661st Tactical Missile Squadron

1st Antisubmarine Squadron
Active	1942-1944
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Anti-Submarine

The 1st Antisubmarine Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 480th Antisubmarine Group, based at Clovis Army Airfield, New Mexico. It was inactivated on 29 January 1944.

History

Lineage

• Constituted 361st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942

Activated on 15 Jul 1942

Redesignated: 1st Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) on 23 Nov 1942

Disbanded on 29 Jan 1944.

Assignments

• 304th Bombardment Group, 15 Jul 1942

Air echelon attached to VIII Bomber Command, c. 10 Nov 1942-15 Jan 1943

• 25th Antisubmarine Wing, 30 Dec 1942

Attached to: 1st Antisubmarine Group [Prov], 15 Jan-1 Mar 1943

Attached to: 2037th Antisubmarine Wing [Prov], 1 Mar-21 Jun 1943

• 480th Antisubmarine Group, 21 Jun 1943-29 Jan 1944.

Stations

• Salt Lake City AAB, Utah, 15 Jul 1942
• Geiger Field, Washington, 15 Sep 1942
• Ephrata, Washington, 1 Oct 1942
• Langley Field, Virginia, 29 Oct-26 Dec 1942

Operated from: RAF St Eval, England, beginning 10 Nov 1942

• RAF St Eval, England, 13 Jan 1943
• Port Lyautey, French Morocco, 9 Mar-27 Nov 1943

Operated from: Agadir, French Morocco, Jul 1943

Operated from: Protville, Tunisia, 2-18 Sep 1943

• Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico, c. 4-29 Jan 1944.

Aircraft

• B-17 Flying Fortress 1942
• B-24 Liberator, 1942-1944.

Operational History

The squadron was organized in Utah then formed in Washington state and began training as Second Air Force bombardment unit flying patrols in the northwest with B-17 Flying Fortresses, being programmed for deployment to England as an Eighth Air Force heavy bombardment Squadron.

Reassigned to Langley Field, Virginia and converted into B-24 Liberator antisubmarine unit, being redesignated 1st Antisubmarine Squadron. Deployed to RAF St Eval, England as part of 1st Antisubmarine Group (Provisional) and trained with RAF Coastal Command on aerial antisubmarine tactics.

Deployed again to Port Lyautey in French Morocco in March 1943 to shore up scanty Allied antisubmarine defenses in the Atlantic approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar as part of 2037th Antisubmarine Wing (Provisional) under the operational control of the United States Navy Fleet Air Wing 15, which answered to the commander of the Moroccan Sea Frontier.

Performed antisubmarine killer hunter missions from Morocco, deploying to stations in Tunisia in September 1943 flying twenty-four hours a day until the landing of the United States Fifth Army at Salerno, Italy, on 9 September when it extended antisubmarine patrols to cover the sea west of Sardinia and Corsica. One B-24 destroyed three German flying boats northwest of Sardinia. In addition to the antisubmarine patrols, the 1st Squadron flew escort for several Allied convoys and covered the escape of Italian naval vessels from Genoa and Spezia to Malta following Italy's surrender.

Returned to Morocco on 18 September 18 and operated in the Moroccan Sea Frontier until returning to the United States in November 1943 where it was inactivated in January 1944.

Antisubmarine and convoy patrols in ETO and MTO, 10 Nov 1942-12 Nov 1943.

References

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

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.