13's.... (2 Viewers)

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Photograph of Coast Guard Ensign H. D. Ronne, Skipper of Boat No. 13. 13 is Ensign's Lucky Number.
Coast Guard Ensign H. D. Ronne, skipper of Boat No. 13 carrying a crew of 13 Coast Guardsmen, sailed for the invasion
of Normandy in a convoy of 13 LSTs. Ensign Ronne was born on Friday the 13th. His ship is called the "Lucky 13."
 
Date: Monday 18th of December 1944.
Time:
Type: Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Owner/operator: USAAF 871st BS 497th BG
Registration: 42-63413
MSN:
Fatalities: Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Aircraft missing
Location: Pacific Ocean
Phase: Combat
Nature: Military
Departure airport: Isley Field No.1, Saipan
Destination airport: Nagoya, Japan
Narrative: US Army Air Forces 871st Bombardment Squadron 497th Bombardment Group 20th Air Force Bell-Atlanta B-29-15-BA Superfortress 42-63413 "Dixie Darling" out of Isely Airfield, Saipan, Marianas Islands on 18 December 1944 on a combat bombing mission to the target Mitsubishi aircraft factory at Nagoya, Japan. [MACR 10657] The B-29 was last sighted about half way to the target flying over the Pacific Ocean and never seen again.
 
Date: Monday 14th of May 1945.
Time:
Type: Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Owner/operator: 29th BGp /6th BSqn USAAF
Registration: 42-94013
MSN: 7420
Fatalities: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 11
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: North Field AAF - Guam
Phase: Take off
Nature: Military
Departure airport: North Field AAF, Guam
Destination airport: North Field AAF
Narrative: Boeing B-29A-20-BN Superfortress 42-94013: Delivered to the USAAF 3 February 1945. Named 'Boeing's Boner'. Named 'City of Hollywood' when assigned to the 29th BG, 6th BS.

Lost on combat operations May 14, 1945 during return from mission to Nagoya. Crash landed when the aircraft lost an engine during the takeoff and was returning to land at North Field, Guam. Eight of the eleven crew killed, three survived. Crew of #42-94013 were:

Airplane Commander 1st Lt Frederick J Bedford (KIA) 05/14/45
Pilot 2nd Lt Gordon W Munger (KIA) 05/14/45
Radar Operator 2nd LT Dale F Spencer - survived (Died 05/17/86 of natural causes)
Bombardier 2nd Lt Clarence H Rhody (KIA) 05/14/45
Navigator Flight Officer John W Benedict (KIA) 05/14/45
Flight Engineer T/Sgt Earl M Monk (KIA) 05/14/45
Radio Operator M/Sgt Paul F Hough (KIA) 05/14/45
Chief Fire Control Sgt Robert P Davis (KIA) 05/14/45
Left Gunner Sgt Max E Morse - survived (Died 09/15/95 of natural causes)
Right Gunner Sgt Orville R Jones (KIA) 05/14/45
Tail Gunner Sgt Don O McCauley - survived
 
Date: Sunday 20th of May 1945
Time:
Type: Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Owner/operator: 1st BSqn /9th BGp USAAF
Registration: 42-24913
MSN: 4574
Fatalities: Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 11
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: North Field AAF, Tinian Island - Northern Mariana Islands
Phase: Take off
Nature: Military
Departure airport: North Field AAF, Tinian Island, Northern Marianna Islands
Destination airport:
Narrative: Boeing B-29-55-BE Superforress 42-24913: Delivered to the USAAF 12 December 1944. Departed Herington AAF, Kansas for PTO (Pacific Theater of Operations) 25 January 1945. Assigned to 9th Bomb Group, 1st Bomb Squadron, and named "Thunderin' Loretta". Damaged in flight 19 March 1945 due to structural failure caused by thermals. Once source states that it was due to "heat turbulence" caused by the flames rising from the raid on Osaka, Japan, when the city was raided by 300 B-29s dropping incendiary bombs, stating a fire storm. The heat turbulence was so strong that the aircraft was "flipped over onto its back" in flight (see link #5). Repaired and returned to service.

Written off (destroyed) when crashed on takeoff at North Field AAF, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, May 20 1945 and exploded. Of the 11 crew, 10 were killed, 1 survived. 42-24913 also damaged 7 other parked B-29s (44-69841, 42-63506, 42-93992, 44-69844, 44-69972, 42-63504, and 44-69859) five of which were damaged beyond repair.
 
Date: Monday 11 June 1945.
Time:
Type: Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Owner/operator: 420th BSqn /382nd BGp USAAF
Registration: 44-61613
MSN: 11090
Fatalities: Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: 6 miles West of Rush Springs, Grady County, Oklahoma - United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature: Military
Departure airport: Smoky Hill AAF, Salina, Kansas
Destination airport: Smoky Hill AAF, Kansas
Narrative: Boeing B-29A-40-BN Superfortress 44-61613: Delivered to the USAAF 24 April 1945. Assigned to 247th Army Air Force Base Unit, Smoky Hill AAF, Salina, Kansas. Re-Assigned to 420th Bomb Squadron, 382nd Bomb Group.

Written off (destroyed) when crashed 11 June 1945, 6 miles West of Rush Springs, Grady County, Oklahoma (at approximate co ordinates: 34°46′55″N 97°57′20″W). All ten crew on board were killed. Airmen who perished on B-29 #44-61613 were:

Carson, John H ~ 2nd Lt, Maryland
Collopy, Robert J ~ 1st Lt, New York
Coveyou, James A ~ Corporal, Michigan
Eaves, Thomas B ~ Corp, Oklahoma
Farmer, James E ~ Flying Officer, Mississippi
Fitzpatrick, Matthew J ~ Pfc, Maryland
Groves, James L ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, California
Hunt, James A ~ Pfc, Oklahoma
Smallwood, W C ~ 2nd Lt, California
Weilep, Julius B ~ 2nd Lt, Wisconsin
 
Date: Wednesday 12th of June 1946
Time:
Type: B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator: United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
Registration: 44-86313
MSN:
Fatalities: Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: 10 mi SSE of Gatlinburg, TN - United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature: Military
Departure airport: Tampa, FL
Destination airport: Chicago, IL
Narrative: Crashed into rocks in the National Park.
 
Date: Thursday 15th of July 1948
Time:
Type: Boeing B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator: 352nd BSqn /301st BWg USAF
Registration: 44-61713
MSN: 11190
Fatalities: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 13
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: 2 miles South East of Smolan, Saline County, Kansas - United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature: Military
Departure airport: Smoky Hill AFB, Salina, Kansas
Destination airport:
Narrative: Boeing B-29A-45-BN Superfortress 44-61713: Delivered to the USAAF 18 May 1945. Assigned to 352nd Bomb Squadron, 301st Bomb Wing, Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas.

Written off (destroyed) July 15, 1948: Shortly after takeoff from Smoky Hill AFB, while on a local training flight, an engine failed. Four crew members were able to bail out before the aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field located two miles southeast of Smolan, about four miles south of the airbase. (At approximate co ordinates: 38°44′17″N 97°41′2″W). The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and nine crew members were killed. The four crew members who were able to bail out were injured, one of them seriously.

One the crew fatalities was 2nd Lt Oliver Douglas Holmquist.
 
Date: Thursday 9th of November 1950
Time:
Type: Boeing RB-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator: 31st SRSqn /5th SRWg USAF
Registration: 44-61813
MSN: 11290
Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: Johnson AB, Saitama Prefecture, Sayama, Inariyama, Tokyo - Japan
Phase: Combat
Nature: Military
Departure airport: Johnson AB, Sayama, Tokyo, Japan (RJTJ)
Destination airport: Johnson AB, Sayama, Tokyo, Japan (RJTJ)
Narrative: Boeing RB-29A-50-BN Superfortress 44-61813: Delivered to the USAAF 14 June 1945. Modified to F-13A; redesignated 1948 as RB-29A, Assigned to 676th Bomb Squadron, 444th Bomb Group. Named 'Pacific Princess'. Re-Assigned to 31st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Group. Renamed "Over Exposed".

Written off (damaged beyond repair): Damaged in Combat Operations by MiG-15 on November 9, 1950. Two engines were shot out. The aircraft overshot the runway on return to Johnson Air Base, Japan. The air frame broke into five major portions. Five crew members died and the plane was written off. Seven crew members were:

Green, M/Sgt. Avery - flight engineer: KIA
Gunhus, S/Sgt. Orvis J. - crewman: KIA
Laden, Captain, Robert Edward - pilot: KIA
Lavene, Corporal Harry J. - (tail gunner) not injured
Mitchell, 1st Lt. Robert A. - co-pilot: KIA
Schooley, 1st Lt. James M. - weather officer and navigator: KIA
Warren, S/Sgt. ___ - not injured

Interestingly, the lone survivor from the cockpit area was Corporal Harry J. Lavene who had been the tail gunner. While being attacked, military records show that he was the first enlisted man to shoot down a MiG-15 from a B-29.
 
Date: Tuesday 22nd of April 1952.
Time:
Type: Boeing B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator: United States Air Force - USAF
Registration: 44-62713
MSN:
Fatalities: Fatalities: / Occupants:
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location: -
Phase: En route
Nature: Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Narrative: Attached to 98th Bmb Wg. Minor AAA damage.
 
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