1945 — Feb 13, USN transport crash, wing hits water, early AM takeoff, off Alameda, CA– 24
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/ Last edit 12-12-2023.
— 24 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). California 1940-1949. # 42-50765
— 24 Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (50360 to 60009). 10-27-2011 rev.
— 24 Check-Six.com. “Derailing a ‘Skytrain’…Near Oakland, California, February 13th, 1945.
— 24 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 31.
— 24 Oakland Tribune, CA. “24 Perish in Plane Crash off Alameda.” 2-13-1945, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Douglas R4D-6….50765 (ATS-3) flew into water during instrument approach[1] to NAS Oakland, CA Feb 13, 1945. 24 killed.” (Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (50360 to 60009). 10-27-2011 rev.)
Check-Six.com: “On the morning of February 13th, 1945, R5D #50765, assignws to Air Transport Squadron 3 (ATS-3), took off from the Naval Air Station at Oakland at 6:52, bound for New York. On board were 21 passengers, and a flight crew by three.
“According to newspaper accounts of the time, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baldrick of Alameda said they heard the plane flying very low over their house. The motors apparently went dead and later they heard a heavy, rumbling noise.
“Shortly after takeoff, at 7:05 in the morning, the right wing struck the water as the plane made a wide turn. The plane dived into the water about three-quarters of a mile off Chestnut street in Alameda, and broke up when it hit the water. The crash boats responding to the crash were only able to find the tail and part of one wing, as most of the plane buried itself deep in the mud.
“The first body found was that of a sailor who had 40-day leave papers in his pocket. After five hours of searching, only four bodies had been recovered. Two more were recovered by sunset. By the end of the following day, the 12th Naval District reported the recovery of eight more bodies, bringing the total to 14 found. The bodies found by crash boats and salvage crews were those of eight navy enlisted men and four officers besides the two army men.” (Check-Six.com. “Derailing a ‘Skytrain’…Near Oakland, California, February 13th, 1945.)
Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908:
“Date: 13 February 1945 (c.06:30)
“Location: Near Oakland, California, US
“Operator: US Navy
“Aircraft type: Douglas R4D-6 (50765)
“All 24 American servicemen aboard were killed, including a crew of three, when the twin-engine transport crashed in San Francisco Bay shortly after its departure from the Oakland airport. The main wreckage and the bodies of 17 victims were recovered from the water. Among the latter, the cause of death was divided by approximately half between traumatic injury and drowning.
“Ultimately bound for the US East Coast, the aircraft had taken off from Runway 27 and proceeded towards the west before making a right turn, whereupon its starboard wing struck the surface of the bay. Its undercarriage still extended, the R4D then slammed into the water. It was dark at the time, being before dawn, and the local weather consisted of a light drizzle, with a ceiling of 700ft (200m) and unlimited visibility under the clouds. The wind was out of the south-east at 5 knots. The aircraft’s gyro horizon was found to be caged, or locked in a fixed position, and this could have been a factor in the crash. Because of this, it was recommended in the investigative report, that Navy transports be equipped with non-cageable gyro horizon units. Among the other recommendations was for a greater emphasis on the instrument training of pilots, specifically, in the use of rate-of-climb and turn-and-bank indicators, magnetic compass and clock.” (Gero 1999, 32.)
Newspaper
Feb 13: “Twenty-four persons were killed today when a Navy transport plane crashed into the Bay a mile off the foot of Chestnut Street, Alameda, 13 minutes after it took off on an east-bout flight from Oakland Airport.
“Bodies of seven men, some of them officers, were recovered several hours later by a fleet of crash boats rushed to the scene….
“Residents of the neighborhood around Clinton Avenue and Chestnut Street heard the plane fly low over their homes at about 7 a.m. Then, they said, the motors seemed to quit and there was a resounding crash as the two-motored transport hit the water.
“It was dark at the time, and the wreckage was not discovered until about 8 a.m., when a Navy salvage derrick from the Alameda Naval Air Station reached the scene with searchlights. Other rescue craft sent out by the Navy and Coast Guard closed in on the floating wreckage as the derrick put a line on the hulk and started lifting it out of 15 feet of water. Sailors found the bodies of two officers and an enlisted man floating on the surface in a litter of baggage and cigarette cartons. The salvage crews preceded cautiously because the water was covered with gasoline from the plane’s tanks.
“The transport, a land plane operated by the Naval Air Transport Service, took off from Oakland Airport at 6:52 a.m. en route to Bakersfield, Winslow, Ariz., Cleveland, O., and New York. Public relations officers at headquarters of the 12th Naval District placed the time of the crash at 7:05 a.m….
“As daylight came it was apparent that the transport had suffered motor trouble while still at a low altitude, had dipped into the water…[unclear] over and buried one wing in the mud. The force of the impact telescoped the fuselage killing the passengers and crewmen instantly and snapped one wing.
“Navy men said the pilot apparently had not been prepared for a crash landing and had no chance to…[unclear] his passengers….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “24 Perish in Plane Crash off Alameda.” 2-13-1945, p. 1.)
Sources
Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (50360 to 60009). Oct 27, 2011 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries6.html
Check-Six.com. “Derailing a ‘Skytrain’…Near Oakland, California, February 13th, 1945.” Accessed 10-16-2009 at: http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/USN-50765-Oakland.htm
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
Oakland Tribune, CA. “24 Perish in Plane Crash off Alameda.” 2-13-1945, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=34155418
[1] Incorrect — tot an approach crash – had just taken off.