Date:	Wednesday 30 December 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Firefly AS Mk 6
Owner/operator:	817 Sqn RAN
Registration:	VX383
MSN:	F.8415
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RNAS Nowra, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	HMAS Albatross, RNAS Nowra, NSW
Destination airport:	HMAS Albatross, RNAS Nowra, NSW
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Fairey Firefly FR.5 VX383: Delivered 9/12/48 to the FAA RN (Fleet Air Arm Royal Navy) at RNAS Culham RDU. Transferred in January 1949 to HMS Sanderling, RNAS Abbotsinch AHU and embalmed for shipment to Australia. On 4/4/49, delivered to King George V Docks, Glasgow, Scotland and embarked in HMAS SYDNEY. Coded "218/K" in anticipation of service with 816 Squadron RAN (Royal Australian Navy). However, it was not until 7/4/49 that Firefly VX383 was officially transferred to RAN charge. On 31/5/49 VX383 was Landed at Jervis Bay and towed by road to RANAS Nowra for service with 816 Squadron RAN.

Officially taken on charge on 18/1/51 by 816 Squadron, RAN coded "218/K". Damaged 27/2/51 when the starboard wheel ran into safety net on board HMAS Sydney. Pilot - Lieutenant M.T. Streeter RAN - uninjured. Damaged again 19/3/51 in a heavy landing and broke starboard undercarriage leg oleo on board HMAS Sydney, while the carrier was off the coast on Tasmania (see photo below).

On 21/6/51 Damaged again (details not known). Repaired and returned to service on 4/7/51 to 817 Squadron RAN (still as "218/K"). Damaged again 8/8/51 when flared high on landing and caught No 10 wire before running into barrier on board HMAS Sydney. Transferred on 17/8/51 to HMAS Albatross, RANAS Nowra, NSW for repairs. Transferred on 5/10/51 Fairey Clyde, Bankstown for further repairs and conversion to AS.6.

Upon completion of work, returned to service 6/11/52, once again with 817 Squadron, RAN (presumably still as "218/K"). Damaged 31/3/53 in a heavy landing on board HMAS Sydney, while the carrier was in the Indian Ocean off Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). As per the official history of HMAS Sydney for this period (see link #5):

"The ship embarked the coronation contingent in Melbourne from where she sailed, under the command of Captain H Buchanan, RAN, on 24 March bound for Fremantle. After fuelling in Western Australia Sydney began the passage to England via Colombo, Aden, Suez, Port Said, Tobruk, Malta and Gibraltar before arriving at Portsmouth on 8 June 1953."

On 8/6/53 Firefly VX383 sustained Wing damage on landing at HMS Siskin, RNAS Gosport, Gosport, Hampshire, after flying off the deck of HMAS Sydney to Gosport. Repaired and returned to service. Damaged again 30/7/53 in a heavy landing on board HMAS Sydney in the Western Atlantic, off Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Again, per the official history of HMAS Sydney for this period:

"Following the [Coronation] commemorations, the carrier crossed the Atlantic Ocean calling at Halifax (Canada), Baltimore (USA), Kingston (Jamaica), Colon (Panama), Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Auckland (New Zealand) before arriving back in Sydney on 14 August 1953."

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 30/12/53: Hit building while turning off runway at HMAS Albatross, RANAS Nowra, NSW. Withdrawn from service on 30/12/53 at RANAS Nowra for repairs. Possibly repairs not proceeded with, as transferred 26/1/54 at Schofields, NSW for storage. Declared on 15/3/54 to be "Awaiting disposal", and on 17/11/55, authorised to be "RTP" (Reduced to Spares and Produce).

1. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant, Lee Howard & Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004 p.272
2. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/n1.htm
3. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VX
4. https://www.faaaa.asn.au/fairey-firefly-aircraft-histories/
5. https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-sydney-iii

Firefly FR.5 VX383 after landing accident on HMAS Sydney 13/3/1951. Note "218" on underside of nose, confirming that the aircraft in question is VX383/"218/K".This photograph depicts a view of a ship taken from the deck and looking towards the stern. Men are working and congregating around a plane which has one wheel hanging over the deck. A crane is positioned above the plane and in the background is HMAS TOBRUK. On the reverse of the image, handwritten across the top is text reading: "Flight deck on HMAS Aircraft carrier SYDNEY during manoeuvres off Tasmanian coast. March 1951".

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
23-Sep-2020 19:41	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Sep-2020 07:48	Fanda	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]
09-Jun-2022 22:06	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]