In 1945, five US Navy torpedo bombers, known as the Lost Patrol, disappeared without a trace during a routine navigational exercise over the Bermuda Triangle. Despite a massive search, no wreckage has ever been found, making it one of the strangest disappearances in aviation history.
One of the most bizarre disappearances in aviation history involves the Lost Patrol, five US Navy torpedo bombers that disappeared without a trace. At 2:19 am on Wednesday, December 5, 1945, Flight 19 departed Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bombers were last seen climbing in formation smoothly into the clear sky as they banked east over the Atlantic Ocean. Flight XNUMX was a training flight and the aircraft was the most powerful and efficient ever built up to that time.
Each plane contained three men – a pilot, a radio operator and a gunner – for a total of 15 men. The patrol leader, Lieutenant Charles Taylor, was an experienced war veteran. The mission was a routine navigational exercise involving two hours of flight time on one trip that traversed a route within the area known as the Bermuda Triangle.
At about 3:45, the control tower lost contact with Taylor and the other aircraft. Despite the good weather, Taylor said he got lost in his last broadcast. Shortly after 4 a.m., a large Martin Mariner seaplane, equipped with a specially reinforced hull for dangerous sea landings, a crew of 13 and full rescue equipment, took off in search of the bombers. Within ten minutes the Mariner was gone as well. Despite a massive search and several hoaxes over the years, no wreckage has ever been recovered.
Despite continuous contact with the control tower right up to the last minute, these ships have disappeared in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, a place where many ships and aircraft have disappeared over the years. It is also true that many ships have passed through the area unscathed, only deepening the mystery of the Lost Patrol’s fate. The story remains one of the strangest ever recorded in modern aviation history.
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