South Kingstown, Rhode Island – May 31, 1944
Worden’s Pond
U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy photo
At 11:30 a.m. on May 31, 1944, Lt. Jg. Maxwell Michaux Corpening, Jr., 24, was killed when the U.S. Navy F6F-5 Hellcat, (Bu. No. 58317), he was piloting crashed in Worden’s Pond during a training flight.
Lt. (jg.) Corpening was part of a flight of seven Hellcats practicing dive bombing techniques. According to the U.S. Navy Accident Report, after the fourth dive, the formation was joined by “three strange planes” that were “seen to dive from above and maneuver in weaving stern attacks on the Hellcats, who were in extended column formation. The flight leader continued to circle and climb as any further bombing runs would have been inadvisable while the other planes were mixed in the formation.”
The “strange planes” are not identified, however their actions led to the breakup of the formation, which led to a mid-air collision between Lt. (jg.) Corpening’s aircraft and another Hellcat. The other Hellcat was able to land safely at Groton Naval Auxiliary Air Field.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83356027/maxwell-michaux-corpening
Update, December 13, 2024
On July 26, 1941, Maxwell Corpening, Jr. enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained in Southern Ontario before being assigned to reconnaissance patrol along the Canadian Coast. He was later transferred to England, and when the United States entered the war he transferred to the U. S. army air force. It seems that at some point he transferred from the army to the navy, and was serving as a navy pilot at the time of his death.
Sources:
U.S. Navy Accident Report #44-44697, dated May 31, 1944
North Kingstown, Rhode Island, death records. (Many navy deaths during WWII were recorded in North Kingstown, (Not South Kingstown) because Quonset Point NAS was located in North Kingstown.)
Evening Star, (Wash. D. C.), “Lt. M. M. Corpening Killed In Crash Of Navy Plane”, June 2, 1944, page A-4
Providence Journal, “Navy Flier Killed As Plane Crashes”, June 1, 1944.
The Marion Progress, (N.C.), “Maxwell Corpening, Jr. Honor Student Of R.A.F.”, July 9, 1942.
The Marion Progress, “Lt. Max Corpening Fatally Injured In An Airplane Crash”, June 8, 1944.
The Evening Star, (Wash. DC), “Lt. M. M. Corpening Killed In Crash Of Navy Plane”, June 2, 1944
