Roy --
Thanks for the clarification. We know from the site linked here that
"[w]hile in Brazil, VP-94 operated from Natal, Belem, Maceio and
Ipetango of that country."
PBY Catalina International Association
http://www.pbycia.org/Newsletters.nsf/Lookup/1990.02.04
But then you probably knew that, as well as the fact that you can do a
Google search on the term "vp-94" and brazil and get dozens of "hits"
on information about the squadron:
"vp 94" OR vp94 brazil
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22vp+94%22+OR+vp94+brazil
Anyway, all of the places you mentioned except Ipetango (or
"Ipitanga," as it is usually spelled) are fairly sizable cities and
appear on most online maps of Brazil, including the one I have
provided a link for you later in the answer. Ipitanga is a much
smaller coastal community for which I have provided a link below that
pinpoints its location very near the city of Salvador.
With that, let's get down to business:
Following is the list of the locations of U.S. Naval facilities in
Brazil during W.W.II, first in summary form and then in chronological
order:
The 17 places in Brazil where the U.S. established either Naval
Operating Facilities or Naval Air Facilities, or both, are as follows,
in alphabetical order:
Amapa
Aratu
Belem
Fernando Noronha
Florianopolis
Fortaleza
Igarape Assu
Ipitanga,
Maceio
Natal
Recife
Rio de Janeiro
Rio Grande do Sul
Santa Cruz
Santos
Sao Luiz
Victoria (Or "Vitoria")
Here is chronological information about of the establishment of these
U.S. naval facilities:
"12/02/42 Wed.
United States Naval Operating Base, and United States Naval Air
Facility, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are established."
"3/26/43 Fri.
United States Naval Operating Facility, Belem, Brazil, is established."
"03/27/43 Sat.
United States Naval Air Facility, Natal, Brazil, and Naval Operating
Facilities at Victoria, Florianopolis, Fortaleza, Maceio, Recife, Rio
Grande do Sul, Santos, and Sao Luiz, Brazil, are established."
"09/26/43 Sun.
United States Naval Operating Facility, Natal, Brazil, is established."
"10/01/43 Fri.
United States Naval Air Facility, Recife, Brazil, is established."
"10/14/43 Thu.
United States Naval Air Facility, Igarape Assu, Brazil, is established."
"11/26/43 Fri.
United States Naval Air Facilities are established at Amapa, Aratu,
and Belem, Brazil; United States Naval Air Facilities (Lighter than
Air) are established at Fernando Noronha, Fortaleza, and Ipitanga,
Brazil."
"12/03/43 Fri.
United States Naval Air Facility, Sao Luiz, Brazil, is established."
"12/14/43 Tue.
United States Naval Air Facility, Maceio, Brazil, is established."
"03/09/44 Thu.
United States Naval Air Facility (Lighter than Air), Santa Cruz,
Brazil, is established."
SOURCES:
NavSource: U.S. Naval Chronology Of W.W.II, 1942
http://www.navsource.org/Naval/1944.htm
NavSource: U.S. Naval Chronology Of W.W.II, 1943
http://www.navsource.org/Naval/1944.htm
NavSource: U.S. Naval Chronology Of W.W.II, 1944
http://www.navsource.org/Naval/1944.htm
Now, here is a link to a map of Brazil that shows the Atlantic coast
locations of nine of the places I have cited above:
Bugbog: Brazil Map
http://www.bugbog.com/maps/south_america/brazil_map.html
The locations of the other eight places on the list are pinpointed on
other maps at individual websites. For your convenience, following is
a list of all 17 cities in order from north to south along Brazil's
coastline. The eight places that are not included in that map linked
above are included in brackets in their appropriate places in this
list, along with links to websites that will allow you to pinpoint
their location more precisely:
[Amapa]
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/BR/3/Cruz_do_Amapa.html
Belem
[Igarape Assu]
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/BR/16/IgarapeAcu.html
Sao Luis
Fortaleza
[Fernando Noranha] (archipelago about 200 miles off coast)
http://satelite.cptec.inpe.br/imagens/imagset/ne_c.jpg
Natal
Recife
Maceio
[Aratu] (near Salvador)
http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/locations/209.html
[Ipitanga] (near Salvador; very near Aratu)
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:6X2U-R-HJ68J:www.calle.com/world/BR/5/Ipitanga.html+ipitanga+brazil&hl=en
Vitoria
Rio de Janeiro
[Santa Cruz]
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/BR/3/Santa_Cruz2.html
Santos
[Florianopolis] http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/South_America/Brazil/Florianopolis/
[Rio Grande do Sul]
http://www.freighterworld.com/graphics/maps/schlecsa.html
Additional Information:
Before the U.S. established its formal naval presence in Brazil in
1942, patrol aircraft were sent to Natal and the U.S. was put in
operational control of the Brazilian navy:
"04/07/42 Tue.
United States naval patrol aircraft arrive at Natal, Brazil, for
operations in the South Atlantic."
"09/12/42 Sat.
Brazil places its navy under the operational control of the United State Navy."
SOURCE: NavSource: U.S. Naval Chronology Of W.W.II, 1942
http://www.navsource.org/Naval/1942.htm
Here is a link to the home page of NavSource, which will give you much
information about its mission and its resources:
NavSource.org
http://www.navsource.org/
Here is a link to the website of the Naval Historical Center, which is
the offical repository of U.S. naval history:
Naval Historical Center
http://www.history.navy.mil/
Search Strategy:
Not surprisingly, there is lots of online naval history having to do
with W.W. II, and the trick was to zero in on the specific information
that interests you. After trying many combinations of search terms,
the following Google search led me to the NavSource chronologies:
"united states" navy OR naval bases brazil operations ww
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22united+states%22+navy+OR+naval+bases+brazil+operations+ww
When I found these chronologies, I then carefully searched each one
for all instances of the word "Brazil" and extracted those that
related to the establishment of naval facilities there.
Finally, I did further research to confirm (successfully) that the
NavSource information is frequently cited by reputable historians and
hobbyists and that comparable information was not conveniently
available (if at all) by searching at the U.S. Navy or other naval
history sites.
I am confident that this is the information you are seeking, and I
hope that I have provided it in a form that is convenient for you to
use. If anything is unclear, or if you have problems with any of the
links, please ask for clarification before rating the answer.
markj-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
markj-ga
on
01 Jan 2005 18:28 PST
Roy --
I was a little taken aback at first because I was concerned that I
might not be able to find this additional information. However, I
feel much better now, because I am confident that I have it for you.
By July 1943, VP-94 had been redesignated as VPB-94, and it was based
in Natal on July 9. Four days later, it was redeployed at Belem.
Here is a link to the page at the website of the Naval Historical
Center that includes the complete history of VP-94 (and its successor
VPB-94) and its deployments and activities:
Naval Historical Center: DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL AVIATION
SQUADRONS?Volume 2: VP-94, p. 500
://www.history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/chap4-4.pdf
(This information begins at page 20 of 32 of a PDF document, which you
will need Adobe Reader to access. In the unlikely event that it is
not installed on your computer, go to this linked site for a quick and
convenient free download}:
Adobe Reader: Download
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Here is what the site has to say about the events of July 9, 1943:
"9 Jul 1943: Lieutenant S. Auslander, from the Belem
detachment, attacked and sank U-590, commanded by
Oberstleutenant Werner Krüer, in the Atlantic off
Trinidad. On the same day, Lieutenant Frank Hare
made an attack on another submarine caught on the
surface. The U-boat immediately opened fire with its
quad-mount AA guns, killing Lieutenant Hare and
forcing the aircraft to break off the attack."
Additional Information:
Here is another Web page with historical information on VP-94:
U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons: VP-94
http://www.vpnavy.com/vp94_1943.html
Supplemental Search Strategy:
The following Google search led me to lots of information about the
WWII history of VP-94 and its successor, VPB-94:
vp94 OR "vp 94" OR vpb-04" 1943
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-01,GGLD:en&q=vp94+OR+%22vp+94%22+OR+vpb%2D04%22+1943
You may want to run this search yourself to get lots more interesting
stuff on the platoon that interests you.
This project has been fun. I hope that you now have what you are
looking for and the tools to find out more if you are so inclined.
Once again, if anything is unclear, please ask for clarification
before rating the answer.
markj-ga
|
