P-80s in the Pacific, WWII?

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Joe Baugher maintains that 30-odd P-80As were sent to the Philippines in mid-1945, aboard a carrier, for participation in the final assault against Japan. But they were shipped without batteries or tip tanks, so they languished aboard the boat for a month. By the time the batteries and tanks arrived, the war was over, so the P-80s never saw action against the Japanese, but otherwise they might have.

I have never seen a reference to this elsewhere. Have any of you?

Before you tell me to "ask Baugher," I already have and am awaiting his response. But I'd like other opinions as well, if any.

[mike furline]

For what it's worth,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_m ... k_Air_Base
The 18th Fighter Group was assigned to Clark on 16 September 1947. The 18th was the major Far East Air Force unit in the Philippines in the immediate postwar years, flying a mixture of fighter (P/F-47, P/F-51, F-80), and reconnaissance (RB-29, RB-17G) aircraft. The 18th Flew patrols and trained with P-80 Shooting Stars, with the distinction of being the first overseas fighter unit to be jet-equipped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_ ... oting_Star
A total of 83 P-80s had been delivered by the end of July 1945 and 45 assigned to the 412th Fighter Group (later redesignated the 1st Fighter Group) at Muroc Army Air Field.

[JohnB]

Would the P-80s have the range to do much over Honshu, even if flying from Okinawa?

Remember, to give them extra range in Korea, they developed the larger Misawa drop tanks.

Their range would have been reduced if carting ordinance for ground attack roles, and at the end of the war they weren't really needed to escort B-29s.

[sandiego89]

I have not seen reference to this deployment either (does not mean it did not happen)

If they were in theatre I would have thought they would have been unloaded, at least for post ferry checks. This would get the crews and planes off the ship, which was likely needed elsewhere. The separate shipping of batteries and tanks seems odd (but lots of odd things happen in war).

I would not be surprised to learn P-80s were part of the planning for the cancelled operation Downfall, with Olympic kicking off in November 1945. Agree with JohnB that range would have been an issue, but P-80's could have been useful for defending Okinawa (and other bases in the Ryuku's) and operating forward after securing Kyushu during Olympic. So IF P-80's were to be used they would have been loaded stateside a good 45 days or so before November 1st kickoff.