April 4,1939 was supposed to be a day of celebration as the Navy launched its newest aircraft carrier from the Fore River shipyard at Quincy Point. It was the first public launch in almost ten years and many thousands were on hand in East Braintree, Quincy and Weymouth to witness the event. Before the day was done, though, most everyone would be witness to a horrible tragedy that claimed the lives of four naval fliers.
The carrier, the U.S.S. Wasp, was the 140th ship built for the U.S. Navy by Fore River and cost almost $30,000,000. It was 739 feet long, 110 feet wide and 79 feet deep. At launch it weighed almost 12,000 tons.
Some of the launching party guests included Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison, the son of the famous inventor Thomas Edison; Rear Admiral William Tarrant, U.S. Navy; Mayor Tobin of Boston and Mayor Burgin of Quincy.
The day was cool and clear with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 40’s.
At 11 a.m., Mrs. Charles Edison smashed a bottle of bubbling champagne over the bow of the great ship sending it sliding down the launchway into the Fore River.
At the same time, six navy bi-planes from the Squantum Naval Air Base flew over head in V-formation as part of the launch ceremony.
As thousands watched, the six planes flew overhead and turned around over East Braintree. As they were turning, one of the planes was seen to clip wings with another, sending both into a spin.
The crowd watched in silent horror as the plane carrying pilot Lieutenant-Commander Waldo Brown, 43, of Milton and Aviation Chief Carpenter’s Mate Walter Kirk, 38, of Quincy, went into a sharp dive, smoke coming from the engine, pieces of wing falling off, heading straight for an East Braintree neighborhood.
As the plane was going down, one of the fliers, Lieut.-Commander Brown, was seen jumping from the craft in an attempt to bail out. Unfortunately he was too close to the ground. His parachute never had a chance to open. He landed on the ground next to the house at 44 Bickford Road, hitting a rock, leaving a one foot deep hole and splashing mud twenty feet up the side of the house. He died instantly.
The plane carrying Walter Kirk crashed into the house at 26 Edgemont Road and burst into flames. Kirk’s body was thrown from the plane on impact and was found about twenty feet away next to a tree.
A resident of the home, Henry Madden, 75, was sitting in a rear room when the plane crashed through the roof. The building was aflame instantly. Mr. Madden was thrown through a doorway into his living room by the force of the explosion. He got to his feet, rushed out of the house through the front door and ran to a neighbor’s home where he collapsed, suffering a heart attack.
Only eight feet away from the Madden home, at 24 Edgemont Road, Mrs. Jane Mallen and her friend, Mary Davis, were having tea on a glass-enclosed veranda when the plane struck. Mrs. Davis, recently recovered from a heart ailment, collapsed from another heart attack and was carried to safety by Mrs. Mallen.
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Aerial view of Edgemont Road - Eng 1 on scene
Meanwhile, the other plane, piloted by Aviation Cadet Ellsworth Benson, 26, of Newton, and Aviation Chief Machinist’s Mate John Aussiello, 38, of Revere, was fighting to straighten out. It circled over the houses, motor howling, the pilot unable to regain control. It hit the roof of the building at 30-32 Sheppard Ave before crashing into the house at 37 Sheppard Ave and bursting into flame. Both pilots were killed instantly.
Inside the home at 32 Sheppard Ave, Mrs. Dorothy Bess, 22, had heard the noise of the planes crashing in midair and saw the one plane crash over the hill on Edgemont Road, a quarter mile away. She ran upstairs to get her young daughter, 21 month old Beverly, who was in her room on the second floor.
Just as Mrs. Bess reached the crib upstairs, she heard a horrible crash on the roof. The ceiling above her head was ripped away, exposing the sky and raining debris down on her and young Beverly. Mrs. Bess took Beverly and ran out of the house. Both barely escaped injury.
After striking the Bess residence, the plane hurled across the roadway, hit a fire hydrant, barely missed a telephone pole, and bounced with tremendous force into the neighbor’s house.
No one was home at the residence of Anselm Bjornsen at 37 Sheppard Ave as the plane crashed into it and burst into flame. Ironically, Mrs. Anna Bjornsen had gone to the shipyard to watch the launch.
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View of Sheppard Ave just after the crash
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Sheppard Ave scene
Watching as the tragedy unfolded, Lieutenant Frank Thompson of the Braintree Fire Department, on duty at the East Braintree fire station on Allen Street with Firefighter James Flynn, opened the doors in anticipation of the call.
John Wallace, 20, who lived across the street from the fire station, at 181 Allen Street, came running in to report a plane had crashed and was on fire near his home.
At almost the same time fire alarm box #211 from Edgemont Road rang in. The time was 11:02 a.m., only two minutes after the launch.
Lt. Thompson sent firefighter Flynn to Edgemont Road with Engine 1 as he responded to Sheppard Ave with Squad A.
On his arrival, Lt .Thompson found an airplane and home in flames. He was unable to get to the pilots due to the intense heat of the fire. Finding the hydrant in front of the burning house snapped off, he backed the fire truck down to Allen street and, with the assistance of Call Fireman Charles Phillips, who lived at 31 Sheppard Ave, laid 1000 feet of hose to the fire.
He initially directed the water on the burning plane but, convinced the bodies were beyond recovery, he turned the hose on the house. An alarm was sent in for box #26 at 11:07 a.m. for the fire at Sheppard Ave.This brought Engine 3 from Central Fire Station to the scene.
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Hydrant damaged by plane Sheppard Ave
Meanwhile, Fire Chief Fred Tenney, in East Braintree to watch the launch, was first to arrive on Edgemont Road. He sent in the alarm from box #211. On the arrival of James Flynn with Engine 1, the Chief ordered a hose line be brought to the rear of the house. The body of Walter Kirk, found lying under a tree about twenty feet from the house, was moved to a vacant lot nearby. The hose was then directed onto the burning plane and house.
With the arrival of Squad B and Ladder 1 from Central Station on the box alarm another line of hose was laid from Quincy Ave. The chief now had three hoses working on the fire.
A second alarm for box #211 was sounded at 11:10 a.m. by Chief Tenney, bringing in off duty and call firemen to the scenes of both crashes.
It took 19 firefighters almost two hours to extinguish the blaze on Edgemont Road. There was nothing left of the house but a smoldering pile of wood and the twisted wreckage of the airplane.
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Edgemont Rd - back of house in flames
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Wing of the plane on Edgemont Rd
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Edgemont Rd
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Edgemont Rd
14 firefighters battled the blaze on Sheppard Ave. Most of the fire had been knocked down by Lt. Thompson before anyone else had arrived. When Captain Dennehy arrived with Engine 3, he placed a tarp over the ruins of the airplane. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the fires; Lt. Thompson got a metal splinter in his thumb, while Firefighter Flynn burned the back of his hand. Both were treated by Dr. Gallivan and released.
The plane hit with such force that the landing gear was found in a back bedroom of the Bjornsen home.
Both Mr. Madden and Mrs. Davis survived their heart attacks. But Mr. John Tower, 42, of Hingham, a World War I hero, was not so lucky. He ran to the scene from his work on Hayward street and collapsed of a heart attack. He died later that day.
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The crashes attracted large crowds from the launch
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Sheppard Ave
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Plane at Sheppard Ave
In the days following the crash, hundreds of people came by to view the scenes of destruction. Navy officials also were on hand to investigate the crash scenes. The planes had been removed from the crash sites within a few hours of the tragedy.
Initially wind was blamed as the cause of the two planes hitting in the air. Some of the other pilots had complained of “bumpy air.” Further investigation revealed that there may have been a blind spot from the pilot’s seat caused by the wings that may have contributed to the disaster, although the official Navy board of inquiry was never able to arrive at “a positive finding as to the immediate cause of the collision or to definitely place responsibility for it.”
It also stated that both planes may have contributed to the circumstances leading to the collision. It appeared that one plane may have slowed or turned on a shorter radius and been struck by the other. The pilot may not have been able to see the plane next to him as he was turning.
Damage to homes and property from the crash was paid for by the U.S. Navy and totaled $10,835.
Inside room where baby was sleeping Sheppard Ave
Edgemont Rd aftermath
Remains of plane from Sheppard Ave
Following a grim tradition of the sea: “ A ship born in blood will go down in blood”, the U.S.S. Wasp was sunk three years later, on September 15,1942 by Japanese submarine I-19 off Guadalcanal. The Wasp was escorting a convoy of six transport ships with reinforcements when she was struck by three torpedoes. Fiery blasts ripped through the forward part of the ship. Planes on the flight deck were tossed about as if they were toys. The heat detonated the ready ammunition at the anti-aircraft guns, and fragments of hot metal showered the ship. Water mains were broken, and with flames roaring out of control, Wasp had to be abandoned.
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