1944 — Nov 7, USN PB4Y-1 crash, liferaft went out window/fouled tail off Ft. Monroe, VA–12
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 13 Salisbury Times, MD. “Paratrooper’s Wounds Fatal…Airman Missing.” 11-9-1944, p. 1.
— 12 Aviation Safety Network. US Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator, near Ft. Monroe, VA, 11-7-1944.
— 12 Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 10-11-2009 rev.
— 12 Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Patrols Search for 12 Missing in Crash.” 11-8-1944, 1.
Narrative Information
Aviation Archaeology Investigation & Research: “38966 PB4Y-1….Wrecked…VA, Fort Monroe, 1 mi. west of. Rubber raft came out of side window and fouled on tail, crashed into water, 1 mi. W. of Ft. Monroe, Va., Loss date 7 Nov 44.” (“PB4Y USN Aircraft Airframe History List.”)
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation:
“Date: Tuesday 7 November 1944
“Type: Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator
“Owner/operator: US Navy
“Registration: 38966
….
“Narrative: Life raft fouled stabilizer and elevators and dove in near Ft Monrow, VA. 12 killed.”
Baugher: “Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator….38966 (ex USAAF 44-41555) life raft fouled stabilizer and elevators and dove in near Ft Monroe, VA 11/7/1944. 12 killed.” (Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 10-11-2009 revision.)
Newspapers
Nov 8: “Norfolk, Va., Nov. 8 – (UP) — Coast guard patrols searched the waters off Old Point Comfort today, for 12 men reported missing after a navy plane crashed in the Atlantic late last night. The body of the thirteenth passenger – that of Henry Lynn, aviation radioman third class – was recovered. Lynn’s wife, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Lynn, lives at Tonawanda.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Patrols Search for 12 Missing in Crash.” 11-8-1944, p. 1.)
Nov 9: “Twenty-five-year-old W. Alfred Parker, ARM 1-c, husband of Mrs. Katherine Adkins Parker, and son of Mrs. Willis Parker, Pittsville [MD], is reported missing after the crash of a Navy Liberator bomber at Hampton Roads, Va., his family has been informed. A pre-Pearl Harbor veteran, Parker had recently returned to the U. S. after two years of service in South America. He has been in the Navy for five years.
“His family learned that he was one of 13 men aboard the bomber lost when it crashed soon after a takeoff from the naval air station at Norfolk. Today his body had not been recovered from the submerged craft three days after it fell….” (Salisbury Times, MD. “Paratrooper’s Wounds Fatal…Airman Missing.” 11-9-1944, p. 1.)
Sources
Aviation Archaeology Investigation & Research. “PB4Y USN Aircraft Airframe History List.” Accessed 11-29-2011 at: http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/PB4Y.htm
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 81641. US Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator, near Ft. Monroe, VA, 11-7-1944. Accessed 3-18-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/81641
Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 8-6-2012 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries4.html
Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Patrols Search for 12 Missing in Crash.” 11-8-1944, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=36050225
Salisbury Times, MD. “Paratrooper’s Wounds Fatal…Airman Missing.” 11-9-1944, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=680022