VMSB-342
Encyclopedia
Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 342 (VMSB-342) was a dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...

 squadron in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

. The squadron, also known as the “Bats from Hell”, was active during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

  but never saw combat in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....

. They were decommissioned on October 10, 1944.

History

Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 342 was commissioned on July 1, 1943 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, USA, in the eastern part of the state...

, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. In April 1944 they transferred to Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Atlantic. Some of the squadron's pilots would go for follow on training to Boca Chica Key
Boca Chica Key
Boca Chica Key is an island in the lower Florida Keys approximately 3 miles east of the island of Key West.U.S. 1 crosses the key at approximately mile markers 6.5—8, east of Key West....

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 at the site of what today is Naval Air Station Key West
Naval Air Station Key West
Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States....

. In August 1944, the squadron again transferred, this time to Marine Corps Air Station Newport, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 where they remained until they were decommissioned on October 10, 1944.

See also

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