Naval Base Upolu
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Naval Base Upolu was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1942 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on Upolu Island, Samoa in the Western Pacific Ocean, part of the Samoan Islands's Naval Base Samoa. After the surprise attack on Naval Station Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US Navy was in need of setting up more advance bases in the Pacific Ocean. At Naval Base Upolu the Navy built a sea port, an airbase and a seaplane base.
A Martin PBM Mariner plane is loaded on USS Chandeleur (AV-10)'s aft deck in Apia Harbor, Samoa, 15 February 1943. The nose of the plane had been damaged during a take off attempt due to wind and high sea.
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, right, and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific, center, talks with a Navy officer while inspecting US defenses at Upolu Island, Samoa, in January 1943.
Samoa Upolu
Upolu Island Beach
VMF-111
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Marine Fighting Squadron 111 (VMF-111) was a reserve fighter squadron in the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed the "Devil Dogs", the squadron was one of the first aviation squadrons in the Marine Corps and gained national attention in the 1930s as the Marine Corps show unit. The squadron fought in World War II and was later transferred to the Reserves where they fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 41 (MAG-41) and the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing while stationed at Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas. They were decommissioned on 22 October 1965.
Grumman F3F-2 (BuNo 0976) after retrieval in 1990. It was lost at sea while attempting to land on USS Saratoga on 29 August 1940 while with VMF-2. It has since been restored and is currently on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla.