Not Set

This pre-WWII radial engine was noted by sports divers many years ago but not identified.

Type

An unidentified ten-cylinder, two-row radial engine.

History

Ten-cylinder radial engines are unusual, most 4 stroke radial engines have an odd number of cylinders to smooth out the power from each cylinder. So far only two engines have been identified as possible candidates, the Anzani 10 from 1913 and the Armstrong Siddeley Serval from 1931. The engine appears to have the wrong shape for the crankcase to be an Anzani and the wrong fitting for the propeller to be a Serval. Further fieldwork will include a survey of this engine to see if its shape and size can be matched with either of these two engines.

The engine was found amongst pieces of aluminium and timber with fishing gear and other debris draped over it. The metal and timber may be remains of the aircraft that carried this engine. The engine is lying on its rear side with the propeller shaft upwards, still retains the heavily corroded 170mm diameter propeller mounting which has 8 fixing bolts and a central boss. The mounting would be used to attach a timber propeller, this style of propeller mount suggests a WW1 or earlier design. The engine has 10 large 120mm (approx.) diameter cylinders in two rows.

This engine was found by sports divers in the 1980s who assumed that it was from one of the many Sunderland flying boats that had crashed in Plymouth Sound. But this engine is too small and the wrong shape to be an engine from a Sunderland, or from any other aircraft known to have been lost in Plymouth Sound.

Location

Off Asia Knoll

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 12 Feb 2022

Position GPS: Redacted

Show the site on Google Maps