Avenger Torpedo Life Rafts
- Thread starter Phileep
- Start date
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MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Yes, they had life rafts but they did not deploy automatically. From the TBF-1 Pilot's Manual:
Life Raft & Emergency Rations
Stowed in Life Raft Compartment in fuselage abaft second cockpit;
athwartship. Compartment door, on either side of fuse~
1 age is he 1 d in p 1 ace by quick turn fasteners. Erne rgency rations,
first aid kit, smoke grenades, a sea marker, paddles
and water containers are stowed in an emergency equipment
container. A service water container is stowed in the second
cockpit.
Flight 19 would have been so equipped. I do not know exactly when they started carrying emergency radios in an aircraft the size of an Avenger. They would have had them in Korea but I do not know when they had them in WWII. The larger aircraft had the Gibson Girl hand crank emergency transmitter.
Life Raft & Emergency Rations
Stowed in Life Raft Compartment in fuselage abaft second cockpit;
athwartship. Compartment door, on either side of fuse~
1 age is he 1 d in p 1 ace by quick turn fasteners. Erne rgency rations,
first aid kit, smoke grenades, a sea marker, paddles
and water containers are stowed in an emergency equipment
container. A service water container is stowed in the second
cockpit.
Flight 19 would have been so equipped. I do not know exactly when they started carrying emergency radios in an aircraft the size of an Avenger. They would have had them in Korea but I do not know when they had them in WWII. The larger aircraft had the Gibson Girl hand crank emergency transmitter.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Flight 19 was lost in December '45, so they would have most likely had standard wartime issued emergency equipment aboard.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
I wonder if any of you guys have a pet theory about what happened to Flight 19? Not the sensationalistic stuff.
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 38,278
- Mar 26, 2007
Mid air collision with all involved would by my guess.
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
One of my HS teachers was a USN aviator before and during WWII. In the mid-30's he was flying a floatplane off the USS Texas. One day, off the coast of California near San Diego they had a gunnery exercise firing at a target towed by a PBY. The exercise over, he flew next to the PBY and waved goodbye; the pilot was a classmate of his from USNA.
They landed and the ship recovered the floatplanes as the crew busied themselves with cleaning up after the exercise. Then they got a call from NAS North Island, "Where is the PBY? It's not back yet and we have not heard from it."
This was very puzzling. They had been WITHIN SIGHT of NAS North Island. Weather was perfect. There was zero probability that the PBY could get lost.
They never found a trace of that airplane. The USS Texas, its floatplanes and many other aircraft searched for days. As my teacher put it, "Under those conditions only one gallon of oil would have been visible for miles. Those engines each had thirty gallons of oil." And of course the PBY normally landed on the water, so even if both engines quit suddenly all they had to do was make a landing. If the pilot had shoved sharply forward on the control wheel or a elevator cable broke and dove the airplane into the water the debris would have been considerable and very obvious.
So, I do not know what happened to Flight 19, but there has been some even weirder stuff take place.
They landed and the ship recovered the floatplanes as the crew busied themselves with cleaning up after the exercise. Then they got a call from NAS North Island, "Where is the PBY? It's not back yet and we have not heard from it."
This was very puzzling. They had been WITHIN SIGHT of NAS North Island. Weather was perfect. There was zero probability that the PBY could get lost.
They never found a trace of that airplane. The USS Texas, its floatplanes and many other aircraft searched for days. As my teacher put it, "Under those conditions only one gallon of oil would have been visible for miles. Those engines each had thirty gallons of oil." And of course the PBY normally landed on the water, so even if both engines quit suddenly all they had to do was make a landing. If the pilot had shoved sharply forward on the control wheel or a elevator cable broke and dove the airplane into the water the debris would have been considerable and very obvious.
So, I do not know what happened to Flight 19, but there has been some even weirder stuff take place.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Hard to say, the Ocean is a big place.
They were way off course and according to one of the leader's last transmissions, they were to ditch as a group. If this was the case, then they tried a water landing in low light with deteriorating weather and rough seas which was a recipe for disaster.
*IF* they made a successful ditching (which I seriously doubt), then the currents would have carried them north-east, deep into the Atlantic.
Most likely, all five failed to ditch due of the conditions and because of the conditions, any debris (and oil slicks) would have been dispersed and carried out on the current.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
That's pretty much my theory.
A lot of press is given to the Bermuda Triangle. The best of I've read was, that area of the Earth is one of the most heavily traveled. Stuff goes missing just about everywhere. There is more, statistically, to go missing there and is more likely to be noticed.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
The Bermuda Triangle does have some mystery to it, with magnetic anomalies and sudden, violent storms as well as complex currents.
But there's really nothing "otherworldly" about it, as all that is just the way it's laid out geographically.
The Patagonia region is far more treacherous and countless ships (and aircraft) have disappeared without a trace with barely any sensation from the conspiracy crowd.
I think (and this is just a theory) that the mystique of the Bermuda region is a hold over from the Mariners from days of old, who were superstitious. They encountered unusual anomalies which were unique to this region and could not explain it, as they had never encountered conditions anywhere else, there for it had to be the work of the Devil, Sea Witches and so on. As time passed, the legend simply was modernized to include Aliens and whatnot.
But there's really nothing "otherworldly" about it, as all that is just the way it's laid out geographically.
The Patagonia region is far more treacherous and countless ships (and aircraft) have disappeared without a trace with barely any sensation from the conspiracy crowd.
I think (and this is just a theory) that the mystique of the Bermuda region is a hold over from the Mariners from days of old, who were superstitious. They encountered unusual anomalies which were unique to this region and could not explain it, as they had never encountered conditions anywhere else, there for it had to be the work of the Devil, Sea Witches and so on. As time passed, the legend simply was modernized to include Aliens and whatnot.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Wasn't there a British airliner (Lancastrian(?)) that hit a mountain in or about Patagonia before the jet stream was understood?
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
I'm not sure though it's entirely possible.
The list of air disasters in Patagonia is a long one - the weather down there can get violent at a moment's notice and has claimed even seasoned pilots' lives.
- Thread starter
- #12
Yes i do it was a hoax! I am writing a book about it
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Not sure what you mean by "hoax".
Five TBMs were lost that day, military records show the BuNos were stricken from the register as lost/missing.
BuNo 45714 - TBM-1C
BuNo 46094 - TBM-1C
BuNo 46325 - TBM-1C
BuNo 73209 -TBM-1C
BuNo 23307 - TBM-3
You didnt need anything mysterious to fly into a mountain in that era, Leigh Mallory was killed when his Avro York flew into a mountain near Grenoble.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
I did not know that.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Just remember to stay within the lines when you are coloring in the pictures.
Glenn Miller just went missing in the Channel a month later.
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Trafford Leigh-Mallory : biography 11 July 1892 – 14 November 1944 Death and legacy In August 1944, with the Battle of Normandy almost over, Leigh-Mallory was appointed Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia Command (SEAC). But before he could take up his post he and his wife were killed en...
fampeople.com
I read somewhere that they were many miles off course (like hundred(s)) so didnt expect to be near the Alps.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
I knew about Glen Miller. He was a passenger in a Noresman, right?
That's incredible. If anyone, Leigh-Mallory should've known to accept the pilot's call.
That's incredible. If anyone, Leigh-Mallory should've known to accept the pilot's call.
I dont know how it went or goes in the military. Leigh Mallory them all killed, if the pilot flatly refused to fly they could have got someone else to get them all killed, would the pilot who refused to fly then be court martialled?
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 38,278
- Mar 26, 2007
Molders did the same. He died in the nose gunners position knowing he shouldnt have pressed.
