United States Navy (USN) Airship Utility Squadron 1 (ZJ-1) was established on February 10, 1944. Headquartered at Meacham Field, Key West, Florida, ZJ-1 performed mainly aerial photography, electronic equipment calibration, and torpedo recovery. By assuming such technical utility functions, ZJ-1 (the Navy's only airship utility squadron), allowed the patrol squadrons (ZPs) to concentrate on anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
Detachment One of ZJ-1 operated several K-class and G-class blimps out of Naval Air Station (NAS) South Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1944 and 1945. Sub-detachments also operated from Elizabeth Field on Fisher's Island, New York; the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Virginia; and the Naval Mine Warfare Test Station, Solomons, Maryland. ZJ-1 recovered torpedos for Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island.
ZJ-1, Detachment 1, Fisher's Island, NY
ZJ-1, Airship G-7, 1/2-ton Heavy, June 27, 1944
Airship Utility Squadron 1 (Utron) is mentioned in the ZP-11 War Diary for February 1944
Airship Utility Squadron 1 is mentioned several times in the ZP-11 Squadron Diary (this is a large 8 MB pdf file).
The ZJ-1 photos on this page were copied by Marc Frattasio at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, MD and kindly provided to preserve the history of ZJ‑1.
Links
The Naval Airship Association, Inc.
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