I saw a news piece on TV about a locally based Navy ship being deployed to the Western Pacific. It made me think of my own deployment in 1959. My first thought was that it was 65 years ago. That’s a long time ago. I would be away from home for six months, and I felt pretty guilty about it. I would be leaving my wife, Pat, by herself to care for our 6-month-old twin boys. It was tough enough for both of us to keep up with the feedings, changing diapers, washing diapers, and all the other stuff. I was still a lowly Airman (E-8), so money was tight, too.

Personal issues aside, I have to admit that I was looking forward to seeing places that we heard about daily as we grew up during WWII. I’m referring to Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Midway, Guam, and Japan. It turned out that I also laid eyes on Iwo Jima, Hiroshima, Okinawa, South Korea, and China. I’ll try to tell you of what little I know about each.

After boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois, and Aviation Prep School at Norman, Oklahoma, I attended Aviation Electronics “A” School of Millington, Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. I was one of the top 5 in my class, so I was allowed to pick my next duty station. Pat and I both wanted to live in California, so I picked San Diego (and we have been here since).

I was attached to Patrol Squadron Forty-Eight, VP 48, at Naval Air Station, North Island in Coronado, California. It’s located just across the bay from San Diego. VP48 was a sea plane squadron, flying the P5M-1 Martin Mariner. It was a twin-engine aircraft normally carrying a crew of eleven. The P5M didn’t have landing gear. Large wheels with floats attached were in place so the planes could be towed on land. These wheels were detached after entering the water and re-attached to come ashore.

We left San Diego one day in April, 1959, and flew to San Francisco. I think it was the next day that we flew on to Hawaii. Coming into Oahu, we got to see Pearl Harbor Battleship Row and the final resting place of the Arizona. The memorial for the Arizona hadn’t been built yet, but there was a temporary structure in place. We bunked at a barracks on the Pearl Harbor base and ate at their chow hall while there.

From Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, we headed for Kwajalein Atoll. The atoll is a 6.9 square mile speck in a very large Pacific Ocean. As I recall, there is a coral reef several hundred yards out that partially encircles the atoll. After several hours of flying time, we landed and went ashore for the night. After breakfast the next morning, we went outside to be greeted by a cloudy sky and a wind. Due to our heavy gas load and the local conditions, we were scheduled for a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) take off. The JATO bottles were no larger than an ice chest and were hung on the rear hatches of the seaplane.

Let’s digress for a moment, and I’ll tell you what I remember about JATO. It stands for Jet Assisted Take Off. Our P5M sea planes had hatches (personnel doors) on each side at the rear of the planes. Two metal JATO containers (we called them bottles) were hung on each side at the rear of the plane. (You can look up “JATO bottles” on the internet to see pictures and the specs for them.) The JATO bottles were fired (ignited) two at a time. A bottle on the port side and a bottle on the starboard side were fired at the same time. Two firings would get you airborne. To make the take off run, the pilot would advance the engine RPM’s to the proper setting to get the plane under way. When the plane got to the proper speed, the first pair of the JATO bottles were fired. If the sea and the wind were right, the plane would lift and be running “on the step” or planning at the top of the waves. When the proper speed was reached, the second pair of JATO bottles would be fired and lift off would occur, and you became airborne. The JATO bottles just burned for a few seconds, and after that second pair shut off and you were airborne, a crewman jettisoned all four bottles. This was done by simply moving a leer on the inside of the hatches.

Now, back to the story. As I mentioned, it was a dark and cloudy day, and the sea looked pretty choppy. We loaded up, and the pilot started the engines and warmed them up as we taxied out into the harbor. We got into position, and the pilot pushed the throttles forward and started the take off run. We got up some speed, and he fired the first pair of JATO bottles. Nothing much happened. He couldn’t get enough lift to get on the step. We are scooting through the waves, and that coral reef is coming up quickly. The pilot tried to get up, but finally had to abort. We taxied back to the dock and replaced the JATO bottles. The pilot had a better feel for the conditions, so a second try was successful, and we got into the air.

We were headed for Midway.

Dave Thomas

5/9/2024