Atlantic Ocean – June 15, 1943
Updated January 15, 2023.
Updated October 9, 2023.
U.S. Navy OS2U-2 Kingfisher
U.S. Navy Photo
On June 15, 1943, a U. S. Navy OS2U Kingfisher aircraft with two men aboard took off from the Squantum Naval Air Station on a routine flight over the Atlantic Ocean north of Boston. The plane never returned and was declared missing. It was later determined that the plane had gone down in the ocean off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The cause was never established.
On of the men aboard was Lieutenant (Jg.) Lloyd D. Hollingsworth, Jr., 24, of Wilmington, North Carolina. To see a photo of Lt. Jg. Hollingsworth, click on the link below.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28042949/lloyd-dixon-hollingsworth
Lt. Hollingsworth earned his pilot’s wings in April of 1942 after training in Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated from New Hanover High School and attended the University of North Carolina. He received the Air Medal for his actions during Operation Torch.
The other man aboard was Ensign Raymond John MacGregor, USNR, of Baltimore, Maryland. His body was recovered on or about August 19th by the Gloucester fishing trawler Mayflower, about two miles south of Thatcher’s Island, near Gloucester.
Ensign Macgregor is buried in Milford Cemetery in Milford, Penn. To see photographs of Ensign Macgregor click on link below.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75051586/raymond-john-macgregor
Sources:
The Wilmington Morning Star, (N.C.), “Navy Reports Death Of Lieut. Hollingsworth In Crash Off Rockport”, January 23, 1944, p.5
The Wilmington Morning Star, “Wilmington Boy Gets Navy Wings”, April 18, 1942, p.10
The Wilmington Morning Star, “2 Wilmington Men Included In UNC Alumni Honor Roll”, August 17, 1943, p.9
The Boston Globe, “Body Recovered By Dragger, Identified”, August 20, 1943
Nashua Telegraph, “Identify Body Of Naval Officer” August 20, 1943
Updated info supplied by Eric T. Wiberg – author & historian.
