The P-39Q Airacobra was an American built fighter that served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Bell Aircraft produced 4,905 of these aircraft between 1943 and 1944.

Overall, a P-39Q was 9.2 meters long and 10.4 meters wide. It was equipped with an Allison V-1710 V-12 engine, which was mounted directly behind the cockpit. Its armament included one 37 millimeter T9 cannon, two Browning M2 .50 caliber (12.7 millimeter) machine guns, and four Browning M1919 .30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) machine guns.

The Tuskegee airmen trained in Bell P-39Q Airacobra over the Great Lakes. During a gunnery training exercise on April 11, 1944, Second Lieutenant Frank Moody’s P-39Q Airacobra (#42-21226) crashed while operating approximately 50 to 100 feet above Lake Huron. Prior to the crash, it was reported that small pieces of debris were coming from the forward right side of the aircraft along with a trail of black smoke. Moody raised the nose of the aircraft before it hit the water. The aircraft then cartwheeled and sank into Lake Huron approximately four miles north of Port Huron, Michigan. 

In August 2015, Wayne Lusardi, an archaeologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, led a team of divers from NOAA’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Diving With a Purpose to try to relocate Moody’s P-39Q. They found an intact wing and an Allison V-12 engine at a depth of approximately 10 meters.

In August 2023, Michigan Department of Natural Resources conducted an excavation of the P-39Q wreck site in partnership with the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum. Prior to excavation, NOAA Ocean Exploration maritime archaeologist Phil Hartmeyer conducted a series of scientific dives to photograph the wing and engine. Raymond Phipps, a NOAA Ocean Exploration explorer-in-training, then processed these photographs and created photogrammetric models of the wing and engine.

In 2018 and 2019, NOAA Ocean Exploration supported Lusardi’s related Aviators Down project. The rediscovery of Moody’s aircraft and the Aviators Down project are part of a larger conversation and investigation into Tuskegee aviation training accidents across the Great Lakes.

Site Name: Bell P-39Q Airacobra

Type: UCH

UCH Vessel Year Built: 1943-1944

UCH Vessel Year Sank: December 18, 1938

Hull Material: Aluminum/Composite

Official Number: #42-21226

Expedition Number: P761_00003

Expedition Name: Aviators Down

ROV Dive Number: n/a

Dive Date: August 4, 2023

Location: Port Huron, Michigan

Depth: 10 meters

Site Length: 9.2 meters

Site Width: 10.4 meters

ROV Used: n/a; Phil Hartmeyer, scientific diver

Camera Information: Nikon D70S – F/9 – 1/320 – 18mm focal length

Video or Stills: Stills

Number of Images Used/Format: 438/TIF

Image Alignment Percentage: 100%

Number of Tie Points: 132,360

Link to Raw Images: Engine; Wing

Time to Complete: 2 hours

Orthomosaic Views Available: Yes

Animations Available:  Yes

POC: archaeology.oceanexploration@noaa.gov

Link to NOAA Ocean Exploration Project Page: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/18aviatorsdown/welcome.html

Software:  Agisoft Metashape Standard Version 2.0.1.

Developer:  Raymond Phipps, NOAA Ocean Exploration explorer-in-training, August 4, 2023.

Credit:  Model courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration.