From the outside, the scene aboard the US Navy ship USS Essex looked surreal. It happened before the end of World War II. With the crew gathered on deck and with great solemnity, they slowly pushed one of the Avengers who had served in the battle. The plane appeared to be in good shape, but everyone stood there and watched until it sank completely. It was as unusual as it was unusual. The plane did not sink by itself.

Loyce Edward Deen. Born the seventh of eight children, Deen grew up in the 1930s in Altus, Oklahoma, one of the small towns of deep America. So much so that the local newspaper’s publications about the biography of each student of last year were among the most followed events. from high school.

When it was Deen’s turn, the outlet wrote a very warning message: “Loyce Deen is a young man with big ambitions. After graduation, he plans to enter the aviation mechanics department of the United States Navy and finds topics such as the problems of American democracy most interesting. He also actively participated in dramatic studies at school.”

Loyce (far right) with friends

Record. In October 1942, the young man enlisted in the Navy. He first trained in San Diego, then at gunnery school aboard the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo boat, learning all about weapons systems. Then to the Naval Air School in Fort Lauderdale before joining the new 15th Air Group. On April 29, 1944, the Air Group reported for duty aboard “the Navy’s most guerrilla ship” at Pearl Harbor. USS Essex aircraft carrier.

Air Group. It was a team of eighty aircraft of three different types. First up are the fighters, single-seat Grumman Hellcats. Later, two-seat dive bombers, the Curtiss Helldivers, have a gunner on duty in the back seat next to the pilot, placing a one-ton bomb on the target at the same time as the machine gun. In third place is the Grumman Avenger torpedo boat, with its two registered crew members in addition to the pilot.

TBF launches torpedoes

Avengers. There were TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo boats on board, known for their durability and attack capacity. The aircraft played a very important role in Pacific naval operations and was successful in bombing and torpedoing missions against Japanese targets.

Equipped with powerful radial engines, these vehicles could carry torpedoes, bombs and machine guns, thus making effective attacks on both ships and land targets. In addition, his design featured a large bomb bay and a large cockpit for a three-person crew; this facilitated long-term, coordinated operations.

uss essex

USS Essex. We couldn’t talk about torpedo boats without shuttles. This is one of the Navy’s most important aircraft carriers; It served as a launch pad for the Avengers and provided crucial air support in battles such as the Battle of the Philippine Sea or the Battle of Leyte.

Leg wound. Deen served as a gunner in his group, the TBM. His team saw some of the heaviest fighting during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 24-25, 1944. In the middle of the battle, he received a shrapnel wound in his foot. However, in the following days, he decided to continue fighting in his unit and not to go to the hospital.

Destiny day. On 5 November 1944, Deen was serving as an aviation machinist’s mate in Torpedo Squadron VT-15 as part of a mission against Japanese forces participating in a raid on Manila, Philippines. That day his aircraft came under heavy anti-aircraft fire while attacking a Japanese cruiser. Deen was killed in action during the engagement.

Lieutenant Robert Cosgrove, pilot of Deen’s Avenger, miraculously returned to the USS Essex. However, both Deen and the aircraft suffered serious damage; His body was so dismembered that it was impossible to remove the remains from the tower.

A plane like a tomb. Thus, for the first time in history, a man was deliberately buried at sea next to the aircraft on which he was serving. Apparently fingerprints were taken and identification tags were removed.

That particular Avenger wasn’t even broken. as described United States Naval Institute“In probably the only incident in the history of the United States Navy, Deen was buried at sea with the aircraft in which he gave his life.”

Picture | Goodfon, US Navy, US Navy

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