Corpus Christi, TX Fatal Navy Airplane Crash, Mar 1952

Ten Navy airmen were killed when a 4-engine Privateer patrol bomber dived into Corpus Christi Bay less than a mile from the Naval Air Station there...

At Corpus Christi, witnesses said the Navy P4Y-2 took off and climbed to about 500 feet before it plunged into the bay.

Choppy waters hindered salvage work but divers had brought up three bodies late in the day. There were no survivors.

Personal effects of the fliers floated near the huge rudder which stuck above the water. The hull was submerged about ten feet below the curface[sic].

A baseball cap, a flying suit, a navigator's brief case and a fuel cell washed ashore.

The bomber was bound for the Alameda, Calif., Naval Air Station. Aboard were four officers, four enlisted men and two cadets.

In Washington the Navy listed names of nine of the men, saying that the tenth would be reported as soon as his next of kin had been notified.

Those listed as missing and presumed dead were:

Lt. Delangton E. Tuttledge, Corpus Christi;

Lt. William E. Dozier, Corpus Christi;

Lt. (j.g.) Bertram M. Roeder, Corpus Christi;

Cadet Robert B. Nye, Lutz, Fla.;

Cadet Richard W. Augrain, New Orleans, La.;

Airman Apprentice Robert H. Steinbaugh, Louisville, Colo.;

Aviation Machinist's Mate 3d Class John L. Daffenberg, McLeansboro, Ill.;

Airman Richard C. Chase, Oakland, Calif. and

Airman Donald J. Givens, Quanah, Texas.

Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX 22 Mar 1952
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!