As a tail gunner on a TBF Avenger during WWII, my dad's 3 brushes with death
Three stories from one man -- three brushes with death. Here’s what happened.
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I’ll never forget from my dad, who served as a tail gunner on a TBF Avenger flying off the escort carrier USS Block Island during WWII.
🍂 The Sub, the Dive, and the Propeller
On a mission near Gibraltar, his crew caught a German sub on the surface. As they dove in, my dad manned his twin 30 cals while the pilot opened fire. He watched crewmen on the U-boat scramble for their deck gun. Then came the return fire.
A puff of smoke from the sub’s cannon—and suddenly, the plane shook violently. Somehow, they limped back to the carrier. When they got out, both swore the plane had taken a direct hit, but after checking top to bottom… no damage.
Until the pilot pointed up at the propeller. A perfect half-moon chunk had been taken out. An inch or two in the wrong direction, and they might not have made it back.
🍂 The Rocket Mishap
The Block Island was one of the first carriers to deploy anti-submarine rockets. One day, a mechanic was testing the system. The tail of the TBF was propped slightly higher than usual. He disconnected the rockets from one wing, connected the test system… and hit the button.
Whoosh. A live rocket from the other wing launched straight into the carrier deck.
The deck officer ran toward it, probably thinking he’d just yank it out. My dad saw this and decked him flat. A split-second later, someone threw a bucket of water on the still-glowing rocket, and steam shot 18 feet in the air.
No one ever mentioned the incident again—except the mechanic. He got formally reprimanded.
🍂 The Mission That Never Returned
One day before a flight, another gunner asked to swap places because he needed the hours for flight pay. My dad agreed.
That plane never came back.
PS: My dad's ship—the USS Block Island—was the only American aircraft carrier sunk in the Atlantic during WWII.
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