tech talk Long-Lost Aircraft Discovered Warbird Wreck Mystery Off the Coast of Jupiter, Florida, USA Text and photos by Walt Stearns Of the numerous types of fighter planes used in WWII, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver is an incredibility rare aircraft. There is only one remaining in the world that is still in flying condition. Finding one of these largely intact under- water is, to say the least, highly unusual. The first such under- water find was not made until January of 2010, when a scuba shop owner in Maui discovered a Helldiver resting in 50ft (15m) of water in Maalaea Bay. Some 20 months later, a second aircraft was located just north of Palm Beach, Florida. This is the story of its discovery. The discovery Weather throughout seas, local dive charter operator Randy simply wanted to see what he something came into view low to the mid-December had Randy Jordan took a perfect oppor- might find. “A small group of us had just bottom, and it was not very big. It wasn’t become unseasonably tunity to run his boat, Emerald Diver, gotten to the bottom, and we noticed until I was over the top of it that I realized calm, generating no a little further offshore to make a some fish swimming over to the right. I was looking down at the fuselage of a more than a moder- couple deep bounce dives in the Underwater visibility was excellent that plane with its wings and tail still attached, ate chop four miles 180 to 200ft (55 to 61m) range. day, and the current was carrying us resting upside down the sea floor. It was offshore. Taking advan- The location for the first drop was slightly north, so I was able to swim over the most amazing thing,” said Jordan. tage of the favorable US NAVY ARCHIVES an area not previously visited, and to see what was there. As I got closer, “Here it was just sitting there, yet it was Curtiss SB2C Helldiver 79 X-RAY MAG : 68 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO tech talk Historical photo from 1947 of SB2C-5 Helldiver planes on the USS Tarawa the last thing I would ever expect planes—some with the pilots— later assumed the larger aircraft to find out here!” were lost off our coast; most such might have exploded in mid-air losses were a result of training during the course of the search, Identification exercise mishaps with mechanical but no one knows for sure. LIGHTWEIGHT Returning the following day for failures. The similarity of this plane to the a better look, Randy took sev- missing Grumman Avengers was eral minutes of video, which he Historical disappearances hard to ignore. It had obviously posted online in hopes that some- The most infamous disappear- been down for some time, was one might identify the make and ance was that of Flight 19. Five of similar size and had an internal model of the mystery single engine Grumman TBM Avenger model tor- weapons bay for carrying bombs CHAMPION aircraft. One thing was certain: pedo bombers took off out of the or torpedoes in its belly. As much (only 2kg) The aircraft appeared to be of Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, as our imagination would like it to a vintage variety and had been Florida, on 5 December 1945, on a be otherwise, the mystery aircraft down for quite some time, already routine overwater navigation-train- turned out not to be a part of making the chance of a positive ing mission; they were never heard Flight 19. However, Randy’s discov- ID difficult. from again. When vintage aircraft buff In addition Kevin Knebel saw the video, he to the loss of confirmed the plane was a craft five planes from the Second World War era. and their “It’s not really that surprising that crew, a PBM a WWII plane would be found off Mariner Flying Florida,” said Knebel. During the Boat with a war there were active air bases up 13-man crew and down the coast. The US Navy assigned to D9 BREATHABLE had facilities for training pilots at the search for • 4-Layer Breathable Ultra light shell • Flexible TIZIP Master Seal Front zipper • Fabric socks • Witham Field just north of Jupiter the five miss- Quick-Dry • Latex seals • Warm cuffs • SI TECH valves • Telescope Torso • Seam free crotch • in Martin County, another south ing Avengers, Fabric socks • Integrated suspenders • Pre-bent knees • Knee reinforcement • Zipper cover in Fort Lauderdale and a facility also vanished in Key West, which is still active without a www.waterproof.eu today. As such, a fair number of trace. It was US NAVY ARCHIVES Grumman TBM Avenger 80 X-RAY MAG : 68 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO tech talk Designed specifically for carrier duty Warbird in the Second World War, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver’s single-engine, two- seater design (pilot front, and RIO in the rear) had a top speed of 295mph with a payload capacity of 1,000 pounds comprised of either bombs or torpedoes, which were carried inter- nally in the aircraft’s fuselage. US NAVY ARCHIVE ery did turn out to be something equally reveal the date the plane was built, rare: a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver—identifiable as well as who flew it, where it served, by its broad, rounded-shape wings and and the date it was decommissioned, large tail. crashed or shot down. The BuAer number on a Helldiver is More questions stamped into the data plate located Even with the make of the aircraft deter- in the cockpit next to the pilot’s right mined, there were still unanswered ques- elbow. However, even assuming this tions. Where did it come from and what plane’s data plate had survived dec- caused it to end up in 180ft (55m) of ades of submersion, it would be next to water? Were there lives lost? impossible to access it, because it is rest- The simplest way to identify an aircraft ing upside down on the bottom. is by finding it’s Bureau of Aeronautics Navy Department (BuAer) number Sunken Military Craft Act (similar to an automobile VIN or Vehicle Another component to identifying mili- Identification Number), issued to every tary aircraft through more than causal plane built as it rolls off the assembly observation are directives issued by line. With this, Naval Archives would likely the Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) of the Naval History & Heritage raise environmental concerns. In addi- To compensate for these factors, div- Command (NHHC) known as the Sunken tion, the UAB maintains a geographic ing the wreck entails a live drop. Hitting Military Craft Act, which still has jurisdic- information system and database of over it square on requires both perfect timing tion on all aircraft and other vintage 3,000 ship and 14,000 aircraft wrecks and positioning. If the boat captain does wrecks. Under the Act, the United States for management as well as prepares not begin the drop directly up current maintains ownership of any sunken mili- nominations for the National Register of of the plane, divers will miss to the left or tary craft and its associated contents Historic Places. right. A drop begun too late will not allow owned or operated by the government divers time to descend and they over- at the time of its sinking, regardless of the Diving the plane shoot the wreck; a drop too early can passage of time or location. As a result, The challenge in reaching this wreck is waste precious bottom time as divers drift it is illegal to disturb, remove, or dam- not only the depth, but also the fact that toward the target. age sunken military craft, including navy it is a small, low profile target sitting on Visibility on the site can range from wrecks, as well as foreign government an expansive stretch of sandy bottom more than 100ft (30m) to less than 30ft historic wrecks located in US waters, with- directly in the path of the Gulf Stream’s (9m), and when the visibility is down, out permission. northbound current. The very nature of divers have even less margin for error. The UAB also manages the protection this wreck’s physical location makes it There was hard current and 30ft (9m) of Navy sunken military craft as, in addi- extremely impractical to anchor nearby visibility on my first attempt to dive the tion to their historical importance, many and tie in a downline, as the current over wreck, rendering a twilight world on the of them serve as war graves, carry unex- the wreck can be more than three knots bottom. A week later, conditions had ploded ordnance, or may potentially at any given time. vastly improved, with visibility opening up 81 X-RAY MAG : 68 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO THIS PAGE: Scenes from the wreck of the Helldiver plane off the coast of Jupiter, Florida; tech talk Tony Grogan (owner of Spearboard.com) investigates the wreck (right). This day provided Warbird ideal conditions, with seas less than two feet, very light current and water that was a deep iridescent blue from surface to bottom. While this part of the wreck presented some of the more worthy subject matter for imagery, get- ting some of those shots was also most hazardous. All around it, like sen- tries at their post, was a large gathering of lionfish, requiring a few sweeps with my strobe arms to clear a spot to shoot.