Outcome of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron
Keenan and the rest of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron along with the 13th Pursuit Squadron boarded the USS Langley Aircraft carrier to be ferried to Java. On the 27th February 1942 she came under attack from Japanese Betty Bombers and was damaged beyond repair. Crew were transferred to the USS Edsall and the USS Langley was scuttled. The USS Edsall transferred crew except for the pilots of the 33rd and 13th Pursuit Squadrons to the USS Pecos which was in turn also sunk by the Japanese.
The USS Edsall was attacked by a combination of surface ships and Japanese dive bombers and sunk on the 1st March 1942. In 1952 reports that eight crew were picked up and taken prisoner by the Japanese were Investigated. A mass grave was found in Kendari Indonesia and contained the beheaded bodies of five of the crew who were identified. (pacificwrecks 2019)
All up the sinking of the Edsall claimed the lives of seven of the 33rd Pursuit pilots and twenty four of the 13th Pursuit pilots.
All up the 33rd lost four pilots over Darwin, one to accident at Port Pirie, two others killed in action later in the war and the seven on the Edsall. Ten pilots survived the war and the status of James Naylor is presently unknown. (Bartsch 2010 pp381-384) (Email Correspondence with Bob Alford)
Full list of 33rd Pursuit Squadron Pilots and Their Status End of War
NAME
Capt. Floyd J. Pell (CO)
2nd Lt. Jack R. Peres
2nd Lt. Elton S. Perry
2nd Lt. Charles W. Hughes
2nd Lt. Richard E. Pingree
1st Lt. Gerald M. Keenan
2nd Lt. Kenneth L. Koebel
2nd Lt. John E. Bridge
2nd Lt. William H. Eldridge
2nd Lt. William P. Borden
2nd Lt. Lee M. Boren
2nd Lt. Donovan G. Goodyear
2nd Lt. Burt H. Rice
2nd Lt. William R. Walker
2nd Lt. Max R. Wiecks
2nd Lt. John G. Glover
2nd Lt. Robert F. McMahon
2nd Lt. Robert H. Vaught
2nd Lt. Jesse R. Dore
Lt. Robert W. Kerstetter
2nd Lt. David E. Latane
2nd Lt. James L. Naylor Jr.
2nd Lt. V. H. Bryce Wilhite
2nd Lt. Robt. G. Oestreicher
2nd Lt. Richard C. Suehr
2nd Lt. Gerald J. Dix
Serial # Status at end of WWII
O-20701 KIA, Darwin, Feb. 19
O-416707 KIA, Darwin, Feb. 19
O-425042 KIA, Darwin, Feb. 19
O-427738 KIA, Darwin, Feb. 19
O-421661 Killed in crash, Port Pirie, Feb. 19
O-388608 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-421117 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-421622 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-421935 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-424896 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-424897 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-427687 Lost in Langley/Edsall sinkings
O-429978 Shot down Darwin, Survived war, Died 1967
O-430001 Shot down Darwin, Survived war, Died 1967
O-430006 Shot down Darwin, Survived war, Died 2004
O-427496 Shot down Darwin, Survived war, Died 1990
O-427453 Shot down Darwin, Survived war
O-382764 KIA 5/3/1943
O-421063 KIA 8/2/1942
O-425518 Survived War died 1985
O-426399 Survived War died 1985
O-427613 Status at end of war unknown
O-427674 Survived War died 2003
O-421298 Survived the war
O-428531 Shot Down 1944,Rescued, Survived War
O-427676 Survived Langley sinking, Feb. 27; rescued by Whipple, Mar. 1, Flew sixty missions New Guinea, seventy missions in Europe, became prisoner war in Germany, survived war, died 20/3/2011
References
Alford, Bob email correspondence
Bartsch William H 2010, Every Day a Nightmare: American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942, Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series
Pacific Wreck 2019, USS Edsall DD-219, https://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/usn/DD-219.html