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Description
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed |
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| Base model: | PV | ||
| Designation: | PV | ||
| Version: | -1 | ||
| Nickname: | Harpoon | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Navy / Marines | ||
| Designation Period: | 1923-1962 | ||
| Basic role: | Patrol | ||
Specifications
| Not Yet Available |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| James Marcino Garden City, NY | My father, George Marcino, flew with VPB-150. Anyone with information please e-mail jmarcino@worldcourier.com 10/23/2009 @ 19:50 [ref: 25212] |
| John F. Wolfe York,, PA | The title is called PV-1 "Harpoon", but it should be the "Ventura". The "Harpoon" was the PV-2. I was a mechanic/gunner in squadron VP129 flying out of NAS Elizabeth City, NC and NAS Brunswick, ME. 06/19/2009 @ 08:15 [ref: 24251] |
| U.S.Hurst Warrior, AL | Jonathan Horne mentioned that his father flew Pv-1 in VB144 @ Tarawa Jan '44 - I trained on PV-1 @ Whidbey Island WA Mar to Sept 1943 was in VB 138 then FAW - 6 next in CASU - 17 and landed on Tarawa behind 2nd DIV Marines with Seabees to help take 45 fighter planes off the carriers - we had 4 F-6 fighters up during the day and nite fighters at nite around the clock being bombed every nite during Dec.43 we welcomed VB- 142 and VB-144 in Jan 44 - I was trained as ARM radio/radar operator ARM1/C when discharged 10/4/45 - I ret'd to USA 5/8/45 assigned VB2-1 Beaufort SC training crews how to run night missions over Japan. I'm 88 years of age & you may contact me via e-mail or telephone 205-647-0147 USH 03/07/2009 @ 17:17 [ref: 23903] |
| Joseph Markham Manlius, NY | My dad, Robert Markham flew the PV1 Ventura with VPB 137 during WWII. Would love to speak or communicate with anyone who has information about my dad, his squadron or its history. jmarkha1@twcny.rr.com 01/31/2009 @ 13:58 [ref: 23590] |
| Joseph Markham Manlius, NY | My dad, Robert Markham flew the PV1 Ventura with VPB 137 during WWII. Would love to speak or communicate with anyone who has information about my dad, his squadron or its history. jmarkha1@twcny.rr.com 01/31/2009 @ 13:57 [ref: 23589] |
| roger columbus plattsburgh, NY | E.Mason, radio man flew PV1 over the Pacific to the Japan Islands on low machine gun raids (20 feet). The bombbays were used not for bombs but for fuel, they only had the guns. I have the insignia pin that Walt Disney himself had drawn by one of his artist (iron fist). If anyone knows ask your brave fathers or grandfathers about it and the runs they endured. 10/16/2008 @ 17:58 [ref: 22869] |
| mike baldwin las vegas, NV | My dad flew a lockheed ventura in the navy i am looking at his log book now aug 43 till march 49 atnorman oklahoma/corpus cristi tex/lake city fla/beaufort sc/los alamitos cal.patrol boming his name was jack baldwin from inglewood calif 07/27/2008 @ 17:11 [ref: 22274] |
| Tom Hunter Newport Beach, CA | My next door neightbor was a radioman/gunner on a PV-1 from 43-45, based out of Floyd Bennett, then the Caribbean (Curacao, if I'm not mistaken). 06/25/2008 @ 05:43 [ref: 21607] |
| Penny Litz Indianapolis, IN |
Press Release American Military Heritage Foundation Mt. Comfort Airport, Greenfield, IN www.AMHF.org Contact: Penny Litz, President 760-835-7529 Indiowrite@aol.com Former WWII Navy Empire Express Aircraft Needs Help Mt. Comfort Indiana (May 23, 2008) The American Military Heritage Foundation’s WWII-Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon, Hot Stuff – the only one currently flying – has been temporarily grounded with an engine problem. Repairs of this rare aircraft to bring the engine within service limits are estimated to be $20,000 and could be completed this year if funding can be secured soon. “This is a small amount of money, compared to what a complete overhaul would cost,” said John Parka, AMHF board member. “We hear those are running around $60,000; we’re trying to be cost efficient and this would give us a good safe engine. We’d prefer one in a can that the Navy overhauled and preserved in the 1950’s, - they did a great job back then – but the R-2800-31 is hard to come by and the price of one, if it’s to be had, approaches that of an overhaul.” Anyone interested in making a contribution can call 760-835-7529 or go to the website www.amhf.org. “All we would need is 200 people making a $100 contribution and we’ve already got a small jump on it”, said Parka. The AMHF is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, and all contributions are tax-deductible. The Harpoon’s last show flight was in July 2007, when she made an appearance over downtown Indianapolis during a parade honoring the surviving crewmen of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (www.ussindianapolis.us). It was a PV-1 Ventura, the Harpoon’s predecessor, which found the men of the torpedoed ship after 4 days in shark-infested waters. Both organizations are based in Indianapolis, IN. The PV-1's and PV-2's were used during the war in a variety of roles, serving as long-range maritime patrol aircraft, medium bombers, night fighters, and submarine hunters. They patrolled the eastern seaboard including South America, served throughout the Pacific theater, and protected the U.S.-owned Aleutian Islands. “Everyone knows that the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor, but few people remember that they seized Attu and Kiska (in the Aleutian chain, off Alaska) in 1942,” said Penny Litz, foundation president. After U. S. forces liberated Attu, the PV-1's and PV-2's operated offensively from the Japanese-built air bases. Hot Stuff belonged to one of these “Empire Express” squadrons, VPB-136, flying long-range bombing missions against the northern Japanese Kurile Islands. It’s been estimated that the Japanese had to divert one-sixth of their fleet in defense of their northern islands because of these aircraft. “It’s in the process of being nominated for the National and State Historic Register, there is a lot of historical and associative value with this aircraft; it is so important to keep it flying, by this time next year it will officially be a national treasure,” said Litz. “Hot Stuff” has been on the national airshow circuit for almost two decades and was featured on Aero Shell Square at EAA Airventure Oshkosh in 2005. The PV-2 Harpoon, the longer-ranged big brother to the PV-1 Ventura, was used as a double for the PV-1 in a Nova documentary, “The Last Flight of Bomber 31,” which aired on national PBS for several years. http://amhf.org/nova.shtml, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bomber/) The Harpoon is viewed as a valuable Indiana resource by the Geography Educators' Network of Indiana, as reflected in the classroom curriculum developed by the organization on behalf of Indiana high school and middle school Social Studies and Language Arts educators. www.iupui.edu/~ghw/lessons/materials/HarpoonActivities.doc 06/07/2008 @ 09:07 [ref: 21203] |
| D.Berry , CA | My father was a radio/radar/dorsal turret gunner on a PV-1 designated KB-8, which flew out of Beaufort Naval Air Station near Parris Island, South Carolina during World War 2. He flew anti-submarine patrol along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida and out toward Bermuda from 1943 to 1945. He also helped train aircrews for the PV-1, (in fact as far as I know the primary purpose of the Beaufort Naval Air Station was for training).
He had all kinds of crazy stories about the PV-1, everything from an "probable" kill on a u-boat off North Carolina, to helping belly-land a PV-1 with faulty landing gear after the pilot bailed out. He said one day a bird blew out the windshield causing a fearsome shudder in the plane, but the plane held up and they brought the plane in. One time they were on patrol when the impatient pilot insisted on flying into a classic anvil-shaped storm cloud, a stunt my father who looking at the storm on his radar scope strongly advised against. Sure enough, upon entering the cloud the PV-1 was slammed by a downdraft causing the plane to fall thousands of feet. He said the airplane was standing on its tail veritcally, with the engines at maximum throttle, props set to maximum bite, yet the plane still fell like a rock. They bottomed out and recovered the flight literally a few tens of feet above the stormy waves. My father's name was Zeb V. Berry, Sr., and he was a chief petty officer for the USNR. If anyone knew my dad from that time or has their own relative who was stationed at Beaufort Naval Air Station during WW2 I would love to hear from you. 05/28/2008 @ 11:46 [ref: 21041] |
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