1944 — Jan 31, USN PB4Y-1 32181 out of Quonset Pt. NAS crash 13M off Block Isl., RI–10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-20-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10  Aviation Safety Network. USN Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator lost off Block Island, RI.[1]

–10  Baugher. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 9-1-2023 rev.

–10  New England Aviation History. “Off Block Island – January 31, 1944.”

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944:

“Date:                          Monday 31 January 1944

“Type:                         Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator

“Owner/Operator:       US Navy         Registration:    32181

….

“Narrative:                   Missing in flight off Block Island, RI. 10 crew missing.”

 

New England Aviation History: On the night of January 31, 1944, a U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 (Bu. No. 32181) left Quonset Point Naval Air Station for an anti-submarine patrol – searchlight training flight over the Atlantic Ocean.  The airplane was equipped with a powerful searchlight mounted under one of the wings to be used in spotting surface vessels at night.  Therefore, the plane would be flying fairly low over the water during its searches.

 

“The weather that night was snowy with strong gusty winds.  At some point the aircraft crashed into the ocean and disappeared taking all ten crewmen aboard with it.  A search was organized, however nothing was found, and Naval investigators could only guess as to what might have happened.

 

“The navy’s official investigation report (#44-11364) listed some possibilities, among them:

 

  • The pilot experienced vertigo and crashed.
  • Instrument failure, specifically the radio altimeter or artificial horizon.
  • Engine failure.

 

“About two months later, on April 6, 1944, the Nathaniel B. Palmer, a fishing boat dragging its nets in the vicinity of Block Island snared an unexploded bomb which blew up when it was brought to the surface killing all but one man aboard….

 

“Nearly 50 years later, in April of 1992, another fishing boat, the Nancy & Gary, brought up a three-blade aluminum aircraft propeller in its nets while dragging about thirteen miles off Block island.  The condition of the prop indicated it had been in the water for a long time. The artifact made its way into the possession of Lawrence Webster, a well-known aviation historian and archeologist affiliated with Rhode Island’s Quonset Air Museum.  Through his research, Webster determined the propeller had come from a PB4Y-1, and records indicated that only one such aircraft had been lost in the area where the propeller had been found.

 

“Webster contacted two New England companies that had sonar equipment capable of scanning the ocean floor hoping to find the wreck site of the long lost aircraft.  The search was successful, and the mystery of the missing navy plane was solved… 

 

The crew included:

 

(Pilot)  Lieut. Harold Leroy Neff, 29, of Centralia, Missouri. Lieut. Neff was killed just one day after his birthday.  To see a monument to his memory and learn more about him, see www.findagrave.com, Memorial #47219916.

 

Lieut. Hubert C. McClellan, 25, of Plymouth, Michigan. To see a monument  to his memory, see www.findagrave.com, memorial # 129372432.

 

Ens. Niles D. Kinney, of Woodlake, Minnesota.

 

AMM1C Arthur Joel Lien, 24, of Hixton, Wisconsin.  To see a photograph of Arthur Lien and a memorial to him, see www.findagrave.com, memorial # 60612769.

 

AMM1C Nathaniel Hornstein, of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

 

ARM3C Wilton Hardin, of Elizabethtown, North Carolina.

 

ARM3C Willard Joseph Hinger, 20, of Newark, Ohio.  To see a photograph of Willard Hinger, as well as a monument to his memory, and to read a newspaper article about him, see www.findagrave.com, Memorial #130964218.

 

AMM2C Peter Yezersky, Hermine, Pennsylvania.

 

ARM3C William J. Kline, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

AOM3C John H. Linnehan, Jr., of Albany, New York….” 

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. USN Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator lost off Block Island, RI. 1-31-1944. Accessed 4-20-2024 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/81191

 

Baugher, Joesph. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 9-1-2023 revision. Accessed 4-20-2024 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries4.html

 

New England Aviation History. “Off Block Island – January 31, 1944.” Accessed 4-20-1944 at: https://newenglandaviationhistory.com/off-block-island-january-311944/

 

[1] Cites Joe Baugher.