Brewster SB2A Buccaneer (Pt Loma — 280 fsw)

Background

Santa has come early and Tyler has struck gold once again!

We had seen a ROV video taken during a survey but we weren’t sure of the location. After a lot of hard work, research, and cross referencing, Tyler had a target for us to go check out. We were pretty sure it was going to be an airplane, but we had to do a dive it to make sure and to try to identify it.

It was a beautiful day out on the water. The original plan was to dive on Friday after Thanksgiving; however, Lora texted us on Tuesday and casually mentioned that Wednesday looked a lot better than Friday. We quickly rallied everybody and changed our plans.

We checked out one other target on the way which is also in 280 feet of water and it looks very promising. That would have to wait for another day but we know something is there. We headed to Tyler’s target and the sonar returns looked really good so it was time to gear up and get ready to dive.

The Dive

For the first time ever on the Marissa, I overran my stated runtime by a pretty significant amount.

When I discussed the pre-dive plan with Lauren, it was for me to shoot photos for a photogrammetry model and then spend time doing some pre-planned detailed research together to try to identify the target. Photo below of Lauren with my handy scrub brush, at the ready!

When we got on the wreck, it was clear to me that it would take some time to get the photos for a model; however, at that depth, time is so precious. I spent between 15-20 minutes shooting photos for the model while Lauren looked around for other debris and patiently waited while deco quickly accumulated.

On an airplane, I usually do 2-3 “laps” around the target to make sure I got all the angles and under wing structures, etc. to get the photos to build a model. I realized that deco was quickly increasing and I hadn’t got all the photos I wanted on the port side wing but I knew we had to call it quits.

I gave Lauren the sign that I was done shooting for the model and then we started looking for additional clues to identify the wreck. After a minute or two, I looked at my computer and my “@+5” registered about an additional 30 minutes (this is the amount of extra “deco time” you would accumulate if you spend another 5 minutes at that depth). We had already been down for about 30-35 minutes including the descent and our deco time was around 100 minutes which meant that under the best of conditions, we would already exceed our stated runtime.

I had told Chris, Tyler, and Lora that our expected runtime was two hours. Runtimes in technical diving are pretty much set in stone unless something wrong happens but the conditions were really good and I figured that they would see us on deco and know that we were okay.

Our dive ended up being close to 2.5 hours.

Brewster Buccaneer

The Brewster Buccaneer is somewhat of a “black sheep” of airplanes from WW II. Quite honestly, it is also a pretty ugly airplane. Below are some old photos of the airplane:

The Buccaneer had a horrible reputation.

It was underpowered (or overweight or both depending upon how you look at it). It was powered by the Wright R-2600 engine which was also used in the Helldiver, Hellcat, TBM Avenger, etc. Historians regard the SB2A as a failure and one of the worst aircraft of WW II. Every service that tried to fly it basically “give it back” and demanded a refund. Orders were canceled left and right. At one point, they gave up and ended up using the airplanes they already built as trainer and to two targets. Apparently, not a single one was flown in combat.

It was two seater aircraft that had the ability to carry up to a 1,000 pound bomb in the internal bomb bay (either 2 x 500 lb or 1 x 1000 lb) and had 2 x 50-cal guns in the fuselage, 2 x 30-cal guns in the wings (on the original models) and 2 x 30-cal guns in the rear gunner/observer seat.

The National Naval Aviation Museum’s website notes that it was “overweight, underpowered, and lacking maneuverability , the Brewster SB2A Buccaneer was a classic failure.” Another website indicates that it is “a prime example of how a design that looked good on paper in 1939 can be woefully lacking by 1941.”

There are a few different variants of the plane and it is challenging to do research on it. In total, 771 were built of all different variations but many were scrapped before even being delivered.

The XSB2A-1 was the prototype and only one was built
The “-2” variant was the initial production and, most notably, did NOT have foldable wings. There were 80 built (BuNo 00803-00882)
The “-3” variant was fitted with folding wings and an arrestor hook for carrier operations. There were 60 built (BuNo 00883-00942)
The “-4” version was built for the Netherlands and there were 162 built (BuNo 29214-29375). These were requisitioned by the US Navy and then “donated” to the USMC and largely used as trainers and target towing. The USMC created their first night combat unit VMF(N)-531 with a portion of them.
The A-34 Bermuda was a part of the Lend Lease program with the UK for the RAF. A total of 468 of these were built although not nearly that many were actually delivered since the British said “we don’t want them” after flying the initial planes.

Some schematics of the airplane are also shown below:

Given how woefully it performed and how many were scrapped, it is actually a very rare airplane. There are only two known Buccaneers that have survived. One is in the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the second is in storage at the Pima Air and Space Museum.

The plane in the National Museum of Naval Aviation was restored over an eighteen year period and started life as an A-34 Bermuda variant and is now “restored as a US Navy SB2A Buccaneer.” It was ferried to Tullahoma, TN for the British RAF and then crashed in a swamp after takeoff. It was found in 1974 and then a ton of people were involved in restoring it.

Below is a picture of the plane on display:

The Wreck

We are very confident that we located a very rare Brewster Buccaneer.

It is a bit of an irony because the plane was a complete failure so to find one is somewhat a “yin / yang” situation. The identification the the plane type is based on a number of factors that are detailed below. We do not yet have confidence in how it got there.

Photogrammetry Model

The photogrammetry model is relatively complete and consists of 773 photos. The port side wing underside is not included and the top of the wing area on the port side is a little “hazy;” otherwise, it is a good model – especially given the challenges of the depth and the lack of natural light in Southern California.

Below is a link to the on-line photogrammetry model:

Aircraft Type Identification

The engine is usually a good starting point to identify an airplane type; however, in this case, the engine is not present so it complicates things a little bit. There are some very interesting aspects of this wreck that allowed us to make a positive identification: (1) it has holes in the flaps for airbrakes for a dive bomber (2) the landing gear is down so we can examine it (3) it is a two seater aircraft (4) the rear section of the cockpit for the gunner has pretty unique shape and side profile.

Below are details of the wreck that we used to identify it as a Brewster Buccaneer.

Airbrakes

There are a few different bombers that have circular air brakes (e.g., SBD Dauntless) so they are not unique to the Buccaneer. However, there is a pattern to the air brake holes that exactly matches that of the Brewster and they start right at the fuselage as well. Note how the two rows of airbrakes closest to the fuselage only have one hole.

Rear Cockpit Shape

The shape of the rear gunner cockpit is somewhat unique. You can see the exact same lines on the wreck we found and the Buccaneer. Also, the airframe panel lines are in the same place / pattern.

Wheel Well & Landing Gear Design

The wheel folds inward towards the fuselage and the shape/position of the wheel well is the same. Also note the design of the landing gear in general matches the Brewster. In most airplanes we have seen, the wheel fits completely within the wing structure and doesn’t extend into the fuselage.

Rear Horizontal Stabilizer

There are a couple unique “holes” where the horizontal stabilizer (presumably) attached to the fuselage. You can see this in the schematics and in the model & pictures and it matches exactly.

Given all the above data points, we are relatively sure that this is a Brewster Buccaneer. Now, the next obvious question is: which one is it and how did it get there?

Identification

This is really tricky. Tyler and I have spent many, many hours searching for accident reports, searching historical websites, and doing a ton research to identify this rare airplane. There are a couple key clues:

The landing gear is down
The engine is not attached
Unclear if the wings fold

Also, Joe Bauer’s list of aircraft Bureau Numbers which is usually a great source of information, is very sparse when it comes to Brewster Buccaneers:

The first step is to try to narrow it down and try to identify which variant of the Buccaneer that this wreck is.

One thing I noticed is that the -4 variant and the A-34 variant have round holes for the guns in the wings both inboard and outboard of the wing break. Compare the two photos below of the -2, -3, and the -4 version:

Here are some close-up enlargements of the two wing sections. Note how the -2 and -3 versions only have one gun in each wing but the -4 version has two guns in each wing.

I did some more research to verify and bought the excellent Naval Fighter book by Steve Ginter that covers the Bermuda / Buccaneer and poured through it for evidence of this “change” from the -2/-3 to the -4 and finally found it. There is also an excellent diagram of the inboard gun assembly and a note about the two guns on each wing in the text.

Below is a screen capture of the photogrammetry model starboard side wing and you can see where the two guns would have been:

At this point, we are very confident that this is a SB2A-4 version given the dual guns in each wing. However, that configuration also includes aircraft sold to the British (A-34 Bermuda) and to the Dutch (never delivered) and the US. It is a large number of airplanes and, as noted, there is very little information on-line about Brewster Buccaneer accidents.

In terms of identifying the specific airplane, we do not believe it is possible at this point given the lack of information available. We are going to submit the information we have found to the Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) but do not expect to find the actual airplane identification. It is definitely a mystery and the landing gear being down only adds to that mystery.

Photos

Below are additional photos of the wreck with some commentary.

Port Side Wing End

The way that this wing is broken and jagged, it doesn’t look like the “typical” dumped airplanes that we have documented in the past.