FlyPast – August 2018

(John Hannent) #1

84 FLYPAST August 2018


SPOT FACT The aircraft was designed by
Sir Arthur Gouge

sorties were around 10 to 12
hours in duration. The intention
was to create a blockade to deter
reinforcements to Korea
from China.
After leaving the Inland Sea
through a narrow channel at
Shimonoseki, flying over a set of
power cables – sometimes under
if the cloud base was too low – we
would enter the Tsushima Straits
and the operational area. The
gunners would test the guns –
reminiscent of World War Two with
‘enemy coast ahead’.
There were day missions at low
level, normally 100 to 500ft (30 to
152m), searching for any shipping
which we would photograph for
intelligence use. Occasionally we
would see innocent looking trawlers,
given away by array of aerials and
a small gun on the forward deck.
These were believed to be tracking
US Navy ships. If we saw a puff of
smoke from their foredeck we would
turn away sharpish!

Winter blues
Night sorties were also staged at
around 100 to 500ft under the

F-for-Fox

One of the Sunderlands the author fl ew in was PP148, built by Blackburn at its Dumbarton plant on the River
Clyde west of Glasgow, in late 1944. By January 1945 it was on charge with 230 Squadron at Koggala, Ceylon
(present-day Sri Lanka), and later transferred to 209 Squadron, also based at Koggala.
By May 1946, PP148 was back in Britain at 57 Maintenance Unit, Wig Bay on Loch Ryan, north of Stranraer,
Scotland. Periods of storage were interrupted by modifi cation work by Short Brothers and Harland, at
Sydenham, Belfast, Northern Ireland. In October 1950, PP148 was issued for service and fl own from Wig Bay to
Pembroke Dock in Wales, to begin its journey to the Far East Air Force.
It joined 205 Squadron at Seletar, Singapore, and took part in the unit’s detachments to Iwakuni, Japan, for
patrols during the Korean confl ict. In August 1952, PP148 transferred to 88 Squadron, taking on the individual
code F-for-Fox. The unit was based at Kai Tak, Hong Kong, but moved to Seletar in June 1951. As described in
the main text, 88 Squadron also took part in the Iwakuni detachments.
It was at Iwakuni that tragedy struck PP148 on March 25, 1953. Returning from a sortie in the evening, the
waters were choppy and the wind gusting. To aid alighting, the boat crews had laid out a fl arepath. Making an
approach, F-for-Fox hit the surface heavily and the captain undertook a go-around.
On the second attempt, the bow dug in to the high waves and the forward fuselage collapsed, PP148 ending
up on its back. Seven of the 11 crew survived but the co-pilot, fl ight engineer, air signaller and a gunner
were killed.

Sunderland PP148 ‘F-for-Fox’ undergoing an engine change on the
slipway at Kai Tak.

cloud base. We used the anti-surface
vessel navigation radar to search for
shipping. Out of radar range of the
coast, navigation was conducted
by using an air position indicator,
magnetic compass heading, and
reading the sea state to give wind
direction and speed.
The dead reckoning navigation was
aided by drift recorder readings using
smoke floats. Some radio bearings
were utilised, when available.
The main purpose of the night
missions was to take weather

recordings, from barometric readings
and monitoring the sea state for
wind strength and direction. This
data was encoded by the navigator
and radioed to a US Navy ship on
station and used to prepare the
following day’s forecast.
This was done using the signaller’s
high-frequency voice T1154
transmitter. I remember one
occasion, after giving the ‘met’
report, hearing an American voice
saying: “Hey, are you limeys out
there as well? Glad to hear you!”

Above right
The author
after joining 88
Squadron
at Seletar.

Right
A view over the
captain’s shoulder
from the formation
celebrating the
Queen’s birthday
in 1953.
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