A-1 lifeboat

[1] In the United States, Andrew Higgins evaluated the Fox boat and found it too weak to survive mishap in emergency operations.

Unlike the larger version for the USAAF, the smaller Higgins air dropped lifeboat was designed to rescue only eight or fewer persons.

The boat dropped free for a short distance, then static lines attached to the aircraft's bomb bay catwalk drew taut, pulling out three 48-foot (15 m) parachutes of a standard U.S. Army design.

[4] The first Higgins airborne lifeboat used in an emergency was dropped on March 31, 1945, in the North Sea, some 8 miles (13 km) offshore of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog.

Darkness, distance, and poor visibility prevented the Catalina men from making contact with the Mustang pilot who drifted in a raft and was eventually taken prisoner of war.

Another Warwick dropped another Fox airborne lifeboat some distance away, but its parachute didn't open and it was destroyed upon striking the water.

On April 4 in continuing rough seas, the airmen were picked up by two Rescue Motor Launch (RML) boats, and the Higgins A-1 lifeboat, unable to be towed, was intentionally sunk by gunfire.

At the final bombing mission on August 14, 1945, 9 land-based Dumbos and 21 flying boats covered a surface and sub-surface force of 14 submarines and 5 rescue ships.