The Polish Radioman Who Rode on The USS Yorktown And Was Killed In Bermuda

[Military_Curator]

Hello all,

 

This jumper belonged to Aviation Radioman Frank Bednarz. Frank was born in 1919 to Polish immigrants and would join the Naval Reserves as a radioman. He was first assigned to the USS Howard sometime in 1941 and appears in the August and July muster rolls.

 

After this, Frank came to Naval Station Norfolk on July 31st, 1941. Soon after, He would go on to Aviation Radioman school and would catch a ride on the USS Yorktown to go to his squadron, VP-52 in December. After this, he would find himself at NAS Bermuda attached to VP-52. He would be a radioman on a PBY-5 Catalina. VP-52 was an anti-submarine patrol squadron issued the task of hunting down U-Boats.

 

Sadly, Frank's life was cut short, as on January 10th, 1943, he was killed in action during a gunnery training drill. It is not known as to why the plane crashed, but what is known is that it was flying at an altitude of somewhere between 400-1000 feet before crashing into the waters off of Gibbs Hill Light.

 

A Mishap Report states:

" Plane crashed while on routine free gunnery flight. Only one witness saw the complete maneuver leading up to the crash. He states that the aircraft was in level flight about one thousand feet, when it suddenly nosed down in a steep dive and crashed into the water with no apparent effort to recover. Three other witnesses first saw the airplane after it was in a dive at an estimated altitude of 400'. They agreed that the aircraft was in a 60deg dive with the left wing down approximately. 45deg until the crash. There was no anti-aircraft fire or free machine gun firing conducted at Bermuda on the forenoon of the crash...."

 

 

The entire crew was KIA that day. This is the list:

Pilot: Lt. Ralph R. Stevenson

Ensign J. H. Gibson

ARM2 Frank J. Bednarz

AMM2 L. H. Schmit

AMM3 D. G. Straub

AMM3 J. J. Sweeny

AMM3 H. W. Scott

ARM3 A. Thayer Jr.

 

 

He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and Purple Heart, all posthumously.

 

Many thanks to Matt (AzNation) as he helped me significantly in researching ARM Bednarz. Without his help, there would be many questions regarding this jumper!

 

- Parks