ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 92648
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| Date: | Wednesday 10 November 1943 |
| Time: | 09:00 |
| Type: |  Lockheed PV-1 Ventura |
| Owner/operator: | USN |
| Registration: | 33358 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | two miles off mouth of the Saramacca River -
 Suriname
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Zandery Field, Surinam |
On 9 November 1943, VB-131 flew five anti-submarine sweeps and one training mission from its base of Zandery Field, Surinam. At 1815 hrs, one of the planes, the PV-1 Buno 33412 131-B-4 sent the following message to base radio: “Landing River”. No further word was heard, and a search commenced at once for the plane, but nothing was found until the field closed for the night.
The next day, permission was granted to the unit to cancel all operational flights in order that every available plane might be employed in the search for the missing aircraft. At 0645 hrs, a life raf, containing wo men, was sighed near the mouth of the Saramacca River, Surinam. A rescue operation commenced immediately, and at 0900 hrs, all hands were safely landed at Zandery Field in a JRF.
Two members of the crew stated that they had seen a PV plane crash at 0900 hrs some two miles from their vantage point on the shore. The aircraft was seen to spin in and crash from 1,500 feet.
The PV-1 Buno 33358 131-B-9 that took off that morning at à626 hrs for the search was then several hours overdue. A rescue boat was at once dispatched from Paramibo to the scene, by 5° 49’ N 55° 57’ W. An amphibian place also landed and circled crash, but no survivors were found. Inspection of the crash revealed that all six crew were instantly killed.
Crew (all killed):
Lt(jg) Robert Gustave Winthers (pilot)
Ens John Gilbert Sieck
ARM2c Robert W Dye
AOM3c Joseph Albert Dias
AMM2c John James Diamond
ARM3c James Owen Vinson
John Diamond is commemorated on the East Coast Memorial, so it is possible his body was not found or lost at sea. The other five crew all rest in American cemeteries.
Sources:
VB-131 War Diary, November 1943 (https://www.fold3.com/image/274216840)
https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/LLNov43.htm
https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/142728678/robert-gustave-winthers
https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/142730231/john-gilbert-sieck
https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/51996314/robert-w-dye n
https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/73974785/joseph-albert-dias
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2UScasaaDB-USNbyNameD.htm
https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/36459985/james-owen-vinson
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Nov-2021 20:19 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 19-Dec-2021 12:43 | Cobar | Updated [Registration, Operator, Source] |
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