Tag Archives: VMA-231

Vintage Vindy

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Here we see, some 85 years ago this month, a spick and span SB2U-3 Vindicator, on 25 April 1941. Note the “meatball” national insignia and the aircraft’s ribs showing through its fabric fuselage. The Navy’s first monoplane scout-bomber, the Vindicator, entered squadron service with the VB-3 High Hats (now the VFA-14 Tophatters) in 1937, but was soon replaced by the better SBD Dauntless.

U.S. Navy picture via the NARA 80-G-3042

The above new production SB2U-3 (BuNo 2050) was delivered to Marine Scouting Squadron Two (VMS-2) on 14 March 1941, part of just 57 such aircraft ordered for the USMC in 1939.

On 1 July 1941, VMS-2 was redesignated Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 231 (VMSB-231).

BuNo 2050 was later destroyed on the ground with six other “spare” Vindicators of the squadron when the Japanese attacked Ewa Marine Corps Air Station on 7 December 1941, the rest of the unit being sent aboard USS Lexington (CV-2) during the first week of December to reinforce some place few had heard of, far off Midway Atoll.

231’s sister Vindy squadron, VMSB-241, would give its best during the battle.

Obsolete fabric-covered SB2U-3 dive bombers of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241 taking off to attack the Japanese fleet striking force on the morning of 4 June 1942, during the battle of Midway. Part of Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG-22), they would earn a Presidential Unit Citation for their role in the epic naval clash.

The next time VMSB-231 met the Japanese in 1942, it would be from SBD Dauntless dive bombers, as the Corps was busy divesting itself of the old Vindy. No Marine SB2U-3 remains in existence, with only a sole Navy Vindicator, SB2U-2 BuNo 1383, on display at the NNAM in Pensacola.

Now in its 107th year of service, the “Ace of Spades” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMA) 231 is still around today, transitioning from AV-8Bs to F-35s.

Marines: Harriers out by 2027, More F-35Cs, and Hornets C/Ds to Tread Water

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The 44-page 2025 Marine Corps Aviation Plan, released earlier this week by Lt. Gen. Bradford Gering, Deputy Commandant for Aviation, gives lots of insight into how the Corps intends to move forward with preserving its legacy MAGTF model that has been a thing since 1963 despite deep cuts to field the Marine Littoral Regiments of (supposedly) highly mobile anti-ship missile slingers.

The way of the future: 

U.S. Marines and Sailors with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, pose for a unit photo before a ceremony on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Nov. 26, 2024. At the ceremony, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division officially received the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) from Marine Corps Systems Command, becoming the first U.S. Marine Corps unit to field the system. (U.S. Marine Corps photo illustration by Sgt. Jacqueline C. Parsons) (This image was created using photo merging techniques.)

Out are the last 39 AV-8B Harriers, set to leave the force by 2027 while plans to sunset the elderly Charlie and Delta F-18s are on hold until FY30 ish (the Navy already ditched the type in 2019 in favor of the Rhino Super Hornets, with even the Angels converting over).

The Harrier line closed in 2003 while the F-18C/D line ended in 2000. For what it’s worth, Boeing plans to halt all Super Hornet (E/F) production in 2027 when the last 17 on the order books are delivered to the Navy.

In are more carrier-optimized F-35Cs at the expense of STOVL F-35Bs. This will allow the Corps to field four more squadrons (eight total) for likely inclusion in Navy CVN-based air wings than what was originally planned. I wouldn’t be surprised if a ninth squadron gets moved to that in the near future, which would be one per active CVW. 

The Marine Tactical Air transition plan (click to big up):

Takeaways:

“At the end of 2025, 183 F-35B and 52 F-35C aircraft will have been delivered to the Marine Corps. While the program of record (420 total F-35 aircraft) has not changed, we have updated our F-35 procurement profile to reflect an increase in F-35C squadrons. Per the TACAIR Transition plan, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 (VMFA) and VMFA-323, VMFA-112, and VMFA-134 will now transition as F-35C squadrons. The program of record now includes 280 F-35Bs and 140 F-35Cs to support 12 F-35B squadrons and 8 F-35C squadrons.”

Tsushima Strait, (Sept. 18, 2024) A U.S Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the Tsushima Strait, Sept. 18, 2024, for a defensive counterair mission. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joseph Helms)

“The Marine Corps F/A-18 inventory includes 161 F/A-18C/D aircraft. FMF will maintain four active squadrons and one reserve squadron through the end of FY25. F/A-18C/D structure requirements remain in place until the end of FY29 then will transition to F-35s by FY30/31.”

“Of the two Harrier squadrons, Marine Attack Squadron 231 (VMA) will sundown in late FY25, VMA-223 will sundown in late FY26, and both squadrons will transition to F-35B.”

U.S. Sailors and Marines conduct preflight checks on U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers with the Aviation Combat Element, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) in the Atlantic Ocean, June 27, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Armando Elizalde)

Once upon a time: Marine AV-8A Harriers Testing Sea Control Ship Concept

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We’ve covered the trials and deployment of a Marine Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier squadron, the Aces of VMA-231, on the Iwo Jima-class phib USS Guam (LPH-9) in 1976 on numerous occasions.

Part of CNO Elmo Zumwalt’s “Sea Control Ship” concept that would provide a Cold War-era evolution to the escort carrier concept for convoy protection and ASW hunter-killer teams, the basic idea was to turn these small (18,000-tons, 592-feet oal) flattops into economical CVEs overnight through the fly-on of a Harrier det for air defense/surface strike and a Sea King SH-3 ASW/SAR element.

The technology was there, with Harrier making its first test landings on British flattops as far back as 1963, the RAF’s GR1 entering service in 1969, and the Royal Navy ordering its first two dozen navalised 24 Sea Harrier FRS.1 (Fighter, Reconnaissance, Strike) aircraft in 1975.

Hawker P1127 making the first ever vertical landing by a jet aircraft an a carrier at sea on HMS Ark Royal in February 1963. IWM A 34711

Of course, Zumwalt wanted some dedicated SCS hulls, but, barring the shipbuilding dollars, the Iwo Jimas could work in a pinch.

Planned Sea Control Ship concept, art

Planned Sea Control Ship concept, model

Sea control ship outline, Janes ’73

The entry for Iwo Jima-class LPH USS Guam as an interim sea control ship in the 1973-74 Jane’s

Well, prior to VMA-231 shipping out on Guam, the Marines ran an extensive evaluation trial in March 1971 on her sister, USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7). I recently came across about 30 minutes of color footage from those trials, involving the “Flying Nightmares” of Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 513, from MACS Beaufort– the first American Harrier squadron– in the National Archives.

Check out this screengrab:

Now that’s a beautiful aircraft. Dig those full-color roundels and the Marine crest. The British-made AV-8A was essentially the same as the RAF’s Harrier GR.1 with very few changes. Keep in mind the first Marine Harrier arrived in the USA on 21 January 1971, just two months before this trial, and the last was delivered in November 1976. 

The videos show ordnance in play, lots of short take-offs and vertical landings of camouflaged early British-built AV-8As, and even some night operations.

Enjoy!

 

Happy President’s Day! CV-42 edition

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An F-4N Phantom II (BuNo. 151008) of Fighter Squadron (VF) 111, the “Sundowners,” part of Carrier Air Wing 19 (CVW-19), launching from the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV 42) operating in the Mediterranean Sea. This marked the final cruise for the aging Midway-class carrier, the first named for a President of the United States.

This photo was taken 45 years ago this month, in February 1977.

U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.253.7279.033

While the above was a magnificent photo of a beautiful full-color bird, there were lots of changes on the way.

On 30 June 1977, CVW-19 was disestablished.

FDR decommissioned on 30 September 1977 and was later sold for scrap.

As noted by Bob Hill of FDR’s 76-77 cruise:

It was a deployment of lasts (and a first)

The Sundowners, “Illegitimus Non-Carborundum,” was disestablished in 1995, although the aggressor squadron, VFC-111, continues the unit’s traditions if not its lineage, down at NAS Key West.

Even BuNo. 151008, the Phantom above, is listed as “Crashed with VF-171 off Norfolk, VA Nov 20, 1978.”

However, on my desk is a well-worn but tangible reminder of Big Frankie.

 

FDR’s Ace of Spades

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45 Years Ago Today:

Official caption: “Mediterranean Sea. U.S. Marine Corporal J.E. Goldsburg cleans the windshield of an AV-8A Harrier Advanced Vertical Take-Off and Landing Close Support Aircraft on the flight deck of USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV 42).”

Photographed by PH3 Greg Haas, November 9, 1976. U.S. Navy Photograph, 428-GX-USN 116818, now in the collections of the National Archives

The shot was taken during VMA-231’s Bicentennial Med cruise which saw the Ace of Spade’s squadron integrate their brand-new Hawker Siddeley-made early model Harriers with Carrier Air Wing 19 in regular operations.

After stops in Spain, Italy, Sicily, Kenya, and Egypt, the Aces cross-decked to the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH-9), which at the time was the testbed for the ADM Zumwalt’s Sea Control Ship concept. Guam, acting as one of the world’s first “Harrier Carriers,” would pass through the Red Sea and participate in Kenya’s Jamhuri Day Independence celebration.

USS Guam (LPH-9) with AV-8A Harriers, 12.9.76. Note the four airborne Harriers in a diamond formation, flown by VMA-231 “Ace of Spades” squadron Marines, and at least five more on deck. Catalog #: USN 1169189

As for the Aces of VMA-231, they are one of the last Harrier operators in the world.

The more things change…

U.S. Marine Cpl. Blake R. Phillips, a power line mechanic with Marine Attack Squadron 231, maintains an AV-8B Harrier II, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, March 5, 2013. Phillips maintains aircraft as part of his daily inspections. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Gabriela Garcia/Released)

Harrier Carrier, 1976

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As we did Warship Wednesday on a Monday this week, try these historical maritime shots on for size, taken 44 years ago today.

Official Caption: “USS GUAM (LPH-9) Operating with Marine AV-8A Harrier VTOL aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea, 9 December 1976, she drew these planes from USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT for her goodwill visit to Kenya.”

Note the four airborne Harriers in a diamond formation, flown by VMA-231 “Ace of Spades” squadron Marines, and at least five more on deck. Catalog #: USN 1169189

Guam, a 17,000-ton Iwo Jima-class large amphibious transport (helo), commissioned 16 January 1965 and had already been extensively used by the Navy, first off the Dominican Republic in the intervention there, then in the space program.

Marine AV-8A Harrier of VMA-513 hovering over USS Guam (LPH-9) 1972

Importantly, she had served between 1971 and 1973 as the Interim Sea Control Ship, derived from ADM Elmo Zumwalt’s idea for a 15,000-ton light carrier equipped with Sea Kings for ASW and Harriers for self-defense/anti-shipping, which made her ideal for embarking the V/STOL craft once again in squadron-quantity in 1976.

The entry for Guam as sea control ship in the 1973-74 Jane’s

USS Guam (LPH-9) Underway in the Indian Ocean, off the east coast of Africa, on 9 December 1976. Her crew is forming KENYA 76 on the flight deck in conjunction with her visit to Mombasa, Kenya for the celebration of that nation’s independence. Adams-class destroyer USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) is steaming in company. Guam is shown carrying 13 AV-8A Harrier jet aircraft and two Marine CH-53D helicopters on her flight deck. FDR had deployed with 14, meaning one Harrier is either airborne or below-deck. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, Photographer: PH3 Greg Haas, Atlantic Fleet Audio Visual Command. NH 107675

Guam would go on to serve off Somalia and in the first Gulf War, then was decommissioned and stricken on the same day, 25 August 1998, and disposed of as a target three years later.

As for the accident-prone AV-8As, derived from the original British Hawker Siddeley aircraft, the Marines purchased 102 AV-8A and 8 TAV-8A models between 1971 (just two years after the Harrier GR.1 entered service with the RAF) and 1976, later replacing them with the larger, marginally safer, more advanced, and more American-built McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II in the mid-1980s.

Which brings us back to the Aces of VMA-231, who are still flying the Harrier today, one of the few who are.

Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 231 “Ace of Spades” AV-8B+ at Boca Chica Field, NAS Key West, Dec.1, 2020. U.S. Navy photo by Danette Baso Silvers