U.S. Navy exploring Curtiss SB2C Helldiver WWII wreckage
- On 30/05/2012
- In Airplane Stories
- 0 comments
By Evan Axelbank - WPTV
Divers from the United States Navy have set up shop off the coast of Jupiter.
They're exploring a plane wreck from World War II discovered by local diver Randy Jordan.
"I really feel like, finally, we're going to find out who belonged to that airplane and if somebody is in it," Jordan said.
He stumbled upon the wreckage of a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in December. Instructed to not touch the tiny two-seater, all he could do was wonder. "I was starting to lose hope we were going to find out too much about it. It's in 185 feet of water," Jordan said.
But two weeks ago, the Navy called to say they'd be coming with a team of divers and with archeologist Heather Brown.
"We're here to preserve the history and heritage of the Navy. This is one of the planes that helped fight World War II," Brown said. Brown suspects that the plane was part of the many training missions conducted near South Florida.
But to find out for certain -- and whether anyone went down with the plane -- is to find the plane's records. Divers unscrewed this corroded data plate from the plane's tail Thursday.
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