Activation and antisubmarine warfare The
squadron was originally constituted as the
32d Reconnaissance Squadron, but was redesignated the
421st Bombardment Squadron before being activated in mid-1942 as one of the
304th Bombardment Group's four
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber squadrons. It was initially part of
Second Air Force for training, however it also flew
antisubmarine patrols over the Pacific Northwest coastline during the fall of 1942. The squadron was renamed the
20th Antisubmarine Squadron and moved to Newfoundland in late 1942 where it continued flying antisubmarine missions over the Northeast coastline from Newfoundland and
Long Island, New York during 1943 with
Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command.
Combat in Europe In October 1943, the squadron was redesignated the
847th Bombardment Squadron and moved to Wyoming where its personnel formed the
cadre for the newly forming
489th Bombardment Group. There the unit re-equipped with
Consolidated B-24 Liberators and once again trained with Second Air Force. The squadron completed combat training and departed
Wendover Field for overseas on 3 April 1944. The ground echelon sailed from Boston on board the on 13 April 1944, reaching
Liverpool on 21 April. The squadron arrived at
RAF Halesworth, England in April 1944, where it became part of
Eighth Air Force. The squadron entered combat on 30 May 1944 with an attack on
Oldenburg, Germany. On other missions, squadron aircraft flew into
Orleans/Bricy Airfield to deliver supplies.
Redeployment for the Pacific The squadron was part of the first group in
Eighth Air Force selected for redeployment to the Pacific theater and became non-operational on 14 November 1944 and most of its B-24s were assigned to other
groups in England. It was relieved of assignment to the theater on 29 November 1944, and returned to the United States. The 847th Squadron returned to
Bradley Field Connecticut at the end of December 1944, where most returning personnel were reassigned to other units while the squadron moved to
Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska. At Lincoln it became part of
Second Air Force for the third time. On 22 January 1945, the squadron's personnel were informed that previous plans for refresher training had been cancelled and instead the squadron and its associated 369th Air Service Group were retrained as
Boeing B-29 Superfortress combat and support units. However Second Air Force did not receive redesignation orders for the group until 17 March, until which time they were compelled to maintain duplicate rosters and tables of organization, one for a heavy bombardment group of four squadrons (which included the 847th), and one for a very heavy bombardment group of three squadrons (which did not). With the new orders in hand, the squadron was inactivated on 28 March. ==Lineage==