"Drain the Bermuda Triangle" tonight on National Geographic at 9:00 and 11:00 PM EST

[barney]

"Drain the Bermuda Triangle" tonight on National Geographic at 9:00 and 11:00 PM EST

"Drain the Bermuda Triangle"
National Geographic Channel
December 7, 9:00 and 11:00 PM EST
December 12, 9:00 and 11:00 PM EST
December 14, 10:00 AM EST

Tune in tonight as we dive to a deep water mystery wreck off Florida. I don't believe the program will go into too much detail on the identification, so I will share what information we discovered -- it's a story worth sharing. Also featured will be Bermuda wreck diving and some cave diving to a Bahamian Blue Hole.

A trailer can be viewed on the production team's website - looks like some great CGI graphics:

Drain The Bermuda Triangle | MSPTV Documentary

Tune in and enjoy!

Cheers,
Mike

 

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[H-2 CHARLIE]

Cool yo

 

[SADS 669]

"Drain the Bermuda Triangle" tonight on National Geographic at 9:00 and 11:00...

We did some great stuff at Deans Blue hole with one of the worlds best cave divers Brian Kakuk ( featured in Nat Geo many times) he's wearing the yellow helmet in Drain tonight......

 

[SADS 669]

We did some great stuff at Deans Blue hole with one of the worlds best cave divers Brian Kakuk ( featured in Nat Geo many times)

 

[barney]

Yup, Brian and Tom are top-shelf divers and good peeps.

 

[kayakguy]

Good stuff glad you posted this or I would have missed it. Would like to see some more wrecks...but maybe in the next episode.

 

[barney]

The Association of Underwater Explorers (AUE) identifies wreck off Daytona Beach, Florida, as Douglas A3D-2P Skywarrior (BuNo 144845) lost in 1960.

The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, the largest carrier-based aircraft in U.S. Navy inventory and nicknamed the “Whale,” was designed as a strategic bomber and attack aircraft, and also served as a tanker aircraft. The A3D-2P was a specialized photographic reconnaissance version of the A3D-2 Skywarrior.

At 5:40 p.m. (EST) on July 29, 1960, Commander Charles T. Frohne, Jr., along with Lieutenant Junior Grade R.B. Paganessi and Photographer’s Mate R.V. Schomer, were participating in refresher carrier landings in preparation for night carrier qualifications on the USS SARATOGA off the Florida coast. Commander Frohne was the commanding officer of VAP-62, based out of Jacksonville. On their first landing, their Skywarrior touched down and caught the #6 wire and proceeded to run down the deck for 155 feet in an apparent normal arrestment. At this point, the aircraft’s tail hook point failed, however, and the Skywarrior continued down the angled deck without hopes of capture. As the aircraft approached the deck edge, Commander Frohne added full power. Unfortunately, it was a futile effort as the large aircraft lumbered off the carrier, its right wing striking the catwalk as it cleared the SARATOGA’s deck. Simultaneously, the crew proceeded to retract the landing gear and attempt a successful bolter, but the timing of the tail hook failure robbed the aircraft of sufficient forward speed. The Skywarrior hit the water, its nose breaking off completely aft of the ventral escape hatch. The aircraft initially stayed afloat, and the rescue destroyer ALLEN M. SUMNER (DD-692) steamed into position. Schomer popped to the surface, his life vest inflated, but he was still strapped in his seat and tangled in parachute rigging. The SUMNER’s rescue swimmer, Lieutenant Junior Grade Painter leapt overboard and attempted to cut Schomer free. As the Skywarrior sank, Painter was pulled under twice as he struggled to rescue Schomer. Tragically, he was unable to cut Schomer loose and Schomer was carried to the bottom entangled in wreckage. Commander Frohne and Lieutenant Junior Grade Paganessi were also killed in the crash.

The wreck, locally known as the “Chinaman Wreck,” was first located by New Smyrna Beach commercial fisherman Jimmy Chang in the late 1960s. Available information, including recovered aluminum wreckage in fishing gear, indicated the wreck may be that of an aircraft. AUE dived the mystery wreck in July 2014 and found the inverted but largely intact remains of a Douglas Skywarrior in 230 feet of water. AUE, working with Roy Stafford (Black Shadow Aviation, USN retired), the A-3 Skywarrior Association, and the Naval History and Heritage Command, identified the wreck as BuNo 144845 based on location, aircraft type (reconnaissance model), and damage, all of which was consistent with Commander Frohne’s aircraft, as well as lack of other A3D-2P Skywarrior losses in the area.

Footage of the July 29, 1960, crash from USS SARATOGA can be viewed online:



This incident reinforces the dangerous job our uniformed services accept everyday, regardless if they are in a foreign war zone or simply conducting basic training at home.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Wish I had been able to see that. I'll hope it makes it to YouTube or is repeated.

Interestingly in 1918 two 180 ft French minesweepers, each 140 ft long and 630 ton, were lost in a November storm on Lake Superior and no trace of either has ever been found or reported.

This incident reinforces the dangerous job our uniformed services accept everyday, regardless if they are in a foreign war zone or simply conducting basic training at home.

Amen. A friend of mine was a fueler ("grape") on the USS Ticonderoga during Vietnam. The flightdeck is a hazardous place during even calm and peaceful times. He saw several guys walk into the blades of Skyraiders

If you ever get a chance to see the documentary on the USS Ben Franklin it is worth seeing. Was only in the war for the final year but lost 800 men! I can't imagine being on the biggest of targets afloat in WWII and having nowhere to run for all the the punishment they took. God bless 'em.

The documentary - The Saga of the [USS Ben] Franklin





The movie: The Ship That Wouldn't Die