FlyPast – August 2018

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.