Pictures of the B-25 pulled from Lake Murray SC

[Michael Martin]

Guys I just got all the pictures loaded on my site.


http://www.sclakes.com/click here (http://www.sclakes.com/)

[jphii]

Nice pictures, thanks

[mike bryan]

how and when did the plane end up in the lake?

[79Tron]

Cool pictures, thanks, I have heard some rumors that there are some WWII planes in a lake around here.

[Fish]

very cool pics, thanks.

[triple dude]

I saw that on the news. Pretty neat. There was an article in National Geographic years ago about several planes, during WW2, that ran out of gas and landed on an island somewhere up or down towards the poles. They were abandoned and got covered with decades of ice. I remember the photo's after the searchers created tunnels in the ice. All were still pretty much intact. Don't know where they ended up taking them.

[Michael Martin]

Back in WWII they used an island on Lake Murray to make Bombing runs for practics - this island is now known as "Bomb Island"

The bombs were filled with sand. Many fragments of these bombs cover the island so you have to be somewhat careful of where you step so you dont get cut. There have also been several of these bombs recovered still intack.

The pilots and crew were an training missions & some had mechanical failures that resulted in about 20 or so ditching them in the water.

From what I understand if the planes were in over 80 foot of water they left them there as they didnt have the ability to recover them.

This one was in right at 150' & all crew members survived the water landing.

There is also one that is up shallow & the tail section could be seen while the water was down for the repair of the Lake Murray Dam. Obviosly it was too damaged to be worth removeing.

Mike

[Michael Martin]

The Lake Murray Bomber
Second Lieut. William Fallon had engines “pulled” on him many times as part of his rigorous flight training. The U.S. Army Air Corps went to great lengths preparing their pilots to fly the multi-engine aircraft that made up the wartime inventory. The training consisted of simulated engine failure immediately after take-off, on short final to landing and in cruise flight at comfortable altitudes. On Sunday, April 4th, 1943, this training would pay off for Lt. Fallon and his four crewmates as they practiced low-level bombing runs over Lake Murray, South Carolina.

Earlier in the morning the crew departed nearby Columbia Army Air Base and proceeded 12 miles northwest to the big man-made lake which had become a designated training area for flight crews all around the southeast region. The locals were accustomed to hearing the low-pitched rumble of the Cylones and Wasps growling about the lake. They never tired or complained of seeing them and actually enjoyed watching them as they soared and wheeled.

Lexington resident Bryce Lever and a friend were fishing from the bank of the lake that morning at the same time that the late Mrs. Katherine Townsend Tapp was walking along the shore with a friend. That’s when things began to get exciting for Lt. Fallon. Around 10:45 that morning, the crew had just finished a bombing run when the left engine of their B-25 began to fail. Unable to determine the cause he quickly ordered his co-pilot to “feather number one” while bringing the power up on number two. As he concentrated on flying the airplane, his instincts already had him slowly turning the now crippled bomber southeast towards the air base. Due to their low altitude and inability to climb he quickly consulted with his co-pilot and his bombardier as to what their best course of action should be.

The bombardier, Second Lt. Henry Mascall, convinced Fallon that a water landing was the best thing to do since loosing the good right engine at that low altitude could mean real trouble. Fallon concurred and with very little time ordered the crew to prepare as he pointed the nose of the ship into the last known wind direction. Both he and his co-pilot stood on the right rudder to counter the yaw from the healthy right engine but the big Mitchell was slowly descending, even with full power on the right side. The altimeter eased down as Fallon kept wings level until they were just feet above the surface. Back - pressure on the yoke raised the nose into a tail-down flair for landing position-just as he would on dry land. As the aft fuselage began to skip across the water, the ensuing drag suddenly pitched the nose of the bomber down, smashing into the surface.

Several plexiglass panels in the nose burst from the impact with the lake water. At the same time the right propeller struck the water with all of its torque, causing the motor to rip away from the mount and skip across the water. The aircraft quickly came to a halt and bobbed around while Mascall released the life raft. All crewmembers were safe and exited the aircraft out onto the wing where they clambered aboard the raft and paddled away.

Looking for dry cigarettes, they all congratulated one another on surviving their harrowing experience as other bombers flew overhead to witness that all of the men were indeed safe. Happy to be alive, the crew turned and watched as the twin rudders of the North American slipped below the surface.

Although sparsely populated at the time, there were a few lake residents. One of them was a prominent area businessman named S.K. Oliver. Having witnessed the lake landing, Mrs. Tapp ran to Oliver’s nearby home to tell him what happened. He quickly untied his motor launch and proceeded to the scene where he found the crew and brought them to shore. Mr. Lever and friend tried to find help but were unable to do so. They feared the worse for the crew but soon discovered that they were all safe.

The same day, another B-25 had ditched in the lake with all crewmembers safely rescued as well. Since it went down in only 50 feet of water it was later salvaged, but the Army quickly determined that Fallon’s ship was too far down and abandoned any salvage efforts. Soon, the war would be over, Columbia Army Air Base was turned over to Lexington County to serve as a civilian airfield and B-25C serial number 41-12634 settled in for a sixty-year long nap nestled safely in the dark, cold bosom of Lake Murray.

Growing up in Columbia, Dr. Robert Seigler spent many weekends and summer days boating and water skiing on the lake. In high school he became interested in the Lake Murray B-25 after hearing stories about airplanes in the lake. Armed with accounts from the local newspapers he researched and found the actual crash reports from the military. As time passed he hired several sonographers to locate the wreck to no avail. Even Mrs. Townsend Tapp, still residing at the lake, was pressed into service and was very helpful in pointing out the location. Finally in 1992, a U.S. Naval Reserve sonar unit found the aircraft. Dr. Seigler then embarked upon the arduous task of obtaining exclusive salvage rights from South Carolina Electric and Gas, the owner of Lake Murray, and a quit-claim deed from the United Sates Air Force.

Now a pediatrician in Greenville, South Carolina, Dr. Seigler has worked the last ten years to raise funds for having the aircraft professionally salvaged from the lakebed and to find a home for the B-25 after his one year tenure of ownership to ease the tax burden is up. After much research, he has settled on a California-based group led by Gary Larkins to raise the aircraft. They are experienced in rescuing old, delicate airframes from remote locations - taking care not to bend anything on the way up. After the initial salvage, the aircraft will be trucked to a safe location where state historians and archeologists will carefully inspect, catalog and remove any personal items of the crew and attempt to return them to the families. Then, the aircraft will be cleaned and dismantled for the restoration process to begin.

Several groups are interested in assisting with the restoration and obtaining the aircraft after that - including Donaldson Center near Greenville, SC, which was also a training site for B-25s during the war, and a group from the Augusta, Georgia area interested in forming a Commemorative Air Force squadron. In a recent meeting at the State Museum in Columbia, Dr. Seigler met with these interested parties to update them on the status of the project. Ongoing efforts to raise the estimated one hundred thousand dollars to salvage the aircraft continue with the Columbia-based Celebrate Freedom Foundation also spearheading the fund-raising. The likely hood that the aircraft will remain in Columbia after restoration is good-however that will require strong, local support and some horse- trading with the existing B-25 based at Owens Field that was recovered from Lake Greenwood in 1983.

Not since the Greenland icecap P-38, “Glacier Girl”, has such an intact time capsule of a WW II aircraft been found. The 2 hour round-trip dive allows only fifteen minutes of loiter time on the bottom. The fact that the aircraft lies in deep water has served to protect it from decay and corrosion as well as from those who would love nothing more than to vandalize her. Unbelievably, Dr. Seigler has received phone calls from mentally deficient divers wanting the B-25’s location so they can strip the bombsight and other articles from the aircraft. Dr. Seigler routinely hires a discreet dive on the site to inspect for signs of vandals and so far, so good. In videos of the bomber the only signs anyone has visited are from past dives Dr. Seigler has sponsored. However on one occasion they did discover a strange bouy attached to the site, which was quickly removed.

[AnthonySS]

Very interesting...THANKS Michael

[outboard-rob]

very cool pics,reminds me of the kee-bird b-29 that was painstaking put into airworthy condition just to have a ruptured fuel line from the apu burn it down..Those are irreplaceable parts of avation history.......Rob

[NNT]

You Just Know Some Cat Fisherman Are Really Pizzed Off Now That Thier Secret Honey Hole Has Been Taken Away Lol

[crazy horse]

I'm glad they got that old girl up! The Kee-bird really hurt, I have that recovery on tape. It killed me to see it burn. It looks like both of the 25's could use one of these. :rolleyes: I've had this sight for about 30 years. It's a M9-B/ C-1 combat sight that has 128 hours of bomb runs before the end of the war and it survived long enough for me to end up with it. :D I also have 4 other bombsights from WW2.

[triple dude]

Thanks for posting. Neat article!! There's also supposed to be a lot of sunken planes in Lake Michigan off Chicago/Milwaukee. There area was used for aircraft carrier landing practice during the war. There was also a book I read many years ago about a WW2 bomber discovered many years after the war in a north African desert. There was traces of food and water still on board but no sign of bodies or survivors. The name of the plane was the 'lady Be Good". Might even be some internet stuff on it.

[Ted Stryker]

I get really swept away by history, specifically stories like this... There used to be boats races on my home lake at the local American Legion Club and Marina... There were two old WWII Torpedoes on displays racks by the water front... Even at 7 or 8 years old those things and their history and purpose facinated me, I would just walk all around them and hang and climb on them like a Jungle Gym... I would love to dive on sunken war ships and planes someday...

[SportJ-US-1]

They pull old planes out of Lake Washington in Seattle all the time. Between the Navy dumping them off barges to be rid of them after WWII and crashes from Boeing's Renton plant, Sand Point NAS and Boeing Field (King County Airport) there are a bunch of planes still down there. The salt water victims don't fair as well as the ones in the 150 to 250 foot deep feshwater lake.

[Yellowfin36]

Saw it in person the other day, kinda pisses me off that there not gonna keep it here in SC though.

[NNT]

Saw it in person the other day, kinda pisses me off that there not gonna keep it here in SC though.

they just know you damn hill billies would throw a small block in it and re bomb iraq :D

[Yellowfin36]

Ain't that the dayum truth!!!!!!:D

[Ted Stryker]

Hey, now that was damn funny..! It's hard to type, I'm still rolling... Load'er down with all the mildly explosive crap that you can buy from Gun & Knife shows and gas that sumbich..! Whoooo, I can see it now...

[Michael Martin]

triple dude - - Recovery in 1959 of B-24 Bomber crew lost in Libyan Desert in 1943
Story of the 1959-60 search for and recovery of crew members of the B-24 Bomber Lady Be Good. This aircraft was discovered in the Libyan Desert 16 years after it lost its way back from a World War II mission to bomb Naples, Italy on 4 April 1943. The plane was found in 1959 by an oil exploration team, miraculously preserved by the desert environment. The next year the bodies of eight of the nine crew members were recovered by Quartermaster Graves Registration personnel.

The U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee, Virginia maintains a display of items recovered during this operation in its Mortuary Affairs Gallery.


website - http://www.qmfound.com/lady_be_good_b-24_bomber_recovery.htm

[The Big Al]

http://www.sclakes.com/b25/sm17.JPG (http://www.sclakes.com/b25/17.JPG)
I would have put it back!

[Michael Martin]

Al - moneys were raised - this is not your tax dollars..lol

[The Big Al]

Al - moneys were raised - this is not your tax dollars..lol

OK, didn;t know that.
But I just don't see the need.

But it is interesting.

I love lake Murry!

Plane in great shape to hit the water at 150mph.

Do Diddles Raiders crashed that one.

Me and The Fast One were fishing on the Lake years ago, the lake was down 25ft
we found a bomb on the bank dropped by one of those planes. And no we did not get it, and we did not touch it. They are all around the islands. I guess they were the targets.

Is it true there are more planes down there?

AL

[Michael Martin]

The bombs were duds filled with sand. Some had blast caps on the front tip to make the sand fly out to mark the spots better.

Th lake was down 15 ft for the last 2 years. Maybe thats when you were down to fish. I dont know of the lake being down 25' since the early 60's.

Mike

[The Big Al]

Mike, I an from Orangeburg SC, Moved to NC in 1999. The lake was down 15ft plus from the low water that was already down 5ft to 8ft in the early 90's and was down a total of 20ft plus at one time. We used Puttmans landing they brought rocks in for us to get in. We parked our trucks on the lake bed. I think it was 91 or 92. And it did go down 25ft from the full water mark. Two years ago it was down 18ft at one point. They will say they are pulling the lake only 10ft, but the water level will be already down some 5 to 8ft.

And as for as sand filled or not, my big a## ain't touching one of those bombs! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_25.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZRxdm075YYUS)


AL Smith

[Michael Martin]

I was not aware of that.

I do know if they pull it below 25' Lexington County cant get any drinking water So i'm not sure how that all works out...lol

Mike

[triple dude]

Thanks for the update on the Lady Be Good. It's probably been forty years since I read the book. Might even still have it around here somewhere.

[J Lamb]

I was watching them at the dam when they pulled it. I think part of it collapsed or broke when the set it in the fixture they made. I was expecting it to be in better shape. Somebody is in for a lot of work and $$$.

[Michael Martin]

I beleive they said it woud cost approx 100k to get it back in shape for flight.

Maybe for a non running peice but 100k sounds like only a drop in the bucket to me...lol

[The Big Al]

I beleive they said it woud cost approx 100k to get it back in shape for flight.

Maybe for a non running peice but 100k sounds like only a drop in the bucket to me...lol

Hey Michael old budy old pal, How about dropping some in my bucket????

[Michael Martin]

I WISH...LOL :rolleyes: :cool: :eek: :D

I meant, it looks like it would take 3-4 times that to get it restored & flight ready...

Mike

[The Big Al]

Dammmm!!!


Lol!!!

[P man]

Very Very cool
I always thought the B 25 had some of the nicest lines!

[Trikki1010]

I meant, it looks like it would take 3-4 times that to get it restored & flight ready...

Definitely, her back is broken badly, that is a MAJOR reframing job..

My uncle flew those around the Bay of Pigs looking for Soviet subs headed for Cuba....I caught him at Bradley, shuttling them out of service in the early 60's..Was quite the trip w/ the glass nose and was pretty crude compared to today's aviation standards :eek: :eek:

Great article/thread :cool:

[STV Tunnel]

There were a lot of obsolete prop driven aircraft used in several south american campaigns besides Cuba.

Many were covert CIA sponsored and many were on the record. They had plenty of prop diven bombers for off the record support for the bay of pigs.



I wish I could find my own sunken war bird.....

[triple dude]

My ex father in law and his four brothers were in aviation in WW2. Several times, I'd get 'em on a roll at family get togethers. Fascinating stories. The father-in- law ended up as flight instructor in Florida. His room mate during training was Ted Williams. The rest of 'em ended up in Europe. One was shot down and killed in a fighter over Yugoslavia. Another was on a bomber crew. He said that on more than one occasion, he told a "choked" pilot to get the f#*# out of the seat and HE"D fly the damn plane. He said he always preferred the B19 over the bigger bombers.