One of the last flyable PBY Catalinas was lost by Hollyweird…
This apparently occurred of the Florida coast during the filming of the USS INDIANAPOLIS movie last year, but very few knew about it, or at least published anything about it…
Article, HERE.
And to add insult to injury, apparently the movie sucks too. Article, HERE.
The survivors of the USS INDIANAPOLIS deserve better than this.
This was one of the worst Naval disasters of WWII for the US. Some of the stories are HERE.
The USS INDIANAPOLIS was found in 2017 by Paul Allen’s RV Petrel, HERE. So at least the survivors and families of those lost finally have some closure.
Hollywood seems stuck on doing remakes and not original films. The Indianapolis sinking and aftermath was well told already in a TV movie Mission of the Shark. TOMRA Tora Tora was redone (not particularly well) in Pearl Harbor, Midway is now being redone, and we still don’t have a Battle off Samar (Taffy 3) movie or many other heroic events that deserve a film of their own.
Losing a rare historic aircraft for a remake of a perfectly fine movie is just damn carelessness and a waste.
I’m sorry that happened. It’s a real loss. The old warbirds need to be cherished, and there aren’t many movies cranked out by Hollywood that are worth watching.
Hollywierd has a long history of killing good pilots and destroying historical aircraft in an effort for “just one more take” or for a “more dramatic effect.” In todays world, why not use CGI for dangerous or difficult flying scenes?
The PBY was my dream plane if I was ever to come in to a gazillion dollars.
Toss up between the PBY and an up-engined (turbo props) Grumman Goose. Twas fun watching both of them take off from Gastineau Channel when Alaska Coastal Airlines was still flying them ;-).
Aaron- Excellent point!
LL- Too true.
NRW- Sadly this one was ‘parked’ and they forgot to close the damn hatch…
LCB- Yeah, it would cost a bunch to maintain, but a blast to fly
Other than Clint Eastwood, I don’t think anyone in Hollywood can do a decent WWII movie any more. 1. They are too beholden to foreign markets. 2. They will insist on making the story “correct” by modern lights (romance, characters Of Color when there were very few or none involved in the incidents in question, LGBTWhatever), 3. tarnishing the US and our allies out of reflex, because of what they’ve been taught were the “real” motives of the Allies.
You don’t need special effects out the wazoo to tell a great story. Tora, Tora, Tora didn’t have them, Midway didn’t have them, Away all Boats and Mr. Roberts didn’t have them, and they are still classics. Likewise Run Silent, Run Deep; and The Enemy Below. More recently? Das Boot*, Stalingrad, a few others.
*One case of the movie being as good as the book, at least in the original German.
As a submariner, I can tell you that “Das Boot” was, running away, the most realistic movie about submarines.
I wonder what that cost the studio’s insurance company?
The picture of the USS Indianapolis was within a week of sailing on her last mission, with a couple compartments filled by very special equipment. That story has already been written and filmed well, with no need to remake it.
Steven Spielberg had probably the best summary of the disaster, with Robert Shaw’s dialogue (Quint) in the movie “Jaws”. In five minutes, your hair stood up from the horror: sinking, the sharks coming for them, and then hoping to be pulled into a seaplane before you were eaten. “But we delivered the bomb,” said Quint with a smile that would give anything pause.
TXRed- Concur!
Roy- Agreed
BP- No idea, but it was a bunch…
PK/B- Yep, haunting speech.
Oh no! She had been a fire fighter too before.
And that movie sucked.
Hey Old NFO;
I am hopeful that they didn’t ruin “Midway”. The Previews look good, so I am optimistic.
OMG.
Despite the flooding from the hatch, this should not have resulted in a hull loss!
The idiot with the crane and whomever rigged the straps to try and lift it out are to blame for that!
Nearly all the expensive and important stuff was above water, this should have been a tedious, but simple extraction.
There are several excellent exhibits on USS Indianapolis at the museum in the Indiana War Memorial.
Mack- Yep, she was a good bird!
Bob- I’m not holding my breath…
Angus- Agreed. Stupidity cubed on this one.
TOS- I’ve heard that. I need to get up there and see it.
Now would be a good time to remember Lt. Adrian Marks who landed in less than optimal conditions to take on survivors. He took on so many that his PBY was damaged and had to be sunk.