Benjamin A. Bottoms
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Benjamin Bottoms (November 1, 1913 – November 28, 1942) was a United States Coast Guardsman who died while attempting to rescue the crew of a
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
bomber that had crashed-landed in
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
in November 1942. Bottoms was the radioman of the USCGC ''Northland'''s Grumman J2F-4 Duck floatplane. When a
B-17 bomber The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
crash landed near ''Northland'' his aircraft was assigned to search for it. Bottoms's pilot
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
John A. Pritchard sighted the bomber, and landed as close to the wreck as possible—four miles away. Pritchard and Bottoms were able to assist two of the injured bomber crew to their plane, and take them back to ''Northland''. However, on their second rescue visit they encountered bad weather, and crashed. It took seventy-five years to locate their bodies.


Early life

Bottoms was born in Georgia in 1913, grew up on a farm near
Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...
, and graduated from Marietta High School in 1931. He enlisted in the
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
in October 1932.


Coast Guard career

In 1934 and 1935 he served on USCGC ''Ossipee'' and USCGC ''Guthrie''. He was then able to complete radioman training, and served aboard USCGC ''Thetis'', USCGC ''Harriet Lane'' and USCGC ''Ossipee''. Bottoms was married on October 10, 1937. He received a shore assignment to
Coast Guard Air Station Salem Coast Guard Air Station Salem was a United States Coast Guard air station located in Salem, Massachusetts from 1935 to 1970. Its area of coverage extended from New York City to the Canada–United States border. Mission The air station's miss ...
, from October 1939 to June 1941. He was then assigned to ''Northland'' as a radioman for its float plane. Bottoms and his pilot Pritchard succeeded in landing on Greenland's icecap, on November 22, 1942, rescuing the three surviving crew members of an
RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...
plane. This was the first time a Coast Guard aircraft had landed on the icecap. On November 28, 1942, the pair were able to make one successful landing near a
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
B-17 that had crash landed on the icecap, and had brought the two most injured crew members to ''Northland''. Prior to their second landing an overland expedition to the downed B-17 had experienced its own disaster, with a sled falling into a crevasse. When Bottoms and Pritchard landed, and learned of this additional disaster they planned to take one more crew member to ''Northland'', and return with ''Northland'' crew members to help search for members of the overland expedition. They took off successfully, but ''Northland'' radioman heard their transmissions fade as they were struck by bad weather. After the weather cleared another plane found the wreck, and from above determined their crash had not been survivable. The crew of the B-17 had been left with supplies, and no further attempts to rescue them were made until Spring, five months later.


Search

Mitchell Zuckoff Mitchell S. Zuckoff is an American professor of communications at Boston University. His books include '' Lost in Shangri-La'' and '' 13 Hours'' (2014). Education Zuckoff received a bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island and ...
2013 account of searches for the missing airmen, '' Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II'', was a bestseller. In January the plane was erroneously reported as found. searchers continue to look for the lost plane. The wreck had been spotted, from the air, in 1943, but copious snowfall, and the movement of the ice has made it hard to find. During the summer of 2018 searchers used
ground penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, asphalt, metals, pipes, cables ...
.


Legacy

At
Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile is an air base of the United States Coast Guard located at Mobile, Alabama, where it shares an airfield with the Mobile Regional Airport. The Alabama Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 131st Aviation ...
in Mobile, Alabama, a barracks and bachelor officer's quarters was dedicated as Pritchard-Bottoms hall in 1971. In 2010,
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard The master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard (MCPOCG) is the senior enlisted member of the U.S. Coast Guard and the principal advisor to the commandant of the Coast Guard on all enlisted personnel matters. The holder of this position is ...
Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the Coast Guard's most senior
non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...
, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted Coast Guardsmen, or one of its precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism. In 2015 the Coast Guard announced that Benjamin Bottoms would be the namesake of the 32nd cutter, USCGC ''Benjamin A. Bottoms''. She was built at
Lockport, Louisiana Lockport is a town on Bayou Lafourche in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,490 in 2020. It is part of the Houma, Louisiana, Houma–Bayou Cane, Louisiana, Bayou Cane–Thibodaux, ...
, by the
Bollinger shipyards Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 t ...
, and delivered to the Coast Guard on February 8, 2019. After completing her sea trials, the cutter will be the fourth Sentinel class cutter to be stationed in
San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...
, part of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. Radioman First Class Benjamin A. Bottoms, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross "for heroism and extraordinary achievement in the line of his profession as radioman while participating in aerial flights incident to the rescue of Army fliers, stranded on the Greenland Ice Cap, on November 28 and 29, 1942. Maintaining excellent contact by radio between his plane and another ship, Bottoms rendered extremely valuable assistance to his pilot on two flights to the Ice Cap. He gave accurate and pertinent data on operations and conditions prevalent at the scene of rescue, and assisted the pilot in rendering aid to the injured and marooned airmen. His courage, skill and fearless devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottoms, Benjamin 1913 births 1942 deaths People from Cumming, Georgia United States Coast Guard non-commissioned officers United States Coast Guard personnel killed in World War II People from Marietta, Georgia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1942 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Greenland