1951 — Nov 6, US Navy P2V-3W Neptune shot down by Soviet planes, Sea of Japan –all 10

–10 Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. “Personnel Accounting Progress Cold War Fact..”
–10 Lednicer. “Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections…Cold War…” 4-16-2011.
–10 Peterson. “…The SIGINT on Thirteen Soviet Shootdowns.” Cryptologic Quarterly, 1993, p9.
–10 Naval Historical Center. “FAQs…Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Personnel…”

Narrative Information

Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office: “Nov. 6, 1951, a U.S. Navy P2V Neptune aircraft was shot down over the Sea of Japan. The entire crew of 10 remains unaccounted for.” (Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. “Personnel Accounting Progress Cold War Fact Sheet.” Current as of Feb 2012.)

Lednicer: “6 November 1951 while conducting an intelligence gathering mission, later claimed to be a ‘weather reconnaissance mission under United Nations command’, a US Navy P2V-3W Neptune (BuNo 124283 – not 124284 as listed in some sources) of VP-6 was shot down over the Sea of Japan, near Vladivostok, by Soviet La-11 Fangs flown by I. Ya. Lukashyev and M.K. Shchukin. The Soviet pilots reported that they intercepted the aircraft in the area of Cape Ostrovnoy approximately 7-8 miles from the shore. After they fired on the aircraft, it fell, burning, into the water and exploded 18 miles from the shore. The crew of Judd C. Hodgson, Sam Rosenfeld, Donald E. Smith, Reuben S. Baggett, Paul R. Foster, Erwin D. Raglin, Paul G. Juric, William S. Meyer, Ralph A. Wigert Jr. and Jack Lively were reported as missing.” (Lednicer. “Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections…Cold War…” 4-16-2011 rev.)

Sources

Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. “Personnel Accounting Progress Cold War Fact Sheet.” Feb 2012. Accessed 2-20-2012: http://cryptocomb.org/cold_war_pow%20factsheet.pdf

Lednicer, David. “Intrusions, Over-flights, Shoot-downs and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter.” 4-16-2011 revision. Accessed 2-20-2012: http://myplace.frontier.com/~anneled/ColdWar.html

Naval Historical Center. “Frequently Asked Questions, Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Wounded in Wars, Conflicts, Terrorist Acts, and Other Hostile Incidents.” Washington DC: Dept. of the Navy. At: http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm
Also at: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/AMH-USNchron.htm

Peterson, Michael L. “Maybe You Had to Be There: The SIGINT on Thirteen Soviet Shootdowns.” Cryptologic Quarterly, 1993, 44 pages. Accessed 4-27-2023 at: https://irp.fas.org/nsa/maybe_you.pdf