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IN THE SCHOOL OF OCEAN AND EARTH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MANOA

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AIR-10a: JRM-1 Marshall Mars Seaplane

Composite: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsSurvey: Marshall MarsHistoric photo: Hawaii Mars on Sprout LakeHistoric photo: Mars as water tankerHistoric photo: Mars planes in flightHistoric photo: Marshall Mars world record flightHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crashHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crashHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crashHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crashHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crashHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crashHistoric photo: Marshall Mars crash


HURL Artifact No. AIR-10a *Denotes approximations and speculations
Name: JRM-1 Marshall Mars Seaplane Lost: 5-May-50
Artifact Type: Seaplane (nose, keel & fuselage) Found: 23-Aug-04
Nationality: USA Dive No: PV-557
Class or Make: Martin Location: Kewalo
Model: JRM-1 Depth (m): 338m
Purpose: Utility Transport HURL crew: Kerby, Cremer, Van Tilburg
Serial Number: 76822 Additional Dives: PIV-124, PIV-128/PV-603
Built/Launched: February 1946 (5)
Length: 120' 3"
Width: 200'
Height: 44' 7"
Circumstance of Loss: Plane caught fire, landed on water, exploded, and sunk. Crew Personnel/Position: Simmons (Pilot), Jennings (Co-Pilot), Rolando, Hughes, Tingler, Taylor, & Upton
Reason of Loss: Fire in #3 Engine. (engine had just been replaced and was on a test flight) Crew Survivals/Fatalities: All 7 crewmen escaped to crash boat.
Artifact History: On it's second flight set a cargo record of 27,427lbs. Followed in 1949 with a passenger load-carrying record of 301 passengers plus it's 7 crewmen from Alameda to San Diego. Served in "Operation Hayride" delivering hay and worms to the SS Warthmore Victory for food to 6 elephants and a variety of tropical birds which had eaten all the ships stores.
Artifact Condition: Plane nose section is in one piece, but inverted. It has heavy damage from fire. "MARSHAL" can be clearly seen on the side. A loading winch is on the seabed on one side. The nose section is 16m long & has a NW-SE orientation. 20m to the SE lies the plane's keel. It is severely burned and is a mesh of metal framing. Keel lies at 340m and is 4.5m in width. Nearby the wreckage are a number of debris items from the plane including a corner mounted urinal.
Additional Information: The first Mars aircraft was an experimental called the "Old Lady". 20 Mars planes were planned, but the war ended and so only 6 were completed. 4 perished in accidents, but 2 remained in service fighting forest fires as water tankers in British Columbia and were fighting fires in California in 2009. The JRM's were the largest "truly operational" aircraft ever built.