ship’s flight. On
November 19th SYDNEY was off Iwakuni and flew off a
detachment of 6 Sea Furies of 850 squadron, re-embarking on
the 25th. She exchanged 2 Fireflies and 2 Sea Furies on
Decanter 13th. On her return in February 1954 she exchanged
one of her Dragonflies on the 11th and on the 20th one of
816 squadron’s Firefly FR5s VX420. ('237/K'), had a tail
wheel shimmy on landing at Iwakuni. She made one further
replenishment call at Iwakuni on April 16th 1954 when she
embarked 2 Fireflies and 3 Sea Furies. Her tour ended in May
4th 1954; she was not relieved by another carrier. Before
leaving Japan for Australia she disembarked her
unserviceable aircraft to the AHU.
RN AHU closed down
Commonwealth operations off Korea ended on May 4th 1954 when HMAS SYDNEY completed her tour: she was not relieved by another carrier. Before leaving Japan for Australia she embarked the aircraft held by the AHU at Iwakuni; her departure marked the end of the commonwealth participation in operations off Korea, and the end of the RN Aircraft Holding Unit at Iwakuni. The final stocks of aircraft were loaded in the second week of May 1954 and the RN AHU was withdrawn. SYDNEY off loaded 15 Firefly and 8 Sea Fury to RNAS Sembawang on the 18th – 20th May 1954. During its time at Iwakuni over 86 Sea
Fury and 45 Fireflies, a small number of Dragonfly
helicopters, passed through the AHU.
There was surprisingly few
flying incidents recorded involving RN aircraft operating
out of Iwakuni, during the Korean War, only four, all
involving Sea Fury aircraft. March 26th 1952 Lt-Cdr D.A.
McNaughton in Sea Fury WE685 aborted his take-off after his
engine cut out; March 10th 1953 Sub-Lt. M.B. Smith in Sea
Fury WG599 made an Emergency wheels down landing following
engine failure; June 2nd 1953 Lt A.R. Pearson in Sea Fury
WJ236 accidentally retracted the undercarriage when taxying
off the runway after landing; October 6th an unidentified pilot
in Sea Fury WG597 crashed on the runway.
Post Korea War
The US Navy took over the station October 1st 1954, shortly
before the Royal Australian Air Force began to wind-down
operations on the base. On December 13th No. 491
(Maintenance) Squadron, disbanded, followed by the departure
of 36 (Transport) Squadron, for RAAF Canberra on April 13th
1955. RAAF Iwakuni was officially closed on April 30th 1955
with the disbandment of 91 (Composite) Wing and 391 (Base)
Squadron.
In 1954 the Self-Defence Forces
Law was passed with established Japan’s post war armed
forces; the Japanese Self Defence Force (JSDF). Two branches
were established, the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF)
and the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF), and
elements of each were operated from the air station at
Iwakuni; from October 1954 the base was a joint USNAS and
JASDF base, the JMSDF arrived on site in 1956.
Naval Air Station Iwakuni was
greatly enlarged in July 1956 when the 1st Marine Aircraft
Wing moved its headquarters here from Korea. A whole new
area was procured on the North side of the station to make
room for approximately 2,500 US Marines. The US Marine Corps
first took control of the installation as Marine Corps Air
Facility Iwakuni in 1958. It was officially designated as
USMC Air Station Iwakuni in 1962 In 1997 the stations runway
was relocated 1,000 meters offshore eastwards by reclaiming
a half mile of the Seto Inland Sea. In 2014 the base is home
to these
major units: Marine Aircraft Group 12, 374th Airlift Wing USAF, and Fleet Air Wing 31 JMSDF.
Click here for a list of
Primary sources
Additional sources:
Landsdown. J.R.P, (1992) 'With
the carriers in Korea - the Fleet Air Arm Story 1950 - 53'
Worcester, Square One publications
Wilson., D.
(1998) ‘ALWAYS FIRST - The RAAF Airfield Construction
Squadrons 1942-1974’ Acrobat document
Web site -
14
(FIGHTER) SQUADRON'S CORSAIRS IN JAPAN 1946 -1948
Permission to reproduce photos.
Web site -
656 Squadron Association Permission to reproduce photos.
Web site -
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, wikipedia.org
Web site - Japan
Maritime Self-Defense Force aviation, wikipedia.org
On-line archive:
Fold3.com various
documents;
ACORN 52 › War Diary, 10/1/45 to 12/31/45
MAR 5TH PHIB CORPS › Report of operations in the occupation
of Japan, 9/22/45 To 11/30/45
Air Objective Folders by Target Area › Japan: Okayama,
Kochi, Niihama, Kure and Bungo
Thanks to Gp Capt D.K. Empson former Sunderland navigator and squadron Navigation Leader of No 88 Squadron FEFBW for supplying details of the RAF flying boat operations during the 1950s. See his 2010 book ‘Sunderland over Far Eastern Seas’ published by Pen & Sword Aviation for further reading.
|
Comments (1)