Date:	Monday 9 October 1950
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Swordfish Mk III
Owner/operator:	ATDU RAF
Registration:	NR933
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	15 miles west of Wolf Rock, off Lands End, Cornwall, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RNAS Gosport /HMS Siskin Gosport, Hampshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Fairey Swordfish Mk.III NR933, ATDU (Airborne Torpedo Development Unit), RAF: Written off (destroyed) 9-10-1950. Purpose of flight: Experimental torpedo trials in clear weather. The aircraft was ditched following an emergency call but there were delays on the Scillies and at Culdrose and Churchill was not recovered.

The aircraft was usually based with the ATDU at RNAS Gosport, Hampshire (a.k.a. HMS Siskin), for dropping trials of an experimental type of torpedo. The pilot called that he was going to ditch approximately 15 miles west of the Wolf Rock, off Land's End, Cornwall. He was seen to be flying low over the sea. However, as he was not recovered, there is no first hand eyewitness account of the reason for the Swordfish ditching, although fuel starvation was suspected as a cause.

There was a reason for the delay in mounting a search and rescue operation for the pilot of Swordfish NR933, due to problems with RNAS Culdrose picking up and relaying the message from the pilot to the search and rescue teams. As a result, the pilot was lost, presumed drowned

Crew of Swordfish NR933
Flight Lieutenant Edward Brian CHURCHILL, RAF (Air Torpedo Development Unit Test Pilot, Service Number 123246, aged 32) - killed on active service 9-10-1950

The reported crash location is 15 miles west of the Wolf Rock Lighthouse which is on the Wolf Rock (Cornish: An Welv, meaning the lip), a single rock located 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 miles) east of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly and 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 miles) southwest of Land's End, in Cornwall, England, at approximate Coordinates 49°56.72′N 05°48.50′W. The fissures in the rock produce a howling sound in gales, hence the name.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.107 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.88
3. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=205
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?13191-Edward-Brian-CHURCHILL-123246-Died-9-Oct-1950
5. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38706/supplement/4282/data.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Rock_Lighthouse .

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jan-2021 04:11	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Jan-2021 10:32	Allach	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Operator]
02-Jan-2021 20:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
26-Jun-2022 00:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Category]
26-Jun-2022 12:42	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]