ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193083
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| Date: | Thursday 25 January 1945 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman Hellcat Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 1840 Sqn FAA RN |
| Registration: | JW894 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Location: | In the Red Sea -
 Egypt
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On January 11th 1945 the escort carriers HMS Speaker, Khedive and Slinger and three escorts sailed from the Clyde bound for Alexandria on the first leg of passage to Australia. The group of ships reached Alexandria on January 22nd, and entered the Suez Canal on the 24th for transit to the Red Sea.
Intensive flying operations had been undertaken during the passage across the Mediterranean, which allowed the squadron more practice since the usual six week squadron work up had not been possible before the ship’s departure from the UK. Little was achieved before passing Gibraltar as weather conditions prevented safe flying. Some operational sorties were flown on January 17th by aircraft from Speaker and Slinger to search for a U-boat reported off the North African coast and this would have been an opportunity for the use of the new rocket equipped aircraft; nothing was found however and flying reverted to training sorties (Khedive could not launch aircraft as her flight deck was covered with a ferry load of airframes for delivery to Ceylon).
The small convoy reached Alexandria on the 22nd stopping briefly before continuing on to Port Said the same day. Late on January 24th Speaker weighed anchor to pass through the Suez Canal and on into the Red Sea; here transit of the canal was broken with a night at anchor in the Bitter Lake, the ships passed by the two Italian battleships, Vittorio Veneto and Italia, who had been anchored there since the Italian surrender.
Training continued while crossing the Red Sea towards Aden and on the 25th Sub-Lt. Barry Jacques of 1840 Sqn FAA was killed when his Hellcat II JW894 spun into the sea while carrying out fighter tactics. His aircraft vanished before any of the escorts could reach the impact site.
Sources:
http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/SPEAKER.htm
http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries8.html
http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1945-01JAN.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Jan-2017 23:44 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 25-Nov-2018 18:18 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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