Off Block Island, Rhode Island – June 7, 1943
U.S. Navy Wildcat Fighter
U.S. Navy Photo
On the afternoon of June 7, 1943, a flight of F4F Wildcat aircraft took off from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station for a formation training flight. The flight headed southward towards Block Island, which is three miles off the coast of Rhode Island. At about 5 p.m., the flight leader led the formation into the edge of a cloud formation. As the aircraft entered the clouds, the Wildcat being piloted by Ensign James Wilson Davis was observed by his wingman to suddenly roll over violently and go into a steep dive. The wingman followed downward, but pulled out of the dive at about 300 feet. Ensign Davis’s aircraft crashed into the sea and disappeared about a half-mile east of Block Island.
The navy serial number of Ensign Davis’s Wildcat was 12208.
The members of the flight were assigned to VF-16.
Source: U. S. Navy accident report, no. 43-7180, dated June 7, 1943.
