Date:	Tuesday 6 April 1943
Time:	21:20
Type:	Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator
Owner/operator:	VB-102 US Navy
Registration:	31989
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	10 mi N of NAS Kaneohe, Oahu, HI -   United States of America
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	NAS Kaneohe, Oahu
Destination airport:

Narrative:
VB-102 was established at NAS Kaneohe, Hawaii, on 15 February 1943 from half of VP-14. Initially equiped with PBY-5A, it was designated as the second squadron to convert to the landplane PB4Y-1 Liberator. Training lasted until the end of April, when the squadron moved to Guadalcanal.

In the evening of 6 April 1943, the PB4Y-1 Buno 31989 of VB-102 took off around 2115 hrs from NAS Kaneohe for a routine night navigation training flight but crashed some minutes later in the sea about 10 miles north of Kaneohe control tower without survivors. Crash boats and a PBY-5 searched the area until 0145 hrs on the 7th, but found no wreckage and no bodies were ever recovered. It was the first operational loss of VB-102. One report says nine men were aboard, but no official list of names haved been found. They have been identified as Lt(jg) Herbert Sidney Bonn (pilot), Ens John Henton Adams, Ens Cameron Lee Collier, Ens Joseph Budd Murphy, AMM2C Ralph Durst Boswell Jr, ARM2C Ronald Dean Brown, AMM3C Jack Gordon Hart, AOM3C Joseph Bernard Leonard and ARM3C Raymond Otis Marchand.

The pilot is identified in the NAS Kaneohe War Diary, the five enlisted men are listed in the Report of Changes of VB-102 for April 1943, Adams and Collier are linked with this crash in the book "We Flew Alone" (that has 8 names, not including Murphy) and Murphy is linked with this crash in the book "VPNavy!" (that has also 8 names, not including Marchand). On ABMC database, all five enlisted men are commemorated on the Honolulu Memorial on the date of 6 April, while all four officers are on the same memorial on the date of the 7th.

NAS Kaneohe War Diary, April 1943 (https://www.fold3.com/image/269317859)
Report of Changes of VB-102 for April 1943 (https://www.fold3.com/image/90261494)
"We Flew Alone: Men and Missions of the United States Navy's B-24 Liberator Squadrons Pacific Operations: February 1943 September 1944", by Alan C. Carey, ISBN 0764353691, page 133
"VPNavy! USN, USMC, USCG and NATS Patrol Aircraft Lost or Damaged During World War II", by Douglas E. Campbell, ISBN 978-1-387-49193-3, page 4
https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/pb4y-1/31989.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Air_Station_Kaneohe_Bay
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=21.445833&lon=-157.769722&z=15&m=w

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Nov-2010 11:55	ASN archive	Added
06-Dec-2019 14:00	gerard57	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source]
07-Apr-2022 12:04	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Date, Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
11-May-2023 10:47	Nepa	Updated [[Date, Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]]
10-Jun-2023 04:28	Ron Averes	Updated [[[Date, Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]]]