PROJECT TBF #125, FINDING & RETURNING CHILE & JACK
PROJECT TBF-125 SONAR SEARCH BOX, GUADALCANAL
This sonar search box map is the result of 6-years of research that has determined with high probability the water-crash location of Grumman TBF-1 Avenger Torpedo Bomber #125, Bureau Number (BuNo) 06063, with 2 US Navy airmen on board. TBF #125 was flying with US Navy Torpedo Bombing Squadron Twenty-One (VT-21) in 1943 from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. The pilot, Lt.(jg) Murray Charlton "Chile" McKinney, USNR, age 23, and turret gunner ARM2c Jacob Casper "Jack" Durner, Jr., USNR, age 21, went down with the badly shot-up Avenger on the night of July 7, 1943, after attempting a water landing off Lunga Point near the minesweeper USS Skylark on outer-screen anti-submarine patrol. Jack was already dead, still strapped in his turret, killed by multiple gunshot wounds from a Japanese night fighter that jumped them after they likely sank a Japanese destroyer off Kahili, Bougainville Island, 300-miles northwest of Guadalcanal. It's believed that Chile was knocked unconscious, or trapped in the cockpit, or killed outright by the water-crash and went down with the Avenger still strapped in his pilot's seat. The radioman, ARM2c Richard Thomas Dole, USNR, age 20, was ordered into the 2nd cockpit behind the pilot to prepare for a water landing. Dole's right wrist was broken during the crash and he was rescued by the Skylark within 5-minutes, floating in his Mae West with no sign of Chile or TBF #125. The Skylark's Deck Log states: "2310 [11:10pm] Observed TBF plane to crash into water and immediately disappear about 1 [nautical] mile bearing 195 degrees true from Beacon 'G'. 2311 Observed burning gasoline on water from crashed plane, changed speed to 10-knots on course 200 degrees true. 2315 stopped all engines rescued one man R.T. DOLE, ARM3c, VF-21 [VT-21] TBF 125. 2320 Proceeding to Lunga Beach at various courses and speeds to send injured man to Henderson Field." This description and much additional research informed the sonar search box map. Chile and Jack are American heroes that deserve a sonar search and recovery effort so they can be brought home to their families. This map and the corresponding list of coordinates in both decimal degrees and degrees decimal minutes can be downloaded at the RESEARCH DOWNLOADS page and is titled "Chile & Jack Search Box Map & Coordinate List (341KB) (pdf)". Also on that page, please see the research titled "Beacon G 1943 Proofing (1MB) (pdf)" and "Beacon G 2023 Proofing (2MB) (pdf)", both critical to the location of TBF #125.
Defense POW/MIA AccountING Agency (DPAA)
DPAA's mission statement is to "Provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation". Their task is daunting. The number of missing by conflict are: WORLD WAR II - 72,071 / KOREAN WAR - 7,469 / VIETNAM WAR - 1,576 / COLD WAR - 126 / GULF WAR AND LIBYA OPERATIONS - 6 // 81,248 TOTAL. Out of the 81,248, 75% are located in the Indo-Pacific and over 41,000 are presumed lost at sea. DPAA currently estimates that ~34,000 (42%) of all missing are possibly recoverable. Chile and Jack are classified as recoverable and are under the regional responsibility of the DPAA Indo-Pacific Directorate in Hawaii. This TBF-1 Avenger was lost in 1944 and found in 2017 off the coast of Molokai, Hawaii at a depth of 2,000-ft. by the Hawaiian Underwater Research Laboratory (HURL) at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. The depth at the south end of Chile and Jack's sonar search box is ~798-ft. (133 fathoms) and the north end is ~1,074-ft. deep (179 fathoms). Sonar equipped Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) easily operate at these depths. Once TBF #125 is located, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) or a submersible with sample collecting capabilities could be used to recover human remains. The deepest recovery effort yet by DPAA was in 2023 when the B-24 "Heaven Can Wait", with a crew of 11, was located 200-ft. deep in Hansa Bay off Papua New Guinea, where up to 15 saturation divers worked at recovery for 5-weeks. DPAA's first step is to find TBF #125. If recovery is not feasible, just knowing the location of Chile and Jack's grave would be a great comfort to the families. And who knows what advances will come along to make recovery possible, if that technology doesn't already exist?
TBF Avenger #125 Crew awards & commendations
Chile McKinney was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on February 19, 1944, by the Eighth Naval District with the following citation: “The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant, Junior Grade Murray Charlton McKinney (NSN: O-114265), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight during action against Japanese forces off Kahili, 7 July 1943. Lieutenant, Junior Grade, McKinney scored a direct hit with a 2,000-pound bomb and probably sank a Japanese destroyer. Although an enemy plane subsequently killed his turret gunner and shot away his radio and controls, he flew 300 miles to his home base and crash landed in the sea.” It seems too little that Jack Durner was awarded only the Purple Heart posthumously. Richard Dole was awarded the Purple Heart and a Commendation Ribbon for meritorious service which he heroically earned.
FACEBOOK PAGE "PROJECT TBF AVENGER #125"
Please visit, like and follow Facebook page "Project TBF Avenger #125" at:
https://www.facebook.com/61561601204370
It's easy to forget these were ordinary young American men with active lives before the war. These are photos of Chile as a Texas Christian University senior in June 1941 (L) and Jack as a Norwalk High School senior in June 1939 (R). At the time of their deaths on July 7,1943, Chile was married with no children and Jack was engaged. Chile had one sister, Martha (McKinney) Hardin and Jack had two sisters, Cornelia Dorothy (Durner) Ellsworth and Annabelle Elizabeth (Durner) Sheehan. Chile and Jack each have significant numbers of identified living kin with high DNA matches.