Off Block Island, Rhode Island, June 13, 1945
U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy photo
On June 13, 1945, Ensign Herbert J. Audet took off from Charlestown Auxiliary Naval Air Station in Charlestown, R.I., for a gunnery training flight off Block Island. He was piloting an F6F-5E Hellcat, (Bu. No. 72735).
After making a run, he began to climb and noted that the oil pressure began to drop. The propeller went into a low pitch, and as the oil pressure continued to drop the engine froze. Ensign Audet was able to make a safe emergency landing in the water about a half-mile south of Block Island. He scrambled out of the plane before it sank, and was rescued a short time later.
Sources:
National Archives, AAR 11-45; TD450613RI, via Larry Webster, Aviation Historian, Charlestown, R.I.
U. S. Navy Accident Report dated June 13, 1945
