Jump to content

Historical mission for F4U Corsair in Mariana Islands map?


hcborn

Recommended Posts

There is a WWII version of the Mariana Islands map in development, and of course the F4U Corsair module in development, which leads to the question, are there any real-life historical missions that could be recreated with the two?

I've read Corsair: The F4U in World War II and Korea by Barrett Tillman, and all that is mentioned about the Mariana Islands campaign is that Marine Air Group 21 (MAG-21) was stationed on Guam starting on the 4th of August 1944:

Quote

MAG-21 arrived on Guam as an effective from on 4 August, only four days after the first tactical aircraft landed at the newly won airstrip. F4Us of VMF-216, 217, and 225 arrived that day with Hellcat night fighters, all launched from the escort carrier Santee (CVE-29). But there was relatively little for the fighters to do in the Marianas. Six weeks after the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” Japanese aircraft were not to be found.

So the Marines contented themselves with occasional strikes on Pagan, 220 miles north in the extreme reaches of the Marianas. And there were 50-mile hops to Rota, “the poor man’s Maloelap,” where things were a bit livelier. The enemy’s twin 25-mm antiaircraft guns hidden in a cave became a local legend, as occasional F4Us and TBMs were shot down over the island. But before long, even the once-formidable Marianas became a rear area as the war moved inexorably westward.

The Battle of Guam is described as ending on August 10, 1944 and, considering the book's description, it sounds like Corsairs stationed in Guam saw limited action. Both Rota and Pagan are part of the DCS World map, so Corsairs taking off from Guam to do air-to-ground strikes on Rota or Pagan would be historically accurate.

The 318th Fighter Group, 7th Air Force, flying primarily P-47 Thunderbolts, was stationed on Saipan during the height of the Battle of Saipan, as evidenced by air crew being involved in ground combat as improvised infantry. More relevantly for this discussion, the 318th FG flew air-to-air defense of the (admittedly limited) Japanese air attacks targeting the B-29s stationed in the Mariana Islands and did numerous air-to-ground raids of surrounding Japaneses bases. With regard to the latter, the Wikipedia article mentions that "United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) aircraft and XXI Bomber Command B-29s also occasionally participated in these attacks."

Several photographs floating around the Internet depict MAG-21 Corsairs on Guam shortly before the Japanese air attacks of late 1944 and early 1945, for instance, this photo labeled as from October 12, 1944, but I've found nothing that says they were involved in aerial defense. Indeed, the final mention of the Marianas in the same source reads:

Quote

Arriving in WestPac out of sequence was the Vella Gulf’s (CVE-111) MCVG-3. Lieutenant Colonel Royce Coin’s air group, including VMF-513, made two strikes in the Marianas during late July [1945] and proceeded to Okinawa.

It sounds like the Mariana Islands became a place for Corsairs to pass through on their way to other areas of the PTO.

So, with some Japanese WW2 assets, there is some limited potential here F4U module owners to do historical-ish missions on the Mariana Islands map. There's more opportunity for P-47 module owners.

Of course, with the large amount of ocean available on the map, there is also the potential to recreate historical carrier-based Corsair missions, such as the defense of the USS Laffey against kamikazes during the Okinawa campaign, so there's that, too.

Edit 5-29-2022: Checked just now, Pagan is present on the (modern version) Mariana Islands map. Changed above text to reflect that.


Edited by hcborn
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Marianas will be a sort of Solomon's stand-in for me. Then I'll design some Black Sheep/Vella Le Vella missions.

Not until the WWII version arrives of course. Early to Mid-War is where it's at...late war....meh.

This Corsair will work fine for mid-war stuff.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/25/2022 at 10:21 PM, hcborn said:

There's more opportunity for P-47 module owners.

IIRC the 318th FG had Razorback Thunderbolts in Saipan.

Marianas 44 is Hellcat territory with permission of Avengers and Helldivers and a few SBDs. During Forager only Enterprise carried Corsairs (F4U-2 from VF(N)-101 but I could be wrong.

Okinawa would be a perfect fit for Magnitude's Corsair, don't you think?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...