In March 1931, during fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea, Chief Aviation Pilot Verne W. Harsham was forced to ditch his plane at sea. "I knew the chances of being rescued in the bad weather were rather slim, but I hung on," he later told a
New York Times reporter. "I was worried the first three days by sharks, which on numerous occasions tried to upset the rubber boat.” The rubber boat he referenced made Harshman's experience unique, for he was the first naval aviator to make use of a life raft to survive at sea. At the time, rafts and other survival gear was new to U.S. Navy aircraft, but a decade later, when naval aviators began fighting World War II, the issue of survival was an important part of how the Navy's airmen trained and fought. This online exhibit features materials from the museum's collections relating to World War II survival training and combat experiences of those downed at sea.