At 20:37 hours, two U.S. Navy Consolidated PBY-2 Catalinas, Bu№ 0462 of VP-13 and Bu№ 0463 of VP-11 collided in darkness and rainy conditions, 70 miles west of Point Loma, San Diego, California, killing three officers and 8 enlisted men. The survivors were rescued by the battleship U.S.S. Tennessee.
The aircraft departed Naval Air Station North Island as part of a formation and aerial combat training flight when the two planes collided over the Pacific Ocean west of San Clemente Island.
The personnel killed and missing were:
LT Elmer G Cooper, Monticello, AR
LT Carlton B Hutchins, Albany Co., NY
RM1 Jesse H Hester (recovered), La Grange, GA
ACMM John Fitzmaurice, El Cajon, CA
AMM1 George G Griffin, Arlington, VA
AVC Erwin J Koch, Toledo, OH
AMM2 William P Landgrebe, Stillwell, IN
AMM1 John H Niedzweicki, Milwaukee, WI
RM1 Julian J Rawls, Dublin, GA
AMM2 Joseph E Walton, Stamford, TX
ACMM Marion W Woodruff, San Diego, CA
Two Naval PBY-2 Sea Planes collided in mid air on Feb 2, 1938 off the Southern California Coast during Fleet exercises. Plane PBY-2 # 462 burst into flames and sank. Plane PBY-2 #463 remained afloat for 3 hours. Two Officers, one Aviation Cadet and eight Enlisted men lost their lives.
Joe Earl Walton, Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class (AMM2c) USN was among those who died that day. His body was never found.
Ancestry.com. U.S., Navy Casualties Books, 1776-1941 Original data: Various volumes. Washington, D.C.: Navy Department Library.
He married Eleanor Mae Cole Stiener on Sept 6, 1934 in Portsmouth, Virginia .
He later married Mae Alice Sullivan of Glendale Calif. in Abilene, Texas on Dec 13, 1937 at the home of his brother Buster Walton less than two months before he was killed.
At 20:37 hours, two U.S. Navy Consolidated PBY-2 Catalinas, Bu№ 0462 of VP-13 and Bu№ 0463 of VP-11 collided in darkness and rainy conditions, 70 miles west of Point Loma, San Diego, California, killing three officers and 8 enlisted men. The survivors were rescued by the battleship U.S.S. Tennessee.
The aircraft departed Naval Air Station North Island as part of a formation and aerial combat training flight when the two planes collided over the Pacific Ocean west of San Clemente Island.
The personnel killed and missing were:
LT Elmer G Cooper, Monticello, AR
LT Carlton B Hutchins, Albany Co., NY
RM1 Jesse H Hester (recovered), La Grange, GA
ACMM John Fitzmaurice, El Cajon, CA
AMM1 George G Griffin, Arlington, VA
AVC Erwin J Koch, Toledo, OH
AMM2 William P Landgrebe, Stillwell, IN
AMM1 John H Niedzweicki, Milwaukee, WI
RM1 Julian J Rawls, Dublin, GA
AMM2 Joseph E Walton, Stamford, TX
ACMM Marion W Woodruff, San Diego, CA
Two Naval PBY-2 Sea Planes collided in mid air on Feb 2, 1938 off the Southern California Coast during Fleet exercises. Plane PBY-2 # 462 burst into flames and sank. Plane PBY-2 #463 remained afloat for 3 hours. Two Officers, one Aviation Cadet and eight Enlisted men lost their lives.
Joe Earl Walton, Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class (AMM2c) USN was among those who died that day. His body was never found.
Ancestry.com. U.S., Navy Casualties Books, 1776-1941 Original data: Various volumes. Washington, D.C.: Navy Department Library.
He married Eleanor Mae Cole Stiener on Sept 6, 1934 in Portsmouth, Virginia .
He later married Mae Alice Sullivan of Glendale Calif. in Abilene, Texas on Dec 13, 1937 at the home of his brother Buster Walton less than two months before he was killed.
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