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820th Bombardment Squadron
Armorers place a .50-caliber machine gun in the nose of a 41st Bombardment Group B–25 at Tarawa
Active	1942–1946
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Medium bomber
Engagements	American Theater Antisubmarine Campaign Pacific Theater of Operations
Insignia
820th Bombardment Squadron emblem

The 820th Bombardment Squadron is a former Army Air Forces unit, inactivated on 4 January 1946. The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 521st Bombardment Squadron. The squadron was soon engaged in the antisubmarine campaign off the Atlantic coast of the United States as the 16th Antisubmarine Squadron.

After the Navy took over the coastal antisubmarine warfare mission in 1943, the squadron moved to the Pacific coast, where it trained as a medium bomber unit and was redesignated the 820th Bombardment Squadron. It moved to the Pacific and participated in attacks in the Marshall and Caroline Islands. It returned to Hawaii in 1944 for training and reentered combat from Okinawa in 1945. After V-J Day, the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated.

History

Organization and antisubmarine warfare

The squadron was first activated at Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina in October 1942 as the 521st Bombardment Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the 378th Bombardment Group, located at Langley Field, Virginia. The squadron was equipped with a mix of Douglas O-46s and Lockheed B-34s. The squadron mission was to search for German U-boats off the southeast Atlantic coast. Although the Navy was responsible for long range antisubmarine patrolling, it lacked the aircraft to perform the mission and the Army Air Forces (AAF) performed the mission, even though its crews lacked proper training.

In October 1942, the AAF organized its antisubmarine forces into the single Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, which established the 25th Antisubmarine Wing the following month to control its forces operating over the Atlantic. Its bombardment group headquarters, including the 378th, were inactivated and the squadron, redesignated the 16th Antisubmarine Squadron in November, was assigned directly to the 25th Wing in December. In July 1943, the AAF and Navy reached an agreement to transfer the coastal antisubmarine mission to the Navy. This mission transfer also included an exchange of AAF long-range bombers equipped for antisubmarine warfare for Navy Consolidated B-24 Liberators without such equipment.

Combat in the Pacific

In September 1943, the squadron moved to Hammer Field, California. There, it began to train with North American B-25 Mitchells and was assigned to the 41st Bombardment Group and became the 820th Bombardment Squadron. It replaced the 46th Bombardment Squadron, which had been detached from the 41st Group to participate in antisubmarine missions in the Atlantic the previous year. In October, it moved to Hickam Field, Hawaii, where it completed its combat training. It moved to Hawkins Field on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands in December. There, it entered combat and attacked enemy installations, airfields, and shipping in the Marshall Islands in preparation for the invasion by US forces. After February 1944, the squadron staged through captured fields on Eniwetok to attack shipping in the Caroline Islands. In April, the squadron moved to Makin Airfield, Makin, Gilbert Islands, where its operations were primarily attacks on enemy shipping and on Japanese installations on islands that had been bypassed as American forces moved westward through the Pacific.

In October 1944, the squadron was withdrawn from combat operations and returned to Hawaii, where it began training with rockets at Wheeler Field. At Wheeler, it also received new Mitchell bombers. It completed training in May and left Hawaii for Okinawa, arriving at Yontan Airfield in June. While it flew some missions against airfields in China, it primarily bombed airfields, railways, and harbor facilities on Kyushu until August 1945. After V-J Day, the squadron remained on Okinawa until December 1945. Although the rest of the 41st Group moved to the Philippines, the 820th returned to the United States and was inactivated at the port of embarkation on 4 January 1946.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 521st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 13 October 1942

Activated on 18 October 1942

Redesignated: 16th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) on 29 November 1942

Redesignated: 820th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 22 September 1943

Inactivated on 4 January 1946

Assignments

• 378th Bombardment Group, 18 October 1942
• 25th Antisubmarine Wing, 14 December 1942
• 41st Bombardment Group, 11 October 1943 – 4 January 1946

Stations

• Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina, 18 October 1942
• Hammer Field, California, 22 September – 5 October 1943
• Hickam Field, Hawaii, 20 October 1943
• Hawkins Field, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, 24 December 1943
• Makin Airfield, Makin, Gilbert Islands, 21 April 1944
• Wheeler Field, Hawaii, 14 October 1944
• Yontan Airfield, Okinawa, 7 June 1945
• Fort Lawton, Washington, 1–4 January 1946

Campaigns

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
	Antisubmarine	18 October 1942 – 1 August 1943	521st Bombardment Squadron (later 16th Antisubmarine Squadron)
	Air Offensive, Japan	24 December 1943 – 14 October 1944, 7 June 1945 – 2 September 1945	820th Bombardment Squadron
	Eastern Mandates	24 December 1943 – 14 April 1944	820th Bombardment Squadron
	Ryukus	7 June 1945 – 2 July 1945	820th Bombardment Squadron
	Western Pacific	7 June 1945 – 2 September 1945	820th Bombardment Squadron
	China Offensive	7 June 1945 – 2 September 1945	820th Bombardment Squadron

Aircraft

• Douglas O-46, 1942
• Lockheed B-34 Ventura, 1942–1943
• North American B-25 Mitchell, 1943–1945

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. Approved 15 May 1943. Description: The caricatured cartoon newspaper figure "Alley Oop" grasping stone club red, green handle, in right hand and hurling a large yellow aerial bomb held aloft in left hand proper

Citations

1. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 768–769
2. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, p. 266
3. Ferguson, p. 4
4. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 437
5. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 388–389
6. Ferguson, pp. 82–83
7. Bailey, Carl E. (24 June 2016). "Factsheet 22 Attack Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
8. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 97–98

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Ferguson, Arthur B. (April 1945). "The Antisubmarine Command, USAF Historical Study No. 107" (PDF). Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence Historical Division. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) . Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) . Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.

v t e USAAF Seventh Air Force in World War II
Previously: Hawaiian Air Force (1940-1942)
Airfields	Hawaii Bellows Hickam Wheeler Okinawa Ie Shima Yontan Pacific USAAF in the Central Pacific USAAF in the Southwest Pacific
Units	Commands VII Bomber VII Fighter Wings 7th Fighter Groups Bombardment 5th Bombardment 11th Bombardment 30th Bombardment 41st Bombardment 307th Bombardment 494th Bombardment Fighter 15th Fighter 18th Fighter 21st Fighter 318th Fighter 508th Fighter Troop Carrier 419th Troop Carrier Squadrons Reconnaissance 28th Reconnaissance 41st Reconnaissance 43d Reconnaissance Transport 9th Troop Carrier 311th Troop Carrier 316th Troop Carrier Night Fighter 6th Night Fighter 548th Night Fighter 549th Night Fighter
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

v t e USAAF Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command in World War II
Command	I Bomber Command (First Air Force, 1941–42)
Wings	25th Antisubmarine 26th Antisubmarine
Groups	1st Search Attack 2d Bombardment 13th Bombardment 45th Bombardment 304th Bombardment 377th Bombardment 378th Bombardment 479th Antisubmarine 480th Antisubmarine
Squadrons	Antisubmarine 1st 2d 3d 4th 6th 7th 8th 9th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 22d 23d 25th Other 2d Search Attack 3d Search Attack 4th Search Attack
Airfields	United States Dover (Delaware) Drew (Florida) Jacksonville (Florida) Key West (Florida) Lantana (Florida) Miami (Florida) Orlando (Florida) Savannah (Georgia) Grenier (New Hampshire) Atlantic City (New Jersey) Fort Dix (New Jersey) Mitchel (New York) Bluethenthal (North Carolina) Cherry Point (North Carolina) Charleston (South Carolina) Hyannis (Massachusetts) Otis (Massachusetts) Westover (Massachusetts) Langley (Virginia) Newfoundland Gander Torbay Caribbean and South America Batista (Cuba) Guantanamo (Cuba) Zanderij (Suriname) Vernam (Jamaica) Carlsen (Trinidad) Europe Dunkeswell (England) Podington (England) St. Eval (England) North Africa Port Lyautey (Morocco)

• Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces
• Military units and formations established in 1942