from author and historian Jim Ignasher
Quonset Point Naval Air Station
On September 1, 1943, a British TBM Avenger, (Bu. No. JZ-316), landed at the end of runway 23 at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station and collided with an American SB2A Buccaneer, (Bu. No. 29237), that was taxiing. Both aircraft received “considerable” damage the their right wings, but there were no injuries to crews.
Source:
Quonset Point Crash Logs at Providence College Library
Quonset Point Naval Air Station – February 18, 1952
P2V Neptune
Quonset Air Museum
On February 18, 1952, a P2V-4 Neptune, (Bu. No. 124261), was preparing to take off from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station for a flight to Newfoundland. While taxiing into position the port wing tip struck the rear rudder of an AD-1 Skyraider, (Bu. No. 09235), that was also in the process of taxiing. There were no injuries.
Source: U. S. Navy accident report dated February 18, 1952
Quonset Point, Rhode Island – March 13, 1942
North American Texan Military Trainer
Author Photo
On March 3, 1942, a navy SNJ-3 trainer aircraft, (BU. No. 6911), landed at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station after a night training flight. Just after touchdown the pilot realized the brakes weren’t working, and the aircraft went off the end of the runway and nosed over. The pilot was not injured.
Source:
U. S. Navy accident report dated March 13, 1942.
Quonset Point, Rhode Island – February 16, 1944
U.S. Navy FM-2 Wildcat
U.S. Navy Photo
At 7:50 p.m. on the night of February 16, 1944, two FM-2 Wildcat aircraft were returning to the Quonset Point Naval Air Station after a night tactics training flight.
The first aircraft, (Bu. No. 16343), landed first and taxied down the runway. The second aircraft, (Bu. No. 16161), landed just afterwards and collided into the back of the first aircraft. The first aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but the second aircraft was repaired and put back in service. Neither pilot was injured.
Both aircraft were assigned to VF-4.
Source:
U. S. Navy accident report #44-11748
Quonset Point, Rhode Island – April 21, 1944
U.S. Navy FM-2 Wildcat
U.S. Navy Photo
At 10:30 a.m. on the morning of April 21, 1944, an FM-2 Wildcat, (Bu. No. 16583), was taking off from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station on Runway 5 for a routine training flight. Just after becoming airborne, at an altitude of 30 feet, the engine suddenly stopped. The aircraft fell back onto the runway but there wasn’t enough time or room to stop. The aircraft went off the end of the runway, over a sea wall, and into Narragansett Bay. The pilot was rescued, but the aircraft was a total loss. Inspection revealed fouled sparkplugs to be the cause.
Source:
U. S. Navy accident report #44-13366
South Mountain, Vermont – October 24, 1945
SB2C Helldiver
U.S. Navy Photo
On October 24, 1945, a U.S. Navy Helldiver left Burlington, Vt., headed for Quonset Naval Air Station in Rhode Island, when it crashed into South Mountain at the 2,300 foot level, cutting a wide path and scattering wreckage over a large area. Both men aboard were killed.
150 searchers found the wreck site after two days.
The pilot was Ensign Walter G. Smith, Jr., 22, of Kansas City, Mo.
The passenger was 28-year-old Lt. Cmdr. Maurice M. Stone of Raleigh, North Carolina. Stone was the executive officer of a squadron based at Quonset Point, and had arrived in Burlington with his squadron for Navy Day exercises. At some point his hand became infected, and he was being flown to R.I. for treatment when the accident occurred.
Stone was a veteran of the first aircraft carrier based attack on Tokyo, Japan. He was survived by his wife Maureen (Smith) Stone. He’s buried in Savannah, Georgia.
Sources:
Providence Journal, “Bodies of Two Quonset Aviators, Wrecked Plane Found In Vermont”, October 27, 1945, Pg. 1
North Kingstown, Rhode Island, death records #45-100 & 45-101
Quonset Point Naval Air Station insignia patch
North Kingstown, Rhode Island – April 22, 1944
Updated July 7, 2017
Hellcat Fighters
U.S. Navy Photo
On the afternoon of Saturday, April 22, 1944, two F6F-3 Hellcats assigned to VF-7 at Quonset Point Naval Air Station, collided in mid-air over the Quonset Manor neighborhood of North Kingstown. Both pilots were killed.
One plane sheared the tail off the other while both planes were several hundred feet in the air.
One of the Hellcats, (Bu. No. 42706), piloted by Ensign Joseph Clyde Rust, 22, of Alliance, Nebraska, crashed on King Phillip Drive and exploded. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72518128/joseph-clyde-rust
The other Hellcat, (Bu. No. 41965), piloted by Ensign Oswald Eugene Asplundh Jr., 21, of Glenview, Illinois, crashed and burned to the waterline in Sawmill Pond. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52146183/ensign_oswald-eugene-asplundh
Update: The accident occurred while a flight of three Hellcats was flying in a Vee formation at 4,000 feet. The flight leader, flying at the point of the Vee, suddenly began to pull away from the formation, and Ensigns Rust and Asplundh attempted to follow, and that’s when the collision occurred.
Sources:
Providence Journal, “2 Planes Collide At Quonset Manor”, April 23, 1944, Pg. 1
Providence Journal, “2 Victims Of Crash Identified By Navy”, April 24, 1944.
The Standard, “Two Planes Crash At Quonset Manor”, April 27, 1944, Pg. 1
U.S. Navy Accident Report
Quonset Point Naval Air Station Vintage Images
The Quonset Point Naval Air Station was located on Narragansett Bay in the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
To see hundreds more vintage images of the Quonset Point Naval Air Station one can obtain two books published through Arcadia Press in their Images of America series titled: Quonset Point Naval Air Station, Volumes 1 & 2, by Seam Paul Milligan. Both books are highly informative.
Before the navy base, Quonset Point was a summer community. This real estate ad is from July of 1930.
Vintage Post Card View Of The Former Entrance To Quonset Point, NAS.
Quonset Point Naval Air Station Insignia patch
A Vintage Post Card View Of A Helicopter Over Quonset Point Naval Air Station
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