distress signal + 28 dead + 26 bodies never found

Emergencies and Natural Disasters · Jul 26, 2026 · 22m

distress signal + 28 dead + 26 bodies never found

Fear of a hidden failure: a radio operator heard "We're breaking up" on January 15, 1961, after a steel radar platform vanished from radar in under forty minutes sixty-three miles south-southeast of Long Island. Twenty-eight men were aboard; only two bodies were recovered, and the platform had shown dangerous vibration since a tow in June 1957 - what decision then doomed them all?

In this episode, we tell how Texas Tower Four was built, moved, crewed and ultimately lost, tracing the damage that began on June 28, 1957 and the events that ended…