20th Century

1945 – Feb 12, USAAF B-24D stalls, pilot loses control, crash, 15M SW of Troy, OR  —     10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-13-2023.

–10  ifish.net. “70 Years Ago. Feb. 22, 1945”. Accessed 12-13-2023.

–10  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, 1038.

Narrative Information

 

ifish.net. “70 Years Ago. Feb. 22, 1945”. The B-24 bomber from the Walla Walla base which was reported down somewhere in the Troy area on Monday of last week, Feb. 12, was found Saturday about noon by Lundy Wood of Eden. Ten bodies were recovered from the wreckage. Two other members of the crew, Cpl. Walter R. Burnside, Bordon. NSW, Australia, and First Lt. Richard D. Fies, parachuted to safety and were unhurt. The wrecked plane was found near the head of Elbow creek canyon about three or three and a half miles southwest of the Long Meadow guard station, approximately 15 miles west of Troy. … It has not been established here just what happened to the plane to cause the crash.”

 

Mireles: “At 1300, a Consoli­dated B-24D crashed 15 miles southwest of Troy, Ore­gon, killing ten fliers. Radio operator Cpl. Walter R. Burnside received minor injuries parachuting to safety; bombardier instructor lLt. Richard C. Fies escaped in­jury parachuting to safety…. The airplane took off at 1138 PWT from Walla Walla Army Air Field, Walla Walla, Washing­ton, on a training mission to Blythe, California, and return. The airplane climbed on instruments to 25,000 feet where it broke out on top of the clouds, leveling off just above the tops. The airplane had picked up some ice during the climb but it was minimal. The air­plane was flying in and out of the cloud tops when the port wing dropped. The pilot righted the airplane, but moments later the starboard wing dropped and the airplane fell out of control into the overcast. The pilot was able to right the airplane momentarily but it stalled violently and fell out of control again. The instructor and radio operator bailed out immediately and both stated to investigators that after they bailed out they observed the airplane falling in a steep spiral to the right. The airplane continued in the steep spiral until it smashed into the ground and exploded. No other crewmembers were able to bail out.”  (Mireles 2006, p. 1038.)

 

Sources

 

ifish.net. “70 Years Ago. Feb. 22, 1945”. Accessed 12-13-2023 at: https://www.ifish.net/threads/weird-findings-in-the-woods.148441/page-116#post-16201271

 

Mireles, Anthony J.  Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 3:  August 1944 – December 1945). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.

 

 

 

1945 — Feb 12, Tornadoes, AL/38 (esp. Montgomery and Sumter counties) and MS/5–     43

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-13-2023.

 –43  AP. “43 Killed…Tornado Cuts Across Alabama, Mississippi.” Anniston Star, AL, 2-13-1945, p.1.

            —  9  Livingston, AL

–26  Montgomery, AL

—  1  York, AL

–~7  Meridian, MS

–43  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 230, 503, p.918.

Alabama – 38:

—  38  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 230.

            –11  Sumter County, AL.  (Grazulis 1993, 503)

            –26  Montgomery County, AL.         “

            –01  Chilton County, AL.                  “

—  37  NWS WFO Birmingham AL.  Alabama Tornado Database.

 Mississippi –05:  Lauderdale County, MS.  (Grazulis 1993, pp. 503, 918)

 Narrative Information

 

Grazulis: “MS  FEB 12, 1945 1535 5k 40inj 400y 9m F3.  LAUDERDALE–Moved NE from “Jones,” 7m S of Meridian, to Vimville. Homes were swept away in rural communities SE of Meridian. Deaths occurred in three different homes, and one person was killed in an open field while running for cover. $20,000.

 

“AL  FEB 12, 1945 1630 1lk 63inj 400y 18m F4.  SUMTER–Moved NE from near York to near Livingston. A couple was killed as their home was leveled at the SE edge of York. Five people died in one home at Livingston. Single deaths occurred in two other homes. The tornado encountered a 41-car west-bound train at the trestle over the Sucharnoochee River. Thirty-nine cars were derailed, killing a conductor and fireman, and injuring many others on the train. $220,000.

 

“AL  FEB 12, 1945 1722 26k 293inj 100y 13m F3.  MONTGOMERY–Moved NE from 5m SW of Montgomery through Chisholm. After brushing the west side of Montgomery, the tornado swept away 30 homes in the cotton mill community of Chisolm, just north of Montgomery. Deaths occurred in 15 different homes in a 20-block area, and losses totaled about $1,700,000. Over 100 homes were destroyed, mostly substandard housing….

 

“AL  FEB 12, 1945 lk 8inj 100y lm F3.  CHILTON — NE, destroying a large house and barn SE of Stanton. $20,000.”  (Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 918.)

 

NWS WFO Birmingham AL: “In Sumter County “Several deaths occurred in homes along the path. A train derailed over the Sucarnoochee River. The conductor and a fireman were killed.”  This tornado touched down at 4:30 p.m., and traveled 18 miles.  At 5:22 p.m., a tornado destroyed at least 100 homes in Montgomery County, where 26 people died over a 13 mile path.  (NWS Weather Forecast Office, Birmingham AL, Alabama Tornado Database.)

 

Newspaper

 

Feb 13, AP: “43 Killed, 200 Injured As Tornado Cuts Across Alabama, Mississippi. Southern And Western Outskirts of Montgomery Hardest Hit. Capital’s Death Toll Reaches 26. Nine Perish At Livingston; Storm Strikes in Meridian Area of Mississippi.

 

“By Associated Press

 

“Tornadoes swirling over Mississippi and Alabama late yesterday took a toll of at least 43 dead, 200 injured, and property damage running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Worst hit was a crescent shaped area on the southern and western outskirts of Montgomery, Ala., where more than 50 boxcars of a freight were ripped and tossed about like match boxes. Montgomery alone counted its dead at 26, and its injured at more than 75. Two government warehouses were levelled. In Chisholm, a cotton miss community, 35 homes were demolished and many other damaged in a 20-block area.

 

“Nine were known dead at Livingston, 125 miles west of Montgomery, and one at York, nine miles from Livingston. At Livingston as at Montgomery, a freight train was tossed about and one of the Livingston dead was a trainman.

 

“The storm first hit Meridian, Miss., leaving a path of destruction as it cut about the city on two sides, before turning eastward into Alabama. The dead in the Meridian area were places unofficially at seven. More than 50 persons were injured there. Between 30 and 40 houses were destroyed in the Meridian area and torrential rains hampered search for the injured and the dead.

 

“After a tour of the Montgomery area, Gov. Chauncey Sparks of Alabama ordered three companies of the state guard into action to prevent looting. Montgomery hospitals, jammed with the injured, were handicapped by a lack of lighting. The entire capital city was without electricity for several hours. Telephone service was disrupted….

 

“One of the Montgomery dead was Mrs. Edgar Brown, a resident of the Chisholm community, whose husband had just arrived home on a furlough from the Army….

 

“The state guard distributed cots at vacant buildings to provide temporary shelter.

 

“Fifteen of the Montgomery dead were Negroes. State patrolmen removed the bodies of six Negroes from one house. Six of the nine dead at Livingston were also Negroes.

 

“The Montgomery storm, which came on the heels of a day-long downpour of rain, struck first in the area of the Army’s huge holding and reconsignment point and levelled two of the six warehouses there. It sliced a path of destruction through the western edge of the city and hit with new fury at Chisholm, near Kilby prison….

 

“Most of the Mississippi injured were residents along the seven mile stretch of highway from Meridian to Causeyville. W. Y. Brame, Lauderdale County sheriff, said ‘thirty or forty houses’ were destroyed or badly damaged. The winds cut a swatch a quarter of a mile wide through Causeyville and Stinson before moving north and east to strike Vimville and Long Creek. Hospitals were crowded and many of the injured were believed in ‘serious condition.’ Reports of storm damages trickled in from small communities southeast of Meridian, indicating some persons might have been injured at Rose Hill and Bay Springs.” (Associated Press. “43 Killed, 200 Injured As Tornado Cuts Across Alabama, Mississippi.” The Anniston Star, AL, 2-13-1945, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

National Weather Service Forecast Office, Birmingham, AL. Alabama Tornado Database.   NWS/NOAA. Accessed 1-4-2009 at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/tornadoes/mainlist2.php

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

 

 

 

 

 

1945 – Feb 9, USAAF B-24D Liberator crash into side of mountain near Denio, OR  —     11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-13-2023.

–11  AP. “11 Army Fliers Killed in Crash.” The Post-Register, Idaho Falls, ID. 2-13-1945, p. 1.

–11  Aviation Safety Network. USAAF Consolidated B-24D Liberator crash 5M NW Denio OR.

–11  Baugher.  1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-39758 to 42-50026).  5-18-2011 rev.

–11  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, 1037.

 

Narrative Information

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945 (B-24 9Feb45, Denio OR):

“Date:                          Friday 9 February 1945

“Type:                         Consolidated B-24D Liberator

“Owner/operator:        United States Army Air Force (USAAF)

“Registration:              42-40427

….

“Fatalities:                   Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11

….

“Location:                   5M NW Denio, OR – USA….”

 

Baugher: “Consolidated B-24D-55-CO Liberator….40427 (212th CCTS) crashed into side of mountain near Denio, Oregon Feb 9, 1945. All 11 crew killed.”  (Baugher.  1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-39758 to 42-50026).  5-18-2011 revision.)

 

Mireles: “At 2200 MWT, a Consolidated B-24D crashed five miles northwest of Denio, Oregon, killing 11 crewmembers. The airplane took off at 1744 MWT from Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, on a navigation training flight to Hamilton Field, San Rafael, California, and return. The airplane successfully navigated to Hamilton Field and was flying on the leg back to Gowen Field. The airplane was ob­served flying to the northeast, safely clearing a ridge-line. The airplane flew in a normal manner for a short distance and then began a 180-degree turn, coming back over the previous line of flight. The airplane ap­proached the ridgeline at a lower altitude and the pilot had to pull up abruptly to avoid a collision with ter­rain. The airplane cleared the mountain but stalled and fell off on the other side of the ridge. The pilot was un­able to regain control of the airplane and it slammed into a “rocky shelf” at an elevation of 7,500 feet msl, exploding into flames upon impact….”  (Mireles 2006, p. 1037.)

 

Newspaper

 

Feb 10, AP: “Boise, Feb. 10 (AP) – The Gowen army airfield public relations office said Saturday night a plane which crashed about 10 miles north of the town of Denio, Oregon, near the Nevada border has been identified as one based here. The number of the ship was obtained by a civilian ground party which relayed it to army officials in the area. Gowen said there is no information on whether the crew members survived, but added hope was held that some at least had landed by parachute. The ship was a Liberator bomber. The public relations office said army ground crews were not expected to reach the scene until early Sunday. The plane was on a combat training flight and was listed as missing Friday night. Earlier two Gowen search planes circled the wreckage. First work of the crash came in a phone call from an unidentified person at Denio.” (Assoc. Press. “Oregon-Nevada Line Plane Crash Scene.” The Ogden Standard Examiner, UT. 2-11-1945, p. 1.)

 

Feb 13, AP: “Reno, Nev. Feb. 13. (AP) – Eleven army fliers lost their lives as a heavy bomber (B24) crashed at Denio, Oreg., near the Nevada border Saturday, Sheriff Erl Prout of Humboldt County said Tuesday. The plane was from Gowen field at Boise.

 

“Mrs. William Keinhart, who lives about six miles from Denio, on the Nevada side, told Prout she saw the plane circling a mountain about 3 a.m. Saturday. Distress flares were being dropped from the big ship. A few minutes later, she said she saw the plane crash and explode. Several ranchers and their cowhands rode up the mountainside through two feet of snow to reach the wreckage.” (APssociated Press. “11 Army Fliers Killed in Crash.” The Post-Register, Idaho Falls, ID. 2-13-1945, p. 1.

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “11 Army Fliers Killed in Crash.” The Post-Register, Idaho Falls, ID. 2-13-1945, p. 1. Accessed 12-13-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/idaho-falls-post-register-feb-13-1945-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “Oregon-Nevada Line Plane Crash Scene.” The Ogden Standard Examiner, UT. 2-11-1945, p. 1. Accessed 12-13-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/ogden-standard-examiner-feb-11-1945-p-1/

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 26. USAAF Consolidated B-24D Liberator crash 5M NW Denio OR. 9 February 1945. Accessed 12-13-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/100393

 

Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-39758 to 42-50026). 5-18-2011 revision. Accessed 10-19-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_2a.html

 

Mireles, Anthony J.  Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 3:  August 1944 – December 1945). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1945 — Feb 5, tanker Spring Hill hit/explosion and fire, off Stapleton, Staten Isl., NY –19-20

–19-20 Blanchard death-toll estimate. It is clear that at least nineteen lives were lost from the
tanker Spring Hill. The AMMW, Ryan and McCaffery and the USMM all note twenty
fatalities. From the NYT of Feb 7, in noting 19 deaths, it is also noted that 74 men were still in the hospital, four critically injured. It was also reported that there may have been at least several unknown missing. One report (NFPA) notes there were “several” deaths from the crew of the Vivi. We dismiss the report of 40 deaths noted in the Dunkirk Observer (NY) of Feb 7, 1945.

— 40 Dunkirk Observer. “Dunkirk Seaman was Seriously Injured in New York Blast.” 2-7-1945
— 20 AMMW. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1945 (website).
— 20 AMMW. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S., and Gulf of Mexico…WWII.
— ? Clio.
–20 Spring Hill (Crew 9; Armed Guard 11)
— 20 Ryan (ed.) and McCaffery (primary researcher). Braving the Wartime Seas. 2014, p. 452.
–20 Spring Hill (Crew 9; Armed Guard 11)
— 20 USMM. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadets and Graduates lost during WWII (1945).
–20 Spring Hill (Crew 9; Armed Guard 11)
— 19 Goldstein. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. 2010, p. 58.
— 19 NYT. “Death Toll Now 19 in Ship Explosion; Number of Missing Still Is in Doubt.” 2-7-1945, 23.
— 19 NYT. “Tanker that Burned after Crash in Bay in February is Back in Service.” 6-3-1945.
— 18 Chester Times, PA. “Survivor of S. S. Spring Hill Waits New Ship.” 2-14-1945, p. 4.
— 18 Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon IL. “Harbor Collision…18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-45
— 18 Willoughby 1957. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II, p. 68.
— 17 Dunkirk Observer. “Divers Search Hull of Tanker for Bodies…Ship Disaster.” 2-6-45.
–>17 NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1945.” Quarterly of…, Vol. 39, No. 3, Jan, 1946, p. 215.
–Several. Vivi.
— 17 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
“02/05/45…Clio…Tanker (Panama)…Collision/Fire…Eastcoast…Unknown [deaths]
“02/05/45…Spring Hill…Tanker…Collision/Fire…Eastcoast…Crew 9; AG 11 [deaths].” (AMMW. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1945 (website).)

Goldstein: “On the morning of February 6, 1945, the American tanker Spring Hill, loaded with 120,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and anchored 1,000 yards off Stapleton, Staten Island, exploded and caught fire when it was struck by the Panamanian tanker Pan Clio. The Norwegian tanker Vivi, passing by when the collision occurred, was set afire by burning oil splattered on its deck. The three-way accident left 19 dead and 122 injured.” (Goldstein, Richard. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. NY: Free Press, 2010, p. 58.)

National Fire Protection Association, 1946: “Steamships. Feb. 5. New York Harbor, Tanker Collision and Fire, $2,000,000.

“Explosions and fire followed the collision at 8:59 A.M. of the tanker Spring Hill, at anchor in the lower Basin opposite Pire No. 11, Brooklyn, and the 8000-ton tanker Clio. The Spring Hill, newly completed for the War Shipping Administration, was loaded with gasoline. Within two minutes of the initial explosion and while members of the crew of the Norwegian tanker Vivi, loaded with fuel oil and anchored 100 tards away, were attempting to rescue members of the blazing ships, the Vivi was sprayed with blazing gasoline. This third vessel was set ablaze and several crew members were killed at this time. Dragging her anchor, the Vivi steamed to the windward of the burning Spring Hill and remaining crew members extinguished the flames on this vessel. Water and foam were used by the numerous city and Coast Guard boats in attacking the flames on the Spring Hill and Clio, and in two hours the fire was brought under control. At least 17 lives were lost and 122 other persons injured.” (NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1945.” 215.

Ryan and McCaffery: “On February 5, 1945, the Spring Hill was anchored in Anchorage 27 off Pier 18, Staten Island, New York, loaded with 140,000 barrels of high-test gasoline. At around 0845, she was rammed on the port bow by the foreign flag merchant ship M/V Clio. The Spring Hill’s forward cargo tanks immediately exploded and burst into flames, ultimately consuming about one-third of the ship’s cargo. Crew members who survived the explosion jumped overboard into the ice-choked water of New York harbor. Many men tried to make their way to the aft of the ship, where the flames were less intense, but most were unable to do so. In attempting to swim to other ships in the vicinity, several men were caught in burning gasoline floating on the surface of the water. Nine crew members…and eleven Armed Guard members died in the disaster. The remains of Clarence Dengler and four other members of the SS Spring Hill’s crew were never recovered. They were declared ‘presumptively dead’ on February 20, 1945….”

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy: “…S.S. Spring Hill. On 5 February 1945, the T-2 tanker, owned by Barber Asphalt Company, was anchored off Pier 13 at Staten Island, New York, loaded with high-test gasoline. At around 0845, she was rammed by the merchant ship Clio on the port side. The Spring Hill immediately burst into flames, and the crew members on board jumped overboard into the icy New York waters. Many men tried to make their way to the aft of the ship, where the flames were less intense, but most were unable to do so. In attempting to swim to other ships in the vicinity, several men were caught in the burning gasoline floating on the surface of the water. Nine crew members…and 11 Armed Guard members died in the water.” (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadets and Graduates lost during WWII (1945).)

Willoughby: “As 0857 on February 1945, the Port of New York suffered one of the worst wartime tragedies in its history, when two ships collided off Stapleton, Staten Island; one burst into a raging inferno. At about 1855 the Panamanian freighter Clio was outbound with a cargo of water ballast. To maneuver between a U.S. Navy vessel, KA-75 and U.S. tanker Spring Hill, both anchored, Clio swung to port toward the main ship channel. Suddenly her master saw the opening blocked by several invasion barges being brought alongside KA-75. The master frantically endeavored to swing his vessel hard to starboard, but momentum, combined with a strong ebb current, carried him toward the port side of Spring Hill.

“Collision was imminent. Port and starboard anchors were immediately dropped and the engines reversed, but the bow of Clio rammed the port side of Spring Hill forward of the bridge, leaving a large gaping hole in number three port wing tank. Laden with a cargo of height octane gasoline, Spring Hill was immediately enveloped in flames. Clio backed away. Flaming gasoline from the ruptured tank covered the surface of the water, spreading rapidly downstream with the current and enveloping the Norwegian tanker Vivi, loaded with diesel oil which, fortunately, did not burn. Many of Spring Hill’s crew were trapped below decks; others, as well as the Naval Armed Guard, jumped overboard with life jackets into the icy waters. Attempts to release lifeboat lifeboats were futile. Crew members of Vivi did likewise, though a small detail remained. With steam already up, Vivi proceeding through the blazing water, dragging both anchors.

“Coast Guardsmen at the Pier 18 Signal Tower promptly reported the incident, and all available cutters, fireboats, and small craft were dispatched to render assistance. Working with high efficiency, Coast Guard fireboats, New York City fireboats and commercial tugs extinguished the blaze in two hours.

“There were several well-executed rescues. A DGR vessel was nearby when the fire started. John Zeigler, Chief Boatswain’s Mate, with his two men directed his craft toward the stricken Spring Hill, and rescued 35 survivors from the flaming but icy water. At one time, a line fouled the Coast Guard vessel’s propeller, causing a helpless drift toward the flames. It was freed in the nick of time. Lt. W.A. George in CG-64309, going out to patrol, saved about 23 seamen from certain death by expert seamanship and utter disregard of hazards.

“This fire caused the death of more than 15 seamen, and in all about 85 survivors were brought in to Pier 18, given first aid, and taken to the hospital. Three died soon after arrival at the pier.” (Willoughby, Malcolm Francis. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Menasha, WI: George Banta Co., Inc., 1957, p. 68.)

Newspapers:

Feb 5: “New York, Feb. 5 – (UP) — Flaming oil spread over the New York harbor early today after a collision of two tankers, setting fire to both tankers, and to a Liberty ship. At least seven crewmen were killed and scores injured. The fire was brought under control, at 10:30 a. m. one hour and a half after it started. Police said at least 60 injured had been taken to Marine hospital, Staten Island, and to other hospitals in Manhattan and Brooklyn by Red Cross ambulances. The ships were identified by survivors as the Liberty ship Bernard Carter, the tanker Spring Hill and a Norwegian-tanker Vivi. One tanker was burned out, with only its blackened hull still afloat, riding like a ghost ship on the smoke-hung waters. Some lifeboats caught afire and crewmen had to jump from the flaming ships into the flaming waters. Several of the dead were landed at Pier 13, Stapleton, Staten island, by crews of small harbor crafts which picked them from, the sea. Flames at one time shot more than 100 feet in the air.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Seven Dead as Result of Tanker Collision in N.Y.” 2-5-1945, p. 1.)

Feb 6: “New York, Feb. 6 – (UP) – Navy crews searched deep in the hull of a burned-out oil tanker today for the bodies of some 20 crewmen still missing from a fire that left 17 dead and 120 injured. The fire resulted from a collision of two tankers that converted upper New York bay into a bath of flaming oil.

“Eight of the dead were navy personnel, most of them gunners, and the others were merchant seaman. The navy withheld the names of their dead until next of kin have been notified. Police said more than 70 per cent of the dead, injured and missing were from the tanker Springhill, an American vessel of 17,000 tons. Fire crews probing the Springhill’s blistered, twisted holds expected to find additional dead today.

“The Springhill was riding at anchor in the bay between Staten Island and Brooklyn’s lower bay ridge yesterday morning. She carried a crew of 90, including 40 navy men and was loaded with drums of high octane gasoline. A few minutes before 9 a. m., the 8,000-ton Panamanian tanker Pan-Clio rammed, the Springhill’s port side. While the Pan-Clio backed away, an explosion ripped the Springhill and sent burning gasoline spurting from her decks. Fire shot out from the Springhill and landed on the decks of a third vessel, the Norwegian tanker Vivi, of 10,000 tons and a crew of 54. The Vivi was getting underway when liquid fire enveloped her and forced her crew to leap overboard into the ice-choked harbor.

“Witnesses said the Springhill was afire from stem to stern in less than 30 seconds. Her crew scrambled for lifebelts or jumped over the side. The fire was out at noon, three hours later. Rescue crews and harbor firemen began ferrying the dead and injured shoreward. All the injured were taken to Marine hospital in Stapleton, Staten Island, where their cots jammed corridors and passages in the wards.

“Police said today, that bodies of some of the missing may turn up in bay, ice later this week.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Divers Search Hull of Tanker for Bodies of 3-Ship Disaster.” 2-6-1945, p. 3.)

Feb 7, NYT: “Death Toll Now 19 in Ship Explosion; Number of Missing Still Is in Doubt – 74 of the Injured Remain in Hospital. Federal Inquiry Started. Tanker That Rammed the Spring Hill Had Sandy Hook Pilot Aboard, Official Says.” 2-7-1945, p. 23.

“The Panamanian tanker Pan-Clio had a licensed New York-Sandy Hook pilot aboard when she rammed the American tanker Spring Hill in upper New York Bay at 8:57 A.M. Monday, according to information disclosed yesterday by Farrell M. Kane, Richmond County District Attorney, head of one of the investigating bodies.

“The impact is alleged to have touched off the explosion that all but destroyed the Spring Hill and two-thirds of her 120,000 drums of high octane gasoline in the most spectacular fire seen in the harbor in many hears. Veterans said it was exceeded only by the Black Tom explosion of World War I.

“Last night the death toll stood at nineteen. Seventy-four of the 121 seamen and Navy enlisted men burned in the explosion or suffering from submersion in the icy bay still are in the United States Marine Hospital at Stapleton, S. I. [Staten Island]. Four of these are listed as critically injured.

List of Missing in Doubt

“Authorities have not completed their check on the number of men missing. They seemed to think last night that it might run from fifteen to twenty, at most. No bodies were found in the Spring Hill skeleton yesterday, but searchers will go aboard the vessel again today to resume the search. They think that such bodies as may be in the bay may not rise for weeks.

“The name added to the death toll yesterday was James Pickenpaugh, 21 years old, of 417 Fifth Street, Clairton, Pa., oiler on the American tanker. He died in the Marine Hospital at 4:35 P.M. and his body was sent to Sea View Morgue.

“The missing may include six men from the Norwegian tanker Vivi, which caught fire from burning oil spattered on her decks as she was about to pass the Spring Hill in the bay.

“Seamen released from Marine Hospital were transported to various shelters – homes and hotels, including the Wilshire House, at 134 West Fifty-eighth Street. They received new kits, or part kits, to replace gear left aboard when they dived into the bay to escape burning.

Tanker Still Afloat

“Hundreds of persons lined the Bay Ridge shore and Staten Island’s hills from Stapleton to Tompkinsville to stare at the Spring Hill’s blackened frame. The vessel is down by the head. Her stern is out of the bay. She remains afloat, however, and seamen said she would not go down. The search for dead is made on sloping decks, or what is left of the decks.

“A Federal hearing into the accident’s cause was opened at 42 Broadway. District Attorney Kane, inquiring into possible criminal negligence, was represented at this hearing by Herman Methfessel, an assistant. The Coast Guard had a hearing board there. The session was under supervision of the Steamboat Inspection Service….

Feb 7: “A Dunkirk seaman was badly injured when two tankers collided and burned in New York bay Monday morning causing a death toll now estimated at 40. In all, 122 were injured and one of these was Arthur Gotowka, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Gotowka, 28 West Second street. The disaster occurred when an incoming vessel crashed into the 16,000-ton tanker Springhill which was loaded with 120,000 barrels of high octane gasoline. An explosion followed and flames quickly enveloped the tanker and spread to the nearby Norwegian ship Vivi, which was carrying Diesel oil….” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Dunkirk Seaman was Seriously Injured in New York Blast.” 2-7-1945, p. 4.)

Feb 8: “New York – (INS) – The death toll in the New York harbor collision and fire aboard two fuel-laden tankers Monday stood at 18 today with 22 more missing and 122 injured. War shipping administration officials and other agencies were engaged in a five-day investigation of the disaster which occurred when a collision set the tanker U.S.S. Spring Hill ablaze and the conflagration spread to the Norwegian tanker Vivi.” (Daily Journal-Gazette and Commercial-Star, Mattoon, IL. “Harbor Collision Toll 18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-1945, p. 3.)

Feb 18: “….The Chester [PA] built tanker [Spring Hill] was only 53 days old and had only one trip to England on its log when destroyed by fire in New York Harbor last week following a collision with another tanker, eighteen seamen losing their lives…” (Chester Times, PA. “Survivor of S. S. Spring Hill Waits New Ship.” 2-14-1945, p. 4.)

June 3: “The 16,000-ton tanker Spring Hill, which was blasted and burned from stem to stern by exploding gasoline after a collision with another tanker in Upper New York Bay last February, is now back in service, repairs having been completed forty days ahead of the estimated time by Todd Shipyards Corporation’s Brooklyn division, it was disclosed yesterday.

“In the disaster, second worst in New York Harbor since the outbreak of the war, nineteen lives were lost and 122 seamen were injured, and it was feared the vessel would be a total loss.

“The repairs required the services of hundreds of Todd workers, working night and day, to get the Spring Hill back to sea. Todd officials said the fore and aft sections of the spar deck were completely rebuilt. All piping, valves and fittings were renewed, and about 6,000 feet of cable was installed and tested, and much of the ship’s electrical equipment also was replaced. Crew and officer quarters were extensively renovated. Exhaustive tests were made of the main engines, and necessary overhaul completed. The vessel now has new rigging on the fore and main masts, new life rafts and floats. Six of her original lifeboats were rebuilt, and the entire vessel was painted inside and outside. The ship’s guns had been removed and sent to the Navy yard for repair before being reinstalled.” (New York Times. “Events of Interest in Shipping World. Tanker that Burned after Crash in Bay in February is Back in Service.” 6-3-1945.)

Sources

AMMW (American Merchant Marine at War). Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1945 (website). Accessed 5-11-2013 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk45.html

AMMW (American Merchant Marine at War). U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S. and Gulf of Mexico During World War II. Eastcoast of U.S. (175 ships). 12-22-2010. Webpage accessed 4-11-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Chester Times, PA. “Survivor of S. S. Spring Hill Waits New Ship.” 2-14-1945, p. 4. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85884965&sterm=spring+hill+tanker+fire

Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon IL. “Harbor Collision Toll18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-1945, p. 3. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon IL. “Harbor Collision…18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-45

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Divers Search Hull of Tanker for Bodies of 3-Ship Disaster.” 2-6-1945, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=36051261&sterm=spring+hill

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Dunkirk Seaman was Seriously Injured in New York Blast.” 2-7-1945, p. 4. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=36051276&sterm=springhill

Goldstein, Richard. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. NY: Free Press, 2010. Partially Google digitized. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=2o2hMeHeuz8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1945.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 39, no. 3, January, 1946, p. 215.

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

New York Times. “Death Toll Now 19 in Ship Explosion; Number of Missing Still Is in Doubt – 74 of the Injured Remain in Hospital. Federal Inquiry.” 2-7-1945, p. 23. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/02/07/88192190.html?pageNumber=23

New York Times. “Tanker that Burned after Crash in Bay in February is Back in Service.” 6-3-1945.

Ryan, George J. (Editor) and Thomas F. McCaffery (Primary Researcher). Braving the Wartime Seas: A Tribute to the Cadets and Graduates of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Cadet Corps Who Died during World War II. Xlibris LLC, 2014. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Braving_the_Wartime_Seas/aT34AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tanker+spring+hill+explosion+%221945%22&pg=PA452&printsec=frontcover

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadets and Graduates lost during WWII (1945). Accessed 5-11-2013 at: http://www.usmm.org/cadetbio1945.html

Willoughby, Malcolm Francis. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Menasha, WI: George Banta Co., Inc., 1957, 347 pages. Limited Google digitized copy accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=T5A9LCujs08C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

1945 — Feb 4, USAAF C-46 Commando on-board fire, crash ~55M NW of Jorhat, India–34

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-17-2023.

–34 of 35. Aviation Safety Network. USAAF C-46 mechanical problems/fire/crash, W of Karoi.

–34 of 35. Kuhles, Clayton. “C-46A #42-107386 Found 23 Sep 2008.” MIA Recoveries, Inc.

Narrative Information

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945:

“Date:                          Sunday 4 February 1945

“Type:                         Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando

“Operator:                   United States Army Air Force – USAAF

“Registration:              42-107386

“MSN:                         27073

“First flight:                 1944

….

“Crew:                         Fatalities:   3 / Occupants:   2

“Passengers:                Fatalities: 32 / Occupants: 33

“Total:                         Fatalities: 34 / Occupants: 35

….

“Location:                   W of Karoi (India) [Has it as “55 mi NW of Jorhat” below – hundreds of

miles to the east.]

 

“Phase:                        En Route (ENR)

“Nature:                       Military

“Departure airport:      Chabua Airfield…India [northeast India near Chinese border]

“Destination airport:    Karachi (unknown airport), Pakistan. [would have been 2,820 km flight]

                                    [Karachi was Indian at the time. Pakistan came into existence in 1947.]

“Narrative:

 

“Over a remote jungle location approx. 55 mi NW of Jorhat, the C-46 transport aircraft developed mechanical problems and caught on fire. It crashed near the summit ridge of a jungle-covered hill at 6559 feet and burned.” (Aviation Safety Network. USAAF C-46 mechanical problems/fire/crash, W of Karoi, India, 2-4-1945.)

 

[Blanchard note: Jorhat is 2,465.3 km east of Karoi. It is 162.5km west of Chabua, where the plane departed. Thus either the “Location” section is incorrect or there is another Karoi that does not show up on a Google maps search.]

 

Kuhles, Clayton. “C-46A #42-107386 Found 23 Sep 2008.” MIA Recoveries, Inc. :

 

“On 04 Feb 1945, this aircraft departed Chabua, India for Karachi, India.  The aircraft was transporting 33 passengers who were homeward bound to the US.

 

“The aircraft developed mechanical problems and caught fire over a remote jungle area approx. 55 mi. NW of Jorhat.  It crashed near the summit of a jungle-covered hill and burned. All crewmembers and passengers were killed with the sole exception of TSgt. Marvin H. Jacobs, who survived the crash with minor injuries and was rescued and cared for by local villagers.  Dead: 34.

  • Pilot: F/O Cecil A. Weaver
  • Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Robert H. Maddox
  • Passenger: Capt. Lawrence C. Archer
  • Passenger: Capt. Kenneth R. Arnette
  • Passenger: Capt. Thomas H. Harper
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. James W. Brokaw
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Myron L. Cook
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. John A. Flach
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. John F. McDonough, Jr.
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Charles B. Moore
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Harold B. Morse
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Howard S. Pierson
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. William E. Price
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Frederick J. Raubinger
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Louis P. Worland
  • Passenger: 1st Lt. Marshall Young
  • Passenger: TSgt. Allan H. Cousins
  • Passenger: TSgt. Phillip Feld
  • Passenger: TSgt. Robert E. Finks
  • Passenger: TSgt. Lawrence G. Jacobs
  • Passenger: TSgt. Marvin H. Jacobs [sole survivor]
  • Passenger: TSgt. Scott F. Mitchell
  • Passenger: SSgt. Harlan G. Casper
  • Passenger: SSgt. Alva H. Floyd
  • Passenger: SSgt. Joseph B. Hewitt, Jr.
  • Passenger: SSgt. Merrill R. Hyde
  • Passenger: SSgt. David McKissock, Jr.
  • Passenger: SSgt. Ernest B. Schenck
  • Passenger: SSgt. Forman S. Smith
  • Passenger: Sgt. Joseph F. Kehrer
  • Passenger: Cpl. Buster Beck
  • Passenger: Cpl. L.F. Sellers
  • Passenger: Pfc. J.G. Goodman
  • Passenger: Pfc. Norman C. Maxfelt
  • Passenger: Pvt. Harold B. Erwin

“Note: Bolded name is that of sole survivor of this crash.  TSgt. Marvin H. Jacobs was thrown clear of the wreckage and ensuing fire, and sustained only minor injuries.  He was soon found by a hunter from a local tribal village who witnessed the crash while camped on a nearby hill.  The hunter built a bamboo lean-to shelter for Jacobs and cared for him before carrying him down to the village.  A runner from the village was sent to notify the US Army.  The villagers then built a rough airstrip so the Americans could recover Jacobs with a small aircraft.

“Historical Note: The text within this post is an excerpt from the original Army Air Corps or USAAF accident report that was filed shortly after the aircraft disappeared.  These archival reports were typically the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) or Report of Major Accident.  The reports frequently stated the crash site was believed to be “unrecoverable” or “all but impossible to recover”, due to the very remote and rugged terrain where the aircraft crashed.  Employing the services of local tribal guides, I was able to reach and document this crash site.  Without exception, all the sites were very difficult to reach, often involving many days of trekking from the nearest road and multiple river crossings.”

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945. USAAF Curtiss C-46A Commando mechanical problems/fire/crash, W of Karoi, India, 2-4-1945. Accessed 12-17-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19450204-0

 

Kuhles, Clayton. “C-46A #42-107386 Found 23 Sep 2008.” MIA Recoveries, Inc. Accessed 12-17-2023 at: https://www.miarecoveries.org/c46a-42-107386/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1945 — Feb 2, Florence to Rome USAAF C-47 mt. crash in fog 3 mls W of Montieri, Italy–23

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-13-2023.

–23  ASN. Accident description. USAAF Douglas C-47-DL, 1945, Feb 2, W of Montieri, Italy.

–23  Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL in Montieri: 23 killed.

–23  Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 29.

–23  Kebabjian. Planecrashinfo.com. 1945. 02 Feb 1945 Near Montieri, Italy, Military, USAAF

–23  Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD. “23 Persons Killed in Airplane Crash.” 2-5-1945, 10.

–23  Times Recorder, Zanesville, OH. “Plane Crash in Italy Kills 23 Persons.” 2-5-1945, 1.

Blanchard note: Rome fell to the Allies on June 4, 1944.

Narrative Information

 

Aviation Safety Network:

“….C/n / msn:             4728

“First flight:                1942

“Crew:                         Fatalities:   3 / Occupants:   4

“Passengers:                Fatalities: 20 / Occupants: 22

“Total:                         Fatalities: 23 / Occupants: 26….

“Location:                   5 km (3.1 mls) W of Montieri (Italy)….

“Departure airport:      Florence-Peretola Airport…

“Destination airport:   Roma…Italy….”[1]

 

“Narrative: “En route to Rome, Italy, the C-47 entered a river valley. Hills on both sides of the river were obscured by stratocumulus clouds and mist. When entering a fog bank the crew advanced the throttle levers in an attempt to climbing over the rising terrain. The aircraft contacted trees and crashed.” (Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Army Air Force, Douglas C-47-DL, 1945, Feb 2, W of Montieri, Italy.)

 

Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives:

“Date & Time:                         Feb 2, 1945 at 1015 LT [local time]

“Type of aircraft:        Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

“Operator:                   USAAF

“Registration:              41-18603

“Flight Phase:              Flight

“Survivors:                  Yes

“Site:                           Mountains

“Schedule:                   Florence – Rome [which was in Allied hands]

“MSN:                         4728

….

“Location:                   Montieri, Tuscany, Italy

“Crew on board:         4

“Pax on board:                        22

“Total fatalities:          23

“Circumstances:         

 

“While flying in a valley in poor weather conditions, the captain increased power to gain height when the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed on the slope of a wooded mountain located 5 km west of Montieri. Two passengers and the captain survived while 23 others occupants were killed, among them 12 civilians of which three nurses. Low clouds consisting of strato-cumulus and mist shrouded the mountain at the time of the accident.

 

“Crew:

1st Lt John A. Boronko, †
1st Lt James D. Fitzgerald, †
Cpt Donald B. Kresch, †
T/Sgt William J. Maddox, †
2nd Lt Marjorie L. McBride, †
M/Sgt B. B. McNutt, †
Cpl Edmund J. Miskell, †
2nd Lt Marion C. Phillips, †
Cpt David M. Ruff, †
1st Lt Roger F. Woodbury. †

 

Gero:

“Date:              2 February 1945 (c.10:15)

“Location:       Near Montieri, Grosseto, Italy

“Operator:       US Army Air Forces

“Aircraft type: Douglas C-47 41-18603

 

“Three Army nurses were among the 23 American service personnel aboard who were killed when the twin-engine transport, which was on an Italian internal flight from Florence to Rome, crashed and burned 60 miles (100km) north of its destination. Two passengers and the pilot, one of four crewmen assigned to 41-18603, survived with injuries.

 

“Proceeding on a south-westerly heading through a river valley, with hills on either side that were obscured by stratocumulus clouds and mist, the C­47 encountered a fog bank, necessitating a transi­tion by its crew from visual to instrument flight procedures. The pilot immediately initiated a climb to avoid rising terrain, but not at a sufficient rate to prevent the aircraft from hitting trees, whereupon it slammed to earth. At the time, the ceiling in the area was 2,000 to 3,000ft (600-1,000m), and the visibility reduced by the fog to less than 1 mile (1.5km).” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 29.)

 

Newspapers

 

Feb 4: “Rome, Feb. 4 (AP) – Twenty-three persons, including three nurses, were killed Friday when a transport plane carrying 26 American Army personnel crashed into a mountainside 60 miles north of Rome during a dense fog. The only uninjured survivor was Lt. G. M. Baco, New York City, who pushed the pilot to safety as flames enveloped the gasoline-soaked wreckage. An enlisted man also survived. The plane, a twin-engined C-47 of the U/S. 12th Air Force, was en route from Florence to Rome.” (Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD. “23 Persons Killed in Airplane Crash.” 2-5-1945, 10.)

 

Feb 4: “Rome, Feb. 4….The plane, a twin-engined C-47 of the U.S. Army air force, was enroute from Florence to Rome.  It ran into a dense fog in a river valley a few minutes after taking off.  Baco said the plane was following a river because the weather was so bad when it suddenly went into a cloud.  The plane brushed treetops and then crashed and skidded 300 yards over the crest of a mountain Baco added.

 

“The pilot, whose leg was broken in the crash, blocked Baco’s way out and Baco shoved him out through the windshield. ‘I got the pilot by the collar and somehow dragged him 50 yards from the plane before I fell down.’ Baco said the flames quickly consumed the plane. After fixing a tourniquet on the pilot’s leg, Baco walked two miles down the mountain for aid.” (Times Recorder, Zanesville, OH. “Plane Crash in Italy Kills 23 Persons.” 2-5-1945, 1.)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945. USAAF Douglas C-47-DL, 1945, Feb 2, W of Montieri, Italy. Accessed 12-13-2023 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19450202-3

 

Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL in Montieri: 23 killed.” Accessed 12-13-2023 at: https://www.baaa-acro.com/aircraft/douglas-c-47-skytrain-dc-3?page=184

 

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999. 

 

Kebabjian, Richard. 1945. Planecrashinfo.com. “02 Feb 1945 Near Montieri, Italy, Military, USAAF.”  Accessed 3-18-2012 at:  http://planecrashinfo.com/1945/1945.htm

 

Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD. “23 Persons Killed in Airplane Crash.” 2-5-1945, 10. Accessed at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=78399580

 

Times Recorder, Zanesville, OH. “Plane Crash in Italy Kills 23 Persons.” 2-5-1945, 1. Accessed at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=7492665

 

[1] Cites AAIR, Baugher and Gero.

1945 — Feb 01, USN PBY-5A crash, night navigation training, Kaneohe NAS, Oahu, HI–10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-16-2023.

–10  Aviation Safety Network. USN PBY-5A Catalina crash, Kaneohe NAS Oahu, HI, 2-1-1945

–10  Baugher. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (39999 to 50359). 5-6-2023 rev.

Narrative Information

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945:

“Date:                          Thursday 1 February 1945

“Type:                         Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina

“Operator:                   United States Navy

“Registration:              48268

….

“Total:                         Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10

….

“Location:                   Kaneohe NAS, Oahu, HI (USA)

“Phase:                        En route (ENR)

“Nature:                      Military

“Departure airport:      Kaneohe NAS, Oahu, HI, USA

….

“Narrative:                  Crashed during a night navigation training flight.” (Aviation Safety Network. USN PBY-5A Catalina crash, Kaneohe NAS Oahu, HI, 2-1-1945.)

 

Baugher: “….Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina (Could use both runway and water….48268 (CAC No 1460, Seq no. t117, Hull #1630) (VPB-100) crashed out of NAS Kaneohe 2/1/1945 on night Navigation training flight. 10 killed.”

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945. US Navy Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina crash, Kaneohe NAS Oahu, HI, 2-1-1945. Accessed 12-16-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19450201-0

 

Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (39999 to 50359). 5-6-2023 revision. Accessed 12-16-2023 at: https://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries5.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1945 — Jan 31, Fire, Lacoste Babies’ Boarding Home/Nursery (16 babies), Auburn, ME–17

Compiled Nov 21, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–17  Auburn Firefighters Local 797. “A Brief Historical Outline of the Auburn Fire Department”

–17  Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Home Unlicensed Where 17 Died.” 2-1-1945, p.1.

–17  Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “May Prosecute in Nursery Tragedy.” 2-2-1945, 1.

–17  Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Says Inspectors Visited Nursery.” 2-2-1945, p. 1.

–17  NFPA. “Auburn, Maine, Baby Home Fire.” Quarterly of, Vol. 38, No. 4, Apr 145, p. 258.

–17  National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History.  1996. 

–17  NFPA.  U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State.  December 2008, p. 23.

Narrative Information

 

Auburn Firefighters Local 797:  “January 31, 1945 an alarm came in for a fire on South Main Street. As the fire department responded they arrived at the Lacoste Nursery. The fire department was met with heavy fire showing and multiple reports of children and adults missing in the one and a half story building. Three women and five children escaped the fire that apparently started in the kitchen. However the fire took the lives of sixteen babies and one adult. This was the single highest fire fatality of children in the State of Maine. The cause of the fire was never determined.”  (Auburn Firefighters Local 797. “A Brief Historical Outline of the Auburn Fire Department.” 2-24-2012 update.)

 

National Fire Protection Association (Auburn, Maine, Baby Home Fire):

“This picture [not shown here] shows the Lacoste Baby Home in Auburn, Maine, where 16 children, from 3 months to 5 years in age, and one nurse lost their lives in an early morning fire, January 31. Fires of this nature may surprise some authorities who have always thought of institutional fire safety in terms of protecting large establishments rather than small, individual dwellings. However, this disaster makes clear that fire and health officials must think of providing fire safety in the smaller homes and nurseries, regardless of height or area.

 

“According to Fire Chief Ralph H. Harnden of Auburn, the fire started from a stovepipe passing through a wall between the kitchen and bathroom. Due to lack of fire stops, the fire traveled through channels between the floor timbers and walls to the attic and other portions of the house. A metal ceiling in the room adjoining the bathroom kept the fire from showing until sufficient heat and developed to cause smoke explosion, which immediately involved the entire house in flames.

 

“In the excitement of trying to get the babies from the building, the attendants failed to call the fire department until it was too late to use the telephone.

 

“It is reported that representatives of the State Welfare Department had told the proprietor of the Lacost Baby Home that renewal of the license for 1945 would be held up until a certificate of approval was obtained in indicate that the house was not a fire hazard. The fire department had received no request for such certificate prior to the fire.”

 

Time: “Casualties…These little bundles were babies – children of families disorganized by war…they and others (aged from three months to five years) were boarded out in the Lacoste Babies’ Home in Auburn, Me…soundly sleeping in their cribs, fire stared in the kitchen of the nursery, roared swiftly upwards through the…white frame house…” (Time. “Bundle of Responsibility” Vol. 45, 2-12-1945, p. 15.)

 

Newspapers

 

Jan 31: “Auburn, Maine, Jan. 31 (AP) – The privately-owned boarding home that became a funeral pyre for 16 babies and a nurse today was being operated without a legally-required license from the Bureau of Social Welfare, Harry O. Page, State Commissioner of Health and Welfare, disclosed tonight. Page arrived in Auburn from the State Capital to launch an investigation into the tragedy even as stunned relatives who had filed silently through the morgue all day long, were identifying the last of the victims. Only one corpse remained unclaimed. Authorities said it was not the body of Little Diane Savard. However, none of the bodies removed from the wreckage had been so identified, leading to speculation by authorities that some of the badly-charred babies might have been mis-identified.

 

“Three women and five children escaped the flames, which originated in the kitchen above a coal stove.[1]  Mrs. Rosa Cote, 50, a nurse, was among the victims.

 

“The commissioner said technical violations had prevented issuance of a permit for the home operated by Mrs. Eva Lacoste for the benefit of mothers engaged in war work or other daily jobs.  A violation cited by the commissioner was the fact Mrs. Lacoste was boarding more than the maximum of 16 babies prescribed under the state code. No action had been taken to force compliance with regulations because of a belief Mrs. Lacoste was willing to cooperate, Page said, even though she had delayed in doing so. ‘Our mistake was that a deadline should have been prescribed at some point,’ he said. ‘She would either have had to make the corrections or be closed up.’ The commissioner emphasized that there had been no indication of a fire hazard in the house, located about two miles from the center of town in the New Auburn district. ‘There were rear and front exits, a number of windows, children were all quartered on the ground floor and could have been easily removed,’ he said.

 

“Two theories were advanced by city officials as to the fire’s origin after the still hysterical Mrs. LaCoste denied an earlier statement that the coal heating stove in the kitchen had exploded. Noting that a three-burner oil cookstove had been located close to the heater, Police Chief Robert W. Herrick hazarded a guess that heat from the coal stove might have been sufficient to shatter the glass oil bottle, permitting the contents to flare up. Fire Chief Ralph Barnden expressed belief that a gas explosion might have occurred in the pipes running from the basement hot water heater. He said they were badly seared….

 

“Mrs. LaCoste said she was awakened in time to see flames catching the kitchen walls of the flimsy story-and-half frame structure. She seized two cribs, the babies still in them, and started for the door. ‘Then I fell down,’ Mrs. LaCoste related hysterically, ‘I had them in my arms.  I lost them when I fell down.’ The woman was treated by a physician as she kept moaning: ‘The poor little things. They were so young, so small.’

 

“Fire Chief Ralph Harnden, tears in his eyes, told of the frustrated attempts of his men to reach the screaming victims, only to be stopped dead by sheets of flames. With help from nearby Lewiston, firemen finally were able to fight their way into the bedrooms, both on the first floor. ‘It was a terrifying sight,’ the chief added. ‘We found many of them (the children) with their heads through the slats of their cribs where they apparently had tried to escape. I carried out six myself in blankets.’….

 

“First to identify her baby was Mrs. Arnold Widerman, 23, a shoe factory worker whose husband is in the Navy. She was near collapse as she said: ‘That’s my little Arnold, Jr.’ Seaman Widerman, stationed in Chicago, visited his baby not long ago.

 

“Private Rupert Sirots [unclear] of the Army, home on furlough, aided his wife in finding their six-months-old Carmen. Sirots saw the child for the first time last week. He saw her for the last time last night.

 

“Mrs. Christine Thibodeau located her six months old Diane at the morgue. Her husband…is in the Navy and had never seen the child. Mrs. Thibodeau works in a restaurant.

 

“Commissioner Page ordered an immediate investigation. It will open tomorrow morning at the office of County Attorney Armand Dufresne. Likewise, the State Insurance Department will investigate the blaze, as a routine matter.

 

“Throughout the day, relatives of the dead children claimed their kin. As quickly as they were identified, the bodies were released by Medical Examiner Robert H. Randall. Dr. Randall said a majority of the children died of suffocation but that all but three bodies were charred almost beyond recognition.

 

“Mrs. Cote, the nurse, died in attempting to save her five year old son, Robert. She was seen at the top of the stairs by Mrs. Blanche Tanguay, another nurse and sister of Mrs. Lacoste, but answered an appeal to ‘come down’ by shouting she wanted to dress. Both bodies were found together….

 

“The flames left the one-and-a-half story wooden building, a former farmhouse, a mere shell. They had charred the outside wall near the kitchen and had burned through the roof above that room.

 

“Ronald and Gerald, 8 months old twin sons of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Landerville of Lewiston, who had been placed in the home only last night, were among those who died.

 

Was Warming Bottle

 

“It was when she attended four-months old Diane Savard, who perished in the blaze, that Miss Tanguay discovered the fire. She was about to warm a bottle of milk for the child. ‘When I went into the kitchen,’ Miss Tanguay said, ‘the ceiling was in flame. I couldn’t even get around the stove to the room where the telephone was. I ran back through the house calling ‘fire’ to awaken everyone, ran out the front door and around the house. I started in the back door to get to the room with the telephone, but it was full of flames. I ran over to Stewart’s (Guy L. Stewart, next door neighbor). I hollered to Mrs. Stewart. Then ran back to the house. I saw my sister (Mrs. Lacoste coming through the front room. She had two babies but she couldn’t hold them and dropped them.  I ran in and grabbed her. Then I started back to Stewart’s.’

 

“Miss Tanguay said the kitchen stove burned coal, that as far as she knew it had never given any trouble. ‘The flames just roared through the house,’ she said, describing the fire. ‘The rooms were full of fire.’ 

 

“Mrs. Stewart, awakened by Miss Tanguay’s screams, roused her husband, an Auburn Fire Department Lieutenant, who telephoned fire headquarters with the alarm.

 

“Miss Lorraine Thibault saw flames from her nearby porch and ran to the blazing building. ‘I talked with some friends,’ she related. ‘Everyone’s out,’ they told me. I happened to see two women standing across the street, near the house. They were dressed in night clothes. I recognized Mrs. Loretta Fournier ( a home employe) and Mrs. Eva Lacoste. When I crossed over to them I noticed that Mrs. Lacoste had on a bathrobe, but that Mrs. Fournier was just in a nightdress and slippers.’ ‘Anybody in there?’ I asked, and they turned to me slowly. ‘Babies,’ they said. ‘I couldn’t say anything. I started to feel sick. For the first time I noticed that those two women were completely dazed.’ ‘Babies?’ I repeated, and one of the women answered: ‘Fourteen of them.’ ‘A woman came running up to me. It was Mrs. (Lucien) Foisy. ‘What happened?’ she shouted.  ‘Fourteen babies have been burned,’ I said. Mrs. Foisy screamed, ‘My baby was in that house.’  Mrs. Foisy’s one-year-old daughter, Joanne, was among those saved….” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Home Unlicensed Where 17 Died.” 2-1-1945, pp. 1 & 9.)

 

Feb 2: “Auburn, Me. Feb 1 – (AP)– Tiny white caskets, bearing the bodies of nine of 17 victims of the tragic Lacoste baby home fire were lowered gently into graves today while state and local authorities probed, behind closed doors, for possible criminal responsibility. 

 

“Groups of tearful mourners gathered in Lewiston and Auburn churches, chapels and funeral homes for the simple services. In some instances, services for a second victim were held in a church within a half hour after those for another. 

 

“Official investigation of the fire by County Attorney Aloysius F. Martin, and State Insurance Department Inspector Joseph A. P. Flynn which started behind closed doors was interrupted while they went to Augusta to confer with Gov Horace A. Hildreth who pressed for an open investigation.

 

To Continue Private Hearing

 

“After hearing Martin’s contention that public hearings would handicap him in possible future criminal prosecution Gov. Hildreth concurred that the inquiry would proceed in private but that if no grounds for criminal action were determined the stenographic testimony would be made public.  At the conclusion of the conference with Hildreth, Flynn said there were ‘certain circumstances that indicate criminal responsibility,’ and based his conclusion on testimony given by two witnesses.

 

“Called to testify before Flynn, Martin and other officials, were employes of the home who fled the blazing building; the parents of several victims, state and city health officials and firemen. Fire Chief Ralph B. Harnden, Medical Examiner R. N. Randall and Mrs. Shirley Davis, R.N. of the Auburn City Health Department were among those who testified before the inquiry adjourned at mid-afternoon until tomorrow….

 

“At Augusta, where legislation to revise the state’s entire fire law code was being prepared for introduction next week, a legislative order was introduced by Sen. Leland Currier of Lewiston asking creation of a committee to investigate specifically the Auburn fire and to study conditions in similar homes throughout the state. It was tabled by Sen. George V. Brown of Caribou because he said such a ‘sweeping move’ required legislation rather than an order and merited studied consideration.

Governor Orders Fire Certificate of all Nurseries

 

“Gov. Hildreth ordered State Health and Welfare Commissioner Harry O. Page to place on his desk ‘at the earliest possible moment evidence that every private children’s boarding home in the state, which comes under your jurisdiction, has a certificate from the local fire department that the home is not a fire hazard.’

 

“Mrs. Eva Lacoste, operator of the home, who suffered burns and shock in the fire that killed 17 babies and an attendant, was under a physician’s care and unable to attend the inquiry which proceeded at Auburn police headquarters. In an interview, however, she said the baby home, which she operated for three years, had never been inspected by fire inspectors nor had Health and Welfare investigators suggested such an inspection. ‘They didn’t tell me to get in touch with the firemen to have an inspection made,’ she said. ‘If they had, I would have done it. I’ve always done just as they (the investigators) said because it was my living.’ In reply to Page’s assertion that Mrs. Lacoste was operating without a state license, she said her 1944 license was ‘good until January but I hadn’t received my new one for 1945. You see, we don’t call for it, they mail it.’  She said she had a city license effective until next May….

 

“The cause of the fire has not been definitely determined but Police Chief Robert W. Herrick conjectured heat from a coal stove might have shattered a two-gallon oil bottle on a nearby cookstove.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “May Prosecute in Nursery Tragedy.” 2-2-1945, pp. 1 & 9.)

 

Feb 2: “Harry O. Page, State Commissioner of Health and Welfare, said Thursday night, he had

“requested an opportunity to appear before the joint Legislative Welfare Committee to discuss with its members the registration of boarding houses.” Sen. Lee C. Good (R-Monticello) told Pace the committee would be “happy” to have him appear early next week. Page also revealed Thursday evening that two inspectors from his department on Jan. 17 inspected the Auburn baby nursery home where 17 perished in a fire Wednesday and told Mrs. Eva LaCoste, the proprietor, what it was necessary to do for her to obtain a license.

 

“A day before the fire he wrote Mrs. LaCoste a letter advising her to have the Auburn fire chief inspect her premises and if they were found safe to give her a certificate to that effect, Page revealed.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta. “Says Inspectors Visited Nursery.” 2-2-1945, p. 1.)

 

Feb 2: “Auburn, Me., Feb 2 – (AP) – Official inquiry into the Lacoste baby home fire that killed 16 babies and one adult attendant continued today while fire department and county officials searched the ruins for evidence of its cause.

 

Inspect Wiring.

 

“As the searchers inspected the building’s wiring system and ripped up floors, County Attorney Aloysius F. Martin continued to hear evidence at the City Hall from witnesses called before his private inquiry. Simultaneously, three more of the little tots who died in the flash blaze were given burial.

 

“Seven witnesses, among them Miss Blanche Tanguay, sister of Mrs. Eva Lacoste, operator of the home, went before Martin. At the close of the day, Martin continued his silence on information obtained. Miss Blanche Tanguay, who discovered the blaze Wednesday at the Lacoste nursery emerged in tears late this afternoon from the Auburn city council chamber after facing a row in inquisitors over an hour and a half. Sister of the baby home proprietor, Mrs. Eva Lacoste, she said her weeping was due to a highly nervous condition induced by the tragedy and not from what transpired at the hearing which will continue into tomorrow….” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Suspect Wiring as Auburn Tragedy Probe Continues.” 2-3-1945, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Auburn Firefighters Local 797. “A Brief Historical Outline of the Auburn Fire Department.” 2-24-2012 update: http://iaff797.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=227245&page=About20Us

 

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Home Unlicensed Where 17 Died.” 2-1-1945, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648658&sterm=lacoste

 

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “May Prosecute in Nursery Tragedy.” 2-2-1945, pp. 1 & 9. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648670&sterm=lacoste

 

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Says Inspectors Visited Nursery.” 2-2-1945, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648670&sterm=lacoste

 

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Suspect Wiring as Auburn Tragedy Probe Continues.” 2-3-1945, p. 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648682&sterm=lacoste

 

National Fire Protection Association. “Auburn, Maine, Baby Home Fire.” Quarterly, 38/4, Apr 145, p. 258.

 

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at:  http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

 

National Fire Protection Association (John Hall, Jr.). U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 31 pages, December 2008.

 

Time Magazine. “Bundle of Responsibility,” Vol. 45, 2-12-1945, p. 15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Accompanying photo notes that a flash fire apparently was result of kitchen stove explosion at the nursery.

1945 – Jan 26, USAAF B-17G plane crash 2M SW of Hendricks Field, Sebring, FL   –all 10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-14-2023.

 –10  AP. “Fond du Lac Soldier Dies in Plane Crash.” Manitowoc Herald-Times, WI. 1-29-1945, 3.

–10  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, 1030.

Narrative Information

 

Mireles: “At 2130 EWT, a Boeing B-17G crashed two miles southwest of Hen­dricks Field, Sebring, Florida, killing ten crewmembers. The airplane had taken off from Hendricks Field on a high-altitude bombing mission at the AAF Bomb­ing Range at Avon Park, Florida. The airplane, flying at 20,000 feet, received permission to bomb on the range. The airplane never arrived on the range and did not drop its bombs. Investigators stated,

 

At 2130 EWT several witnesses from Hendricks Field heard a terrific roar as of overspeeding engines. This was followed by a large flash in the air at approximately 1,000 feet, which was in turn followed by a second explosion as the airplane crashed into the ground. The two explo­sions were almost simultaneous and indicate that the airplane was traveling at high speed and [diving] nearly straight down. The scene of the accident also indicated a terminal velocity dive or high-speed spiral as, prior to the crash, the airplane began to shed parts. All parts torn loose were found south of the point of impact, with some small pieces of wing skin being found six miles away. The heavier parts of the control surfaces, wing flaps, ailerons, trailing edges of the wings, hori­zontal and vertical stabilizers and elevators were all within one mile of the point of impact….The entire fuselage was completely demolished and no informa­tion could be gathered from the wreckage due to the fire after crashing. Parts of the fuselage and engines were buried six to eight feet in the ground. Due to no evidence of fire or explosion on the scattered parts, it is the opinion of the [investigators] that the first explo­sion seen in the air was a result of the airplane coming apart rather than a cause [of the crash]. All bodies were recovered in their approximate flight positions and as near as could be determined, all had oxygen masks on.

 

“The cause of the accident could not be determined….”  (Mireles 2006,, p. 1030.)

 

Newspaper

 

Jan 28, AP: “Avon Park, Fla., (AP) – Ten men were killed Friday night in the crash of a four engine bomber near Sebring, Fla., Colonel Clint T. Johnson, commanding officer of the Avon Park army air field, announced Saturday. Those killed included: Cpt. Howard W. Wertz, Found du Lac, Wis.” (AP. “Fond du Lac Soldier Dies in Plane Crash.” Manitowoc Herald-Times, WI. 1-28-1945, p.3)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Fond du Lac Soldier Dies in Plane Crash.” Manitowoc Herald-Times, WI. 1-29-1945, p. 3. Accessed 12-14-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/manitowoc-herald-times-jan-28-1945-p-3/

 

Mireles, Anthony J.  Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 3:  August 1944 – December 1945). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.

1945 — Jan 24, two USAAF B-17Fs in flight of five collide/crash ~5M NE of Dyersburg, TN–  16

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/  Last edit 12-14-2023.

—  16  Kingsport News, TN. “Plane Collision Kills 16 Airmen.” 1-25-1945, p. 1.

—  16  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, 1028.

Narrative Information

 

Mireles: “At 1610 CWT, two Boeing B-17F airplanes collided in mid­air and crashed northeast of Dyersburg, Tennessee, killing sixteen fliers. Four fliers were able to parachute to safety. The two airplanes were part of a five-ship flight that took off at 1500 from Dyersburg Army Air Field on a high altitude formation flight with pursuit ship interception. B-17F #42-6177, which crashed six miles northeast of Dyersburg, was flying in the number-three position of the lead element; B-17F #42­5325, which crashed four miles northeast of Dyers­burg, was flying in the lead position of the second el­ement. The formation was flying north at 10,000 feet when the number-three airplane dropped back out of position and then veered to the right. The number-three airplane continued to move to the right and stopped directly over the lead ship of the second ele­ment. The number-three airplane “hovered” over the lead ship for several seconds before dropping down on top of the lead ship. The number-three ship’s nose collapsed on the port wing and its starboard propellers cut into the fuselage of the lead ship near the radio room. The lead ship broke up as it fell away from the number-three ship, the port wing was severed and the fuselage broke in two near the radio room. The star­board wing failed and separated as the lead ship fell to earth. None of the ten crewmembers aboard the lead ship were able to parachute to safety. The number-three ship went into a slight climb and then entered a spiral to the right, remaining in this attitude until it crashed to ground and exploded into flames….”   (Mireles 2006, 1028.)

 

Newspaper

 

Jan 25, Associated Press: “Dyersburg, Tenn. – AP – Sixteen Army airmen were killed and four others parachuted to safety late Wednesday when two Flying Fortresses collided in flight about five miles northeast of their Dyersburg base, Col. William C. Lewis, commanding officer, announced. The ships were flying in formation on a combat training-mission when the collision occurred. They crashed and burned within two miles of each other….” (Kingsport News, TN. “Plane Collision Kills 16 Airmen.” 1-25-1945, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Kingsport News, TN. “Plane Collision Kills 16 Airmen.” 1-25-1945, p. 1. Accessed 10-9-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=49005261

 

Mireles, Anthony J.  Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 3:  August 1944 – December 1945). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.

 

 

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