Preston, Connecticut – October 19, 1944
Updated January 14, 2019
Hellcat Fighters
U.S. Navy Photo
On the night of October 19, 1944, Ensign George Kenneth Krause, 22, and Ensign Merle Henry Longnecker, 20, took off from the Charlestown Navy Auxiliary Air Field in Rhode Island for a night tactics training flight over Connecticut. Each was piloting an F6F-5N Hellcat. The Bu. No. for Ensign Krause’s aircraft was 70519, and Ensign Longnecker was piloting Bu. No. 70826.
At about 10:30 p.m., both aircraft were over the Norwich State Hospital area conducting mock interceptions when they were involved in a mid-air collision with each other. Scattered wreckage fell over a large area, some coming down about one mile northeast of the hospital. Neither pilot survived.
Both men were assigned to Carrier Air Service Unit (CASU) 25 at Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Field in Rhode Island.
Ensign Krause is buried in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To see a photo of him, click on the link below.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79674174/george-k-kraus
Ensign Longnecker was survived by his wife Blanche. He’s buried in New Rockford, North Dakota. To see a photo of him, click on the link below.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151515469/merle-henry-longnecker
Ensign Longnecker had survived an earlier aircraft accident only a few days earlier on October 12, 1944. On that date he was practicing night carrier landings at Charlestown NAAF, while piloting another F6F-5N Hellcat, (Bu. No. 42794). The weather was foggy with a 700 foot cloud ceiling making for poor visibility. After making four successful landings and take-offs, he crash-landed while making his fifth approach. The aircraft was damaged, but he was not hurt.
Sources:
U. S. Navy accident report dated October 19, 1944
U. S. Navy accident report dated October 12, 1944
Rhode Island Department Of Health death certificates
The Norwich Bulletin, “Veterans Group Plans 70th Anniversary Tribute To Pilots killed In Preston Crash”, October 17, 2014
