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Old July 16th 03, 03:29 PM
Chuck
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(JDupre5762) wrote:
---
My father in law has told me an interesting story about a crash of a
Martin P5M Marlin flying boat patrol bomber. The crash occured in 1954
near Horta, Azores Islands. My father in law was on board the seaplane
tender Currituck AV 7. Apparently Pan Am flying boats used to take off
from the harbor but this meant flying right towards a hill. The Marlin
pilot decided to take off in the open sea where there was a heavy swell.
He also decided to use RATO assist. Something went wrong and instead of
taking off the rockets drove the aircraft into the sea. Several of the
crew survived but not all.
Where could I find out about this tragic loss?
---
This sounds like the VP-44 P5M crash on "take off" with four crew
members killed, but that crash is referenced by a surviving crew member
as being on 11 NOV 1956. The crewmember was radioman Carl E. Klinger
(email addy in 2001 was
).

The Currituck was deployed supporting VP-44 in 1954 in West Wales, then
Taranto, Italy, then back to Portsmouth England - don't know about the
Azores.

Again in 1956 the Currituck was deployed with the 6th Fleet.

Lots of VP-44 info and crew contacts at
http://www.vpnavy.com

Good Hunting,
Chuck



HEAVY ATTACK COMPOSITE (VC-5,6,7,8,9) WEBSITE
http://community.webtv.net/charles379/USNComposite

FAIRECONRON ONE AND TWO (VQ-1/2) CASUALTIES
http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo...r_AirCrew.html