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Short Sunderland Mk III ML782 crashed when landing in Plymouth Sound in December 1944.

Type

Short Sunderland Mk III

History

Shortly before 5am on 11th December 1944, a Sunderland Mk III aircraft ML782 from 228 Squadron at Pembroke Dock suffered engine failure then came down in Plymouth Sound. The sea was choppy, there was a 3-4ft swell inside the Sound, and the aircraft bounced three times damaging her bow before she stopped and started sinking near the submarine boom by the west end of the Breakwater. The aircraft ended up floating nose down with tail high out of water, kept afloat on her wings as her fuel tanks were empty, so many of the crew escaped through the hatch which was in place of the upper turret. Two of the crew were killed in the crash; flight lieutenant Trull's body was found inside the aircraft but wireless operator Holmes was never found.

W/O Harold Holmes (1356402)
F/Lt (Nav) Joseph George Trull (128117) (27)

The wrecked aircraft was moored to the submarine boom at the west end of the Breakwater to stop it drifting away. There was an urgent requirement to salvage the aircraft as it was carrying depth charges when it crashed and these posed a hazard to both passing ships and other Sunderlands aircraft using Plymouth Sound.

A civilian salvage team from Burts and Co. at Hamworthy in Dorset were called in because the Sunderland was to be raised as soon as possible. The following day, the salvage team managed to get the aircraft slung under a crane and were attaching floatation bags to the wings when around 11:30pm it suddenly blew up creating a very large eruption of water - it is thought that the depth charges on the aircraft exploded when they were being recovered. The aircraft sank straight away taking with it a general purpose 15ft dinghy and a 40 foot seaplane tender No. ST468, a twin engined ex-Thames Police launch. Two crew from the seaplane tender, Dalton and Wood, were killed in the explosion along with the seven man civilian salvage team. Only two of those on the salvage team survived, the Salvage Master John Boyden and James Moffat.

The two airmen killed in the explosion were:

Cpl D.T. Wood (1424519)
LAC Earnest John Dalton (23)

The civilian salvage team from Dorset included:

George H. T. Brown (24)
John McGahan (31)
Henry Edward Neville (28)
Frederick W. Sherwood (24)
James Wills (36)
John S Wills (23)
Phillip Wills (17)

Location

The remains of the aircraft are on the north side of Plymouth Breakwater at the west end.

Please note that all aircraft in UK waters that have crashed during military service are protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

Last updated 04 Sept 2021

Position GPS: Breakwater West

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Information

Date Lost:

11 December 1944

Type:

Short S.25 Sunderland Mk III

Builder:

Short Brothers

Serial Number:

ML782

Unit:

228 Squadron

Base:

Pembroke Dock

Pilot:

 

Construction

All-metal, mainly flush-riveted construction, control surfaces fabric covered metal frame

Propulsion

4 x  Bristol Pegasus XXII 9 cylinder, single row radial engines

Status

Blown up

Reference

None

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