ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 243091
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| Date: | Tuesday 2 September 1952 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Fairey Firefly Mk 5 |
| Owner/operator: | 816 Sqn RAN |
| Registration: | WB338 |
| MSN: | F.8543 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Sea off Darwin, NT -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | HMAS Sydney, Pacific Ocean, off Darwin, Northern Territories |
| HMAS Sydney, Pacific Ocean, off Darwin, Northern Territories | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Fairey Firefly FR.5 WB338: Delivered to the FAA RN (Fleet Air Arm Royal Navy) on 28/9/48 to RNAS Culham RDU. Transferred to RAN (Royal Australian Navy) charge and shipped ex-UK on 15/3/49 To Australia in SS STENTOR, which Arrived Sydney on 3/5/1949. Offloaded at Sydney Docks, and on 11/5/49 arrived at HMAS Albatross, RANAS Nowra, NSW. On 30/8/49 formally taken on charge by 816 Squadron RAN as "237/K".
Delivered 19/12/50 Fairey Clyde, Bankstown, NSW for overhaul, being returned on 22/8/51 to RANAS Nowra. Back into service 19/10/51 with 816 Squadron RAN (still as "237/K"). Damaged 14/6/52: Caught wire, braked and prop pecked deck of HMAS Sydney. (Pilot - Sub Lieutenant M.T. Streeter RAN - uninjured. Damaged again 19/8/52: Prop pecked deck of HMAS Sydney. Pilot - Lieutenant Cdr W.G. Herbert RAN - uninjurd.
Substantially damage 2/9/52: Struck by Firefly WD840 ("241/K" also of 816 Squadron RAN) that had gone through the barriers while landing on HMAS Sydney. Pilot of Firefly WB337 - Lieutenant Commander W.G. Herbert RAN - uninjured. At the time HMAS Sydney was in the south western Pacific off off Darwin, NT. According to the official history of HMAS Sydney for this period (see link #5):
"A well earned maintenance period followed until 3 June [1952] when HMAS Sydney she put to sea for exercises in NSW and Queensland waters. These were punctuated with return visits to Sydney, NSW, before the carrier steamed north visiting Manus Island (New Guinea) and Darwin and then proceeding to Australia’s north west coast to provide airborne security for Operation HURRICANE - a British atomic bomb test aimed at measuring the effects of a hypothetical nuclear attack by mine or torpedo on a British harbour.
HMAS Sydney’s aircraft were involved in enforcing the prohibited area around the tests and the detonation, which took place on 3 October 1952, the ‘mushroom’ cloud being visible from the carrier some 97 kilometres distant. HMAS Sydney then proceeded back to the eastern seaboard calling at Shark Bay and Fremantle before taking part in a ceremonial fleet entry into Port Philip Bay, Melbourne. Sydney, as the Australian flagship, led HMA Ships Australia, Tobruk, Shoalhaven, Murchison, Macquarie, Latrobe, Wagga, Cootamundra, Gladstone, Colac and Cowra into Port Melbourne where crowds of people turned out to view the spectacle".
Offloaded on 18/11/52 Fairey, Bankstown for repairs following the accident on 2/9/1952. Possibly not repaired, as on 15/4/53 WB338 was approved for reduction to Spares and Produce. Last reported 2/6/53 At Randwick Naval Stores, where finally broken up for Spares and Produce.
Sources:
1. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant, Mick Burrows & Lee Howard, Air Britain, 2004 p.279
2. Photo of accident (WB338 on left of picture): http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/gallery/Firefly-WB338/Firefly_WD840_crash
3. https://www.navy.gov.au/history/squadron-histories/816-squadron-history
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WB
5. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/n1.htm
6. https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-sydney-iii
7. https://www.faaaa.asn.au/fairey-firefly-aircraft-histories/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Sep-2020 21:51 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 25-Sep-2020 19:53 | Digger | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 07-Jun-2022 10:57 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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