Zone

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland II off RAF Mount Batten: 11 killed

Date & Time: Dec 21, 1941
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
W3998
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mount Batten - Mount Batten
Region:
Crew on board:
15
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The floatplane departed RAF Mount Batten on a maritime patrol flight with a crew of 15 on board. Shortly after liftoff, while climbing, it went out of control and crashed into the sea some 200 yards offshore. Eleven crew members were killed and four others were rescued.
Crew:
F/Lt David James Fletcher, pilot, †
AC1 Kenneth William Bennett, †
AC1 Robert Cunningham, †
LAC James Wallace Douglas, †
LAC John Burnett Hides, †
Cpl John Humphrey Martin, †
F/Sgt Herbert Frederick Mitchell, air gunner, †
AC2 James Robinson, †
Sgt Herbert Leslie Southall, †
LAC John Hay Wallace, †
AC2 William Watson, †
Sgt G. F. H. Booth,
P/O W. W. Ince,
Sgt H. S. Lodge,
Sgt A. Penny.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland I in Milford Haven: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jun 24, 1941
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
P9603
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mount Batten - Mount Batten
Region:
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The floatplane departed RAF Mount Batten at 2100LT on a maritime patrol flight. While returning to base at night, the airplane overshot the flare path and crashed on rocks at Milford Haven. Three pilots were seriously injured while nine other crew members were slightly injured. The aircraft was destroyed. Two pilots later died from injuries sustained. All crew were from the Royal Australian Air Force.
Crew:
F/Lt Domville-Hogg,
S/L Albert Norman Hick, †
F/O Ronald Bruce Scutts, †
F/Lt T. V. Stokes,
Sgt S. J. Nichel,
Cpl E. S. Ingram,
AC1 T. J. Sheridan,
LAC B. F. Minton,
Cpl L. S. Y. Benham,
AC1 R. Draper,
Cpl J. H. Evans.

Crash of a Short S.26 G-Class off Cape Finisterre: 8 killed

Date & Time: Jun 20, 1941
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
X8274
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mount Batten – Gibraltar
MSN:
S.872
YOM:
1937
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The seaplane was on its way from RAF Mount Batten, Devonshire, to Gibraltar. Three hours into the flight, the crew decided to return following an engine failure. But shortly later, a second engine failed, forcing the crew to divert to Lisbon. The captain eventually attempted to make an emergency landing off Cape Finisterre. Upon landing, the hull caved and the aircraft quickly sank. Eight crew members drowned while four others took place in a dinghy. They were recovered three days and a half later by the crew of a German submarine and became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt William Frederick Aalexander, †
P/O James Barry, †
F/Lt George Henry Bowes, †
LAC William Thomas Roy Crago, †
F/Sgt Claud Ernest Fowler, †
Sgt Henry Richard Mason, †
F/Sgt David Francis Meyrick, †
Sgt Albert Henry Sillifant Waller, †
Cpl James Anderson,
Cpl Leonard George Corcoran,
Sgt Julian Eustace Hill,
S/L Samuel Godfrey Long.
Probable cause:
Double engine failure in flight.

Crash of a Consolidated PBY-1 Catalina in the Atlantic Ocean: 8 killed

Date & Time: Jun 5, 1941
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
AH537
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Mount Batten - Gibraltar
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The Catalina departed RAF Mount Batten on a maritime patrol flight to Gibraltar. It failed to arrive at destination and was lost without trace, maybe it crashed somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Frederick Arthur Burrows,
F/Lt Noel Kenneth Burton-Chadwick,
LAC John Charles Croome,
LAC John Kenneth Dains,
LAC William Henry Gill,
Cpl Harold Randolph Pye,
F/Lt Alfred William Knox Watson,
P/O Frank Bernard Yard.

Crash of a Supermarine Walrus I in Ploudaniel: 4 killed

Date & Time: Jun 18, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
L2312
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Mount Batten - Carantec - Mount Batten
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
On 17 June 1940, General De Gaulle left France for England but his wife and children were still in Carantec, Brittany. Due to German troops moving through Brittany, De Gaulle obtained help from Winston Churchill who sent a special aircraft to Carantec to pick up De Gaulle's family. After receiving orders from the Government, Captain Norman Hope joined RAF Mount Batten and transmitted to his crew the goal of this high secret mission. On 18 June 1940, the float plane departed RAF Mount Batten, near Portsmouth, at 0300LT. It arrived over Brittany few hours later and while flying 20 km west from Carantec, it was hit by ground fire, either French or German (undetermined). The captain reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing in a field when the aircraft impacted a rocky wall and crashed, bursting into flames. All four crew were killed. Nobody was aware of this mission and De Gaulle's family embarked on a ship few hours later to join England.
Crew (15th GC):
Cpt Norman Hope,
Lt John Bell,
Sgt Charles Harris,
Cpl Bernard Nowell.
Probable cause:
Shot down unknown ground fire, French or German.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland I off RAF Mount Batten: 4 killed

Date & Time: Oct 15, 1939 at 2115 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N9030
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mount Batten - Mount Batten
Region:
Crew on board:
11
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The float plane was returning to RAF Mount Batten following a maritime patrol flight. At night and in poor weather conditions, the crew attempted to land when the aircraft crashed in the bay of Portsmouth. Four crew members were killed and seven others were injured.
Crew:
F/Lt H. B. Johnson, pilot,
F/O Dennis Ford, copilot, †
Sgt Watkins,
AC2 Joseph Douglas Whitford, †
AC2 William Henry Fiddock, †
AC2 John William Hayward, † +5.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland off Scilly Islands

Date & Time: Oct 13, 1939 at 1840 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N9045
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mount Batten - Mount Batten
Region:
Crew on board:
13
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Following a maritime patrol flight, the crew was short of fuel and decided to land by the Scilly Islands. The float plane landed by gale and lost its left float before coming to rest. All 13 crewmen were rescued by the crew of a nearby ship, during which the ship collided with the stricken Sunderland and sank it quickly.
Crew:
F/Lt Ernest Leslie Hyde, pilot,
P/O. W. H. Tremar, copilot,
W/O Castle,
AC1 Stringer,
AC1 Dark,
AC1 Perry,
AC1 Dennis Sinclair Lloyd,
AC1 Hosking,
AC1 Athins,
AC1 Arundell,
AC1 Marles,
Lt Carron,
W/O Haley.

Crash of a Blackburn R.B.1B Iris III of Plymouth: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jan 12, 1933
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
S1263
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
RAF Mount Batten - RAF Mount Batten
MSN:
2
YOM:
1929
Region:
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The seaplane was returning to RAF Mount Batten with a crew of nine on board. After landing off Plymouth, the airplane collided with a dockyard launch and sank. Seven crew members were injured, one escaped unhurt and LAC Alfred Dore Slatter was killed.

Crash of a Blackburn R.B.1B Iris III off RAF Mount Batten: 9 killed

Date & Time: Feb 4, 1931
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N238
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
RAF Mount Batten - RAF Mount Batten
MSN:
1
YOM:
1929
Region:
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
The aircraft was engaged in a training mission with 12 crew on board on behalf of the 209 Squadron. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were good with a calm sea. At a speed of 70 mph, the float plane hit violently the water surface and was wrecked. Three crew members were rescued while nine other occupants perished.
Crew:
W/Cdr Charles Gilbert Tucker, †
F/O Frederick Kingsley Wood, †
Sgt Edmund Walter Harris Wilson, †
LAC William Henry Stark, †
LAC Cecil Gwilym Davies, †
LAC Louis Charles Oates, †
LAC Harold Corrie Ongley, †
LAC William Sidney Rutledge, †
LAC William George Stevens, †
F/Lt Maurice Hibbert Ely,
F/Lt Charles Ryley,
Cpl William Mansell Barry.
Probable cause:
There was no mechanical failure prior to the accident and the cause of the crash was identified as being a pilot error as the Court of Inquiry showed that the pilot Charles Tucker was a qualified pilot but not proficient in flying boats. It appears that he misjudged the distance between the aircraft and the water surface.