Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force received 42 Lockheed PV-2C Harpoons from 1953, which replaced the
Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver as an anti-submarine aircraft. The Harpoons equipped squadrons 61 and 62 at the
Montijo Air Base. In 1960, the Harpoons were replaced as maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft by
Lockheed P2V-5 Neptunes. The remaining Harpoons were sent to
Angola and
Mozambique, where they formed Squadron 91 operating from Luanda Air Base and Squadron 101 from Beira Air Base. The Harpoons were used on operations in the
Angolan and
Mozambican theatres of the
Portuguese Overseas War (1961–1974). They served mainly as light bombers and ground attack aircraft, with occasional reconnaissance, transport and maritime patrol sorties. The last Portuguese Harpoons were retired in 1975. The
Museu do Ar (Portuguese Air Museum) has what is believed to be the only remaining Lockheed PV-2C Harpoon in Europe.
Royal Air Force Ventura attacking
Ijmuiden, February 1943. The first Ventura Mark Is were accepted by the
Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 1941, with aircraft being delivered to Britain from April 1942. By the end of August, enough Venturas had arrived to equip
No. 21 Squadron RAF,
No. 487 Squadron RNZAF and
No. 464 Squadron RAAF. The Ventura flew its first operational mission for the RAF on 3 November 1942, when three Venturas of 21 Squadron attacked railway targets near
Hengelo in the
Netherlands. On 6 December 1942, 47 Venturas from 21, 464 (RAAF) and 487 (RNZAF) squadrons participated in
Operation Oyster, the large daylight 2 Group raid against the
Philips radio and
vacuum tube factories at
Eindhoven. Also committed to the raid were 36
Bostons and 10
de Havilland Mosquitos. Carrying incendiaries, they were placed in the third wave of aircraft, and suffered the highest rate of loss. Nine of the 47 Venturas were shot down and many others were damaged by flak or bird strikes. The force also lost four Bostons and one Mosquito. Six months later, on 3 May 1943, Venturas of 487 Squadron RNZAF were sent on
Operation Ramrod 16, an attack on a power station in
Amsterdam. The squadron was told that the target was of such importance to Dutch morale, that the attack was to be continued regardless of opposition. Significant problems developed with rendezvousing with the escorting fighters, with the result that all 10 Venturas that crossed the coast were lost to German fighters. Squadron Leader
Leonard Trent (later the last of
the Great Escapers) won the
Victoria Cross for his leadership in this raid. The Ventura was never very popular among RAF crews. Although it was faster and carried more than twice the bomb load of its predecessor, the
Hudson, it proved unsatisfactory as a bomber. By the summer of 1943, the Ventura had been replaced by the de Havilland Mosquito. The last Ventura raid was flown by 21 Squadron on 9 September 1943. Some Venturas were modified to be used by Coastal Command as the
Ventura G.R.I. and 387 PV-1s were used by the RAF as the
Ventura G.R.V in the Mediterranean and by Coastal Command. Some RAF aircraft were modified into
Ventura C.V transport aircraft. A small number of Venturas were also used in other air forces, including the RCAF, RNZAF and SAAF.
Royal Australian Air Force In the United Kingdom,
No. 464 Squadron RAAF formed (mixture of Commonwealth personnel) at
RAF Feltwell in September 1942 to operate the Ventura as part of
2 Group, Bomber Command; it converted to the de Havilland Mosquito in September 1943. In the Mediterranean,
No. 459 Squadron RAAF was equipped with the Ventura V between December 1943 to July 1944, flying mainly anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols. In Australia, 55 PV-1s were supplied to the RAAF for use in the
South West Pacific Area.
No. 13 Squadron RAAF was the only operational squadron in Australia equipped with the Ventura. It operated primarily in north-eastern
Queensland and then the
Northern Territory, and later serving in the
Borneo campaign of 1945. After the war, the squadron used its aircraft to help transport liberated
prisoners of war.
Royal Canadian Air Force The RCAF used 157 Ventura G.R. Mk.Vs operationally from 16 June 1942 to 18 April 1947 in the coastal patrol role in both Eastern and Western Air Command with 8, 113, 115, 145, and 149 Squadrons. 1 Central Flying School, Trenton, Ontario, and
RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick (RAF No. 34 Operational Training Unit) used 21 Ventura Mk. Is and 108 Ventura Mk.IIs, IIAs and IIIs for training with the
BCATP, as well as some converted Mk.Vs used as target tugs. All earlier marks were sold off by late 1947, while some Mk.Vs remained in use until the late 1950s. The RCAF operated 286 Venturas.
South African Air Force The SAAF also received some 135 PV-1s, which were used to protect shipping around the
Cape of Good Hope and to bomb
Italian shipping in the Mediterranean. In December 1942 four SAAF Venturas dropped supplies to survivors of the shipwreck on
South-West Africa's
Skeleton Coast. Venturas served in the South African Air Force until 1960.
Soviet Air Force A few US Navy PV-1s force-landed in the Soviet Union after attacking Japanese targets on the Kurile islands and were impounded. Some of them were repaired and pressed into service by the Soviet Air Force where the type became known as the B-34. By December 1944, eight planes were located on airfields on Kamchatka: four were fully airworthy, three were undergoing repairs and one was a write-off. By 1945 seven PV-1s (five of them being airworthy) were used by the Soviets, one plane was the personal liaison aircraft of Ltc M.A. Yeryomin. The planes were used during the Soviet-Japanese campaign in August 1945. After the end of the war only one aircraft remained in service.
Royal New Zealand Air Force early 1943 From August 1942, 487 Squadron RNZAF, (operating in Europe as part of the RAF), was equipped with the type, although losses (including on 3 May 1943 the loss of all 11 aircraft attacking Amsterdam), led to their replacement with the de Havilland Mosquito in June. The
Royal New Zealand Air Force in the
Pacific received 139 Venturas and some Harpoons from June 1943 to replace Lockheed Hudsons in the maritime patrol bomber and medium bomber roles. Initially Venturas were unpopular with the RNZAF due to rumoured poor performance on one engine, the fate of Squadron Leader Leonard Trent VC of 487 Squadron (above) as well as the failure of the U.S. to provide
New Zealand with promised
B-24 Liberators. Despite that the RNZAF Venturas came to be among the most widely used of any nation's, seeing substantial action until
VJ Day over South West Pacific islands. The first 19 RB-34s that arrived by sea from the U.S. in June had much equipment either missing or damaged. Six airworthy machines were hurriedly produced by cannibalization and sent into action with
No. 3 Squadron RNZAF in
Fiji. On 26 June the first PV-1s were flown to
Whenuapai and
No. 1 Squadron RNZAF was able to convert to 18 of these by 1 August, then replacing the mixed 3 Squadron in action at
Henderson Field,
Guadalcanal in late October. By this time
No. 2 Squadron RNZAF at
Ohakea and
No. 9 Squadron RNZAF were also using the type. The following year
No. 4 Squadron RNZAF and
No. 8 Squadron RNZAF also received Venturas. Some squadrons were retained on
garrison duty while others followed the allied advance to
Emirau and
Green Island and to
New Britain. RNZAF Venturas were tasked with routine patrols, anti-shipping strikes, minelaying, bombing and strafing missions,
air-sea rescue patrols, and photographic reconnaissance missions. RNZAF machines often clashed with Japanese fighters, notably during an air-sea rescue patrol on Christmas Eve 1943. NZ4509 was attacked by nine Japanese single-engine fighters over St. George's Channel. It shot down three, later confirmed, and claimed two others as probable, although it suffered heavy damage in the action. The pilot, Flying Officer D. Ayson and navigator, Warrant Officer W. Williams, were awarded the DFC. The dorsal turret gunner Flight Sergeant G. Hannah was awarded the DFM. By late 1944 the Ventura began to be phased out of frontline action as the RNZAF backed away from the Patrol Bomber concept, orders for PV-2 Harpoons were canceled after a handful of aircraft had been delivered. At VJ Day only 30 PV-1 aircraft remained on the front-line with No. 3 Squadron at
Jacquinot Bay. Planned re-equipment with de Havilland Mosquitos did not take place until after the cessation of hostilities. The last Ventura unit was No. 2 Squadron, which continued to operate PV-1 and PV-2 aircraft on meteorological duty until 1948. A restored RNZAF RB-34 (NZ4600) is owned by the
Museum of Transport and Technology in
Auckland.
United States Army Air Forces Some 264 Ventura Mark IIs ordered by the RAF were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force. Though some were used as anti-submarine patrol bombers under the designation
B-34 Lexington, most were used for training with various stateside units. Twenty-seven of these were used by the U.S. Navy for anti-submarine patrols as well; these were designated PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon.
United States Navy in the Caribbean in 1944. at
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, c.1945–46 , March 1944 During the early months of 1942, the primary responsibility for anti-submarine warfare in the United States was shouldered by the Army Air Forces. This irked the Navy, as it considered this region of battle its burden. To carry out such a task, the Navy was pursuing a long-range, land-based patrol and reconnaissance aircraft with a substantial bomb load. This goal was always resisted by the Army Air Forces, which carefully protected its monopoly on land-based bombing. This forced the navy to use long-range floatplanes for these roles. The Navy was unable to upgrade to more capable aircraft until the Army Air Forces needed the Navy plant in
Renton, Washington to manufacture its
Boeing B-29 Superfortress. In exchange for use of the Renton plant, the Army Air Forces would discontinue its objections to Naval land-based bombers, and provide aircraft to the Navy. One of the clauses of this agreement stated that production of the B-34 and B-37 by Lockheed would cease, and instead these resources would be directed at building a navalized version, the
PV-1 Ventura. The PV-1 began to be delivered in December 1942, and entered service in February 1943. The first squadron in combat was VP-135, deployed in the Aleutian Islands in April 1943. They were operated by three other squadrons in this theatre. From the Aleutians, they flew strikes against Paramushiro, a Japanese island. Often, PV-1s would lead B-24 bomber formations, since they were equipped with radar. In late 1943, PV-1s were deployed to the Solomon Islands and to the newly captured field at
Tarawa in the
Gilbert Islands. After the war, the U.S. Navy deemed many PV-1s obsolete and the aircraft were sent to
Naval Air Station Clinton, Oklahoma to be demilitarized and reduced to scrap.
Other operators •
Brazil (15 Venturas, 5 Harpoons) •
Italy (22 Harpoons) •
Japan (17 Harpoons) •
Netherlands (18 Harpoons) •
Peru (6 Harpoons) ==Variants==