Blackburn Skua to be raised from Trondheim Fjord, Norway

[rosieriveter]

I just returned from Norway. The big news there is that a British Blackburn Skua will be raised from the Trondheim Fjord this week. (There were only 150 Skuas ever built). It was one of a group of 15 Skuas that was attempting to attack the German battle cruiser, "Scharnhorst" on June 13, 1940. The work is being coordinated by "Operation Skua" organized by the Aviation Museum in Boda, Norway. There were 8 Skuas shot down in that same raid. All have been located, except another one that is in the fjord somewhere, but that one crashed into the sea, and was more or or less destroyed. The pilot of that one is still going strong, and the museum people hope to find it later. But now the plan is to salvage what they already have found, and start rebuilding a complete Skua with parts from several planes. The plane that has been located resting in the fjord is in 800 feet of water and is essentially intact. They located it last year with the help of the man who had rescued the 2 man crew the day the plane was shot down in 1940. (It only took them 1 1/2 hours to locate it with his help and everyone was amazed)!
More information can be found at: http://home.online.no/~oela/

Fun stuff!

[Nathan]

WOW!!!! And a combat vet too!

[daveymac82c]

Hey that's really exciting news. Are there any other Skuas in existance today?

I can't wait to hear more about this one. I hardly know anything about this airplane type. Maybe I should start reading up.

Thanks for posting. I hope everything with the recoveries and restoration go well.

Cheers,

David

[rosieriveter]

They have restored the instrument panel of one Skua and have the tail of another. I believe they have an engine, as well. The plan is to put those parts together with the one raised from the fjord and make a whole plane.

[rosieriveter]

They have restored the instrument panel of one Skua and have the tail of another. I believe they have an engine, as well. The plan is to put those parts together with the one raised from the fjord and make a whole plane.

[rosieriveter]

They have already restored the instrument panel, etc. of one Skua and have the tail of another. I believe they have an engine, as well. The plan is to put those parts together with the one raised from the fjord and make a whole plane.... as far as I know, it will be the only complete Skua in existence, once it is finished. Worth a trip to northern Norway!

[JDK]

The Fleet Air Arm Museum has the wreckage of one Skua, displayed unrestored:



There's also a cockpit section, and now there's this relatively complete and original potential recovery.

Skuas were the first dive bombers to achieve a capital ship sinking in wartime, taking out the German Cruiser Koningsberg.

The finding of this aircraft was great news, and I'll be watching the recovery story with close interest. Watch this space!

PS:
Our Skua book - it's had excellent reviews. I can also recommend dive-bombing expert Peter Smith's work on the Skua as well.



http://mmpbooks.biz/books/o8106/o8106p.htm

[tom d. friedman]

a super fugly bird, but a historically significant recovery. great news!!!

[bdk]

I've always ben curious of the reason the windscreen was designed as it was. Anyone know?

[JDK]

I've always ben curious of the reason the windscreen was designed as it was. Anyone know?

Pre-dating armoured windscreens, it was to provide a good view for a specialised maritime aircraft - as a fighter, dive bomber and for deck landing. The view was, by all accounts, very good.

Lack of armour:

Petty Officer Hadley of 800 Squadron was wounded in the face, an ever present danger as the Skua’s windscreen was not armoured, and the pilots often got in very close to the enemy aircraft to inflict as much damage as possible and allow the observer’s machine gun to come into play. Remarkably, Hadley pressed home his attack and shot the Heinkel down, though he caused a scare to the deck crew of Ark Royal. ‘Hadley, one pilot, got shot through the nose and another bullet in his head rest,’ said armourer Ron Jordan. ‘His nose swelled up, it closed his eyes, and he half crashed on landing. He skidded one way, then across, zig-zagging down the flight deck. We were all ready to leap up and unload the guns and we didn’t know which way to run.’

And:

The cockpit was watertight up to the coaming and was enclosed by a long, framed glazing with a steep windscreen for good visibility in bad weather. The glass was totally un-armoured initially, although some attempts to improve protection were made after the Norwegian campaign. Armoured glass was added to the front panel of the windshield and metal panels were installed across the lower part of the outer windshield panels.

From our book mentioned above.

[tom d. friedman]

I've always ben curious of the reason the windscreen was designed as it was. Anyone know?

exactly my point, about as streamlined as as cinderblock

[tom d. friedman]

great vision for attack yes.... but the drag from that windshield wall must have been horrible as to speed performance!!!

[Vital Spark]

[/quote] exactly my point, about as streamlined as as cinderblock [/quote]

"Skuas were.... dive bombers " Drag was a good thing!

[JDK]

great vision for attack yes.... but the drag from that windshield wall must have been horrible as to speed performance!!!

Windscreens do help the pilot believe he's going faster, but aren't the most important element of streamlining by a long way. Engine streamlining, wing shape and fillet, tail structure and wetted area are all far more important.

As to 'fugly', I've always been ambivalent as to the 'beauty' of warbirds. Personally there are interesting looking a/c, and boring looking a/c.

What matters is can it do the job. With limitations, it did. It shot down enemy bombers and a few fighters, sunk a cruiser and other enemy ships, and was, like many types of its era, quickly obsolete, and under-armed and unprotected. To regard it as a British SBD with serious fighter aspirations isn't unreasonable.

IMHO, Skua crews faced greater odds than, say, most late war Allied fighter pilots in a war where the RN Skuas were on the defensive. There is no grading of courage, but these men faced tougher battles than most well known airmen.

Cheers,

[Russ Matthews]

Apparently the recovery attempt is underway. They have brought the wreckage to the surface and are scrambling to secure it before making the final lift up to the waiting barge. A poster on the "FlyPast" Forum has been passing along updates from a Norwegian website by someone who is on the scene. To follow along, click on this thread and scroll down...

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=69884

Someone else has just posted a direct link to the "Norway during WW2" forum where all the Skua news is coming from...

http://nuav.rforum.biz/discuss-all-about-norway-during-ww2-f2/