Two SoCal Corsairs (Balboa Pier & Crystal Cove, CA)

Introduction

Shortly after my dive on the USCGC McCulloch, Steve Lawson texted me and asked if I wanted go out with he and Chris Gilmartin for an easy dive on his boat Deep Six over the weekend. I was a bit tired, but we were having great conditions so I knew I had to take advantage of it.

We left from the Newport Dunes boat launch (which is conveniently less than 15 minutes from home) and ended up diving a Corsair off Balboa that I wasn’t even aware was there. We then headed south to look at a target Tyler had sent but didn’t see much. We then decided to make it a double Corsair day and go dive the really shallow wreck off Crystal Cove.

The Corsair off Balboa pier is recognizable at least. The one off of Crystal Cove is basically demolished. I’ll provide a model and pictures of the first wreck and a few pictures of the second.

Balboa Pier Corsair

There is actually some interesting things about this wreck. Steve Lawson sent me the accident report and I did some digging in the archives and newspapers to find more information. As sometimes happen, the names don’t even match so finding the newspaper article took a bit of doing. The accident report is a bit hard to read, but the last name of the pilot sure looks like “Mortan” to me. The newspaper articles I found named him as “Morton.” Either way, he was part of the USMC VMF-513 ‘Flying Nightmares’ and was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro.

In an interesting summary, the newspaper just said that “he ran out of fuel” but the accident report was MUCH more descriptive. In fact, Lt George M. Mortan basically made multiple big mistakes and “left loc. flying area without proper authority.” Compounding the problem, he got lost, failed to take advantage of the proper protocols when lost, and THEN ran out of fuel. It was foggy out and he became disorientated and ended up down near Del Mar before calling in and then heading back up the coast but ran out of fuel.

The report summarizes it as “Mortan exercised poor judg, (sic) poor pilot tech and disobeyed orders in becoming lost.” The reports concludes with “Pilot has been grounded pending the final action & disciplinary action by higher authority.”

And now we have a Corsair to dive. 🙂

I built a photogrammetry model of this wreck since it was pretty shallow (relatively) and I had plenty of time on the wreck. I also took some wide angle natural light photos before starting in on the photogrammetry.

The wreck is largely a debris field but recognizable as an airplane wreck and as a Corsair if you look at the engine and the shape of the wings where they meet the fuselage. Behind the cockpit area is just a debris field. Below are a couple pictures of the separated radial piston rings and a few other areas near the front of the fuselage.

Interestingly, the two rows of the cylinders for the radial engine have separated. I think this is the first time I have seen that.

Below is a link to an on-line 3D model

One might be wondering whatever happened with USMC Lt. Mortan after his accident was declared “Disobedience of orders – care or negligence” and he was suspended pending further disciplinary action? We don’t know for sure, but Steve found records of him enlisting in WW II, spending time on the escort carrier USS Saidor (CVE-117), and then serving in the Korean War so evidently his little incident was only a blemish on his record. He lived to be 51 years old and died in Feb 1970 of unknown causes.

Crystal Cove Corsair

Funny enough, this wreck is literally “in my backyard” but I had never dove it. It is shallow (60 fsw) and not very far from shore but I figured I would probably never find it if I tried to from a shore dive. I also didn’t want to spend a boat trip to dive just this wreck so this worked out as a quick, second dive.

The plane crashed in July 1949 when the pilot had engine trouble and was discovered in 1961. The information below is from Steve Lawson’s collection of historical background:

We dropped at the marker but I had to spend a bit of time to find the wreck. It wasn’t that far away; however, it also isn’t very big at this stage. It has largely been eroded and swept away with tides and currents given how shallow it is. It is recognizable as a man-made object, but not really as an airplane anymore. Below are a couple photos:

Steve Lawson supplied me with some of the history and some photos of what the wreck used to look like as a comparison point. Once again, this is why photogrammetry models are so useful in documenting underwater wrecks. These photos were taken in 2002:

The Crystal Cove Corsair was also featured in Skin Diver Magazine. Once again, Steve’s historical archives are rich and he has a few clips from the magazine:

Such is the effects of time, currents, etc.

Thanks To…

Thanks to Steve & Chris for asking me to join along on a couple fun dives. The conditions were perfect and it was a great way to spend Sunday! Also, thanks to Steve for all of the historical information on both wrecks.