851st Strategic Missile Squadron

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851st Strategic Missile Squadron
European Theater of Operations
Insignia
851st Strategic Missile Squadron emblem[a][1]
World War II fuselage code[2][b]S3

The 851st Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive

456th Strategic Aerospace Wing, stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. It was equipped with the HGM-25A Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile
, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. It was the last Titan I squadron to achieve alert status on 1 February 1961. The squadron was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan I on 25 March 1965.

The

V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in November 1945. It was organized as an intercontinental ballistic missile
squadron in 1961.

History

World War II

Organization and antisubmarine warfare

The

Army Air Base, Manchester, New Hampshire.[1]

Douglas B-18B equipped for antisubmarine warfare

Following the

Jacksonville Army Air Field, Florida in May.[1][3]

In October 1942, the

26th Antisubmarine Wing the following month to control its forces operating over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.[4][5] The command's bombardment group headquarters, including the 45th, were inactivated and the squadron, now designated the 7th Antisubmarine Squadron, was assigned directly to the 26th Wing.[1][3] However, most squadron missions were flown over the Atlantic, so the 7th was attached to 25th Antisubmarine Wing, whose area of responsibility covered the Atlantic coast.[1]

By the fall of 1942, the

23d Antisubmarine Squadron deployed to Edinburgh to experiment with its 75mm cannon armed North American B-25 Mitchells in the antisubmarine role and the 7th returned to its base in Jacksonville.[1][7][8]

In July 1943, the AAF and Navy reached an agreement to transfer the coastal antisubmarine mission to the Navy. This mission transfer also included an exchange of AAF long-range bombers equipped for antisubmarine warfare for Navy Consolidated B-24 Liberators without such equipment.[9]

Combat in the European Theater

490th Bombardment Group B-24 Liberator[d]

The squadron moved to

SS Nieuw Amsterdam on 11 April and arriving in the United Kingdom on 25 April. The air echelon flew its planes along the southern ferry route beginning on 12 April.[11]

The squadron arrived at

3d Bombardment Division an all B-17 unit.[10][11]

851st Bombardment Squadron B-17[f]

Once transition to the B-17 was completed on 24 August, the squadron concentrated on

lines of communication during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 through January 1945. In the last month of the war in Europe, it carried out interdiction missions to support advancing ground forces.[10] The squadron's last combat mission was flown on 20 April 1945.[11]

Following

Drew Field, Florida in September. It was inactivated there on 7 November 1945.[1]

Intercontinental ballistic missile squadron

HGM-25A Titan I Missile Sites

The squadron was again organized in February 1961 as a

SM-68 Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile launch squadron. On 1 April 1961, SAC placed the 851st Strategic Missile Squadron on operational status. In September 1962, the 851st became the last Titan I Squadron to achieve alert status.[12] The squadron's missiles were deployed in a 3x3 configuration, which meant a total of nine missiles were divided into three sites. Each missile site had three ICBM missiles. Missiles were installed in the silos between 28 February and 20 April 1962.[13]
The missile sites were:

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

851-A, 2 miles ESE of Lincoln, California 38°52′54″N 121°15′56″W / 38.88167°N 121.26556°W / 38.88167; -121.26556 (851-A)
851-B, 4 miles NNE of Sutter Buttes, California 39°16′32″N 121°49′46″W / 39.27556°N 121.82944°W / 39.27556; -121.82944 (851-B)
851-C, 6 miles N of Chico, California 39°49′05″N 121°51′10″W / 39.81806°N 121.85278°W / 39.81806; -121.85278 (851-C)

On 24 May 1962, during a contractor checkout of a missile, a blast rocked launcher 1 at complex 4C at Chico (851-C), destroying a Titan I and causing heavy damage to the silo. After the investigation, the Air Force concluded that the two separate explosions occurred because of a blocked vent and blocked valve. After damages were repaired, the Chico complex became operational again on 9 March 1963.[13]

In November 1962, two months after the squadron became fully operational, SAC subjected the unit to an operational readiness inspection. The 851st became the first Titan I unit to pass.[13]

On 19 November 1964, Defense Secretary

alert status on 4 January 1965. The last missile was shipped out on 10 February. The Air Force subsequently inactivated the squadron on 25 March.[13][14]

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 78th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 20 November 1940
Activated on 15 January 1941
Redesignated 78th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 30 December 1941
Redesignated 7th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) on 29 November 1942
Redesignated 851st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 27 September 1943
Redesignated 851st Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1944
Inactivated on 7 November 1945
  • Redesignated 851st Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and activated on 25 August 1960 (not organized)
Organized on 1 February 1961
Discontinued and inactivated 25 March 1965[15][14]

Assignments

  • 45th Bombardment Group, 15 January 1941
  • 26th Antisubmarine Wing, 8 December 1942 (attached to 25th Antisubmarine Wing, c. 16 December 1942; 25th Bombardment Group, 4 April – 20 July 1943
  • 490th Bombardment Group, October 1943 – 7 November 1945
  • Strategic Air Command, 25 August 1960 (not organized)
  • 4126th Strategic Wing, 1 February 1961[15]
  • 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing, 1 February 1963 – 25 March 1965[16]

Stations

  • Army Air Base, Savannah, Georgia, 15 January 1941
  • Army Air Base, Manchester (later Grenier Field), New Hampshire, 20 June 1941
  • Langley Field, Virginia, 9 April 1942
  • Jacksonville Army Air Field, Florida, 16 May 1942 (operated from Edinburgh Field, Trinidad, 20 April – 20 July 1943)
  • Mountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho, 27 September 1943 – 9 April 1944
  • RAF Eye (Station 134),[17] England, 28 April 1944 – c. 26 August 1945
  • Drew Field, Florida, 3 September 1945 – 7 November 1945
  • Beale Air Force Base, California, 1 February 1961 – 25 March 1965[18][19]

Aircraft and missiles

  • Douglas A-20 Havoc, 1941–1942
  • Douglas DB-7, 1941–1942
  • Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1942–1943
  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1944
  • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1944–1945
  • SM-68 (later HGM-25A) Titan I, 1962–1965[15][14]

Campaigns

Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Antisubmarine 7 December 1941 – 1 August 1943 78th Bombardment Squadron (later 7th Antisubmarine Squadron)[1]
Air Offensive, Europe 28 April 1944 – 5 June 1944 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]
Air Combat, EAME Theater 28 April 1944 – 11 May 1945 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]
Normandy 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]
Northern France 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]
Rhineland 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]
Ardennes-Alsace 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]
Central Europe 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 851st Bombardment Squadron[1]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Approved 22 March 1962. Description: On an Air Force blue disc, fimbriated white, within a red border, a white globe shaded light bluish-gray, surmounted in dexter base by an atomic symbol of three orbits counterchanged; in dexter a red and Air Force golden yellow nosecone pointing downward leaving a lightning-like trail arched to base and surmounting the globe in sinister, red, bordered Air Force golden yellow.
  2. ^ Although assigned the fuselage code, the squadron did not display the code until after the war had ended. Watkins, pp. 116–117.
  3. ^ The United States impounded 356 DB-7s ordered for France or Great Britain Baugher, Joseph (27 October 2001). "Douglas DB-73". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 1 November 2018..
  4. Ford Motors built Consolidated B-24H-20-FO Liberator, serial 42-94837, The Jinx. This plane was broken up in the United Kingdom in May 1945. Baugher, Joe (26 July 2023). "1942 USAF Serial Numbers"
    . Joe Baugher. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  5. ^ Unlike most bases used by the Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom, Eye had been built by US Army aviation engineers as a heavy bomber base. Anderson, p. 6.
  6. Kingman Army Air Field on 15 December 1945. It was sold for scrap in July 1946. Baugher, Joe (14 May 2023). "1943 USAF Serial Numbers"
    . Joe Baugher. Retrieved 1 August 2023. Photograph taken at RAF Eye. This aircraft completed 67 missions.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 781–782
  2. ^ Watkins, pp.116–117
  3. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Units, p. 103
  4. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, p. 437
  5. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, p. 389
  6. ^ Ferguson, pp. 136, 141
  7. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 120–121
  8. ^ Fercuson, p. 14
  9. ^ Ferguson, pp. 82–83
  10. ^ a b c d e Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 359–360
  11. ^ a b c d Freeman, p. 261
  12. ^ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 36
  13. ^ a b c d "Titan I at Beale AFB, California". The Military Standard. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b c SAC Missile Chronology, p. 47
  15. ^ a b c Lineage, including assignments, aircraft and missiles, through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 781–782.
  16. ^ Ravenstein, pp.251–252
  17. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 21.
  18. ^ Stations through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 781–782, except as noted.
  19. ^ Mueller, p. 26

Bibliography

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

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