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| Date: | Sunday 15 October 1939 |
| Time: | 21:15 |
| Type: |  Short Sunderland Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 204 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N9030 |
| MSN: | KG-B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 11 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Plymouth Sound, Devon, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Mount Batten Seaplane Station |
| RAF Mount Batten Seaplane Station |
Sunderland N9030: On returning from patrol off Vermount crashed while landing in bad visibility. 15/10/1939
On Sunday 15th October 1939, an RAF Mk 1 Sunderland N9030 (KG-B) from 204 Squadron was coming into land from the south over the breakwater, but a naval picket boat in Plymouth Sound crossed in front of the aircraft forcing it to take avoiding action. The Sunderland couldn’t pull up due to the barrage balloons that were flying over the Hoe, so it turned sharply to port and tried to head south out of the Sound, but the port wing caught the top of the breakwater and it cartwheeled into sea and broke up.
Crew:
F/Lt. Howard Bertram JOHNSON (37182) pilot RAF Ok.
F/O Dennis FORD (37631) Co.Pilot RAF killed
Sgt. WATKINS RAF injured.
AC.2 William Henry FIDDOCK (619855) RAF killed
AC.2 John Henry HAYWARD (621542) RAF killed
AC2 Joseph Douglas WHITFORD (552435) RAF killed
and five other crewmen all rescued unhurt.
Sources:
https://shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_Ac_Sunderland_N9030.html
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War Vol 1
http://web.archive.org/web/20160714142444/
http://www.rafdavidstowmoor.org:80/crash-log/view-1939-crash-log">rafdavidstowmoor.org
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Oct-2024 21:24 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Operator, ] |
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