Patrick D. Fleming

"Vorse's Vipers" entered combat in the Pacific in early November 1944. Following closely on the heels of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Vipers flew missions over Luzon between 5—6 November as part of Task Group 38.3, aiding in the retaking of the Philippines. Patrick Fleming became one of the first men in his squadron to record a kill when on the first day of strikes he shot down a Mitsubishi A6M Zero after strafing/rocket attacks on shipping in Manila Bay. The lone Zero began with an altitude advantage, but upon seeing the division of American fighters dove towards the water to attempt escape. Greater weight and a more powerful engine put Fleming's Hellcat on his enemy's tail in short order, and with two bursts from the plane's six guns he sent the Zero crashing down in flames. From this point on when Fleming scored during a sortie, he would ensure enemy pilots didn't go down alone.[3]

"Tico" returned to the Leyte and the Luzon area two more times in November to continue attacks on shipping at e.g. Ormoc Bay and Santa Cruz Harbor, and to destroy air installations at sites like Clark Field. Fleming's next aerial victories came on 25 November 1944 during the second strike of the day. Dive and torpedo bombers—along with their fighter escort—were vectored out to finish off a Mogami-class cruiser heavily damaged by the first strike. While the rest of the fighters worked over and successfully sank the crippled cruiser off Luzon's western coast, Fleming and his wingman Ens. Beaudry were busy serving as communications relay on the opposite side of the island. The two-man section noticed a group of 5 Yokosuka P1Y "Frances" bombers heading south towards the task group. They moved immediately to intercept, making overhead runs on the slower, comparatively ungainly twin-engine bombers. They knocked out 3 of the 5 with their first pass—two for Fleming and one for his wingman. There wasn't to be a second pass: the remaining Frances turned tail and ran.[4]

On 14 December 1944, Fleming became an ace pilot. He led one of two VF-80 divisions flying together with VF outfits from USS Essex, Langley and San Jacinto on an afternoon fighter sweep over enemy airfields on Northern Luzon. Turning up nothing of interest at the first target area, the fighters re-routed southward to investigate reports of an enemy destroyer sighted earlier in the day. Cruising en route to those coordinates at 9,000′, they spotted a gaggle of twenty or so Japanese fighters (Zeros and Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscars") flying at lower altitude in loose formation, also heading on a southerly course. The American pilots jettisoned rockets and bombs before approach and a savage first pass was made on the unsuspecting bandits. Either the Japanese were taken completely by surprise or they misidentified the incoming Hellcats as friendlies. Whatever the case, about half of the Japanese fighters were destroyed or damaged in that first pass, negating their numerical superiority. Fleming claimed two.

When the F6F-5s pulled out of their runs, however, Japanese reinforcements arrived on the scene. VF-80 and company were outnumbered once again and no longer had surprise on their side. A wild dog fight ensued. In the melee many sections were dispersed, but Fleming and his wingman Beaudry managed to stick together. Fleming destroyed two more during the back-and-forth to run his day's score to four. Despite altitude and numerical disadvantages during this scrape, the pilots of VF-80 returned to their carrier without a single bullet hole in their planes, boasting a net of 19 enemy aircraft destroyed and more damaged.[5]

Fleming in 1945 getting ready to take to the skies

The next big day for Fleming came on 3 January 1945. He was chosen to lead three divisions on a morning sweep of airfields on central Luzon. Weather conditions rendered strikes difficult; even grouping up was problematic. By the time the divisions assembled only 10 of 12 fighters managed to get together, and due to cloud cover they chose slightly different targets than were originally assigned. Fleming's ten fighters twice encountered enemy formations. First, before reaching Koryu airfield, they spotted four Zeros flying south just off the western coast of the island. When the Japanese noticed the Americans, they split into two groups of two on separate headings. One pair continued southward while the other turned inland. The Vipers similarly split into two groups of six and four respectively. Fleming and his wingman Beaudry, in the latter group, loosed their ordnance and raced after the Zeros. Once again Fleming got the better of Beaudry, downing one along with Lt.(jg) Woodward. The men in the other group were similarly successful: both enemy fighters destroyed, no losses incurred. Those among the 10 Hellcats who held onto their payloads delivered them on Koryu and Shinchiku, taking on meager anti-aircraft fire in the process but scoring significant hits on installations on the runways themselves. In the wake of this bombing/strafing activity the sweep encountered its second batch of Japanese fighters, this time consisting of Oscars or Zeros, and Nakajima Ki-44 fighters nicknamed "Tojo." The enemies were split 3-2 between thin cloud cover, apparently trying to set a trap for any enemy fighters coming it at lower altitudes. Fleming et al. were positioned just right to see both groups, however, and the balance of Hellcats came in hard on the heels of the high cover fliers. All three Japanese fighters broke ranks and flew singularly, either to flee or to turn into the American charge. It was over quickly though, and results were similar to those experienced earlier in the day. It was Beaudry's turn to flame his quarry this time; two other pilots had the same luck with their targets. Seeing the high-fliers taken well in hand, Fleming zoomed down through the clouds on the lure planes. He flamed the Tojo on his first past and then shot the Oscar/Zeke off Ensign Parrish's tail, racking up a total of three for the day's efforts.[6]

At the close of 1944, the US Navy decided it needed to significantly alter carrier air group composition to include many more fighter aircraft. The new norm of Japanese kamikaze tactics required beefed up combat air patrols for task groups and the implementation of supplemental "Jack Patrols" to spot low-flying bandits. To ease the bureaucratic difficulty of expanding fighter squadrons this way, existing squadrons were split into Fighter (VF) and Fighter-Bomber (VBF) squadrons. When this division was finally achieved aboard Ticonderoga on 10 January, Patrick Fleming became Executive Officer of the newly formed VBF-80.[7]

Towards the end of January Ticonderoga moved to execute strikes against Formosa, prompting the depleted Japanese navy and air forces to respond with Kamikaze tactics. The morning of the attack on 21 January offered unlimited visibility and bright skies, giving Japanese pilots clear lines of sight to their targets. A handful got past the CAP and successfully dodged anti-aircraft fire put up by the task group. Two of these struck the flight deck and island structure of the carrier, setting off bombs in compartments adjacent to the hangar deck where fueled, armed planes lay in wait. Explosions wracked the ship, but the firefighting teams aboard Tico ultimately managed to quench the flames. No longer in fighting condition, Ticonderoga retired to Ulithi and Carrier Group 80 (CVG-80) took up residence aboard the USS Hancock.

February was a big month for Patrick Fleming and for the whole of Vorse's Vipers. On the 15th, the Fast Carrier Task Force began launching its first aerial assault against Tokyo.[2]^: 22 During two consecutive days of this operation—16 February and 17 February 1945—Ticonderoga's fighters shot down more than 65 Japanese aircraft with 25 or more probably destroyed or damaged in aerial combat; Fleming alone scored nine between the two days, running his final tally to 19 confirmed kills and cementing his position as the squadron's high-scorer. The Vipers suffered only three combat losses in these sorties.

Strikes against Chiba Peninsula's airfields occurred on 16 February. Fleming led a noontime sweep through hazy skies with the objective of destroying installations at Mobara airfield, one of the major strips in the vicinity of Tokyo. In the immediate wake of successful fighter bombing runs on Mobara's hangars Fleming spotted a band of Japanese fighters, mostly Zeros, milling about at high altitude north of the target zone. He chased the nearest enemies up to their level just under the clouds, charging his guns for the first pass. Two were quickly flamed from astern; the rest fled. Following some of the running Zekes down almost to ground level at Mobara, Fleming stuck with his quarry even as anti-aircraft fire filled the skies around him. Only after he'd exploded the two planes he was chasing did he pull out of his run and away from enemy fire. One more victory was scored by Fleming before returning to Hancock, running his day's total to five.[8]^: 28

In the early morning hours of the 17th Fleming knocked another four out of the air. He was again assigned as leader and again flew with the usual suspects in his division: his wingman Beaudry, as well as a section consisting of Lt. Cormier and Ens. Fraifogle. This sweep was assigned more airfields to disable starting in the vicinity of the Katori Area, with subsequent targets heading south as far as Mobara. Finding no significant opposition at Katori, the ten-man sweep proceeded past Yachimata towards Mobara flying at 12,000′. Before arriving there, however, they spotted 15-20 Japanese aircraft at around 6,000′ including a group of six Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" fighters. The Nate model was out of date even before Pearl Harbor and stood little chance against the significantly more advanced Hellcat. Lt. Fleming tore into the half dozen aged fighters, picking off four to the rest of his division's two. After the uneven match—VF-80 again reported no bullets taken in the brief scuffle—, the division headed down to the airfields for rocket attacks and strafing before their return to Hancock.[8]^: 42

Lieutenant Patrick Dawson Fleming

U.S. Navy

Date Of Action: February 16, 1945

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Patrick Dawson Fleming, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Fighter Plane in Bombing Fighting Squadron EIGHTY (VBF-80), attached to the U.S.S. HANCOCK (CV-19), in the action against Tokyo air fields on 16 February 1945. He skillfully and courageously led a division of planes on a fighter sweep against enemy airpower. During the action, he personally destroyed five aircraft in the air amid heavy anti-aircraft fire. His skill and courage coupled with his leadership and complete disregard for his personal safety were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Patrick Fleming was also posthumously awarded the Air Force Association's David C. Schilling Award in 1957. The award is given annually for "the most outstanding contribution in the field of flight."