Lucky Pilot Saved By RNZAF After 8 Days in Sea
Jan 11, 2024 23:44:35 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 11, 2024 23:44:35 GMT 12
AIRMAN'S ORDEAL
EIGHT DAYS ON RAFT
ATTACKED BY A SHARK
(R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service) NEW GEORGIA, Jan. 7
Thanks to being spotted and reported by two Royal New Zealand Air Force Ventura bombers, Lieutenant David A. Scott, aged 25, an Indianapolis pilot of the United States Forces in the South Pacific, was picked up by an American Catalina flying-boat off the coast of New Ireland on New Year's Day. He is now well on the way to recovery after eight days' exposure on a liferaft, during which time he fought a desperate battle with a shark. Now back with his Hellcat unit, Lieutenant Scott is rapidly regaining the 25lb. lost in his grim ordeal.
Raft Riddled and Sinking
After shooting down a Zero over Rabaul during a sweep on Christmas Eve, Lieutenant Scott was attacked by Japanese fighters and was forced to make a sea landing. For three days he endeavoured to paddle his raft from the coastal area to the open sea but at night the current swept him back. Reversing his tactics, he then tried to make for the shore, but a strong current again defeated him. On his fourth night at sea a storm providentially swept him seaward and he resolved to sail to Bougainville.
Currents and weather conditions were only part of the American's troubles, for each day, just before sundown, sharks came swirling to the surface to prey on smaller fish following the raft. At the outset, revolver shots were sufficient to drive them away, but on the seventh night one nosed right up to the airman's craft. Lieutenant Scott s revolver failed and he fought desperately, first with a gun butt and then with his bare fists, as the shark dived and stabbed viciously at the boat.
Finally, Lieutenant Scott flung a sea marker into the nose of the shark and it gave up the attack, leaving the raft riddled and sinking.
Signals Noticed
Undaunted, Lieutenant Scott plugged the worst holes and kept his craft afloat by reinflating it at half-hourly intervals. Next day, he signalled frantically to passing Venturas which, after they appeared not to have noticed him, turned in his direction, dropped supplies and circled round for four hours.
During that night, a storm blew the raft another 15 miles north, but with the search now localised as a result of the R.N.Z.A.F. crews' observations, the airman was picked up on the evening of New Year's Day. Apart from scratches and cuts from his struggle with the sharks and weakness from his exposure to the sea and wind, the American was in remarkably good physical shape.
New Zealand herald, 12 January 1944.
EIGHT DAYS ON RAFT
ATTACKED BY A SHARK
(R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service) NEW GEORGIA, Jan. 7
Thanks to being spotted and reported by two Royal New Zealand Air Force Ventura bombers, Lieutenant David A. Scott, aged 25, an Indianapolis pilot of the United States Forces in the South Pacific, was picked up by an American Catalina flying-boat off the coast of New Ireland on New Year's Day. He is now well on the way to recovery after eight days' exposure on a liferaft, during which time he fought a desperate battle with a shark. Now back with his Hellcat unit, Lieutenant Scott is rapidly regaining the 25lb. lost in his grim ordeal.
Raft Riddled and Sinking
After shooting down a Zero over Rabaul during a sweep on Christmas Eve, Lieutenant Scott was attacked by Japanese fighters and was forced to make a sea landing. For three days he endeavoured to paddle his raft from the coastal area to the open sea but at night the current swept him back. Reversing his tactics, he then tried to make for the shore, but a strong current again defeated him. On his fourth night at sea a storm providentially swept him seaward and he resolved to sail to Bougainville.
Currents and weather conditions were only part of the American's troubles, for each day, just before sundown, sharks came swirling to the surface to prey on smaller fish following the raft. At the outset, revolver shots were sufficient to drive them away, but on the seventh night one nosed right up to the airman's craft. Lieutenant Scott s revolver failed and he fought desperately, first with a gun butt and then with his bare fists, as the shark dived and stabbed viciously at the boat.
Finally, Lieutenant Scott flung a sea marker into the nose of the shark and it gave up the attack, leaving the raft riddled and sinking.
Signals Noticed
Undaunted, Lieutenant Scott plugged the worst holes and kept his craft afloat by reinflating it at half-hourly intervals. Next day, he signalled frantically to passing Venturas which, after they appeared not to have noticed him, turned in his direction, dropped supplies and circled round for four hours.
During that night, a storm blew the raft another 15 miles north, but with the search now localised as a result of the R.N.Z.A.F. crews' observations, the airman was picked up on the evening of New Year's Day. Apart from scratches and cuts from his struggle with the sharks and weakness from his exposure to the sea and wind, the American was in remarkably good physical shape.
New Zealand herald, 12 January 1944.
