1948 — Nov 3, US Navy PB4Y-2 Plane Crash, 10 miles off Port Moller, Kodiak, AK   —     12

—  12  Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland).  Alaska, 1940-1949.  Reg. 59685.

—  12  Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (50360 to 60009). 10-27-2011 rev.

—  12  Oakland Tribune, CA. “Navy Plane Missing off Alaska, 12 Aboard.” 11-4-1948, p. 1.

—  12  Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Oak Harbor, WA. 

Narrative Information

Aircraft Crashes Record Office: “03Nov1948  59685 [Registration]  Consolidated Privateer  US Navy  Port Moller [Location] 12 [fatalities].” (Alaska, 1940-1949.)

Baugher: “Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer….59685 (VP-20) lost at sea off Port Moller, Alaska Nov 3, 1948.  12 crew missing.” (Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (50360 to 60009). 10-27-2011 revision.)

Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial: “VP-20.  3 Nov 1948: LT Paul R. Parker and his crew of eleven were lost when their PB4Y-2 crashed ten miles off Port Moller in Kodiak, Alaska.”  (Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Oak Harbor, WA.)

Newspaper

Nov 4: “Seattle, Wash., Nov. 4. – (UP) — A four-engine Navy plane with 12 men aboard is missing off Port Moller on the northern coast of the Alaska peninsula, the-Seattle Coast Guard said today.  The PB4Y-2, known as a Privateer, left Kodiak at 9:57 a.m. (PST) yesterday on a navigation flight to St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea.  The plane gave its position at 5:05 p.m. as in the Bristol Bay area, approaching Port Moller.  No word has been received from the craft since its final report, the Navy commander of the Alaska Sea frontier said.  An all-out Army-Navy aerial  and surface search began at dawn.”  (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Navy Plane Missing off Alaska, 12 Aboard.” 11-4-1948, p. 1.)

Sources

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Alaska, 1940-1949. Accessed 3-3-2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Alaska-1940-1949.htm

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

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Navy Plane Missing off Alaska, 12 Aboard.” 11-4-1948, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33920743

Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Oak Harbor, WA. “Historical Background.” Accessed 11-13-2011 at:  http://patron2.com/files/wpsm_files/wpsm_22.html

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