USS Lexington (CV-2) wreck found .. 4 March 2018 [revised]

[Jerry O'Neill]

One thing to remember when discussing the possibility that the F4F was flown by O'Hara is that it probably was at some point. Pilots flew different aircraft when their bird was down for maintenance. O'Hara's MOH combat Wildcat was lost transferring to the Yorktown by another pilot, but O'Hara certainly could've flown the Wildcat in the R/R Petrel's photos, in fact, I would find it hard to believe that he didn't fly it at some point before the Lex went down.
Jerry

[Dan Jones]

Pretty safe to say that if we could meet up with the Petrel's crew somewhere they'd have a tough time paying for a drink. This is the neatest stuff any of us have seen in a long, long time.

[Mark Allen M]

Correct indeed Lynn, I certainly wasn't trying to discredit you or the other guys. My bad if I did. I simply like concrete facts if possible before stating much. But that's just me.


The starboard side of the bridge


The top portion of the bridge. Possibly the 5" gun directors.


This is the previous 8" gun director. I'm not sure what this became after the 8" guns were taken off. The 5" gun directors were above this position or to the left in this photo.


This is where the bridge was separated from the rest of the ship.


The port side of the bridge.

[Nathan]

This video here shows F4F white F-13 believed to be now the same white F-5 under the ocean. You can make out a white 13 under the "5" in the pictures. I compared all the demarcation lines with the insignias, markins and panel lines and the ocean bird matches perfectly with the F4F in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUTnxD5LpW4

[Nathan]

I'd also suggest not to jump too far ahead in any conclusions about who's F4F is sitting down there. .

You are 100% correct. Anything is possible. But its very hard to not notice what looks like a 13 under the 5. could be just playing tricks with the ol' eye I suppose. It would be amazing if its the same bird in the film. How rare is it to have a photo let alone some filmography of that airplane?

[Mark Allen M]

Sorry Nathan, I'm just not seeing a '13'. I've been doing some photoshopping and still cannot tune in a '13' ... I'm certainly no expert or authority so I guess if there's others out there with more firepower than me perhaps the true identity of this F4F will come to light. Neat stuff indeed and fun to watch the 'experts' going at it. Someone is bound to win the prize.

[Mark Allen M]

[Courier Sportster]

The size of the overpaint sure seems like it could be hiding a two-digit numeral...

[Mark Allen M]

Yes I agree completely. I'd have to say two numbers were indeed painted over. A couple of the guys on the WIX facebook page are really nailing this down quite convincingly. Well worth going over to read if you do facebook.

[CoastieJohn]

Anyone know the home base for these airframes? That might be the next place to look for vids.

[Stan_W]

Hi All, I've been over at the Facebook forum and I just joined this one. Watching this develop intently

[Mark Allen M]

Might as well re-post these TBD detail photos in this thread as they seem to fit.

[Kyleb]

I'm always amazed at how well crafted the pre-war aircraft seemed to be.

[Russ Matthews]

Might as well re-post these TBD detail photos in this thread as they seem to fit.

Mark .. that is a stunning collection of TBD photos, many of which I have never seen published, and filled with so many fascinating details. May I ask the source? Was it some kind of period internal Douglas company folder or a USN study? Great find and great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[Forgotten Field]

Nothing to add. I just wanted to give a thanks to all who have contributed to this thread- it is one of the most enjoyable here on WIX in a long time.

Best Regards,
John K. Seidts