Not Set

A Rolls Royce Merlin type X gear unit and propeller were recovered from the west end of the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound in 2018.

Types

Rolls Royce Merlin X hub and propeller

History

A three bladed aircraft propeller and gear unit were recovered off the West end of the Breakwater. Fisherman David Cross snagged the propeller on 5th January 2018 while picking up crab pots. The propeller was put on shore in Sutton Harbour and The SHIPS Project were notified, so we came down and photographed the propeller just after it had been recovered.

On the gear unit was a label which identified this as being a Rolls Royce Merlin type X gear unit with serial number G.U.16755. All three propeller blades are bent which suggests that the engine was running when it hit the sea. The

The propeller was taken to Yacht Havens in Oreston while a long-term home for it could be found. Mount Edgcumbe House Museum offered to take the propeller and start the conservation process. The propeller had been submerged in seawater for many years so this had to be removed or the propeller would corrode away quite quickly.

It was initially thought that this propeller had come from Avro Lancaster Mk III ED450 which crashed on the Plymouth Breakwater on 13th February 1943. However, this Lancaster was powered by four 1420hp Packard Merlin 28 engines, a US made version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engine. A comparison between the Lancaster hub in Fig. 7 and the Merlin X hub shows that they are quite different, so it is unlikely that this propeller came from Lancaster ED450. It was also thought that this may have come from one of the many Sunderland flying boats that crashed in Plymouth Sound, however it is of the wrong type.

The Merlin X was fitted to four types of aircraft, the Halifax Mk I, Wellington Mk II, Whitley Mk V and Whitley Mk VII. There is no record of a Halifax or Whitley being lost in the area but Wellington Mk II W5581 did crash off Tregantle Fort in Whitsand Bay, very close inshore. It is thought that the aircraft was salvaged from the beach, but it is also possible that this propeller and gear unit were left behind and were later picked up by a fisherman, who then dumped the propeller off the Breakwater. However, it is a long way to transport a heavy propeller from Whitsand to the Breakwater when it could be dumped over the side closer to where it was found.

Aircraft this propeller came from has not yet been positively identified.

Our thanks go to Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park for their support in looking after this propeller.