Pocasset, MA – August 13, 1945

Pocasset, Massachusetts – August 13, 1945 

Updated December 23, 2020.

 

Early U.S. Navy Helldiver
U.S. Navy Photo

     On August 13, 1945, Ensign William Orlando Young, Jr., (22), was piloting an SBW-4E Helldiver, (Bu. No. 60153), on a night training flight over Cape Cod.  This training was preparatory to his assignment to the navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Midway

      During the flight, weather conditions had deteriorated and the cloud ceiling had dropped, and it was later speculated by navy investigators that this played a role in the accident.         

     When overdue for his return to base, he was reported missing, and a search utilizing aircraft from Otis and Quonset Point, R.I. began.  His body and his wrecked plane were found the following day in Pocasset, Mass. 

     Ensign Young’s body was brought to Quonset Naval Air Station in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, before being sent to Gathersburg, Maryland for burial.  He was survived by his wife Hazel.  

     Sources:

     U. S. Navy accident report dated August 13, 1945 

     Falmouth Enterprise, “Pilot From Otis Killed In Crash” August 17, 1945   

     North Kingstown, Rhode Island, death records #45-77

 

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