Date:	Tuesday 6 April 1937
Time:	day
Type:	Saunders-Roe A.29 Cloud
Owner/operator:	School of Naval Co-Op RAF
Registration:	K2895
MSN:	A.29/12
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Calshot, Southampton Water, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Calshot, Southampton Water, Hampshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Cloud K2895: c/n A.29/12 Delivered 20.4.33, to Seaplane Training Flight, to MAEE (Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment), arrived at Felixstowe via Cowes and STF Calshot. At the MAEE it was flown with faired and unfaired engine strut fairings; without these, it was found that elevator control was ample up to the stall, that post-stall control was easy to regain and that elevator control was available throughout the approach and alighting. Transferred to B FIight Calshot, then to the Seaplane Training Flight, finally with the RAF School of Naval Co-operation, Lee-on-Solent.

K2895 was destroyed 6.4.37, when, having just taken off from Calshot, Southampton Water, Hampshire, it dropped a wing after a very early right-hand turn. The wing touched the water and K2895 crashed and overturned, with the loss of three of the crew of five

Crew:
Pilot: Pilot Officer David Lewis Davies RAF killed (drowned)
Pilot Officer Stephen Patrick Crawley RAF killed.
Pilot Officer Ian Malcolm Brodie RAF OK.
LAC Ronald Harold Phillips RAF OK.
AC.2 Douglas Frederick King RAF killed (drowned).

According to the official Air Ministry announcement in "Flight" magazine (April 15, 1937 page 376 - see link #6)

"FLYING ACCIDENTS
The Air Ministry regrets to announce that P/O Stephen Patrick Crawley lost his life, P/O David Lewis Davies and A/C.2 Douglas Frederick King are missing and believed to be drowned, and P/O Ian Malcolm Brodie and A/C. Ronald Harold Phillips were injured in an aircraft accident which occurred in the sea near Calshot on April 6.

P/O Davies was the pilot and P/O Crawley, P/O Brodie, L.A/C. Phillips, and A/C.2 King were the passengers of the aircraft"

A couple of local newspaper reports add details (Western Daily Press - Wednesday 7 April 1937)

R.A.F. FLYING BOAT DIVES INTO SEA
ONE KILLED: TWO FEARED DROWNED
Motor Boat's Dash To Rescue Near Calshot
THREE AIRMEN DRAGGED FROM WRECK
Motor boats from calshot air station succeeded in rescuing three occupants of a "Cloud" Flying Boat which crashed into the sea off Calshot yesterday. One of the rescued men died. Two other members of the aircraft went down with the 'plane, and are believed to have been drowned.

The crash was seen from the air station, and within a few moments motor boats were racing to the rescue. An officer at the air station said last night that the weather was hazy at the time.

An Air Ministry communique last night stated:

"The Air Ministry regrets to announce that Pilot Officer Stephen Patrick Crawley lost his life; Pilot Officer David Lewis Davies and Aircraftman Douglas King are missing and believed to be drowned; and Pilot Officer Ian Malcolm Brodie and Leading Aircraftman Ronald Harold Phillips were injured in an aircraft accident which occurred in the sea near Calshot April 6. Pilot Officer Davies was the pilot, and Pilot Officer Crawley, Aircraftman King, Pilot Officer Brodie and Leading Aircraftsman Phillips were the passengers on the aircraft."

The crash occurred near the Calshot light vessel. The seaplane had just taken off, when, for some unexplained cause, it dived into the water. An R.A.F. motor-boat on duty in the vicinity rushed to the spot, and the members of the crew were able to drag three of the airmen on board - Pilot Officer Crawley, Pilot Officer Brodie and Leading Aircraftman Phillips. Pilot Officer Crawley died shortly afterwards. The other two are only slightly hurt.

SANK IN DEEP WATER
The machine was a Cloud flying-boat stationed at Calshot. It is thought that the missing men sank with the machine. An officer at the Calshot air base told a reporter that the weather was hazy at the time of the crash, and that the flying-boat was badly damaged. A search was made to locate the aircraft, which sank in the deep water channel, and late last night it was thought that the wreckage had been located. Salvage operations will begin at dawn.

Thee three officers were attached to No. 23 Training Group School of the Air Navigation, Manston, near Ramsgate, Kent, according to the current Air Force list. They are given as "being under instruction."

The body of one of the crew was later recovered, after being washed ashore at the end of May 1937 (Hampshire Telegraph - Friday 28 May 1937):

BODY FOUND OFF BROWNDOWN
Dressed in R.A.F. Uniform
A body attired in Royal Air Force uniform was recovered from the sea at Browndown by Mr. William George Saunders, Loreto, Raynes Road, Lee-on-Solent. From marks on the clothing the body has been identified as that of Pilot-Officer David Lewis Davies, who was involved with two others in a flying disaster off Calshot in April. On May 6, an inquest was held on the three victims, special authority having been given by the Home Secretary to hold the inquest on Pilot-Officer Davies as the body had not been found. A verdict of death from misadventure was then returned."

1. Western Daily Press - Wednesday 7 April 1937
2. Hampshire Telegraph - Friday 28 May 1937
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 19)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File HO 45/20185: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4761059
5. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-saro-a29-cloud-calshot-afb-3-killed
7. http://www.controltowers.co.uk/C/Calshot.htm
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13256.0
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calshot_Spit

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Oct-2009 07:25	JINX	Added
03-Mar-2018 21:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Apr-2018 22:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
04-Dec-2018 16:19	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
02-Apr-2020 22:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Apr-2020 22:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
27-Aug-2021 10:46	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]