Quonset Point, R. I. – June 22, 1944

Quonset Point, Rhode Island – June 22, 1944

 

TBF-1 Avenger
U. S. Navy Photo

     On June 22, 1944, a TBF-1 Avenger, (Bu. No. 06152), was taking off from Quonset Point Naval Air Station when the engine suddenly lost power.  The aircraft came down at the end of the runway with it wheels retracted.  It went off the end of the runway skidding through soft dirt and then over a seawall.  The aircraft required a major overhaul but the three-man crew was not hurt.  The accident was blamed on mechanical failure.

     The aircraft was assigned to VT-48. 

     As a point of fact, this same TBF Avenger, (Bu. No. 06152), had been involved in a previous accident.  On January 13, 1944, while landing at Martha’s Vineyard Naval Air Station during strong wind gusts, the aircraft went off the runway and was damaged, but the crew was not injured.  At that time the aircraft was assigned to VT-7. 

     Sources: 

     U. S. Navy accident report #44-15764 dated June 22, 1944

     U. S. Navy accident report #44-10853 dated January 13, 1944

Narragansett Bay, R. I. – July 16, 1943

Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island – July 16, 1943

 

F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy Photo

     On the morning of July 16, 1943, Ensign Joseph Paul Staar was piloting an F6F-3 Hellcat, (Bu. No. 25848), over southern Narragansett Bay as part of a training flight.  The purpose of the flight was “Fighter Director Practice”, and Staar’s aircraft was part of a large group of aircraft.  

     As the flight of Hellcats was in the vicinity of Newport, Rhode Island, another aircraft made two diving passes at them from out of the sun.  On the second pass Ensign Staar’s aircraft entered a “high speed stall” due to “an abrupt climbing turn”, which led to his crashing into the water about 500 yards off Brenton Point in Newport.  He did not survive. 

     Source:

     U. S. Navy Accident Report #44-7667 

 

Off Jamestown, R.I. – June 6, 1944

Off Jamestown, Rhode Island – June 6, 1944

Lockheed PV-1 Ventura
U.S. Navy Photo

     At 9:34 a.m. on June 6, 1944, a U.S. Navy Pv-1 Ventura (Bu. No. 29917) took off from Quonset Point Naval Air Station with seven men aboard bound for Nantucket, Massachusetts.   Six minutes into the flight the plane went down in the water just 200 yards off the shore of Jamestown (a.k.a. Conanicut) Island in an area known locally as “The Dumplings”.  (The area is so-called due to the rock formations that protrude from the water.)  The fuselage reportedly hit the water between “Big Dumpling” and what was then the Jamestown Ferry Company dock, which is today part of a marina.  

     There are conflicting accounts of the accident.  It was initially reported that the plane suffered some type of explosion while airborne, and possibly a second on impact with the water, and it was further reported that the aircraft was in several pieces on the bottom of the bay.  However, the official findings listed in the Navy Investigation Brief, (#44-14865), indicated poor weather conditions as the cause for the accident, with no mention of an explosion. 

     In the report it was stated in part:, “Opinion from Adm. Report: That the plane crossed over Conanicut Island on a southerly heading and upon entering the vicinity of poor visibility in the Newport Area , either developed engine trouble, causing the pilot to turn and let down to a lower altitude to establish absolute visual contact with the water or ground in case of a forced landing.  Upon suddenly finding the island so close ahead he attempted to pull up and turn away in a sharp left turn with an immediate application of full power.  The violence of this maneuver or the possible failure of the port engine could have been sufficient to invert the airplane from which recovery at this low altitude was impossible. ”   

     All aboard the aircraft were killed in the crash.  They were identified as:

     Pilot: Lieutenant Jack Collins Sullivan, 25, of Dearborn, Michigan.  He was survived by his wife Marcia.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49360884/jack-collins-sullivan

     Aviation Machinist Mate 1st Class Thomas Joseph Kiernan, Jr., 22, of Albany, New York.  He was survived by his wife Virginia. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248082473/thomas-j-kiernan

     Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Regis Aloysius McKean, 23, of Queens, New York.  He was survived by his wife Patricia.  Petty Officer McKean was married on March 2, 1944, just three months before the accident.  To see a photo of the couple on their wedding day, go to www.findagrave.com and look under memorial #82683365.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82683365/regis-aloysius-mckean

     Aviation Ordinance Man 2nd Class Frank Peter Van Oosten, 23, of Malden, Massachusetts. (The only New Englander aboard) He was survived by his wife Hazel. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54989103/frank-pieter-van_oosten

     Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Albert Lee Kresie, Jr., 26, of Kansas.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68730737/albert-l-kresie

     Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Francis Gabriel Hricko, 27, of Hastings, Pennsylvania.  He was survived by his wife Jane, whom he’d married just two weeks earlier.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96295027/francis-g-hricko

     Doctor John McMorris (Ph. D), 39, of California.  He was survived by his wife Helen.   Dr. McMorris was a civilian working on an undisclosed project for the military.  Dr. McMorris was a pioneer in developing ways to recover formerly unrecoverable fingerprints at police crime scenes.  His research, discoveries, and techniques developed in the 1930s are commonly used by police today.  

     This incident remains the worst aviation accident to occur in the town of Jamestown, Rhode Island.    

     Sources:

     U.S. Navy Crash Investigation Report brief, #44-14865

     Newport Daily News, “Navy Plane Blows Up Off Jamestown”, June 6, 1944

     Woonsocket Call, “Plane Explodes, Seven Killed”, June 6, 1944, page 1

     (Providence) Evening Bulletin, “Seven Are Lost When Navy Plane Explodes In Air”, June 6, 1944, page 20

     Providence Journal, “7 Thought Dead As Plane Crashes”, June 7, 1944, Page 20, Col. 1

     Malden News, (Mass.) “Frank P. Van Oosten Starts Navy Life”, September 10, 1942, Page 5, Col. 6

     Malden News, (Mass.) F. P. Van Oosten Killed In Plane Crash”, June 7, 1944, Page 1

     Malden Press, (Mass.) “Malden Sailor Killed In Plane crash”, June 9, 1944, Page 5.

     The California Identification Digest, March/April 2006 edition, Volume 6, Issue 2 , “The Iodine/Silver-Transfer Method For Recording Latent Fingerprints”, by Darrell Klasey  

     The California Identification Digest, May/June 2006 edition, Volume 6, Issue 3, “Dr. John McMorris, Fume Pipe Inventor, Dies In Airplane Fall”, By Darrell Klasey

     Obituary for Frances G. Hricko, unknown newspaper.

     Town of Jamestown, Rhode Island, death records.

East Providence, R.I. – January 12, 1943

East Providence, Rhode Island – January 12, 1943

Updated December 29, 2015

    

U.S. Navy SBD auntless National Archives Photo

U.S. Navy SBD auntless
National Archives Photo

     At 3:00 p.m. on January 12, 1943, two U.S. Navy SBD-4 Dauntless aircraft were returning to Quonset Point Naval Air Station after a patrol/photographic  flight when they encountered snow squalls over the Providence metropolitan area and were forced to make emergency landings. 

     One aircraft (Bu. No. 06925) attempted to land in a field near St. Mary’s Seminary on Pawtucket Avenue in East Providence, and in the process collided with a tree and flipped over.  The pilot, Ensign John Robert Jasper, 22, of St. Louis, Missouri, was killed, and his companion, Photographer 3C, Ollen Amay Stevens, 26, of  Detroit, Michigan, was seriously injured.

     St. Mary’s Seminary is today known as St. Mary’s Bay View Academy located at 3070 Pawtucket Avenue.  

    The second aircraft made a hard landing in another field about a quarter of a mile away.  The pilot, Ensign William E. McCarthy, 23, of Mansfield, Mass., and his companion, Seaman Apprentice Edward Goumond, 20, of Johnston, R.I., were slightly injured.      

     Ensign Jasper had just celebrated his 22nd birthday twelve days earlier on December 30th.   His body was brought to Quonset Naval Air Station In North Kingstown, Rhode Island in preparation for burial. He’s buried in Resurrection Cemetery in Afton, Missouri.  To see a picture of his grave go to www.findagrave.com and see Memorial # 47782542. 

     Sources:

     North Kingstown, Rhode Island, death records, #43-17

     Larry Webster, R. I. Aviation Archaeologist & Historian

     Newport Daily News, “Navy Pilot Killed In Crash Upstate”, January 13, 1943, page 12

    

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