VP-731 Port Lyautey Cruise 1958
I have
to go back in time and into my log books to remember how I became a plane
commander for that great flight to Port Lyautey in July 1958.
I had
been a fighter pilot before being recalled to active duty during the Korean
War.
I was
assigned from Norfolk, Virginia to a squadron in Sanford, Florida. The VC-9 squadron flew AJ-2s which is a
“savage” aircraft built by North American.
We also had one PV-2 in the squadron that we used to get parts and
equipment for our squadron. Since my
wife was still in Michigan, I was available to fly and wanted to get as much
flight time as I could in multi-engine aircraft. Whenever parts or equipment was needed, I volunteered for the
assignment to accumulate flight time in the PV-2.
I
returned to Grosse Ile in January 1955, and was assigned to VP 731 just in time
as a P2V-5F was being assigned to reserve VP squadrons. The purpose of the flight to Port Lyautey,
French Morocco, was to train reserve VP squadrons to fly P2V5-Fs to operate
with NATO forces and familiarize flight crews with European bases. The reserve squadrons were trained to be in
combat readiness.
Lt.
Gerrit Lydecker and I were the 6th crew assigned for the flight to Port Lyautey
in 1958. About two weeks prior to the
trip, Lt. Roger Golden, who was a PC on one of the five P2Vs we were taking on
the trip, was unavailable. Lt. Beesley,
who was the VP Training Officer at Grosse Ile, arranged for a check ride for
Lydecker and myself.
On July
11, 1958, Lydecker and I took a five hour ORI flight with pilots from an active
duty squadron who had flown to Grosse Ile for the check ride from the east
coast. I was then designated a PC in
P2V-5Fs that enabled me to command one of the five P2Vs to Port Lyautey.
We
departed NAS Grosse Ile July 13, 1958, for Argentia, Newfoundland flying
P2V-5F, 127734 Side #204. We were the
first plane departing from Grosse Ile therefore making us the first plane to
arrive in Argentia. Upon our arrival,
Argentia was completely fogged over and we made five GCA approaches to the
airport without success. Lt. Lydecker
and I were put into a holding pattern for 30 minutes allowing the other four
P2Vs to fly over Argentia and land at Torbay, Newfoundland. We then climbed out of the fog over the
mountains and landed at Torbay. We were
happy to see the ground once more after flying in fog for over one hour.
We
departed Torbay July 14, 1958, for Lages in the Azores which entailed about a
6.5 hour flight. Upon arriving at
Lages, the ground control operator created landing intervals so that all five
P2Vs were on final approach at the same time.
In my mind, I can still picture that beautiful moment when all five
planes engulfed by mountains made our final approach to Lages airport. What a great memory!
July 15,
1958: As we were departing Lages for
Port Lyautey, my radioman called and asked us to listen to a special news
broadcast he had picked up. The
president had ordered the marines into Lebanon. I then called the other planes in the squadron to tune into the
news broadcast. Within the next 48
hours, there were more planes arriving and departing from Port Lyautey than we
had ever seen before. As fast as they
could be refueled, they would be sent on or were headed back to the States for
more men and equipment. It was a 24
hour a day operation.
We were
the only P2V squadron in the area and if this incident in Lebanon had erupted
into a full scale confrontation, the navy would have detained us in the
Mediterranean longer than our two week cruise time. Fortunately, it all ended in about 72 hours and VP 731 could
resume our regular flights.
July
19: Good old P2V-204 and crew flew to
Barcelona for sightseeing and Med Fam.
That night we all met at Las Carrescolas (a restaurant I had been to
before with my wife when I was stationed with the 6th Fleet). Lt. Lydecker
charged the dinner to his credit card that was something new for the rest of
our flight crew and me. Most of us
had not used a credit card internationally before this.
July 20: We flew to Naples, Italy where we met Charley Davis in P2V #203. On July 21, Charley Davis with his crew and my crew in #204 flew out into the Mediterranean for an exercise with an Italian navy sub. Charley Davis and his crew were the first to do an attack on the sub while we circled overhead. At one time #203 flew so low over the water we could see the wake flying behind his left wing tip. I called Flt 203 to pull up which they did. In submarine exercises, it is very easy for both pilots to be looking at charts in the cockpit while engaged in these exercises. After #203 completed their exercises, it was our turn to replicate the same procedures successfully. Both crews returned to Naples, Italy, and were debriefed about the exercise.
July 22:
As we were getting to depart from
Naples, a police car drove up and parked in front of my airplane. I went out and talked to the police and was
informed that someone from my crew had taken some towels from the Hotel
Mediterranean. I told Bob Losie to tell
the crew that I was going to walk to the rear of the plane to the rear hatch
and whoever had the towels to drop them in my hand. I returned same to the police and departed for Port Lyautey. I’m glad it wasn’t I who had taken the
towels.
July
25: Departed Port Lyautey for Lages
which took 6.5 hours. As we approached
Lages, we were having a problem with our starboard engine in addition all the
radios in our plane died. The only
radio I could receive on was ARC-5 receiver.
I made a couple 90 degree turns and Lages called to ask if we were
having radio problems. They asked us to
acknowledge by making several additional turns. Once they were certain who we were, Lages brought us into a GCA
landing using only the ARC-5 receiver.
After we landed, we were parked next to a super constellation that flew
out of Argentia. I talked to my
radioman to see what we could do about the radios. I never knew but always felt there was some midnight swapping of
radios with the super constellation.
Also, the mechanics worked long into the night on the starboard engine.
July 27: Departed Argentia for Selfridge AFB to clear
customs. I don’t know if my plane
captain ever forgave me for leaving Argentia without the box lunches that were
late in arriving. We cleared customs at
Selfridge and returned with all five P2Vs to NAS Grosse Ile in the late
afternoon.
Flight
time on 1958 cruise was 73 hours.
LCDR
Ralph McBrien PC
Lt.
Gerrit Lydecker was a very good pilot.
We flew together for four years.
Plane
Captain: Robert Losie ADR-1 for 204 for
both ‘58 & ‘59 cruises
Chief Stralka
flew with #204 both 58 and 59 cruise
It is my
opinion that VP731 could not have been able to undertake a cruise of this type
in 1958 without the strong leadership of people like CDR. L. B. Ulstrom,
Skipper of VP731. Lt. Howard Beesley,
who was the VP Training Officer at NAS Grosse Ile was the person who thought we
could accomplish this mission and worked many hours getting all of the flight
crew up to flight proficiency. Lt.
Beesley knew more about the P2Vs than any pilot I have known and was an excellent
instructor to the many pilots in the VP squadrons at Grosse Ile.
Lcdr. Ralph McBrien
13 March 2001