An interactive map displaying locations involved in the ditching of B-25 #43-36172 on March 30, 1945 and the rescue of three of the five crewmen on March 31, 1945.
On March 30, 1945, after a fruitless search for the remnants of a Japanese convoy around the Paracel Islands and the southeast coast of Hainan, five B-25s of the 499th Bomb Squadron, 345th Bomb Group attacked a heavily armed trawler near Cape Gaalong, Hainan. Sixteen bombs were dropped around the trawler with one exploding close enough to the right side to lift the boat out of the water and nearly flip it onto it’s left beam. A well-placed bomb from a 498th Squadron plane was a direct hit that finally sank the trawler.
During of the bombing/strafing runs, B-25 #43-36172 flew through the explosion of one of it’s own bombs and was damaged seriously enough to require ditching in the sea. The pilot made a water landing about twenty miles southeast of Cape Gaalong where the plane stayed afloat for about a minute. Three of the crew survived the ditching while one did not exit the fuselage and another drown. Their life raft failed to inflate but several more rafts were dropped by escorting 499th planes. Attempts to contact a rescue submarine or Catalina for an immediate rescue were unsuccessful.
The next day, two B-25s of the 499th returned to the crash area and led a US Navy submarine to the survivors. After the B-25s fended off several strafing attempts by Japanese fighters, three crewmen were brought aboard the submarine and returned to military control.
No maps were attached to the Missing Air Crew Report or the mission narrative to provide a more accurate depiction of this ditching and resulting loss of life. Additionally, no map or coordinate system reference was given with which to more accurately place the location of the ditching.
Crew members involved in this incident were:
- 2Lt H. T. Walker, pilot, rescued
- 2Lt R. T. Lee, copilot, rescued
- FO M. R. Perkins, navigator, rescued
- SSgt Anthony Marsili, engineer, did not survive
- Cpl John S. O’Hop, radio operator, did not survive
SSgt Marsili and Cpl O’Hop remain on the DPAA Not Recovered list.