No.6 Flying Boat Squadron (RNZAF): Second World War

Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books

No.6 Flying Boat Squadron, RNZAF, spent most of its existence operating from Guadalcanal, from where it searched for Japanese submarines, took part in air-sea rescue missions and acted as an emergency transport unit.

No.6 Squadron was formed to operate the Consolidated PBY Catalina after New Zealand was promised a number of those aircraft.

The first Catalina reached Fiji in April 1943. It was taken on by the Singapore Flight, which had survived the disbanding of No.5 Squadron in November 1942. The new No.6 Squadron was officially formed on 25 May 1943, although the name had been in use for some time. The squadron had also already carried out its first operation, looking for survivors of the American ship Vanderbilt which had been sunk on 2 May. One of the flight's Catalinas found eight survivors and after no rescue ships appeared for three hours made a daring mid-ocean landing and successfully rescued them.

After becoming officially operational the squadron continued to train with its new aircraft. It also flew a mix of searches for reported submarines and shipping escort missions. A plan to post a detachment on the Ellice Islands was cancelled, but in mid August a detachment was posted to Tonga. While it was there it took part in the rescue efforts after the US troop ship San Juan was sunk. 1,180 men were rescued.

In October 1943 the main part of the squadron moved to Segond Channel, at Espiritu Santo. The detached flight rejoined the main squadron in November. While it was based on Espiritu Santo the squadron carried out anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols in the waters to the west of the island, but without any success.

The squadron moved to Halavo Bay on Florida Island, just to the north of Guadalcanal in December 1943 and remained there for the rest of the war.

During this period it had three main duties. It was used to search for suspected submarines, none of which were found (most turned out to be whales). It was also used to search for missing aircraft and finally for medical evacuation, bringing injured or sick personnel from ships or outlying bases to the American Base Hospital at Tulagi.

The air-sea rescue missions were the most productive. The first was flown on 26 January 1944 and saw a Catalina from the squadron rescue ten crewmen from a downed Liberator bomber. The squadron also operated an air-sea rescue detachment from the Treasury Islands, operating in the seas between Bougainville and Rabaul.

The squadron was disbanded on Florida Island in September 1945.

Aircraft
May 1943-September 1945: Consolidated Catalina

Location
March-October 1943: Fiji
  August-November 1943: Detachment to Tonga
October-December 1943: Espirtu Santo
December 1943-September 1945: Halavo Bay, Florida Island, Guadalcanal

Books

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (23 May 2013), No.6 Flying Boat Squadron (RNZAF): Second World War, http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RNZAF/No_6_sqn_RNZAF.html

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