VX381 Fairey Firefly wreck
Encyclopedia
VX381 is a Fairey Firefly
Fairey Firefly
The Fairey Firefly was a British Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm ....

 aircraft that crashed on 27 November 1956 in Jervis Bay, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. VX381 lies underwater in Hare Bay, the northern internal bay of Jervis Bay, at approximately 35°00′00"S 150°45′00"E.

Mid-Air Collision

On 27 November 1956 four aircraft from 851 Squadron
851 Squadron RAN
-History:851 Squadron was formed at HMAS Albatross as a land-based training and fleet support squadron on 3 August 1954. While the squadron was disbanded on 13 January 1958 it was re-formed as a training and transport unit on 2 September 1968...

, part of the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm (RAN)
The Fleet Air Arm , known formally as the Australian Navy Aviation Group, is the division of the Royal Australian Navy responsible for the operation of aircraft. The FAA was founded in 1947 following the purchase of two aircraft carriers from the Royal Navy...

 of the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

, based at HMAS Albatross
HMAS Albatross (air station)
HMAS Albatross, also known as Naval Air Station Nowra , is an airfield operated by the Royal Australian Navy , in support of the RAN's aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm...

 at nearby Nowra, were part of a training mission to familiarise crews with a navigation technique that allowed them determine the wind speed and direction and thereby fly to the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 after a mission. After the training to seaward of Jervis Bay the four aircraft were to rendezvous near the bayside town of Huskisson before flying back to Albatross. VX381 and WD887 were flying circles in opposite directions when they had a mid-air collision, during which the starboard (right) wingtip of VX381 collided with WD887 that tumbled and crashed into Jervis Bay near Huskisson. About one third of VX381’s wing tip was gone, and it continued flying north-east for a short time during which the pilot made a Mayday
Mayday (distress signal)
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me"....

 radio call and then ditched it in the northern area of Jervis Bay where it sank within minutes.

Recovery

Within a minute of the Mayday a Bristol Sycamore
Bristol Sycamore
-See also:-External links:* on the Bristol Sycamore* on the Bristol Sycamore*...

 helicopter was despatched from Albatross to the area and recovered the crews.

Crews

  • VX381
    • Pilot: Acting Sub-Lieutenant Eagles, RN
      Royal Navy
      The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

    • Observer: Midshipman Don Debus, RAN

  • WD887
    • Pilot: Acting Sub-Lieutenant Rundel, RN
    • Observer: Midshipman Foggety, RAN

Recent history

VX381 was re-discovered in 1982 by a local scuba diver, Charles Pickering, and has become a popular diving site since it featured in Tom Byron's book. The wreck is upright with the right wing barely buried in the sandy bottom. The aircraft is largely intact. The propeller and tail planes are visible on high definition sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

.

The position of WD887 in Jervis Bay is unknown.
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