Last night, I read through the military service record card data for all of the military variants of the Goose that Fred Knight and Colin Smith documented in their book The Grumman Amphibians - Goose, Widgeon, and Mallard and I found only 3 that made any mention whatsoever of being operated in the UK during the war or in any kind of temporal proximity to D-Day such that they would have carried "invasion stripes." Here are their histories as recorded in the book:
B-58 Built for US Navy as JRF-5, BuAer. Serial 37805. Acc 08May44 and del. 09May44; FAW-5 Norfolk; records missing but allocated to Hedron 7, FAW-7 Plymouth, NAF Dunkeswell 04Jly44 having been shipped to the UK as deck cargo on USS Albemarle (AV-5) Allocated to Commander, US Ports and Bases, France 12Aug44 (records show location a/o 31Aug44 as ‘unknown’); Hedron 7 FAW-7 Plymouth/NAF Dunkeswell 30Sep44; ComNavEu RAF Hendon July45; ComNavEastLant RAF Hendon Mar47; Pool NAS Norfolk May47 until at least Aug48; records missing; NAS Norfolk by Jan50 (storage); Pool BAR Bethpage 11Apr50 for overhaul; NAF Annapolis 18Sep50. To BAR RD&DE College Point, NY 08Jun51 for bailment to and modification by the EDO Corporation to test twin hydro-ski concept; to NATC NAS Pax River 11Jun53. Terminal damage in flying accident circa 24Oct55 and SOC at Pax River 25Oct55 for parts/scrap (TFH: 880 hrs.)
B-92 Built for US Navy as JRF-5, BuAer. Serial 84797. Acc 27Oct44 and del NAS New York 28Oct44; Hedron 7, FAW-7 Plymouth/NAF Dunkeswell Dec44; ComNavEu RAF Hendon July45; returned to the USA via USS Adria (AF-30) 27Dec46; unreported until Apr47 when with Pool BAR Bethpage; NAS Norfolk July47 until at least Aug48; records missing; awaiting overhaul NAS Norfolk by Jan50; NAS Quonset Point 22July50 for overhaul; 1st ND NAS Quonset Point 27Aug51; NAF Annapolis 10Mar53; NAS Quonset Point 07July53 for overhaul and allocated to MDAP 31Mar54. SOC for MDAP disposal to Japan 13May54 (TFH: 1,359 hrs.) Shipped to Japan where de-preserved by the FASRON-11 detachment at NAF Oppama; used for crew training and working-up at NAF Oppama. Transferred to the JMSDF and given serial 9011; formal handover to Second Kanoya Kokutai, Kanoya 18Oct55; relocated to Omura and thus to Omura Kokutai 01Dec56; no known accidents and assumed retired circa 1960 and thus would have returned to US charge. No known subsequent history and assumed to have been scrapped in Japan.
B-93 Built for US Navy as JRF-5, BuAer. Serial 84798. Acc 30Oct44 and del 09Nov44; Hedron 7, allocated to Commander, US Ports and Bases, France 22Dec44; ComNavEu RAF Hendon July45. Returned to the US via USS Adria (AF-30) 27Dec46; unreported until Apr47 when with Pool BAR Bethpage; VN8D5 NAF Annapolis July47; NavAirActSRC NAF Annapolis Aug47 until at least Aug48; records missing; NavAirActSRC NAF Annapolis by Jan50 and administratively to NAF Annapolis 24Mar50; NAS Quonset Point 11Jun51 for overhaul; NAS San Diego 09Mar52 for issue; FASRON-114 NAS Kodiak 02Apr52 (to re-work 27Sep53); NAS San Diego 05Oct53 for disposal in flying condition. SF Litchfield Park, 29Jan54; leased (under contract NOas 55-210-m) to Marine Airways Inc and Alaska Air Transport Inc. dba Alaska Coastal Airlines, Ketchikan, AK 04Mar55, with CoR N4774C, 10Mar55. CoA after converted to G-21A by Long Beach AIrmotive Inc. CA 22Apr55 at TFH: 2,851 hours. BoS US Navy to Alaska Coastal A/L, Juneau, AK 15May58 for $32,000, with CoR 12Jun58. Formally retired by US Navy 31May58 and SOC.10Dec58. Normally used as a freighter only with bucket seats installed. Accident 20Aug58; hit glassy surface and sank landing in Lynn Channel near Haines, AK, 65 miles NW of Juneau, AK. Capt. Dawson + 5 pax injured, 2 uninjured, but 1 pax later died. Aircraft sank in 150 ft. of water and salvage attempts were unsuccessful. Nominally regd to Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines, Juneau, AK 01Apr62. Noted as “no longer in use” Oct64 but nominal change of regn to Alaska Coastal Airlines in 1965. Cancelled from USCAR 23Jun70 as destroyed.
Of these 3, only the first one, serial no. B-58, was actually in service before D-Day and stationed in the UK at least soon after D-Day. The other 2 were not shipped to England until several months later, so my question now is... for how long after D-Day did they continue to paint "invasion stripes" on Allied aircraft? If the answer is "not for very much longer" then the so-called "OA-9" in the photo at the start of this thread is most likely JRF-5 serial no. B-58, US Navy BuAer. serial no. 37805. That's my best guess.
_________________ “To invent the airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything!” - Otto Lilienthal
Natasha: "You got plan, darling?" Boris: "I always got plan. They don't ever work, but I always got one!"
Remember, any dummy can be a dumb-ass... In order to be a smart-ass, you first have to be "smart" and to be a wise-ass, you actually have to be "wise"
|