Atlantic Ocean – November 8, 1961
P2V Neptune
Quonset Air Museum
At 8 p.m. on the night of November 7, 1961, a U. S. Navy P2V Neptune bomber with eleven men aboard took off from the Brunswick Naval Air Station to take part in anti-submarine exercises with the air craft carrier U.S.S. Lake Champlain 100 miles off the coast of Virginia. The aircraft carried fourteen hours worth of fuel for the long range flight.
At 2:40 a.m. on the morning of the 8th, the Neptune was cleared to return to Brunswick and a short time later all contact with the aircraft was lost. A search was begun, and hours later, two bodies, two life rafts, and pieces of wreckage were recovered and brought aboard the Lake Champlain. There were no survivors.
The crew were identified as:
Pilot: Lieutenant Commander Phillip S. Callihan, 36, of Memphis, Tenn.
Lieutenant (j.g.) Robert J. Miller, 23, of New Hyde Park, New York.
Lieutenant (j.g.), William G. McLane, 22, of Lake Placid, New York. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22513589/william-gregory-mclane
Lieutenant (j.g.) Edmund J. McGrath, 24, of Chicago, Ill. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57827026/edmund-j-mcgrath
AMH1 Harold G. Kirkman, 27, of Kernersville, North Carolina. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105317166/harold-glenn-kirkman
PO 3/C Paul Harden, 23, of Philadelphia, Penn.
PO 1/C Gerald J. Dinan, 25, of Zanesville, Ohio.
PO 2/C Wayne J. Stevens, 30, of Adairsville, Georgia.
Airman Paul E. Lare, 26, of Convoy, Ohio. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54154519/paul-edward-lare
Po 3/C John J. Walsh, 22, of Ellsworth, Maine. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52121225/john-j-walsh
AO 2/C Roy D. Smith, 23, of Crofton, Kentucky. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91989564/roy-daniel-smith
The cause of the accident is unknown.
Source:
The Evening Star, (Washington, D. C.), “11 Die As Navy Plane Crashes Off Virginia”, November 9, 1961, page A-22.
www.findagrave.com
