ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193410
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 April 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Blackburn Botha Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 32 MU RAF |
| Registration: | L6223 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Tresilian Bay -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | RAF St Athan. |
| Return. |
Crashed into sea after engine failure killing the pilot:
F/O R.W Sheppard (89621)
Details:
The Blackburn B.26 Botha was a British four-seat reconnaissance and torpedo aircraft. It was built by Blackburn Aircraft at its factories at Brough and Dumbarton, as a competitor to the Bristol Beaufort.
The Botha proved to be severely underpowered and unstable; there were a number of fatal crashes in 1940. The airframe and engines were subject to further development work, but it was decided to withdraw the type from frontline service. The Air Staff decided to transfer the surviving aircraft to training units, which inevitably resulted in further casualties. Some Bothas were converted to target tugs as TT Mk.I. The type was retired in September 1944. In total, 580 aircraft were built.
32 Maintenance Unit stored the Botha at its satellite airfield at RAF Chepstow Racecourse and at the main base at St Athan. L6223 was listed for service with one of the Air Gunnery schools and was being brought to flying status with the view to convert it to the TT type. L6223 was flying on an engine test when just out over the Severn Estuary off Nash Point when one of the engines died, loosing power and height, it crashed into the water 500 yards off Tresilian Bay killing the pilot instantly.
The tide had turned an hour or so prior and was on its way out, taking the three-surviving crew in their dingy out to sea. The Mumbles Lifeboat ‘The Edward Prince of Wales’ was launched and successfully rescued them in the middle of Swansea Bay.
The body of the pilot was washed ashore a few days later.
Crew:
F/O Reginald William Sheppard 26yo 89621 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed.
P/O F. W. Gattrell RAFVR. Obs. Injured.
Sgt A.J. Clements RAFVR. A/Gnr. Injured.
Lac E. S. Colbert RCAF. W/Op. Injured.
Buried:
Llanmaes (St Cattwg) Churchyard. S.E. of Church.
Wreckage:
At sea. Unknown.
Additional Information:
F/O Sheppard was the son of William Alfred and Martha Amelia Sheppard of Rochdale, Lancashire.
The RNLI Lifeboat five years later made the headlines of the Western World post war with the disaster of the 23rd of April 1947.
The Samtampa was a 7219 ton Liberty ship, built and launched in the USA in December 1943, one of many vessels intended to plug the gap caused by the German U-boat campaign against British and Allied shipping.
By the afternoon of 23 April, the Samtampa with a crew of 39, was in the channel off the Devon coast. With a severe south westerly gale blowing and being in ballast, she was light and soon unmanageable. Both anchors were out but the stricken vessel was being blown towards the Welsh coast. The captain put out the distress call and the Mumbles crew were put on standby. However, as darkness gathered, the Mumbles lifeboat Edward Prince of Wales, under the command of coxswain William Gammon, was launched in what was to prove a fatal and unsuccessful rescue attempt. Unable to locate the Samtampa, Gammon brought his tiny craft back to the slipway at Mumbles in order to find the exact location of the vessel. Then he and his crew set out, once more, into gigantic seas and a wind that had now assumed virtual hurricane proportions.
Shortly after 7pm the Samtampa was driven onto the rocks of Sker Point, close to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club. The tragedy was that watchers from the shore could see what was happening, could even hear the cries of the doomed men, but were powerless to help in any way. The hull broke into three sections almost immediately. The bow section drifted several hundred yards out to sea and most of the crew huddled together on the central bridge section or at the stern. They were already beyond help. On shore, the Porthcawl Lifesaving Company made three attempts to fire rockets out to the ship, with the hope of setting up a breechers boy. But, with the wreck lying about 500 yards beyond the water’s edge and the wind - now between Force 10 and 11 - howling into their faces, the lines fell well short. Before long all three sections of the wreck were under water.
The Edward Prince of Wales was last seen by Coastguard watchers at 7.10 pm. She was not equipped with radio and attempts to communicate with her by signal lamp were hindered by mountainous seas and rain squalls. It was not until the following morning that her wrecked hull was found about 450 yards southeast of the Samtampa. Many of the bodies - lifeboat men and sailors from the Samtampa - were found with their mouths, ears and nostrils clogged by fuel oil. In many cases they had died after being choked by this oil rather than by drowning.
In all, 39 of Samtampa's crew perished along with eight crewmen from the Edward Prince of Wales. It remains perhaps the worst maritime disaster to hit the south Wales coast.
Sources:
Wings of War over Gwynedd - Roy Sloane
waleshistory
rafweb.org
aircrewremmembered
cwgc.gov
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Feb-2017 16:12 | ORD | Added |
| 20-Nov-2018 19:41 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Phase, Nature, Operator] |
| 10-Mar-2022 18:29 | Davies 62 | Updated [Total occupants, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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