It was a warm and sunny December day when five Avengers departed Ft. Lauderdale eastbound never to be seen again. What happened to them? Could it have happened something like this?

RESOURCES Aircraft & Crew List

NAS JACKSONVILLE Board of Investigation 7 December 1945 FINDING OF FACTS Fact #2. The organized overwater navigation training flight assigned to Flight 19 on 5 December 1945 was Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, navigation problem No. 1 is as follows; (1) depart 26 degrees 03 minutes north and 80 degrees 07 minutes west     and fly 091 degrees (T) distance 56 miles     to Hen and Chickens Shoals to conduct low level bombing,     after bombing continue on course 091 degrees (T) for 67 miles, (2) fly course 346 degrees (T) distance 73 miles and (3) fly course 241 degrees (T) distance 120 miles,     then returning to U.S. Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "26 degrees 03 minutes north and 80 degrees 07 minutes west" On 5 December 1945, it was Ft. Lauderdale NAS. I wonder what's there now, and is this a good camera angle? Fact #13. Unaccounted for since about 1900R, 5 December 1945    TBM-3,  Bureau# 23307, Squadron# FT-28    TBM-1E, Bureau# 46094, Squadron# FT-36    TBM-1C, Bureau# 73209, Squadron# FT-117    TBM-1C, Bureau# 46325, Squadron# FT-81    TBM-1C, Bureau# 45714, Squadron# FT-3    and the personnel assigned to these aircraft for Flight 19    that departed from USNAS, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, at 1414R, 5 December 1945 Fact #24. TIME 1611R 5 December 1945 USNAS, Ft. Lauderdale, learned that FT-28 was uncertain as to his position. Fact #28. At approximately 1800R, 5 December 1945, an approximate HF/DF fix was obtained on FT-28 placing FT-28 within a one hundred mile radius of 29 degrees, 15 minutes north, 79 degrees, 00 minutes west, at 1750R. Looks pretty wet out there. Fact #34. Extensive search operations by surface craft and aircraft from 6 December to 10 December, inclusive conducted over land and sea areas adjacent to the Florida peninsula failed to discover any wreckage or locate any survivors of the five TBMs comprising Flight 19.