More information:
On 18 April 1945,
Admiralty Islands suffered her first operational casualty near Okinawa. After sounding flight quarters at 1217, she began launching new replacement aircraft at 1352. The pilots delivered one
F6F Hellcat, two
TBM Avengers and two
SB2C Helldivers to
Essex. At 1406,
Admiralty Islands began recovering the pilots and ten combat-fatigued
Essex aircraft (commonly known as "Flyable Duds") for repair or disposal.
Ensign Roy Edward Jones, piloting Grumman Hellcat F6F-5 #71332, was the first to return for landing. He was not able to respond well to "low" and "opposite slant" flag signals, received a late "wave off" from the
Landing Signal Officer (LSO) and applied full throttle for another go-around. The aircraft continued to settle and the tailhook caught the No. 5 arresting wire. The accelerating Hellcat impacted the ship's gun mount with terrific force, breaking in two. The forward part of the plane went over the port side with the trapped pilot. The tail of the aircraft remained hooked to the No. 5 wire, resting on the ship's catwalk. The LSO was forced to jump into the safety net, breaking his leg.
Tail section of Ensign Jones's Hellcat. Crew look at sinking plane
Ensign Jones was lost at sea and his name is inscribed at the
Courts of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii
Link to "Admiralty Bay" Site :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Adm...slands_(CVE-99)