Grumman J2F Duck, part three

 

The J2F-5 was the last variant manufactured before the USA entered the war. It was powered by a 950 hp Wright R-1820-50 radial engine, fitted inside a broad chord cowling which had the oil cooler incorporated. This variant was also fitted with stronger bomb racks, making it capable to carry 325 pound depth charges, and the rear .30 caliber machine gun. During the war, most J2F-5s were retained at bases in the United States or far from the frontline, other Ducks saw distinguished service in the Pacific, as they were used by the Marines and the US Navy to recover downed pilots from the sea and Japanese held islands.

It was a J2F-5 assigned to the naval base at Cavite, Philippines, that provided supply and medical evacuation for the Bataan garrison in early 1942. On 8th April 1942 a single J2F-5 left Cabcaben, in Bataan, with six men, among them president Carlos Romulo, who would later become president of the Republic of The Philippines. 

In order to free Grumman for production of fighters and torpedo-bombers, the US Navy transferred production of the Duck to Columbia Aircraft Corporation in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York. With the designation of J2F-6, Columbia manufactured 330 J2F-6s from 1942 until August 1945. The only remarkable difference between the J2F-5 and the J2F-6 was the introduction of the 1.050 hp Wright R-1820-54 air-cooled radial engine.

The final mission for the Duck in Coast-Guard/US Navy service took place in 1946/1947. A single J2F-6 assigned to USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282), a Wind-class icebreaker, took part, as Navy Task Force 68 in the Antarctic expedition named Operation High Jump, with Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd as Officer-in-Charge of scientific programs. That Duck performed reconnaissance flights over the South Pole region, liaison and supply flights, weather reconnaissance and acted as standby rescue and medical evacuation aircraft. The J2F-6 and the crew of the Northwind, under the command of Captain Charles W. Thomas, earned the praise of Byrd and received much of the credit the success of supporting operations for the scientific programs.

The Duck also served with the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) when a single naval J2F-5 was transferred during 1942. It was designated Grumman OA-12 and it served mostly in the North Atlantic region, based at Newfoundland and Fort MacAndrews, in Nova Scotia, Canada. It returned to the United States in 1945 and was disposed off as a surplus at Bush Field, in Augusta, Georgia on 15th June 1945.

Later, additional OA-12s were drawn from surplus US Navy stocks and overhauled at Warner Robins, Georgia for Arctic operations. Five OA-12s were assigned to the 10th Air Rescue Squadron (which would eventually become the 10th Air Rescue Group) assigned to the Alaskan Air Command, after the creation of the United States Air Force (USAF). Those Ducks operated from Elmendorf Air Force Base (AFB) in Anchorage and at Ladd AFB in Fairbanks from 1948 until early 1950s. One OA-12A crashed on Lake Chekatna in August 1948 during landing. It was recovered during the 1970s and nowadays is at display (and remains airworthy) in Alaska Aviation Museum, in Anchorage.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_J2F_Duck

2. Squadron Signal - Aircraft in Action Mini 7 - Grumman JF Duck

3. https://www.valka.cz/Grumman-J2F-6-Duck-t11170

4. https://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=86152