Lost at Sea: The Archival and Archaeological Investigation of Two Submerged F8F Bearcats

Author(s): Hunter W Whitehead

Year: 2018

Summary

Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, renowned as the ‘Cradle of Naval Aviation’, has been a fundamental pilot training facility for the U.S. Navy since its establishment in 1914. Soon after, World War I ensured aviation would remain an important aspect of U.S. naval warfare, and lead to increased influx of prospective aviation cadets at NAS Pensacola. The next several decades of training led to hundreds of training accidents, some of which resulted in the loss of naval aircraft in waters offshore of Pensacola. Through archival and archaeological investigation, University of West Florida archaeologists have initiated site assessments on several known submerged aircraft sites in the area. Identifying these aircraft is an essential first step in the documentation process. This paper presents the methods involved in aircraft identification, and focuses on the historical documents utilized to identify two F8F Bearcats wreck sites. 

Cite this Record

Lost at Sea: The Archival and Archaeological Investigation of Two Submerged F8F Bearcats. Hunter W Whitehead. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441643)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 550