from author and historian Jim Ignasher
Charlestown, Rhode Island – May 27, 1958
Douglas Skyraider
U. S. Navy Photo
On May 27, 1958, Lt. (Jg.) Paul John Marback was killed when the AD-5W Skyraider, (Bu. No. 132747), he was piloting crashed in Foster’s Cove in Charlestown.
Lt. (Jg.) Marback was assigned to VAW-12.
Source:
Information supplied by Larry Webster, aviation historian, Charlestown, R. I.
Atlantic Ocean – January 20, 1945
F6F Hellcat
U. S. Navy Photo
On the night of January 20, 1945, Ensign Robert Edward Swenson, (21), took off from the Charlestown Auxiliary Naval Air Field in an F6F-5e Hellcat, (Bu. No. 72587), for a training flight over the Atlantic Ocean about three miles southeast of Block Island. He was part of a two aircraft flight practicing low altitude interception with a target aircraft. It was during this exercise that Ens. Swenson’s aircraft crashed and exploded in the water. Neither he nor his airplane were recovered.
Ensign Swenson was assigned to Night Fighting Squadron 91.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/245988209/robert-edward-swenson
Sources
Information supplied by Larry Webster, aviation historian.
www.findagrave.com
Charlestown, Rhode Island – September 20, 1943
TBF-1 Avenger
U. S. Navy Photo
On September 20, 1943, a TBF-1 Avenger, (Bu. No. 00652), with a lone pilot aboard, was taking off in strong crosswinds at the Charlestown Navy Auxiliary Air Field when the aircraft went into some trees at the end of the runway and nosed up violently. The pilot wasn’t seriously hurt, but the aircraft was destroyed.
The aircraft was assigned to VT-14.
Source:
U. S. Navy accident report #44-5720
Charlestown, Rhode Island – March 2, 1945
Charlestown Auxiliary Naval Air Field
Updated July 13, 2017
U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy photo
At 11:15 p.m. on March 2, 1945, Lt. (jg.) Kenneth B. McQuady, age 21, took off from Charlestown Auxiliary Naval Air Station in an F6F-5N Hellcat, (Bu. No. 71418,) for a night training flight. Just after he became airborne, his aircraft was seen to lose altitude and crash on the ice covered water of Charlestown Pond at the end of Runway 22. Upon impact the belly tank ruptured and caught fire. The plane bounced another 100 yards before coming to rest. Lt. McQuady received fatal injuries.
Lt. McQuady is buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Bartow, Florida.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37759116/kenneth-bruce-mcquady
The propeller from Lieutenant McQuady’s Hellcat was recovered years after his accident and presented to the Quonset Air Museum and made into a memorial.
Quonset Air Museum Memorial to Lt. Jg. Kenneth Bruce McQuady
Description of accident that killed Lt. McQuady
Unfortunately, since this original posting, the Quonset Air Museum has closed.
Sources:
Quonset Air Museum
U.S. Navy Accident Report dated March 2, 1945
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