HISTORY: In 1945 An Aircraft squadron disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle has been a mystery since Christopher Columbus' time, and in 1945 an entire Aircraft squadron disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.  The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region between Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico in the North Atlantic Ocean. Here's the story from History Com:

(Photo:  USS Cyclops (AC-4) was the second of four Proteus-class colliers built for the United States Navy several years before World War I. The Cyclops vanished in the Bermuda Triangle. )

Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle

At 2:10 p.m. on December 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. After having completed their objective, Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for an additional 67 miles, then turn north for 73 miles, and back to the air station after that, totaling a distance of 120 miles. They never returned.

Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who had been flying in the area for more than six months, reported that his compass and backup compass had failed and that his position was unknown. The other planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land were contacted to find the location of the lost squadron, but none were successful. After two more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20 p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft simultaneously because of lack of fuel.

Bermuda Triangle Mystery: What Happened to the USS Cyclops? 

One of the largest ships in the U.S. Navy disappeared without a trace. More than 100 years later, its fate remains unknown.

By this time, several land radar stations finally determined that Flight 19 was somewhere north of the Bahamas and east of the Florida coast, and at 7:27 p.m. a search and rescue Mariner aircraft took off with a 13-man crew. Three minutes later, the Mariner aircraft radioed to its home base that its mission was underway. The Mariner was never heard from again. Later, there was a report from a tanker cruising off the coast of Florida of a visible explosion seen at 7:50 p.m.

SHORT RELATED VIDEO: https://www.history.com/news/bermuda-triangle-uss-cyclops-mystery-world-war-i 

The disappearance of the 14 men of Flight 19 and the 13 men of the Mariner led to one of the largest air and seas searches to that date, and hundreds of ships and aircraft combed thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and remote locations within the interior of Florida. No trace of the bodies or aircraft was ever found.

VIDEO OF A DIFFERENT SHIP FOUND: The team has secret intel on a wreck that might be a legendary 1930s disappearance: the champion racing yacht known as Ingomar. See more in this clip from Season 2, Episode 9, "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

 

 VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/ZbzEHKTWKw0?si=rqP4ZU6-xOFQfF3J 

 Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the six aircraft and 27 men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to disappear without a trace. 

The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.