CA CA - Naval Aviators: Ernest Cody and Charles Adams, Moffett Field, 16 Aug 1942

[Richard]

Lieutenant Ernest Dewitt Cody and Ensign Charles Ellis Adams.

Navy Airship L-8 Departed Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California for a routine over water ASW patrol on Sunday Morning 16 April 1942. Some hours later the blimp returned to land, coming down in Daly City, California without its two man crew, Pilots Cody and Adams. They were never seen again.

LINKS:
Ghost Blimp: The Mystery and Missing on the L-8

The L-8 Blimp Crashes with a Missing Crew - Historic Mysteries

L-8 - Wikipedia

Navy L-8 Blimp Disappears off San Francisco Coast - 1942

 

[LadyL]

fascinating thanks for posting this

 

[Richard]

Photo added by Hope

LT Ernest DeWitt Cody
BIRTH 22 Sep 1914
Mayville, Tuscola County, Michigan, USA
DEATH 16 Aug 1942 (aged 27)
At Sea
BURIAL
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
PLOT Memorial Section MJ, grave 35

LINK:

LT Ernest DeWitt Cody (1914-1942) - Find A Grave...

 

[Richard]

This year marks 80 years since Naval Aviators Cody and Adams went missing.


This is the insignia of a Navy Balloon Pilot. Note that it has only one wing rather than the normal two of a Naval Aviator.

 

[Richard]

Navy Lighter than Air Craft L-8 just prior to crash without pilots aboard.

LINK:

Ghost Blimp.

 

[Richard]

US Navy Balloon Pilot Wings

 

[Richard]

One of the most enduring mysteries of World War II, and one still not solved, was the disappearance of the crew of the blimp L-8 of the Navy Airship Squadron, which lifted off from Treasure Island at 6:03 a.m., August 16, 1942, to patrol near the Farallones.
At 11:15 a.m., bathers near the Olympic Club golf course saw the ship drift to shore then briefly touch down on the Ocean Beach near Ft. Funston, where a depth charge aboard the ship exploded on impact.

L-8 finally crashed on Bellvue Ave. in Daly City. The crew of the airship was not aboard and no trace of them was found.

LINK:

Navy L-8 Blimp Disappears off San Francisco Coast - 1942

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up. The crew of Navy lighter than air craft (blimp) L-8 went missing in 1942, and were never found.

 

[sportstergirl]

Could the crew have abandoned the blimp by mistake? Maybe an instrument gave a false reading or something similar.

 

[Richard]

Could the crew have abandoned the blimp by mistake? Maybe an instrument gave a false reading or something similar.

There were a number of theories. Perhaps the most reasonable one is that one of the pilots opened the gondola hatch to throw out a smoke or dye marker, lost his balance and fell. Then the other pilot, attempting to help his shipmate, slipped and both fell into the ocean. Prevailing westerly winds then blew the blimp toward land.

That is just one possible explanation.