In March 2014, Project Recover located the underwater wreck of a TBM Avenger associated with missing servicemen from World War II, including Navy Reserve Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Albert P. Rybarczyk and Navy Reserve Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Ora H. Sharninghouse.
In March 2014, Project Recover discovers wreck of an F6F Hellcat and the eventual repatriation of MIA WWII Pilot, Lt. Punnell. More info on the mission here
July 14, 2017 – The DPAA announced that they have accounted for Navy Reserve Lt. William Q. Punnell, WWII Pilot. In March 2014, Project Recover located the underwater wreck of an F6F Hellcat associated with missing World War II pilot. The discovery and relevant documentation were shared with the U.S. Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) so that DPAA could initiate the proper procedures for official identification, recovery and repatriation of this missing serviceman. On June 30, 2017 DPAA announced, “Navy Reserve Lt. William Q. Punnell, killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.” It has been the privilege of the entire Project Recover team to locate Lt. Punnell and give honor to his ultimate sacrifice, as well …
May 23, 2017 – Two B-25 bombers associated with American servicemen missing in action from World War II were recently documented in the waters off Papua New Guinea by Project Recover—a collaborative team of marine scientists, archaeologists, and volunteers who have combined efforts to locate aircraft and associated MIAs from World War II. The B-25 bomber is one of the most iconic airplanes of World War II, with nearly 10,000 of the famous warbirds conducting a variety of missions—from bombing to photo reconnaissance, to submarine patrols and the historic raid over Tokyo. Present-day Papua New Guinea was the site of military action in the Pacific from January of 1942 to the end of the war in August 1945, with significant …
May 25, 2016–An American aircraft, a TBM-1C Avenger,missing since July 1944 was recently located in the waters surrounding the Pacific Island nation of Palau by Project RECOVER — a collaborative effort to combine the most advanced oceanographic technology with advanced archival research methods to locate aircraft and associated Americans missing in action (MIA) since World War II. Scattered among the lagoon waters and coral reefs surrounding Palau’s island chain, and concealed within its dense mangrove forests, are several dozen U.S. aircraft and the remains of as many as 80 U.S. airmen. This U.S. Navy TBM-1C adds to the growing list of wrecks discovered by Project RECOVER. “The importance of our mission is reinforced with each new discovery of a missing …
PMAN XVIII – Project Recover Locates WWII TBM Avenger Team enjoys unseasonably cool winter. Mission starts with training on D.A.N. Emergency Oxygen Case and OTS Full Face Mask in the pool. Members cover more ground and target verification due to the Navigator Sonar from Scripps and UDEL drastically changing the efficiency of the team’s efforts. Nothing of interest found on land or in sea and obvious land targets are running dry. Old sites revisited for new members, corsair and B24. Sunken landing craft and land LTV’s visited. New records set for the team. 100 targets dived. 70 man hours underwater. 79 Feet Below Sea Water (FSW) average for all targets. BentProp team members: Pat Scannon, Dan O’Brien, Val Thal-Slocum, Derek Abbey, …
Project Recover Locates Avenger Found In Palau. Plane wreckage thought to be HellDiver aircraft reveals itself to be an Avenger while local Palau students build their own ROV’s. A joint mission between BentProp.org, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), University of Delaware (UDEL), San Diego State University, Stockbridge High School and Pursuit Productions. Team members: Pat Scannon, Dan O’Brien, Jennifer Powers, Val Slocum, Derek Abbey, Mickaila Johnston, Blake Bottler, Flip Colmer P-MAN stands for Palau – Marine, Army Air Force, Navy. XVII means this is the seventeenth expedition since we started numbering them (in 1999) To keep up with the BentProp Project and Team Project Recover, please sign up for our newsletter below. Make sure to Check out Project Recover’s …
March 30, 2015–Project Recover located a United States TBM Avenger aircraft lost in World War II and missing for over 70 years was resting in the tropical waters of the Republic of Palau. The carrier-based dive bomber plane was discovered by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (UD CEOE), Scripps Institution of Oceanography: University of California-San Diego, the Coral Reef Research Foundation and the BentProp Project. Scientists used state-of-the-art technologies including unmanned underwater vehicles and high-frequency sonar to search a high probability region of the sea floor, based on months of archival research and the team’s scientific analysis of historical data collected by BentProp over the past 20 years. The TBM Avenger …
Nov. 7, 2014 — Project Recover locates its first WWII Aircraft in partnership with SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography and University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment and is the subject of a film by camera maker GoPro and the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes.” Supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, oceanographer Eric Terrill and Mark Moline from the University of Delaware have teamed up with the nonprofit group BentProp Project in a public-private partnership to bring closure to families that have waited for several generations for final word on the fate of their loved ones. At the same time, the project provides a test bed for …
F6F 3 Hellcat found in Palau on Mission 16. BentProp and Team Project Recover end with the win. Now the wait begins for recovery and identification.
