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

© 2019 Stuart Butler  All rights reserved.
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