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Date: | Sunday 22 September 1940 |
Time: | night |
Type: | Fairey Swordfish Mk 1 |
Owner/operator: | 816 Sqn FAA RN |
Registration: | L9731 |
MSN: | F3475 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Ekne Village, Levanger, Trøndelag county, -
Norway
|
Phase: | Combat |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | HMS Furious |
Destination airport: | HMS Furious |
Narrative:816 Sqn. Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, Fairey Swordfish L9731, on a mission to attack shipping in Trondheim harbour got lost in severe weather and due fuel shortage was forced to make an emergency landing at Ekne Village, Levanger, Trøndelag county, Norway, 30 miles north east of Trondheim. The three aircrew, Pilot, Sub Lieutenant, M. A. J. Hanrahan; Observer, Midshipman, A. O. Atkins and Air Gunner, Naval Airman, A. R. Purchase became prisoners of war for the duration.
Aircraft carrier HMS Furious, stationed off the Norwegian coast, launched an attack on shipping in the Trondheim area on the 22nd September 1940, comprised of 6 Blackburn Skuas and 12 Fairy Swordfish aircraft. Due to inclement weather they were unable to located the target and 12 aircraft returned safely to HMS Furious but 1 Blackburn Skua and 5 Fairy Swordfish got lost and were forced to carry out emergency landings, three in Norway, two in Sweden and one at sea.
Sources:
Swordfish Ekne (tihlde.org)
fn68_a05.pdf (wordpress.com) Page 197
Swordfish I L9731 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database] RAFCommands.com
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
01-Jan-2021 23:16 |
Peter Clarke |
Added |
08-Jan-2021 18:27 |
Peter Clarke |
Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Narrative] |