VMF-422

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Marine Fighting Squadron 422
Active	January 1, 1943 - N/A
Country	United States
Branch	USMC
Type	Fighter squadron
Role	Air interdiction
Part of	Inactive
Nickname	Flying Buccaneers
Battles/wars	World War II * Marshall Islands Campaign * Battle of Okinawa

Marine Fighting Squadron 422 (VMF-422) was a fighter squadron in the United States Marine Corps. The squadron, also known as the “Flying Buccaneers”, fought in World War II but is perhaps best known for its role in the worst accident in naval aviation history when they lost 22 of 23 aircraft flying through a storm on January 25, 1943.

[edit] History

VMF-422 was commissioned on January 1, 1943 at Naval Air Station San Diego and initially flew the F4F Wildcat. Later that month it moved to Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara as the squadron continued to train its pilots. In August, they boarded the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) for transport to Pearl Harbor with follow on movement to Midway Island. The squadron transitioned to the F4U Corsair on December 15, 1943.

On January 25, 1944, 23 of the squadrons 24 aircraft left Tarawa Atoll headed for Funafiti, a flight of 469 miles. A failure in pre-flight planning led them to fly directly into a major storm. 10 of the aircraft were lost at various times during the flight and the remaining 13 were forced to crash land in the ocean. The survivors spent 3 days at sea in life rafts before being spotted by a Navy PBY Catalina from Patrol Squadron 59. After taking on the survivors, the patrol boat was too heavy to take off and had to radio for help. Later that evening they were met by the destroyer USS Hobby (DD-610) who ushered the men to safety. In all the squadron lost 22 aircraft and had 6 pilots killed.

VMF-422 was quickly reconstituted after the disaster and by mid-1944 they were flying interdiction missions against Japanese shipping in the Marshall Islands.