ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 15430
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Saturday 1 April 1939 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Supermarine Walrus Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 720 Sqn FAA RAF |
| Registration: | L2241 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Red Sea, near Aden -
 Yemen
|
| Phase: | Taxi |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | HMS Achilles |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Supermarine Walrus Mk.I L2241, 720 Squadron: Lost float & capsized in the Indian Ocean, near Aden (Yemen). According to one published source:
"On 21 February 1939, HMS Achilles sailed to the Mediterranean for working-up exercises with the fleet based at Malta. Loaned RAF maintenance personnel were on board to look after Walrus L2241, the replacement* Supermarine Walrus. HMNZS Achilles left Malta on 20 March for New Zealand via the Suez Canal. During her passage from Aden, Walrus L2241 was lost on 1 April 1939.
On the 1st of April, they lost their Walrus in the Red Sea. Pilot Officer Nichols was to fly with Peter Trent. The launch seemed to go smoothly as usual then the rudder engaged unexpectedly for some reason, swinging the Walrus around, damaging a float and digging her lower wing into the water until she filled with water and slowly sank. Jack Harker in his book HMS Achilles wrote “Pilot Officer Nichols, his observer, and Peter Trent had already manned the Walrus, whose motor was burbling relatively quietly after its first rowdy warm-up, and now they went outboard on the long thin crane-wire, slumped slightly when Peter released the grab and tricing wires, and drifted astern of Achilles, which was still moving slowly ahead.
Everything went smoothly until Skip asked if the aircraft had taken off, and our senior RAF ground-crew corporal came racing up on to the bridge to report what he’d seen through the binoculars: ‘The plane’s going over on its side, sir.’ Not enough reaction for the RAF corporal, who yelled: ‘This is the quickest way I’ve ever seen to lose an aircraft and three men! Why don’t you get your ship over there and rescue those people? Perhaps it was inter service protocol, or was it perhaps the urgency of the moment? Either way, his remarks went unpunished.
Achilles came about quickly, closed the distance and slipped the cutter, which could, do no more than rescue the three crew from their inflated dinghy and pull clear as L2241 slowly sank."
*Walrus L2241 had been allocated to HMS Achilles as a replacement for Walrus L2222 (=RNZAF Serial NZ151), which had been damaged in a mid-Atlantic storm in December 1938: "During the mid-Atlantic crossing, Achilles encountered a severe storm. The wind was so strong that the Walrus propeller rotated for about 36 hours and fabric had torn off both mainplanes and tailplane, exposing the metal structure."
Walrus L2222 was off loaded at Malta on 20 March 1939, and Walrus L2241 loaded aboard as a replacement
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Supermarine_Walrus
3. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-supermarine-walrus-i-aden
4. http://navymuseum.co.nz/new-zealands-naval-aviation-heritage/
5. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/nz-serials/nzwalrus.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Mar-2008 22:04 | JINX | Added |
| 15-Jan-2012 02:48 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport] |
| 03-Aug-2013 12:15 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Location] |
| 03-Aug-2013 16:47 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location] |
| 05-Aug-2013 06:27 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Location, Source] |
| 04-Jun-2015 21:25 | SIS07 | Updated [Operator] |
| 13-Oct-2019 18:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Sep-2021 03:24 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 04-Jun-2022 04:00 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Departure airport] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation