So there really is a B-32 Dominator left!?

[DaveM2]

Old Board..plenty of spam I am afraid tho

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/di ... index.html

[Obergrafeter]

according to Baugher:
44-108528 B-32 312thBG 386thBS crashed east of Amano-O-Shima in the Ryukus Aug. 28,1945 after engine failure. 11 of 13 survived. One of the last operational missions of WWII

[B29Gunner]

Before everyone literally goes off the deep end here......

42-108528 did NOT go down off Tinian, or even remotely close to it. She went down while en-route back to Okinawa, nearly 2000+/- miles AWAY from Tinian. Get out a map and have a look for yourselves, 42-108528 is not the "B-32" John and Col. Rohr are talking about.

Now I'm no B-32 aficionado, but I can only find references to two B-32's being lost in the PTO, 42-108544 and 42-108428. So where did this mystery B-32 come from??? I hate to say it, but this story seems even less credible as time goes by.

First John, I'm kind of taken by the way you've presented this story, as it seems to be changing as time goes by. Here recently you've presented it as being a "recollection" if you will, of some guy posting pictures on the web some time ago of a B-32 his cable laying ship had located on the ocean floor. In other words, you saw these pictures that were "floating around the boards" some time ago, and now you're just recalling the story behind them. However, that's not exactly the same story you first told, and in fact, the first time I had EVER heard of a B-32 in "deep water" was when you first mentioned it here http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/vafrefugees/wix7msgboard.mv?parm_func=showmsg+parm_msgnum=1000465

So what happened to the copy of the video you were supposed to get? Or the video stills? They never appeared on WIX, and I was here before your first post on the subject back in '03. And if the quality of the video was sufficient enough for you to see that all the hatches/doors were open, then why did you have to spend "hours" watching videos and looking at books to determine it was a "B-32?" They're not that hard to identify, especially with the quality of the video you described, after all. And what about a tail number?

Then there is the issue of it's suposed location, "at the bottom of an Ocean trench to the North of Tinann." At the depths you claim, that would be the Bonin trench, or perhaps the Mariana trench if your directions are off. My question is: WHY would a company want to lay a cable in this area? There's nothing there! Again, everyone get out a map and look at this location, it makes no sense to me why a company would spend all that money to run a cable in this area. And more importantly, WHERE would it be going to?? Oh, and since this B-32 is at a "Titanic depth," why would there be fishing nets around it? Mind you Titanic is over 12,000 ft down, can't image there's good fishing at those depths.

So I'm sorry to say I'm just not buying this story. I like the idea of a B-32 sitting down there, and I would LOVE to be proved wrong, but I just don't think that's going to happen here.

If there is in fact an A/C down there, my money is on a PB4Y. Now, someone produce some pictures and prove me wrong

PS.....John, I sent you an e-mail about this B-32 back in May, but never heard back from you. I've been looking into this matter for a while

[Django]

Shame there are none left.

Kind of a homely cross between a B-29 and a B-26.

Check out these pics at the scrapper...

http://www.walnutridge-aaf.com/military2.htm

[Originalboxcar]

...
Now I'm no B-32 aficionado, but I can only find references to two B-32's being lost in the PTO, 42-108544 and 42-108428. So where did this mystery B-32 come from???...

NMUSAF source states 528 does exist

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/rescue/res6.htm

regards,

t~

[Glyn]

Okay folks,

I sent off a request to Maxweel today to get all of the final dispositions for the B-32 along with the accident report for the one in question.

John do you recall the name of the company that found her, I can't find the photos anywhere.

Also Scott or anyone could someone explain to me how to access the old board.

RER

From the KB-50 thread:

Okay Folks,

As for the B-32 we did a cost for the recovery a few years back unless someone wants to penny up around 4 Mi. then its going to be staying were it sits.

It sit at around 850 feet of water on her bellie and except for water damage on landing appears to be in very good shape. The biggest problem is that its in the middle of the ocean and the currents would make it a very hard recovery not saying it can't be done but right now I can only think of two or three non military companys that do this type of deep sea recoverys.

Sorry to put a downer on it but hey now lets get back to this B-50

RER

I'm a bit confused. Was there or was there not a recovery plan drawn up for the B-32 a few years back?

[airnutz]

according to Baugher:
44-108528 B-32 312thBG 386thBS crashed east of Amano-O-Shima in the Ryukus Aug. 28,1945 after engine failure. 11 of 13 survived. One of the last operational missions of WWII

Yeah OberG I ran into that on a websearch I was running Friday. There
were actually 2 links with that data, one was JB's serial data and the
other was in his biblio section where he was crediting someone with supplying
that information. The location is mispelled regardless, it should read Amami O Shima.

Amami O Shima is northeast of Okinawa on almost a dead-straight line to
Tokyo..which would fit with the story. The shoreline there goes quickly
from 0 to 60ft to 600ft depth. Eastward for the next 40-50 statute miles
depth descends to 6000ft into the northwest end of the Philipine Sea.

When Setter mentioned the B-32 I began to keep an eye out for it as
I was already looking for sonarscan images of another 4-engine bomber.
When Scott was requesting info of remaining B-29's I remembered some
sonar images of a B-29 deep off the shore in SoCalifornia from 4 or 5
years ago. No luck on either so far. Pretty much shot my weekend looking
for 'em.

[B29Gunner]

...
Now I'm no B-32 aficionado, but I can only find references to two B-32's being lost in the PTO, 42-108544 and 42-108428. So where did this mystery B-32 come from???...

NMUSAF source states 528 does exist

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/rescue/res6.htm

regards,

t~

Exactly right Boxcar, I had a typo on the serial # (-108428 should be -108528, hit the 4 by accident!). But again, 528 is no where near Tinian as I have already mentioned. Now if they were to say they found a B-32 in the Ryukyu trench, then I would be more inclided to believe this story, as that is within the possible area 528 went down, although I do not know within what vicinity of Oki they where when they bailed, or their flight path. And actually this story would make a whole lot more sense if the Ryukyu trench was the location of the wreck, as I can see why there would be cables running near this area.

[airnutz]

Remember too 29Gunner, if you find yourself wandering about a Japanese
site they can refer to them as the Nansei Islands(Nansei-shoto or Southwest group
as I understand it) and Nansei Trench.

Last edited by airnutz on Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Andy in Beds]

B-29 Gunner 1---The Brisbane Bullsh*tter 0.

Did the B-32 in question have a Lewis gun protruding from one of it's open hatches by any chance??

Or maybe it was mistaken for a couple of ex-RN Fairey Barracudas or a Vietnamese Bearcat or two.

Laugh!!!
Yes I did.
Andy

[Warbirdnerd]

Old Board..plenty of spam I am afraid tho

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/di ... index.html

I found this, but it does not add much of anything to our discussion I'm afraid..
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/va ... um=1000465

Last edited by Warbirdnerd on Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[airnutz]

Nevermind...Warbirdnerd fixed it.

Last edited by airnutz on Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Warbirdnerd]

Thanks Wnerd...for those having trouble finding it, scroll down the page that comes up..hit the "Next Page" button and John's post will be 1/3 of the way down under the heading "A very Big surprise".

I edited the link in my orignal post to take you to John's first post on the thread.

I sure don't miss that old format as much I thought I would...

[airnutz]

Thanks Wnerd...for those having trouble finding it, scroll down the page that comes up..hit the "Next Page" button and John's post will be 1/3 of the way down under the heading "A very Big surprise".

I edited the link in my orignal post to take you to John's first post on the thread.

I sure don't miss that old format as much I thought I would...

Ahhh...I'll edit accordingly.

[Andy in Beds]

I spent a few hours watching various videos and looking at books - I am pretty sure that what this guy has come across is a B32 The dimensions and details I observed are clearly in this class of Aircraft, particularly the tail profile and turret placement as well as wing profile.

Of course it might have been one of the two P-61's hidden in a Manchester scrapyard that were guarded by Paul Allen's secret police force...

Still laughing.