1943 — Polio, especially late Summer and Fall, especially children –1,151
Text content
20th Century
1943 — Measles, especially children –1,301
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard January 4, 2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 1,301 US PHS. Vital Statistics… Special Reports…Mortality Statistics [U.S.], 1945, p. 13.[1]
Narrative Information
CDC: “Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. It can spread to others through coughing and sneezing. Also, measles virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected. Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected. Infected people can spread measles to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears. Measles is a disease of humans; measles virus is not spread by any other animal species.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Transmission of Measles. 2-5-2018 last review.)
Rosaler: “The measles virus can live in the air for two hours after an infected persons leaves the room. People can also get measles if they have direct contact with fluid from the nose or mouth of an infected person. Once introduced into a person’s respiratory system, the measles virus proceeds to attach itself to the lining of the airways. Drawing energy from this new host, the virus begins to multiply and spread throughout the body.” (Rosaler, Maxine. Epidemics: Deadly Diseases… “Measles.” NY: Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2005, pp. 7-8.)
Source
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Transmission of Measles. 2-5-2018 last review. Accessed 4-12-2019 at: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/transmission.html
Rosaler, Maxine. Epidemics: Deadly Diseases Throughout History – Measles. NY Rosen Publishing Group, 2005. Preview Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4hQwgOcKEBUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
United States Public Health Service. Vital Statistics – Special Reports National Summaries, Volume 27, Numbers 1 to 54, 1945. Washington, DC: US PHS, National Office of Vital Statistics, Federal Security Agency, 1949. Google digitized. Accessed 1-31-2015 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=XxwvAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] Specifically from Vol. 27, No. 2. “Deaths and Death Rates for Each Cause, United States, 1943-45.” 5-16-1947
1943 — Whooping Cough, especially children, nationwide –3,368
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Jan 4, 2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 3,368 US Bureau of Census. Vital Statistics of the US 1943 – Part I…Mortality. 1945, p. 29
Narrative Information
CDC: “Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Pertussis is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe. After cough fits, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a ‘whooping’ sound. Pertussis can affect people of all ages, but can be very serious, even deadly, for babies less than a year old. The best way to protect against pertussis is by getting vaccinated.” (CDC. “Pertussis (Whooping Cough).” 8-7-2017.)
Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Pertussis (Whooping Cough).” 8-7-2017. Accessed 6-22-2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/index.html
United States Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce. Vital Statistics of the United States 1943 – Part I – Natality and Mortality Data for the United States Tabulated by Place of Occurrence with Supplemental Tables for Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Washington, GPO, 1945. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/VSUS_1943_1.pdf
1942 — Dec 31, Maiden Creek sinks, Atlantic storm, ~47M off southeast Long Island, NY-20
–20 American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
–20 Nash. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters… 1977, p. 702.
–20 New Jersey Scuba Diving. “Maiden Creek.” Webpage accessed 5-18-2021.
Narrative Information
American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged…
“Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths
“12/31/42 Maiden Creek Hog Islander Foundered Sunk Eastcoast Crew 20.”
Casetext.com. “Crist v. United States War Shipping Admin.” Circuit Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1947:
“Opinion No. 9145.AA
“Argued January 23, 1947.
“Decided June 26, 1947.
“Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; George A. Welsh, Judge.
“Action in admiralty by Marie M. Crist, administratrix of the estate of Theodore W. Ellse, deceased, against the United States of America War Shipping Administration to recover war risk insurance for the death of libelant’s son. From an adverse judgment, 64 F. Supp. 934, defendant appeals.
“Reversed and remanded with instructions….
“Appellee brought an action in admiralty to recover war risk insurance for the death of her son, Theodore W. Ellse, a member of the crew of the S.S. “Maiden Creek,” a vessel documented under the laws of the United States.
“The deceased seaman was employed by the Waterman Steamship Corporation. The latter purchased from the War Shipping Administration Insurance Division a policy insuring the crew of the “Maiden Creek” against loss of life, bodily injury, etc., “directly occasioned by capture, seizure, destruction by men of war, piracy, takings at sea, arrests, restraints and detainments and other warlike operations, * * * and acts of kings, princes and peoples in prosecution of hostilities. * * *” ….
“As to the facts:
“….The “Maiden Creek” left Halifax in convoy on December 27, 1942, bound for New York. It was at that time “down by the head.” The third day out of Halifax the convoy ran into a gale and the “Maiden Creek” had difficulty maintaining her speed and position and became unable to keep up with the convoy. Since the vessel was “falling behind all the time” and was “going down by the head,” the Master decided to leave the convoy. Thereafter, the Captain decided on his own volition to change course so he would have the benefit of running with the seas in the attempt to run up the coast of Long Island and in the hope of being able to get into Long Island Sound.
“At the time the vessel changed course — about 11 o’clock A.M. December 31, 1942 — it was five to eight miles astern of the convoy. Immediately following the change of course the speed of the “Maiden Creek” came up to 10 knots an hour; the seas were heavy, the weather “real bad.” About 2 o’clock the Master gave instructions to the radio operator to prepare a coded message to the Coast Guard Station on Long Island describing the vessel’s difficulties, giving its course, speed, position, and asking for help. The message was sent at 3 o’clock.
“A plain language SOS was sent out shortly before 5 o’clock and the S.S. “Exhibitor” arrived at the scene almost immediately. It came virtually alongside the “Maiden Creek” and advised her by blinker signal that she was prepared to take off her crew. At the time, some members of the crew of the “Maiden Creek,” equipped with life preservers, were standing by the lifeboats; other crew members were on the bridge. The lifeboats “were all in their chocks” where they were usually carried, but they were not readied for use.
“The “Exhibitor” inquired of the “Maiden Creek” by blinker signal if she wanted to abandon ship and received conflicting replies. The “Exhibitor” then pumped oil overboard to smooth the seas so as to facilitate abandoning operations.
“However, the “Maiden Creek” kept going at the rate of four or five knots an hour and the “Exhibitor” “couldn’t figure out what they were trying to do.” The “Exhibitor” then signaled the “Maiden Creek” if they were going to abandon they would have to abandon before dark.” Subsequently the “Maiden Creek” sent out a message cancelling its SOS. That was about 5:24. About a half hour later the “Exhibitor,” after circling around twice, and seeing no evidence of any attempt or intention on the part of the distressed ship to abandon, left the scene. It did not signal the distressed ship that it was going to do so. At the time the “Exhibitor” left the “Maiden Creek” the latter was proceeding toward Block Island about 100 miles away at about four or five knots an hour. As the “Exhibitor” was steaming away she received a message from the “Maiden Creek” asking her to leave an oil slick to Block Island. She did not do so.
“After the “Exhibitor” sailed away — she was then about three or four miles off and the sun was about on the horizon — the Master of the “Maiden Creek” gave orders to abandon. The seacocks were smashed to let the water in so that the vessel would sink and would not be a hazard to navigation. About five minutes later two lifeboats were lowered, 25 men in one and 31 in the other. The boat with Ellse was lost, the other lifeboat was subsequently rescued. The vessel itself sank a number of hours later.
“Connolly, the radio operator of the “Maiden Creek,” supplied the details as to what occurred after the “Exhibitor” sailed away. He stated that before the crew took to the lifeboats he called the Master’s attention to the fact that the “Exhibitor” was leaving but that the Master “said no,” that she was “just circling around.” Connolly suggested that he go back to the radio room and send a new SOS but that the Master refused to give him permission to do so.
“Connolly made the further statement that after the SOS was cancelled and prior to the departure of the “Exhibitor”, the Master of the “Maiden Creek” had stated that he “was going to let some of the crew members leave the ship and that he wanted to keep as many of the men as were willing to stay and attempt to run the ship into the Coast,” and that he asked him to stay. He said that prior to the cancellation of the SOS an “abandon ship” order had been given by the Master, but that it was subsequently rescinded and the crew went back to quarters….
“The Master of the “Exhibitor,” Elbert C. Wilson, in his deposition, testified that he sailed away from the “Maiden Creek” because he had come to the conclusion that she was not going to abandon. He gave as his reasons for that conclusion the fact that the “Maiden Creek” had maintained her speed at all times and the usual practice was not to do so in an abandoning action; the “Maiden Creek” cancelled her SOS; it was getting dark and the crew of the “Maiden Creek” had made no apparent attempt to abandon ship; the “Maiden Creek” asked for an oil slick to Block Island; before leaving he received no communication from the “Maiden Creek” after she cancelled her SOS; and “we were never advised she was being abandoned.” Wilson also testified that he “refused to stay around after dark” because of submarines and that he had so advised the “Maiden Creek” when he first arrived….
“The testimony of Connolly, the radio operator of the “Maiden Creek” as to what transpired on his vessel from the time of the arrival of the “Exhibitor” until its departure, discloses that those aboard the “Exhibitor” were fully justified in concluding that the “Maiden Creek” did not intend to abandon and intended to attempt to make port….”
Nash. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters… 1977, p. 702:
“1942….Dec 31…Maiden Creek…20 [deaths]
“The 5,731-ton American steamship, built in 1919, foundered in the Atlantic on a voyage to New York.”
New Jersey Scuba Diving. “Maiden Creek.” Webpage accessed 5-18-2021:
“Type freighter
“Built: 1919, Hog Island PA USA
“Specs: (390 x 54 ft) 5031 gross tons, 51 crew
“Sunk: Thursday December 31, 1942…foundered in a storm – 20 casualties
“Depth: 225 ft
NOAA, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Office of Response and Restoration:
“Executive Summary: Maiden Creek
“The freighter Maiden Creek, foundered during a storm off the coast of Long Island in 1942, was identified as posing potential pollution threat, thus a screening-level risk assessment was conducted…” [p. 1, which shows a topographical map indicating the approximate location of the Maiden Creek about 47 miles south of eastern Long Island]
“Section 1: Vessel Background Information…
“Official Name: Maiden Creek ….Vessel Type: Freighter
“Vessel Class: 5,500 gross ton Hog Island Freighter
“Former Names: Sebewaing
“Year Built: 1919…. Flag: American Owner at Loss: Waterman S.S. Corp.
“Length: 390 feet Beam: 54 feet Depth: 27 feet
“….Hull Material: Steel….Powered by: Oil-fired steam
“Bunker Type Heavy fuel oil (Bunker C)
“….“Port Departed: Botwood Harbor, Newfoundland, Canada
“Destination Port: New York
“….Date Lost: December 31, 1942
“….Cause of sinking Storm
“….Nautical Miles to Shore: 47
“….Cargo Carried when Lost: Copper and lead…” [p. 3.]
Williams, Greg H. The Liberty Ships of World War II. 2014, p 133.
“…the Waterman freighter Maiden Creek foundered off Long Island on December 31, 1942…”
Sources
American Merchant Marine at War. Chronological List of Ships Sunk or Damaged July to December 1942. Accessed 5-18-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk42b.html#anchor340736
Casetext.com. “Crist v. United States War Shipping Admin.” Circuit Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1947. Accessed 5-18-2021 at: https://casetext.com/case/crist-v-united-states-war-shipping-admin
Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.
New Jersey Scuba Diving. “Maiden Creek.” Webpage accessed 5-18-2021 at: https://njscuba.net/?s=maiden+creek
NOAA, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Office of Response and Restoration. Screening Level Risk Assessment Package – Maiden Creek. NOAA, March 2013. Accessed 5-18-2021 at: https://nmssanctuaries.blob.core.windows.net/sanctuaries-prod/media/archive/protect/ppw/pdfs/maiden_creek.pdf
Williams, Greg H. The Liberty Ships of World War II. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2014. Accessed 5-18-2021 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=A5oWBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true
1942 — Dec 30, USAAF B-17F icing crash 8M south of Musselshell, MT — 12
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-24-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 12 Mireles 2006, Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents in US 1941-1945, Vol. 1, p. 224.
— 11 Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “11 Men Killed as Big Army Plane Crashes.” 12-31-1942, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 1430, a Boeing B-17F flying in icing conditions crashed to the ground out of control eight miles south of Musselshell, Montana, killing 12 crew and passengers.
“The B-17 had taken off from the Army Air Base at Great Falls, Montana, at 1300 MWT with two other B-17 airplanes on a navigation and formation training flight to Ainsworth, Nebraska, land, refuel, and return. The formation began its climb to altitude and entered the overcast at about 8,500 feet, breaking out on top at about 16,000 feet. The ascent took about 20 minutes at an indicated airspeed of 140 mph.
“All aircraft began to pick up rime ice about one inch thick on the underside of the leading edge. The subject airplane, which was also the lead B-17, also picked up some carburetor ice while climbing through the overcast. After about 20 minutes of flying on top, the lead B-17 was seen to descend into the clouds. There was no further visual or radio contact between the formation and the airplane after it began its descent. Witnesses on the ground reported seeing the B-17 spinning out of the overcast out of control. The airplane appeared to partially recover before entering an extreme nose-up position. The airplane then fell straight down and began to enter a flat spin, striking the ground with little forward motion and exploding into flames.
“Killed in the crash were: [We place the 12 names into separate lines.]
1Lt. Edward T. Layfield, pilot;
2Lt. Gerald K. Beem, co-pilot;
2Lt. Regis J. Newland, navigator;
2Lt. Chester A. Knight, Jr., bombardier;
SSgt. Hulon B. Dutton, engineer;
SSgt. Charles T. Valys, radio operator;
SSgt. Frederick T. Brown, gunner;
Cpl. Fred E. Murray, gunner;
Cpl. Hobart L. Hall, gunner
Maj. Orville A. Ralston, pilot rated passenger;
Pfc. Jacob J. Reiss, passenger;
TSgt. Wallace H. Hanson, passenger.”
(Mireles 2006, V1, 224.)
Newspaper
Dec 30: “Musselshell, Mont., Dec. 30 (AP) – A four-motored army plane crashed and burned in the wooded, sparsely-settled hill country 11 miles south of this central Montana village Wednesday afternoon [Dec 30], killing 11 persons.
“Deputy Sheriff Frank Ottman hurried to the crash scene and returned for help. He identified the plane as belonging to the army. He said he assumed that only 11 persons were aboard the big plane since no other bodies were found. The officer told Storekeeper W. K. Timmerman in Musselshell that two of the bodies had been flung clear of the plane and that the others were inside the charred wreckage.
“Persons who went there described a desolate scene of charred bodies, wreckage and snapped trees where the big four-engined ship made its final plunge. “The plane had all but cleared a rolling slope when it struck,” George Swertelle, Roundup newspaperman, who visited the scene, reported. “From gouges made in the earth, the plane apparently bounced once, then slithered about 100 yards before bursting into flames. “Two of the crew were thrown clear of the ship and lay within 10 feet of a roaring inferno, caused, probably, by gasoline in the tanks. The plane had made a crash landing, for its wheels were not let down. Two eight-inch pine trees had been torn off by the wingtips of the ship, although the wings themselves were not wrenched from the fuselage. The latter, however, was flattened out by the impact”.” (Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “11 Men Killed as Big Army Plane Crashes.” 12-31-1942, p. 1.)
Sources
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 1: Introduction, January 1941 – June 1943). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.
Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “11 Men Killed as Big Army Plane Crashes.” 12-31-1942, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=89923437
1942 — Dec (late) to first week of Jan 1943, flooding, Willamette Valley, Western OR — 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-29-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–10 AP. “10 Dead, Hundreds Homeless. Flood Ebbs; Outbreak of TY.” Oakland Tribune, 1-4-1943, 1.
–10 AP. “Huge Damages to Property After Oregon Flood.” Bakersfield Californian, 1-5-1943, p4.[1]
–10 Environmental Data Service. “Losses in Individual Severe Floods in the [US],” p. 791.
–10 Sullivan. Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters. 2008, p. 130.[2]
–10 Zimmerman. “Timeline: Notable floods in Salem since 1900,” Statesman Journal, 2-21-2016.[3]
— 7 by Jan 2. AP. “7 Die; Flood Damage in North Grows.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 1-3-1943, p1.
— 6 by Jan 1. UP. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon.” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1.
Locality Breakouts:
–2 Albany vicinity. Auto swept/skids into ditch; mother and 5-mo. son. Sullivan 1008, p. 129.[4]
–1 Glenwood. Shock; elderly female “paralysis victim,” after being rescued from her home.[5]
–1 Molalla area. Elderly man apparently “carried away by an overflowing drainage ditch…”[6]
–1 Portland. Drowning; female, “after her car was swept from the highway.”[7]
–2 Salem. State hwy dept. workmen trying to set charges to blow bldg. wedged against bridge.[8]
–2 Wendling area. Water-related landslide; two loggers.[9]
–1 Location not noted, other than “mid-valley.” Rowboat capsizes, farmer drowns (Heffner).[10]
Narrative Information
Jan 1: “Portland, Ore., Jan 1.–(AP)–Evacuation orders went out today to more flood-plagued Willamette Valley communities as a new crest mounted in the wake of an inundation that already has done damage estimated at $5,000,000.
“G. C. Mongold, resident U.S. Army engineer at Eugene, hub of the current Willamette River flood, told residents of Santa Clara, Riverwood, Glenwood and Good Pasture Island to quit their homes in those fertile farming lowlands. Between 1,000 and 2,000 residents left or were evacuated from their homes yesterday, mostly in West Springfield, where muddy water stood three feet deep today in the business and residential sections, and in Glenwood. But the new order was expected to affect almost 1,000 additional persons who were in the path of floodwaters that were rising one-tenth of a foot each hour after receding momentarily from a 16.7-foot to 15.8 at 8:00 p.m. last night. Eugene’s flood stage is 12 feet.
“In Linn County to the north, County Agent Floyd Mullen at Albany warned residents to prepare to move from lowland areas that were expected to be flooded for the first time in 15 years. A similar warning was issued by Benton County Sheriff William Harper at Corvallis. Flood crests were forecast for tomorrow in these down-river areas….” (AP. “Flood Routs Thousands in Oregon Valley.” The Bee, Danville, VA, 1-1-1943, p. 6.)
Jan 2: “Portland, Ore., Jan 2. (U.P.)–One million feet of logs from shattered upstream booms rode the flood crest of the berserk Willamette river into Portland today. Tumbling over a 6-foot broken wing dam at the Oregon City Falls, 14 miles below here, the logs lurched past houseboat settlements near the Oswego district, threatening to tear away the flimsy structures.
“Harbor patrolmen feared the swirling waters, reaching the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers after rampaging over valley lowlands last night, would ‘jackstraw’ the logs at Swan Island and Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation yards, endangering two of the largest shipyards in the northwest. They said, however, the logs might rush into the Columbia river, missing the crucial jut-off where the Willamette flows by the yards, and pass ‘harmlessly’ into the broader Columbia river. Small craft had been warned from both rivers, the patrol reported.
“The wing dam at Oregon City, a 6-foot barrier above the rocks on the east side of the natural falls, went out a little more than an hour before the logs were first sighted at Portland.
“Upstream, the flood already had taken six lives, inundated thousands of acres, and left at least 2500 homeless.
“Many farm residents were still awaiting rescue in the flood back-waters around Eugene, where the Willamette and McKenzie converge. Damage in this district alone was estimated at $5,000,000.
“A major tragedy occurred at Albany, where many units of a trailer camp, established near the river bank, were swept down-stream as the flood crest moved down the valley. Uncountable thousands of acres, from the headwaters of the Willamette as far north as Salem, Ore., were under water. Tributaries also were spilling over their banks. Known dead were:
Mrs. Marvin Smith and her 5-month-old son, drowned at Albany as their car skidded into the rampaging water.
Archie Brooks and J. W. Thorne, loggers, buried under a landslide near Wendling.
Mrs. Josephine Lee, Glenwood, aged paralysis victim, who died of shock in Springfield after being rescued from her home by soldiers from Camp Adair.
Mrs. Helen R. Skrebensky, Portland, drowned near Cottage Grove after her car was swept from the highway.
“Seth French, government weather observer at Albany, predicted the Willamette would reach 30 feet, almost 7 above flood stage, before it was to subside during the day. Along the valley the river and its tributaries were expected to fall as the crest of the flood moved northward to the Willamette-Columbia river junction at Portland….” (United Press. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon.” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1.)
Jan 2: “Portland, Jan 2. — (AP) — The crest of the Willamette River flood bore down on Portland today, as the death toll on the upper river mounted to seven and the Navy said production in shipyards here would be curtailed. Damage already done totals millions.
“The Weather Bureau forecast a peak of 20.5 feet, 2.5 above flood stage, here tonight or early tomorrow.
“A major menace to bridges and other river installations was a log raft, containing 1,000,000 board feet of lumber, which broke loose in the Salem area and was bearing down upon Portland….
“A wooden superstructure atop the Willamette River Dam at Oregon City gave way. A towboat and barge crashed through the gap and shattered at the bottom of the falls there, but no crewmen were aboard….
“John Heffner, mid-valley farmer, was the seventh fatality, perishing in the capsizing of a rowboat.
“Thousands are homeless from the head of the valley to the Albany-Salem-Corvallis area. The Army reported it lost a few jeeps to the flood.
“Railroad schedules were resumed in Oregon, except between Marshfield and Coquille on the coast, where water stood over the tracks eight feet deep.
“Major West Oregon North-South highways still are blocked. To the eastward the Columbia River Highway is confined to one-way traffic. The Evergreen Highway on the northern side of the river is closed….” (AP. “7 Die; Flood Damage in North Grows.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 1-3-1943, p. 1.)
Jan 4: “Portland, Jan. 4.–(AP)–The worst Willamette River flood in years ebbed slowly today, leaving ten persons dead or missing. Hundreds still were homeless and thousands of acres of rich farmland were under water as Western Oregon’s largest river remained above flood level for half its length.
“Health authorities feared an outbreak of typhoid and rushed vaccine to McMinnville, Corvallis and Eugene. Dr. Frederick D. Stricker, State health officer, said water sources at small communities from West Salem to Eugene were contaminated, and that drinking water would have to be treated for some time.
“At Eugene the river dropped below flood stage, and farmers began returning to their silt-covered lands. Traffic was resumed over all major routes except the Coast Highway, still flooded between Coquille and Bandon, but highway officials said it would be a week before some secondary roads would be opened….
“From Salem to Portland the Willamette was above flood level, inundating canneries, warehouses, shipyards, paper and lumber mills. At Oregon City, near Portland, water was 12 feet deep over the city athletic field, and the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad was blocked, the first time since 1893. Rail traffic was re-routed around the area.
“A concrete flood wall saved Portland proper, and below the city the Willamette emptied into the mile-wide Columbia, which easily carried off the flow.
“To rivermen there the flood provided a rich windfall. More than a million board feet of logs were washed away from upstream lumber mills, and they bobbed through Portland by the hundreds, giving the Willamette the appearance of an old-time log drive. Rivermen threw out chain booms to catch the logs, which will, by river custom, be brought back by lumber companies. The take will run into thousands of dollars.
“Of the flood victims, seven were known dead. Missing were two highway crewmen washed off wreckage at Salem, and an elderly man feared to have been carried away by an overflowing drainage ditch near Molalla.” (Associated Press. “10 Dead, Hundreds Homeless. Flood Ebbs; Outbreak of TY.” Oakland Tribune, 1-4-1943, p. 1.
Sources
Associated Press. “7 Die; Flood Damage in North Grows.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 1-3-1943, p. 1. Accessed 11-30-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jan-03-1943-p-1/
Associated Press. “10 Dead, Hundreds Homeless. Flood Ebbs; Outbreak of TY.” Oakland Tribune, 1-4-1943, p. 1. Accessed 11-30-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jan-04-1943-p-9/
Associated Press. “Flood Routs Thousands in Oregon Valley.” The Bee, Danville, VA, 1-1-1943, p. 6. Accessed 11-30-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/danville-bee-jan-01-1943-p-7/
Associated Press. “Huge Damages to Property After Oregon Flood.” Bakersfield Californian, 1-5-1943, p. 4. Accessed 11-30-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bakersfield-californian-jan-05-1943-p-4/
Environmental Data Service, NOAA. “Losses in Individual Severe Floods in the United States since July 1902.” Climatological Data National Summary (Annual) Vol. 22. No. 13, 1971. Accessed 4-26-2023 at:
Sullivan, William L. Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters. Eugene, OR: Navillus Press, 2008.
United Press. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon.” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1. Accessed 11-30-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bakersfield-californian-jan-02-1943-p-1/
Zimmerman. Andy. “Timeline: Notable floods in Salem since 1900,” Statesman Journal, Salem, OR. 2-21-2016. Accessed 11-30-2017 at: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2016/02/21/timeline-notable-floods-salem-since/80697400/
[1] “Portland, Ore., Jan. 5. (AP)–Western Oregon’s worst flood in 20 years swept toward the sea today leaving behind millions of dollars in property damage. Ten persons were killed by the torrents which reached their peak last week end.” Jan 5 was a Tuesday, thus reference is to Friday Jan 1 through Sunday Jan 3.
[2] Writes: “In December of 1942 it rained and rained in western Oregon. The dam engineers [Fern Ridge and Cottage Grove dams], not used to Willamette Valley floods, filled the reservoirs too early, making the Fern Ridge Dam useless when the flood’s crest hit. The Cottage Grove Dam lowered the floodwaters only six inches in Eugene. By New Years Day of 1943, hundreds of homes in the new Glenwood and River Road districts near Eugene stood in four feet of water.” (p, 129)
[3] Ten people were reportedly killed in Oregon.”
[4] Age of the boy from: United Press. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon,” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1.
[5] United Press. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon,” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1.
[6] We put “apparently” in that this person was noted by the AP as missing and feared dead. Reporting is that ten lives were lost and we have localities for nine. This, then, would be the tenth. (Associated Press. “10 Dead, Hundreds Homeless. Flood Ebbs; Outbreak of TY.” Oakland Tribune, 1-4-1943, p. 1.)
[7] United Press. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon,” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1.
[8] Associated Press. “7 Die; Flood Damage in North Grows.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 1-3-1943, p. 1. AP article notes the two as missing. Sullivan (2008, p. 129), writes: “In Salem, the flood floated the Mellow Moon, a dance hall and roller skating rink at the eastern foot of the city’s new Willamette River bridge….Alarmed that Salem might lose its only Willamette River bridge, as had happened in 1890, Oregon Governor Charles A. Sprague ordered the state highway department to dynamite the Mellow Moon. Workers were setting the charges when the building disintegrating, sweeping away Archie Cook and Michael Maurer.”
[9] United Press. “Wild Logs Hit Flooded Oregon,” Bakersfield Californian, 1-2-1943, p. 1.
[10] Associated Press. “7 Die; Flood Damage in North Grows.” Oakland Tribune, CA, 1-3-1943, p. 1. (John Heffner)
1942 — Dec 22, 1,200-ton Rockslide Crushes Passenger Bus, near Aliquippa, PA — 22
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-26-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 25 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 643. (There were 25 on bus; 22 were killed.)
— 22 New Castle News, PA. “Aliquippa Bus Disaster Toll Now 22.” 12-23-1942, 1.
— 22 Piroli. “Columnist remembers…bus crash in Aliquippa.” Beaver County Times, 5-9-2012.
— 22 Piroli. “Questions come in about rock slide.” Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA. 2-8-2010.
— 22 Titusville Herald, PA. “Eye-Witnesses Describe Slide; Death List 22.” 12-24-1942, 1.
— 22 Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. “22 Die in Pennsylvania Bus Disaster.” 12-23-1942, 1.
Narrative Information
Piroli: “….News reports described a 40-foot, 1,200-ton avalanche of rock, loosened by the freezing and thawing of the ground, falling 75 feet down the hillside and crushing the bus like an eggshell. The accident killed 22 passengers and injured three. One passenger, John Manko of Pittsburgh, escaped uninjured through a back window….” (Piroli, Gino. “Columnist remembers deadly bus crash in Aliquippa.” Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA. 2-1-2010.)
Piroli: “I received a number of responses to last week’s column about the rock slide in 1942 that destroyed a bus and killed 22 people onboard while it was traveling on the former Constitution Boulevard, now Route 51, in Aliquippa….
“In going over the stories about the tragedy I found that last week I mistakenly named the state highway department as owning the road, but it was the borough of Aliquippa that was involved in the transfer of the road to the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp.
“McCartney[1] filed suit against the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, Jones and Laughlin Steel and Aliquippa Borough. In the court case, the presiding judge ruled out any responsibility by the borough and the P&LE railroad.
“J&L lawyers tried to present the case that they didn’t have title to the hillside, that it belonged to the Woodlawn Land Company; but it was determined that the land company was owned by the steel company.
“In reviewing the case, most of the county’s legal minds praised the work of McCartney’s lawyer, Thomas Bradshaw of Beaver. The historical background of the area involved was thoroughly and expertly presented by Bradshaw.
“The court transcript notes that “meandering through the plant site and roughly paralleling the Ohio River was originally an old country road known as the Phillipsburg Road, which ran from the former village of Phillipsburg, now Monaca, to Shannopin, now South Heights. ‘There were two railroad crossings, one in each town. The P&LE’s desire to eliminate the crossings and J&L wanting to rid itself of the interference of the road running through the heart of its plant eventually led to the transfer of the road’s ownership.’
“J&L and P&LE reached an agreement in 1925 to have Constitution Boulevard constructed and turned over to the borough in return for Aliquippa giving the mill road to J&L. The road opened in 1928 and ran along the hillside running some 8,000 feet from Station Street to the new Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge. Aliquippa had owned the mill road from the tunnel entrance to the J&L South Mill works. Street cars used that route to transport workers to the South Mill and residents went by bus and auto to the West Economy ferry to reach Ambridge and others continued on to Pittsburgh via South Heights.
“Although the court decision originally awarded McCartney $35,000, after many appeals he received $20,000 in 1947. He was 26 at the time of the accident and spent five months in the hospital.
“Ironically the new owners of the old plant site recently gave the mill road back to the city.” (Piroli, Gino. “Questions come in about rock slide.” Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA. 2-8-2010.)
Newspapers at the Time
Dec 23, New Castle News, PA: “International News Service. Aliquippa, Dec. 23. – Rescue parties, toiling through the night, today accounted for 22 victims, crushed to death when the bus they were riding was shattered beneath 2,000 tons of rock and mud on Constitution Boulevard near Aliquippa.
“Three other occupants of the Ohio River Motor Coach Line bus, enroute to Pittsburgh from Aliquippa, also were injured, two seriously, and a fourth man, one of the rescue party was given medical attention when he slipped while helping to extricate the dead.
Virtually Bury Bus
“The accident occurred early last night when two huge boulders caused a landslide and virtually buried the bus loaded with war workers from the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation’s huge Aliquippa plant, located in Beaver county about 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
“Only one man Joseph Manko, of Pittsburgh, a metallurgist in the J & L plant, was able to tell the story today and that sketchily. Manko. Sitting in a rear seat at the time of the rock fall, was battered and bruised by the accident but managed to escape from the vehicle through a broken rear window. ‘There was no warning,’ said Manko, ‘just the crash — not so loud either. After that, just silence and darkness. I didn’t hear a cry or a moan. Then I heard voices outside. I was pinned down by broken seats but managed to get loose. I got to my feet and started to push through a broken window when men pulled me out.’
Rescue workers, digging feverishly to extricate the victims, said the front end of the bus looked like it ‘had been run through a shredding machine.’ Others said it was ‘flattened like a pancake.’
A driver of a Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines bus. Which was following the doomed vehicle, said the driver of the Ohio Lines Coach Dymptro ‘’Dan’ Karapin, 27. of Fair Oaks, apparently noticed the descending rock and made desperate efforts to swerve his machine out of danger. The “jockeying” plus the landslide carried the bus to the edge of a 60-foot precipice overlooking the tracks of the P. & L. E. Railroad. Then the main slide struck the coach, tearing it into shreds. Only the extreme rear of the vehicle was untouched.
“The accident occurred about two miles from Aliquippa. The bus left the Beaver County community at 5:03 p. m. yesterday and a watch found on Charles Hoffman, Leetsdale, one of the victims, stopped at 5:10 p. m.
“Rescuers hurried to the scene and J. & L. sent two cranes to raise the bus. When removed, from the highway the vehicle was in two pieces.” (New Castle News, PA. “Aliquippa Bus Disaster Toll Now 22.” 12-23-1942, 1.)
Dec 23, New Castle News, PA: “Aliquippa, Pa., Dec 23. – The following 22 persons were listed as dead today in the bus accident near Aliquippa.
Dymptro “Dan” Karapin, 27, Fair Oaks, bus driver.
Clyde White, 45, Glenfield.
Philip J. Tormey Jr., Dormont.
Charles Hoffman, Leetsdale.
Percy McCallister, Edgeworth.
James J. Burger, Pittsburgh
Ben Watkins…Aliquippa.
Luigi M. Tucci, 55, Sewickley.
Samuel Stafford, Edgeworth.
John Hawes, 17, Glenfield.
Ralph J. White, Sewickley.
Lucas Mikedas, Pittsburgh.
Mariano Bruno, Sewickley .
Miss Martha L. Gearing, Pittsburgh.
- E. Saylor, Fair Oaks.
Rev. William Booze…Pittsburgh.
Clifton Pou, 30…Pittsburgh.
Osborne W. Hair, Sewickley.
David N. Kirk, Avalon.
John McIlvain, Aliquippa.
Stephen Cherup, Ben Avon.
Victor Slvika, 33, Sewickley.
“The injured are:
Helen Phillips, 22, Aliquippa, in Rochester hospital in serious condition.
John McCarthy, 26, Monaca, left foot amputated. Serious condition….”
(New Castle News, PA. “Death Toll in Bus Crash at Aliquippa, Pa.” 12-23-1942, 1.)
Dec 23, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: “Aliquippa, Pa. — (AP) — Twenty-two persons perished last night when two boulders, one weighing more than 100 tons, crashed down upon a big yellow Ohio Paver Motor Coach bus crowded with home-going war workers. Only three passengers escaped, two of them with critical injuries. The pre-Christmas tragedy occurred a mile east of here as the bus threaded its way around a treacherous ‘S’ curve on a narrow, slippery road. Three other busses were just ahead of it and two were trailing.
Boulders Drop 100 Feet
“The boulders toppled down from a 100-foot high perch with little warning, although the driver of the bus said Dymptro (Dan) Karapan, 27, piloting the ill-fated machine swerved sharply to the left as if trying to escape the falling, death-dealing mass.
“This swerve saved four persons in the rear of the bus, although one of these died later in a hospital….
“`There was no warning,’ said Joseph M. Manko, the lone passenger able to go home after the accident….`I was pinned by broken seats on top of me but managed to pull out my legs. Men kept calling to me to climb out. They were from the bus behind. I got my legs through a broken window and they pulled me out. Outside I saw that huge rock resting where the front of the bus should have been.’
Pal Dies in Hospital
“Manko, who is 30, is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. His pal, James Burger, 29, also a Pitt man, who was riding beside him on the rear seat, died after being taken to a hospital. Both were metallurgists for the Jones and Laughlin Steel corporation.
“John A. McCarthy, 27, of Monaca, regaining consciousness, asked the undertaker driving him from the wreckage to the hospital: ‘Oh, where am I? What happened?’ McCarthy’s left leg had to be amputated.
Bus Smashed in Two
“The bus, smashed in two, rested against a steel guard-rail, which prevented its rolling down a 35-foot embankment upon tracks of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie railroad. One of the passengers, Ben Watkins, was hurtled to his death on the tracks.
“Here in Aliquippa, 19 miles west of Pittsburgh, two Negro women were jubilant at their luck in having failed to flag the bus at the station, although they ran half a block trying to do so. ‘Glory! Glory!’ Roslyn Colbert and Mary Glover joined in saying when they learned of the bus’ tragic ending.
Horrifying Scene
“Passengers in a bus following the ill-fated one said they were unnerved by the horrible scene of death and mangled human bodies. The bus was crumbled like paper. Two victims were decapitated; many arms and legs were severed. One boulder pinned four bodies to a hillside.” (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. “22 Die in Pennsylvania Bus Disaster.” 12-23-1942, 1.)
Dec 23, Titusville Herald, PA: “Aliquippa, Dec. 23. – (AP) – Shuddering eye-witnesses described today the horrible scene of death and mangled human bodies caused by a rockslide which killed 22 war production workers and Christmas shoppers riding in a bus near here yesterday.
“Only three passengers escaped with their lives when several hundred tons of boulders dropped 30 feet from a hillside and crushed the Aliquippa-Pittsburgh bus like an eggshell….
“Karapan [the bus driver], originally scheduled to be off duty yesterday, was subbing for another driver who wanted to complete his Christmas shopping….” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Eye-Witnesses Describe Slide; Death List 22.” 12-24-1942, 1.)
Sources
Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.
New Castle News, PA. “Aliquippa Bus Disaster Toll Now 22,” 12-23-1942, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=57587769
Piroli, Gino. “Columnist remembers deadly bus crash in Aliquippa.” Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA. 2-1-2010. Accessed 5-9-2012 at: http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/gino_piroli/columnist-remembers-deadly-bus-crash-in-aliquippa/article_1a14940c-0ffe-5591-a460-3d53000930c8.html
Piroli, Gino. “Questions come in about rock slide.” Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA. 2-8-2010. Accessed 5-9-2012 at: http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/gino_piroli/questions-come-in-about-rock-slide/article_35d4dfae-cfa1-529b-87af-405de7e11fc8.html
Titusville Herald, PA. “Eye-Witnesses Describe Slide; Death List 22.” 12-24-1942, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=106025918
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, WI. “22 Die in Pennsylvania Bus Disaster.” 12-23-1942, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=10412439
[1] John McCartney, one of three survivors, who had his left foot or leg amputated (depending upon the account).
1942 — Dec 15, Western Airlines Flight #1 violent maneuver crash 2M near Fairfield, UT-17
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-26-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–17 AP. “Seventeen Die in Air Crash Near Fairfield.” Ogden Standard Examiner, UT. 12-15-1942, p. 1.
–17 Civil Aeronautics Board. Investigation of Aircraft Accident: Western Airlines: Fairfield… p. 2.
–17 Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFM&P, 3/1, Mar 1983, p53
–17 Planecrashinfo.com. “1942…Accident Details…Fairfield, UT…Western…Dec 15, 1942.”
–17 Salt Lake Tribune. “Utah Skyliner Disaster Snuffs Out 17 Lives.” 12-16-1942, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Civil Aeronautics Board. Investigation of Aircraft Accident: Western Airlines: Fairfield, UT:
“….Flight No. 1 of Western Air Lines, en route from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Burbank, California, via Los Vegas, Nevada, met with an accident approximately 3 miles southeast of Fairfield, Utah, at about 1:22 a.m. (MWT) on December 15, 1942. Thirteen passengers and four crew members were fatally injured, while the remaining two passengers were seriously injured. The Douglas DC3A aircraft, NC 16060, operating in scheduled air carrier service, was completely demolished….: [p. 3.]
Findings
“….
“6. The evidence indicated that the weather conditions in the area at the time were satisfactory for the flight and were not a contributing factor to the accident.
….
“8. There was no indication of mechanical failure of the engines or propellers.
“9. The operation of Western #1 was normal until about 1:22 a.m.
“10. Normal flight was apparently interrupted at an altitude of approximately 10,200 feet by a failure of the aircraft’s structure.
“11. A subsequent study indicated that the left, or possibly both wing tips, and the horizontal tail surfaces had failed during a pull-up as a result of air load conditions which were sufficiently severe to impose stresses in excess of those for which these parts of the structure were designed.
“12. The first officer and the copilot-trainee were at the controls at the time the airplane struck the ground while the captain had been in the companionway, either seated in the jump seat or standing.
Conclusions
“On the bases of all of the facts, conditions and circumstances known to the Board at this time, it is concluded that failure of the left, or possibly both wing tips, and of the horizontal tail surfaces occurred in the air during a severe pull-up. However, no definite conclusion can be drawn from the evidence as to whether the pull-up was caused by operation of the controls by the crew; or by some other forces beyond their control. Due to the lack of any plausible theory for the latter, it seems more probable that the maneuver was initiated by the crew, possibly in an attempt to avoid collision with a bird, another aircraft, or some object which they saw or thought they saw….”
Planecrashinfo.com: “Time 01:22…Flight #1…Route: Salt Lake–Las Vegas–Burbank…
Douglas DC-3A…Registration NC 16060…Aboard: 19 (passengers: 15 Crew: 4) Fatalities: 17 (passengers: 13 Crew: 4)…. Crashed after performing a violent maneuver. Failure of the left, or possibly both wing tips and of the horizontal tail surfaces as a result of a sever pull-up which caused unusual and abnormally high air loads. The reason the pull-up maneuver was not determined.” (Planecrashinfo.com. “1942…Accident Details… Western Airlines…December 15, 1942… Fairfield, UT…”)
Newspaper
May 26, AP: “Salt Lake City, Dec. 15 (AP) – Wreckage of a Western Airlines transport, which carried 19 persons, was located today about two miles from the emergency landing field at Fairfield, Utah.
“Casper Wolf of Provo, Utah, a member of the civil air patrol, who sighted the wreckage from the air, reported to CAA Inspector Howard Harris that he had landed his light patrol plane on the flats less than 100 yards from where the W.A.L. plane had hit. Wolf told Harris in a United Press dispatch, that he walked over to the wreckage, found that two persons were alive, made the survivors as comfortable as possible, then took off again to report his find. He said the plane was badly wrecked. Ground parties were sent to the scene, said the Associated Press.
“Fairfield is about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City, in semi-rugged Cedar valley where the plane was last reported heard while en route to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City early this morning….A road from Lehi winds around the north edge of Utah Lake and thence to Fairfield, passing near the point where the plane was sighted.
“The plane carried 12 civilian passengers and a crew of four. In addition, there were military personnel aboard, but airlines officials said they could not disclose their names….
“Planes from the Western Airlines, United Airlines, C.A.C, and army air bases in the Salt Lake area took part in the search. The weather conditions hampered the search apparently more than the ruggedness of the country….
“The two-motored plane left Salt Lake City at one-five a.m., Mountain War time, en route to Los Angeles, where it was due about four hours later. Executive Vice President Leo Werlkotte, announcing that an aerial search was underway, said the missing transport failed to report by radio after leaving Salt Lake City. The civil aeronautics authority station at Fairfield, Utah, reported the craft was overhead about one-thirty a.m., 15 minutes after leaving the municipal airport. Thereafter there was only silence.
“Fairfield is a village in Cedar valley, 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. Semi-rugged mountains dot the landscape here and there, but much of the country is desert where a forced landing probably could be made. The elevation is 4,866, only a few hundred feet higher than Utah’s capital.
“Airline officials said nobody had reported hearing or seeing the plane after it left the Fairfield vicinity, which is on the Salt Lake City-Los Angeles route….” (Associated Press. “Seventeen Die in Air Crash Near Fairfield.” Ogden Standard Examiner, UT. 12-15-1942, 1.)
May 27, SLT: “Seventeen persons were killed and two others escaped with serious injuries early Tuesday when a Western Air Lines transport crashed on a sagebrush flat three miles east of Fairfield and 30 miles west of Provo. The plane, missing since taking off from the Salt Lake airport at 1:05 a.m., was found by Lieutenant Casper Woolf of Provo, a civilian air patrol pilot, at 12:10 p.m. It had pancaked to earth in the flats of Cedar valley about two miles west of Lake mountain, which separates the valley from Utah lake, and in an isolated section familiar only to ranchers and sheepherders….
“The dead:
Mrs. Leona Rosell…Salt Lake City…
- R. Bratt…Salt Lake City
Richard W. James…Salt Lake City…a W.A.L. employe [Western Air Lines]
Knight Bennett, contractor, of Glendale, Cal.
Fred Lewis, Los Angeles.
- O. Hart, Orange, Cal., owner of the Orange Daily News.
Guy Talbot Jr., Great Falls, Mont., W.A.L. regional traffic manager
Miss C. Weersing, no address given, listed as a relative of W A L employes.
Mrs. George Skylstead, Las Vegas, Nev.
- H. Hustrasd [unclear], Missouri Valley, Iowa.
- E. Cummings, 42, Denver, Colo. Medical school staff of the University of Colorado.
Lieutenant T. A. Baldwin, Omaha, Neb.
Lieutenant H. E. McCrae, Denver.
Captain Edward J. Loeffler, Glendale, Cal., pilot.
- Clifton Lee, Salt Lake City, copilot.
Miss Cleo Booth, Glendale, Cak,m stewardess.
“Douglas Soule, St. Petersburg, Fla., a student copilot….”
(Salt Lake Tribune. “Utah Skyliner Disaster Snuffs Out 17 Lives.” 12-16-1942, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Seventeen Die in Air Crash Near Fairfield.” Ogden Standard Examiner, UT. 12-15-1942, 1. Accessed 5-26-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/ogden-standard-examiner-dec-15-1942-p-1/
Civil Aeronautics Board. Investigation of Aircraft Accident: Western Airlines: Fairfield, Utah: 1942-12-15. Adopted 10-5-1943. Accessed 5-26-2024 at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33069
Eckert, William G. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1982, Table 1.
Planecrashinfo.com. “1942…Accident Details… Western Airlines…December 15, 1942… Fairfield, UT…” http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1942/1942-35.htm
Salt Lake Tribune. “Utah Skyliner Disaster Snuffs Out 17 Lives.” 12-16-1942, p. 1. Accessed 5-26-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-tribune-dec-16-1942-p-1/
1942 — Dec 5, USAAF C-47 approach crash 2M south Maxwell Field, Montgomery, AL–12
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-26-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–12 AP. “Twelve Fliers Die…Crash…” Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. 12-8-1942, p. 8.
–12 Mireles. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in…US, 1941-1945 (V. 1), 2006, 206.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 2103 CWT, a Douglas C-47 attempting a landing crashed two miles south of Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama, killing the crew of four and eight passengers. The Accident Classification Committee stated,
The subject airplane with the call letters 8494 cleared from Maxton Army Air Base, Maxton, North Carolina, for a non-stop flight to Brookley Field, Mobile, Alabama, [on a cargo and personnel transport mission] with an estimated time in route of 4 hours. The ship cleared Maxton Air Base at 1525 CWT and was due at Brookley Field at 1925 CWT.
At 1840, Maxwell radio received instruction from Airways Traffic Control to try and contact Army 8494 to advise him to land at Maxwell Field, Alabama, due to weather conditions at Brookley Field….. At 2056, 8494 contacted Maxwell Field radio advising that he was circling Maxwell Field at 1,500 feet. Maxwell Field radio then heard him contact Maxwell Field control tower and receive landing instructions from the control tower. The control tower, having contacted 8494, asked if he was flying contact and the answer was ‘Yes.’ The pilot requested flood lights, and the tower operator immediately turned the Northeast bank of lights on. Maxwell Field tower then proceeded to give him landing instructions, advising him to land into the southwest on the lighted runway and to call again when he was on his base leg.
The next call received by the control tower operator, the pilot 8494 advised that he was making his approach. The control tower operator advised 8494 that he was cleared to land, and 8494 replied ‘Roger.’ A few minutes later, a call was received at the Operations Office that a cargo type airplane had crashed at the Reconsignment and Holding Depot which is located approximately 2 miles south of Maxwell field.
Upon investigation it was found that the crashed airplane was 8494. Floodlights are installed on power line poles at this depot, which at night give the impression from the air of a series of parallel runways. Upon investigation it was found that 8494 circled this depot several times with landing lights on…It seems that the airplane was making his approach from the East for a landing into the West when approximately 40 feet above the ground the airplane struck an 11,000-volt power line. Four [power lines] were broken on each side of the pole, and it is the opinion of this board that only the landing gear struck the power line. A complete blackout of the area was caused by the failure of this power line.
Witnesses state that after the airplane hit the power line, it continued descending until the pilot opened his throttles when the airplane was approximately 20 feet above the ground. The airplane then began to climb rapidly at a steep angle and was approximately 200 to 300 feet above the ground when it made a sharp turn to the left and began to lose altitude rapidly and struck the ground at approximately a 20 degree angle, tearing up railroad track and crashing into a power pole, exploded and burned.
It is the opinion of the board that….if the pilot had continued to make a normal landing he would have been successful without undue damage to aircraft or injury to personnel, but it is believed that when the ship struck the power line and blacked out the entire area, the pilot realized that something was wrong and opened his throttles with in intention of pulling up and going around and that in pulling up, it is believed that he climbed at such a steep angle as to cause the ship to be in a stall. It is believed that the turn increased this stalling effect and in attempting to recover, the pilot dropped the nose but not having sufficient altitude crashed to the ground. (Quoted in Mireles 2006, 206.)
Newspaper
Dec 7, AP: “Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 7 – (AP) — Twelve army filers were killed late Saturday night when an army transport plane crashed and burned near here. Officials at the Maxton (N. C.) air base, to which queries were referred, said the transport was on a routine flight from there to Maxwell Field at Montgomery. There were no survivors.” (Associated Press. “Twelve Fliers Die in Crash of Transport,” Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. 12-8-1942, p. 8.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Twelve Fliers Die in Crash of Transport,” Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. 12-8-1942, p. 8. Accessed 10-4-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=38866482
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 1: Introduction, January 1941 – June 1943). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.
1942 — Dec 3, Cleveco Tanker-Barge sinks, Lake Erie Blizzard, 6m north of Euclid, OH–18
— 22 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (July 2009).
— 19 AP. “14 Drowned as Tug Sinks in Lake Erie.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-2-1942, 1.
— 19 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (December 2008).
— 18 Alchem Incorporated. Erie-Ashtabula Shipwrecks.
— 18 AP. “18 Drowned as Barge is Lost.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-4-1942, p1.
— 18 AP. “Contact is Lost with Barge, Adrift on Lake.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-3-1942, 1.
— 18 Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Fear 32 Deaths in Lake Tragedy,” Dec 5, 1942, p. 1.
— 18 Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C.
— 18 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 55.
Narrative Information
Alchem: “Cleveco: Steel tanker barge of 250 ft sank on 12/2/1942 in a raging blizzard after a heroic but unsuccessful rescue attempt just West of Cleveland, Ohio. Around 04:00 the watch on the Cleveco noticed that the line to the tow vessel the Admiral went downward indicating that the tug had sunk. The Cleveco cut loose and dropped both anchors, but began to drift. Rescue vessels and aircraft were called but could not locate the Cleveco in the blinding snowstorm. After about 12 hours the Cleveco radioed that it was taking water and would soon lose its generators. The radio then went silent. The search continued through the following night at great risk to all involved. The Cleveco sank with the loss of all 18 crewmen on board. At the time the vessel was carrying 1,000,000 gallons of oil from Toledo to Cleveland. In the early 1960s the Cleveco was raised and was being towed toward Fairport Harbor when it encountered a gale and went back to the bottom. In the summer of 1995 the remaining oil was removed from the wreck. It currently lies inverted several miles off Euclid, Ohio. We have confirmed the location of this wreck as being 41deg 47.47′, 81deg 36.00′. Please note! The NOAA charts all give an erroneous location for this wreck and are off by over a half mile! The same of course applies to any NOAA derived charts and preprogrammed DGPS type instruments. For further information see the Admiral entry number (B91).”
Davin & Witte: “The Cleveco was built in 1913 by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio, as a tank ship for carrying oil, and it was later converted to a tank barge. The wrought iron barge was 260 feet in length, 43 feet in breadth, and 25 feet in depth and was owned by Cleveland Tankers, Inc…On December 2, 1942, the Cleveco was in transit from Toledo to Cleveland under tow by the tug Admiral. The barge was carrying 1.2 million gallons of Bunker C (no. 6) oil. While underway en route to Cleveland, the tug and barge became engulfed by a severe storm and blizzard. They had nearly reached their destination when the Admiral sank and the towline was cut. The Cleveco was adrift and at the mercy of the storm. Despite search and rescue efforts by the Coast Guard and others, the Cleveco met the same fate as the Admiral. The Cleveco capsized and sank on December 3, six miles north of Euclid, Ohio, in approximately 30 feet of water.
“This disaster claimed the lives of everyone on board both the tug and the barge, a total of 32 people, making it the worst disaster on Lake Erie since 1916.” (Davin & Witte 1997. “Cleveco Underwater Oil Recovery: Removing a 50-Year-Old Threat.” Int. Oil Spill Conf. Paper)
Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive, Dec 2008: “On this day in 1942, the Tug Admiral and tanker-barge Cleveco encountered a late season blizzard on Lake Erie. The Admiral sank approximately 10 miles off Avon Point, Ohio, with a loss of 11. The Cleveco sank 30 hours later off Euclid Beach with a loss of 19.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (December 2008).)
Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive, July 2009: “On this day in 1961, the barge Cleveco, originally lost with a crew of 22 during a December 02, 1942, storm on Lake Erie, was floated by salvagers, towed outside the shipping lanes, and intentionally sunk.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (July 2009).)
Swayze: “Tow of the steel tug Admiral, she was struck by an extremely violent gale. During the struggle she found herself still attached to tug after the latter had sunk. She fought with the gale for hours while the Coast Guard Cutter Ossipee came to her aid. The cutter stood by for some time after Cleveco’s crew declined assistance. Later when they wanted to be taken off, Ossipee, which had pulled back for fear of a collision, could not relocate her visually. Cleveco finally went off radio contact and sank with all hands.” (Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C.)
Newspaper
Dec 2: “Cleveland, Dec. 2 – Fourteen men drowned before dawn today as the 89-foot tug Admiral, swept by strong, freezing winds, went down off Avon Point.
19 Others Await Rescue
“Another seamen aboard the oil barge Cleveco, commanded by Capt. William Smith of Cleveland, awaited rescue from their powerless 250-foot craft as coast guard cutters, tugs and the civil air patrol fruitlessly searched the area for tug survivors.
“The disaster – Lake Erie’s worst since 18 men went down on the Canadian vessel Sand Merchant in a 1936 storm – occurred about eight miles off Avon Point as the Admiral was towing the Cleveco here from Toledo with between 8,000 and 10,000 tons of fuel oil. Company officials said they could not explain the sinking….
“The Cleveco was constructed in 1913 at Lorain, O., and displaces 2,441 gross tons.
“Coast guard life boats from Cleveland and Lorain and one tug from each port were sent to the scene.
“The Cleveco reported the sinking to the coast guard, relaying information that the ‘Admiral’ disappeared. The tow line remained intact….” (Associated Press. “14 Drowned as Tug Sinks in Lake Erie.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-2-1942, 1.)
Dec 3: “Cleveland, Dec. 3 (AP) – Coast guard vessels attempted to restore contact today with the 250-foot oil barge Cleveco, which had drifted through a wintry night after cutting loose from the tug Admiral, whose sinking cost 14 lives.
“The ice-sheathed barge, with 18 men aboard, lost radio communication with the nearby coast guard cutter Ossipee shortly before dusk yesterday, when water put her generators out of commission and crippled at least a part of her heating system.
“The Ossipee reported early today she had lost contact, said district coast guard headquarters, and two civil air patrol planes were dispatched from Cleveland and Willoughby to scout the area, about 10 miles off Cleveland.
“A motor lifeboat also was sent out. A coast guard spokesman said it was believed the barge and the Ossipee had drifted some distance apart. The cutter probably did not want to stay too close to the Cleveco because of the heavy waves, he added….” (Associated Press. “Contact is Lost with Barge, Adrift on Lake.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-3-1942, p. 1.)
Dec 4: “By the Associated Press. Cleveland, Dec. 4 – The owners’ report, ‘all hands lost,’ added 18 men of the tanker-barge Cleveco today to the 14 drowned aboard the tub Admiral as coast guard inspectors opened an investigation of the worst Great Lakes disaster since the November gale of 1940.
“Commander Earl B. Hull, chief of Merchant marine inspectors for the Cleveland coast guard district, said the investigation of the double sinking was being conducted. No details will be announced, he added.
“A Toledo man listed on the Cleveco casualty list issued by Cleveland Tankers, Inc., which operated both the barge and its tug for Allied Oil Co., was reported by a relative to have missed the barge when it left Toledo. A company spokesman said it was possible another man had substituted at the last minute.
“Albert P. Quinn said in Toledo his brother-in-law, John R. Tompsett, had telephoned him from downtown Toledo Wednesday morning, after the sailing.
“The life-jacketed bodies of eight of the Cleveco’s crew were found near a long patch of oil slick late yesterday, nearly 18 hours after the vessel was first sighted. This led owners to conclude the barge, carrying 24,000 barrels of oil to eastern war plants, went down in the high seas and declare ‘in all probability all hands on board have been lost.’
“Boats and planes continued today a search for the bodies of seamen still missing. The tug Admiral, while towing the Cleveco from Toledo to Cleveland, sank Wednesday with loss of her 14-man crew. Both vessels were operated by Cleveland Tankers, Inc., for its parent, the Allied Oil Co.
“The double disaster was the worst on the Great Lakes since 67 lives were lost in November 1940. On ‘Black Tuesday,’ Oct 22, 1929, 68 were drowned when the car ferry Milwaukee and the freighter Wisconsin sank in Lake Michigan.
“The first identified bodies from the Cleveco were those of:
Edward J. Crooks, 33, Cleveland, wheelsman.
Allen Duguid, 57, Bayonne, N.J., fireman.
Bjor Alvier, 50, Avon Lake, O., chief engineer.
Mike Zacherass, deckhand, age and address unknow.
“The bodies recovered were found by the coast guard cutter Ossipee and a motor lifeboat about six miles northwest of Fairport Harbor, O., but vessel owners expressed the opinion the Cleveco possibly sank in 50 feet of water six miles off Euclid Beach – an amusement park just east of Cleveland.
“The 250-foot steel-hulled barge was last sighted at 1 a.m. yesterday.” (Associated Press. “18 Drowned as Barge is Lost.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-4-1942, pp. 1, 8.)
Dec 7: “Cleveland, Dec. 7 –(AP)—Bodies of two more crew members of the sunken barge Cleveco were recovered yesterday from Lake Erie. They were those of Arthur Nettleton, 27, of Detroit, and John J. Sawed, 41, of Buffalo, N.Y….” (AP. “Bodies of Lake Seamen are Being Recovered.” Athens Messenger, OH, 12-7-1942, p. 1.)
Sources
Alchem Incorporated. Lake Erie Alphabetical Shipwreck Index. “Lake Erie Shipwreck Map ‘C’ and Index.” Accessed 11-18-2020 at: http://www.alcheminc.com/asht.html
Associated Press. “14 Drowned as Tug Sinks in Lake Erie.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-2-1942, 1. Accessed 11-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/evening-independent-dec-02-1942-p-1/
Associated Press. “18 Drowned as Barge is Lost.” Evening Independent, Massillon, OH. 12-4-1942, p1. Accessed 11-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/evening-independent-dec-04-1942-p-1/
Associated Press. “Bodies of Lake Seamen are Being Recovered.” Athens Messenger, OH, 12-7-1942, p. 1. Accessed 11-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/athens-messenger-dec-07-1942-p-1/
Associated Press. “Contact is Lost with Barge, Adrift on Lake.” Massillon Evening Independent, OH. 12-3-1942, 1. Accessed 11-18-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/evening-independent-dec-03-1942-p-1/
Associated Press. “Plan Secret Inquiry into Two Sinkings.” Sandusky Register Star News, OH. 12-5-1942, p. 1. Accessed 11-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-register-star-news-dec-05-1942-p-1/
Davin, Commander John J. Jr. and John A. Witte, Jr. “Cleveco Underwater Oil Recovery: Removing a 50-Year-Old Threat.” International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings 1997, pp. 783-788. Accessed at: http://www.iosc.org/papers/00287.pdf
Evening Gazette, Xenia OH. “Fear 32 Deaths in Lake Tragedy,” Dec 5, 1942, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=87495116
Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (December 2008). Accessed at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/12-08.htm
Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News (July 2009). Accessed at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/7-09.htm
Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C. Accessed 9/6/2009 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/c.htm
Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.