ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 152621
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| Date: | Saturday 27 July 1957 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman TBM-3E Avenger |
| Owner/operator: | Royal Navy |
| Registration: | XB386 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | HMS Warrior, off Christmas Island -
 Kiribati
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | HMS Warrior, off Christmas Island |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
HMS Warrior was used as the HQ ship during Operation Grapple, the testing of British nuclear bombs off Christmas Island in the Pacific. It had three Avengers on board, one (XB320/998-J) crashing on 2/5/1957. XB386 was damaged in a heavy landing on HMS Warrior Mar 3, 1957 when failed to flare out and declared Category HY (heavy damage not reparable by ship or station resources).
On completion of the tests the other two (XB386/997-J and XB439/996-J) were ceremoniously catapulted off the flight deck into the sea and sank
XB386, which had suffered a heavy landing, and XB439 were catapulted into the sea en route from Christmas Island to UK on 27/7/1957, being marked respectively 'Aloha' and 'SNLR' (Subject No Longer Required) across the fuselage roundel. especially for the occasion. One reason for their unusual disposals was the reason that both aircraft had been contaminated by radiation during the H-Bomb test. It was therefore deemed that the aircraft be ditched and sunk into the Pacific, rather than ship them all the way back to the UK to be decontaminated and then scrapped
Sources:
www.ukserials.com/losses-1957.htm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_co_gardner/5488606077/
http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries6.html
http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft26313.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Jan-2013 13:57 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 28-Feb-2013 09:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 06-May-2013 20:04 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
| 19-Mar-2015 10:10 | TB | Updated [Operator, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 30-Nov-2021 00:03 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator, Country] |
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