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Grumman Wildcat Found In Florida River

Discussion in 'WWII Today' started by GRW, Dec 10, 2019.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    As usual, found completely by accident.
    "Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter believed to have crashed off St. Johns County between 1943-1946.
    Imagine taking a dive into the St. Johns River and coming face-to-face with a treasure you never imagined you’d experience.
    Thomas Keisler, a diver with Underwater Criminal Investigators, said his group was approached about three years ago by a local fisherman with a sonar image of a possible aircraft on the river bottom. Keisler said he first thought the aircraft may have been a drug runner plane, but he has discovered it was a military fighter believed to have crashed sometime between 1943 and 1946.
    “The F4F Wildcat is one of the first aircraft to go against the Japanese during World War II, used against the Japanese in World War II,” Keisler said.
    Keisler wants to keep some details under wraps, including the aircraft’s precise location and how deep it is underwater. Over the years, Keisler and his team have made several dives to the crash site. Keisler said it took time before they truly understood what was below the surface.
    “You don’t really see anything,” Keisler said. “You see it through touch. You see it through feel.”
    The artifacts within the wreckage helped reveal the mystery.
    “We found the 50-caliber machine gun feeder. That was a dead giveaway that it was military,” Keisler said. “We’ve got bits and pieces of engine -- the engine with serial numbers on it.”
    Keisler says the cockpit cover was fully intact, along with the aircraft’s canopy cover. Keisler says that would be considered the aircraft’s windshield today."
    www.news4jax.com/news/local/2019/12/09/grainy-sonar-image-leads-to-discovery-of-wwii-aircraft-in-st-johns-river/?fbclid=IwAR1BiZZaLUfcmKj_4gs2yUSwpUHp2Dw2hsL6kMVSvSq0x8Z_GiHdjtHwcBk
     
    OpanaPointer likes this.

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