Atlantic Ocean – November 8, 1961

Atlantic Ocean – November 8, 1961

 

P2V Neptune
Quonset Air Museum

      At 8 p.m. on the night of  November 7, 1961, a U. S. Navy P2V Neptune bomber with eleven men aboard took off from the Brunswick Naval Air Station to take part in anti-submarine exercises with the air craft carrier U.S.S. Lake Champlain 100 miles off the coast of Virginia.  The aircraft carried fourteen hours worth of fuel for the long range flight. 

     At 2:40 a.m. on the morning of the 8th, the Neptune was cleared to return to Brunswick and a short time later all contact with the aircraft was lost.  A search was begun, and hours later, two bodies, two life rafts, and pieces of wreckage were recovered and brought aboard the Lake Champlain.  There were no survivors. 

     The crew were identified as:

     Pilot: Lieutenant Commander Phillip S. Callihan, 36, of Memphis, Tenn. 

     Lieutenant (j.g.) Robert J. Miller, 23, of New Hyde Park, New York.

     Lieutenant (j.g.), William G. McLane, 22, of Lake Placid, New York. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22513589/william-gregory-mclane

     Lieutenant (j.g.) Edmund J. McGrath, 24, of Chicago, Ill.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57827026/edmund-j-mcgrath

     AMH1 Harold G. Kirkman, 27, of Kernersville, North Carolina. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105317166/harold-glenn-kirkman

     PO 3/C Paul Harden, 23, of Philadelphia, Penn.  

     PO 1/C Gerald J. Dinan, 25, of Zanesville, Ohio. 

     PO 2/C Wayne J. Stevens, 30, of Adairsville, Georgia. 

     Airman Paul E. Lare, 26, of Convoy, Ohio.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54154519/paul-edward-lare

     Po 3/C John J. Walsh, 22, of Ellsworth, Maine.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52121225/john-j-walsh

     AO 2/C Roy D. Smith, 23, of Crofton, Kentucky.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91989564/roy-daniel-smith

     The cause of the accident is unknown. 

     Source:

     The Evening Star, (Washington, D. C.), “11 Die As Navy Plane Crashes Off Virginia”, November 9, 1961, page A-22. 

     www.findagrave.com

 

 

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