Carrier Service Unit Number One (CASU 1) (1 Viewer)

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Guntojim, I have had some photos from CASU 11 posted on this thread. I am going to do some more from Guadalcanal that I have.
 
Hello,

I recently received a copy of my fathers Notice of Separation from the Navy, he served in WWII. I'm attempting to learn as much as I can for our family, as he passed in 1995. Do you know anything about CASU-50 and/or CASU (F)-11?

I would greatly appreciate anything you can offer.

Thank you,
Dawn
 
4pops said:
My father was with CASU 34: Kwajalien and Eniwetok/Parry air bases from March of 1944 for the duration. Any info/guidance/pix would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone ever seen a CASU 34 insignia patch???
Click to expand...

my dad was also in that casu (34) and those locations as well starting in january 1944.
my dad said he has a photo in a magazine (as well as some other personal photos) of a machine shop truck on parry island with the casu 34 insignia on the door. he said there wasn't a patch that you'd wear on your clothing. i'll be going to see my folks this saturday and i'll see what i can get from him.

have you been able to contact anyone else from that unit?
my dad is still alive (86yrs) and i'm sure he'd like to get in touch with them.

contact me by email and we'll see what we can come up with.
nnnsssbbb123@yahoo.com - my name is scott.
 
Hello.. my Uncle George Wilson was with CASU-47 i Saipan in 1945... he is still alive. Searching for info, and patch insignia's, and persons willing to correspomd and share a few memories! Thankyou, Dave Wilson

please contact me at my e-mail. My Uncle George Wilson was in casu-47 at Saipan, and is still alive. Seeking info, pics, patche/insignia design, etc. He is still alert and healthy. Thanyou, Dave Wilson
 
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Just found this site and really enjoy reading all the history. My Dad was in CASU44 on Tinian. If anyone is interested I have setup a website for CASU44 and have a lot of pictures and information. I enjoy meeting and talking with some of the guys that were with CASU44 and their relatives so if I can help just let me know.


 
To all,

I am a retired Navy Commander trying to investigate my Dad's WW II history with CASU 11 on Guadacanal. His name is Robert Henry Little and according to his Service record, CASU 11 was commissioned Jan 1943 in San Diego and sailed for the Western Pacific Feb 1943 in various ships. There was too many men to sail in one ship so it was not until Espiritu Santo in the Southwest Pacific that CASU 11 became totally organized. Some time late Feb 1943 CASU 11 arrived Guadalcanal - Dad was assigned to the SBD Engineering Crew working on Dauantless Dive Bomber engines.

Recently I discovered a web site called FOLD3, it is a National Archives affiliated site with thousands of WW II documents. It is free for a week or can be subscribed to for an annual fee. On this site I have found a lot on material on CASUs - open site, go to WW II portion, scribe down to the Wartime Diaries, select "C" from the roll down list and as you roll down the C list you will find many CASUs listed, however, no CASU 11.

Dad's service record show him returning home Jun 1944 onboard the USS Rochambeau and while no CASU 11 on FOLD3, there was war time material for the USS Rochambeau including their multi-page log document detailing the trip bringing part of CASU 11 home - Dad was picked up Guadalcanal 29 Jun 1944 and home in San Diego 20 Jul 1944. I believe CASU 11 was disestablished shortly after this date - with all CASUs closed down Jul 1946.

The Naval Aviation News Magazine has a multi-page article about CASUs in their 1 Sep 1944 issue and if you Google "Our Coral Carriers Helped Turn the Tide of Battle" you will find a very interesting article on CASUs. The only picture I have of Dad during his Guadalcanal time is a group photo of the SBD Engineering Crew, which I have inserted below.

Would really like to hear if anyone has additional CASU 11 information.

Regards, Bill

View attachment Dad's Guadalcanal Group Picture 20 Jul 1943.pdf
 

I did a quick search on Ancestry.com and located the Muster Rolls with a Walter Junior Smith. According to the Muster Rolls of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Twelve, He joined that Squadron about June 6, 1943
 

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I want to thank everyone who have come here with bits and pieces of the history of various CASUs. I encourage everyone to continue to check in on this thread from time to time as someone may have answered any questions that were posted.

Thanks for keeping this thread alive!
 
My father was Charles Joseph "Joe" Thornton of Winfield, Kan. He graduated from high school in 1943, was drafted into the Navy and trained at Whidbey Island in Washington and a base I don't recall in Idaho. He rarely talked about the war and never at length. He had a few photos from his Navy years, but never looked at them. Over the years some were lost or water damaged. He did not stay in touch with anybody from the Navy. From notes on a few photos, I believe he served as an Aircraft Ordnanceman 2/c with the ordnance section of Carrier Aircraft Support Unit 42. I also believe from his occasional remarks that he was stationed at different times at Navy bases on Roi-Namur and Pityilu. For most of my life I thought Pityilu was a name he made up because he always pronounced it "pity-loooooou" like it was a word from a song. Now thanks to Professor Google, I've found it was an actual island in the Pacific and the site of a large base. I will post his photos here with any information I have about them. My father is shown at right in the attached photo. There is no writing on the photo so I don't know where or when it was taken or who the other man is. I've been told the float they're leaning against belongs to a Vought OS2U Kingfisher, but don't know enough about aircraft to tell. However, all the photos I can find of the Kingfisher show a two-bladed propeller and this aircraft seems to have a four-bladed propeller. It could be a Curtis SC Seahawk, which had a four-bladed propeller, although those were not introduced until very late in the war.

 
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Pityilu is an island that is part of Manus, Admiralty islands, Papua New Guinea.

The island group was seized by US troops in early 1944 as part of Operation Cartwheel; the isolation and reduction of Rabaul. Engineers quickly constructed several airfields and made Seeadler Harbor an important staging base for future allied invasions throughout the Pacific.

Pacific Wrecks - Pityilu Island
 
I suspect this unidentified photo shows the airstrip and surrounding naval base on Roi-Namur Atoll in the Marshall Islands where my Dad was stationed late in WWII with CASU 42. According to Wikipedia, the island was captured by the 4th Marine Division in February, 1944, then used to support operations in the western Pacific. This photo may have been taken from a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber, considering the dive brakes visible on the trailing edge of the wing.

Roi-Namur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
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