Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum  

Go Back   Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum > Discussion > Post-WW2 Military and Naval Aviation

Post-WW2 Military and Naval Aviation Please use this forum to discuss Military and Naval Aviation after the Second World War.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 16th May 2018, 14:34
Leendert Leendert is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Belgium
Posts: 2,718
Leendert will become famous soon enough
Richmond NAS, Florida - fire destroys 365 a/c - Sept 1945

On 14 Sept 1945 fires destroyed the three blimp hangars at Richmond NAS, Florida, while a hurricane swept by.

The fire wrecked some 25 USN blimps and about 365 airplanes, of which 125 private and 240 military, mainly USN. Numbers vary however: another source says 183 military and 153 civil.

Even so, is there a more detailed tally of what (types of) aircraft were lost?
There is talk of Corsairs, Hellcats, P-51s. It also appears that 61 "torpedo bombers" (Avengers?) had flown in from Opa-Locka, so these must likely be among them as well.

The high airframe loss due to storing many of the air assets in S. Florida in the large hangars instead of sending them north when a hurricane approaches, as is usual now.

Any info welcome, thanks.

Regards,

Leendert
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 16th May 2018, 15:30
twocee twocee is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 380
twocee is on a distinguished road
Re: Richmond NAS, Florida - fire destroys 365 a/c - Sept 1945

There was an article about this disaster in the May/June issue of the 1996 Naval Aviation News. Apparently the base commander had offered shelter to civilian aircraft as well.

I have not attempted to identify all the aircraft lost but know of about 6 TBMs and 60 F6F(N)s from the night attack training unit (NACTU) at Key West that took shelter in the hangars and were lost.
__________________
George Kernahan
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 16th May 2018, 21:57
Leendert Leendert is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Belgium
Posts: 2,718
Leendert will become famous soon enough
Re: Richmond NAS, Florida - fire destroys 365 a/c - Sept 1945

Thanks for further info.

Among the civil aircraft (many) Stearmans of the Embry-Riddle Aviation School.

USN aircraft had come from NAS Fort Lauderdale, NAS Key West and NAS Opa-Locka.

Blimps lost were 14 K-Ships moored, plus 11 deflated to give space to parked a/c.

Regards,

Leendert
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 17th May 2018, 13:56
Leendert Leendert is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Belgium
Posts: 2,718
Leendert will become famous soon enough
Re: Richmond NAS, Florida - fire destroys 365 a/c - Sept 1945

Just to add that fold3.com seems to have pages with USN loss details:

https://www.fold3.com/document/300759817/ (COMUTWINGLANT War Diary Sept 1945)

https://www.fold3.com/document/300849518/ (NAS Key West war diary Sept 45)

Not a member myself, but of course you're invited to have a look.

Regards,

Leendert
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 17th May 2018, 22:04
twocee twocee is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 380
twocee is on a distinguished road
Re: Richmond NAS, Florida - fire destroys 365 a/c - Sept 1945

I'm not a member either so haven't seen these diaries.

Assuming most of the aircraft lost were trainers and in view of the fact that it happened just after the War had ended, it is likely that most of them would have been discarded anyway within the succeeding few months.
__________________
George Kernahan
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 23rd May 2018, 00:04
edwest2 edwest2 is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 7,447
edwest2 will become famous soon enoughedwest2 will become famous soon enough
Re: Richmond NAS, Florida - fire destroys 365 a/c - Sept 1945

At the time, the hangars were considered hurricane-proof. See page 6 of 13 of the following PDF.


http://digitalcollections.fiu.edu/te...77/77_1_03.pdf
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Typhoon Ursula - Sept 1945 - Formosa - 6 US a/c lost? Leendert Post-WW2 Military and Naval Aviation 4 10th May 2018 01:21
Bombing of individual ships at sea by Radar? Felix C Allied and Soviet Air Forces 8 29th September 2015 14:33
Vichy French DB-7 a/c post "Torch" Alex Smart Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 9 6th August 2014 12:04
Ot kolhoznika Koneva Pilot Allied and Soviet Air Forces 11 31st May 2011 16:25
Questions on 8th AF Swinemünde raid on 12 March 1945 Juha Allied and Soviet Air Forces 28 8th October 2009 17:32


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 05:05.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2018, 12oclockhigh.net