VP-48 Memorial
VP-48 Crew - In Memorium - VP-48 Crew
July 30th, 1953
"Eternal Father Strong To Save" The Navy Hymn Sailor Aviators Version
Eternal Father, Strong to Save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep Its' own appointed limits keep; O hear us when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea.
Lord, guard and guide the men who fly Through the great spaces in the sky. Be with them always in the air, In dark'ning storms or sunlight fair. O, Hear us when we lift our prayer, For those in peril in the air.
But when at length our course is run, Our work for home and country done, Of all the souls that flew and sailed, Let not one life in thee be failed, But hear from heaven our sailors cry, And grant eternal life on high.
May all our departed shipmates rest in peace.
Eternal Father by the U.S. Navy Band's Sea Chanters (668 kbytes - WAV file)
VP-48 Memorial Page information Contributed CASTILLO, Ruben ruben.castillo6@worldnet.att.net [10APR2001]
"...My Father, LT Walter H. Meier, Jr., was lost (SEE: VP-48 Memorial for lost friends...July 30th, 1953 while serving with VP-48. I would like to hear with any of his former Shipmates..." Contributed by Melanie E. Meier mmeier001@satx.rr.com [19JAN2011]
"...VP-46 was also a party to the crash of a VP-48 PBM-5S2..." Contributed by Charles T. Hartigan dbihome@aol.com [14APR2001]
VP-46 was also a party to the crash of a VP-48 PBM-5S2 crash just north of Luzon in the early morning hours of 30 July 1953. VP-48 was in the process of relieving us on station at NS Sangley Point, Philippines. Their maiden flight was a "Charlie" patrol in SF-5 with a takeoff at 1830 on 29 July and a scheduled return of 0700 the next morning. In addition to the VP-48 crew, they carried two pilots and one radioman from VP-46 as advisors. The VP-46 pilots were LCDR O.S. Fowler of San Diego and ENS Lawrence E. Cremming of Cincinnati; the radioman was John L. Hall, AL1 of Coronado, CA. I don't recall what the problem was, but they crashed at 18' 00" N, 119' 37" E. I don't know whether the VP-46 crew was in addition to the VP-48 crew or whether they simply replaced them, but there were five survivors, including Cremming.
We flew SAR missions for the next two days--I have an 11.5 hour SAR flight in my log book for 30 July, but I have no recollection as to how the survivors were rescued--probably because we left for Guam before we found out.
I have a scrap from the VP-46 flight schedule which details the VP-46 participation for that day.
Sincerely, Chuck Hartigan dbihome@aol.com [14APR2001]
"VP-48 Mishap Summary Page"
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