RAF Oban and the Sunderland
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RAF Oban and the Sunderland
A recent visit to Oban prompted a few thoughts about the wartime operations of the Short Sunderland from there. The central question is this: what length of water did the Sunderland routinely need to land and, especially, take off in?
The main base for RAF Oban was on the island of Kerrera, on the west side of Oban Bay. Oban Bay is less than a mile across (pretty much however you measure it). Did/could the Sunderlands take off and land within Oban bay, or did they have to head out beyond Kerrera to do so? The latter seems a possibility as there was a secondary maintenance base at Ganavan Bay, around the corner to the north.
Incidentally, the RAF Oban memorial at Ganavan is worth a visit, despite being overshadowed by a new and very upmarket housing development right next to the public car park and beach.
The landing and take off runs of the Sunderland also have a bearing on the theoretical possibility of a long standing conspiracy theory about the loss of Sunderland W4026 on 25 August 1942 while carrying the Duke of Kent. Officially this was bound for Iceland, and took a wrong heading in cloud. You don't have to look far to find theories that suggest it was instead going to Sweden for peace talks, and was intending to land on Loch More in the far north of Scotland to pick up Rudolf Hess en route, when it crashed 11 miles to the south...
Seems to me that fundamental to the theory is the question of whether it was a viable proposition for a Sunderland to land, and then take off, from a loch with a clear run of over (but not much over) 1.25 miles. This is actually rather more than is available in Oban Bay, and the surrounding landscape seems much flatter than than at Oban, which seems relevant given the Sunderland's noted lack of climbing ability. So setting aside the likelihood of this theory actually having any substance, how viable would it have been from the point of view of the performance of the Sunderland?
The main base for RAF Oban was on the island of Kerrera, on the west side of Oban Bay. Oban Bay is less than a mile across (pretty much however you measure it). Did/could the Sunderlands take off and land within Oban bay, or did they have to head out beyond Kerrera to do so? The latter seems a possibility as there was a secondary maintenance base at Ganavan Bay, around the corner to the north.
Incidentally, the RAF Oban memorial at Ganavan is worth a visit, despite being overshadowed by a new and very upmarket housing development right next to the public car park and beach.
The landing and take off runs of the Sunderland also have a bearing on the theoretical possibility of a long standing conspiracy theory about the loss of Sunderland W4026 on 25 August 1942 while carrying the Duke of Kent. Officially this was bound for Iceland, and took a wrong heading in cloud. You don't have to look far to find theories that suggest it was instead going to Sweden for peace talks, and was intending to land on Loch More in the far north of Scotland to pick up Rudolf Hess en route, when it crashed 11 miles to the south...
Seems to me that fundamental to the theory is the question of whether it was a viable proposition for a Sunderland to land, and then take off, from a loch with a clear run of over (but not much over) 1.25 miles. This is actually rather more than is available in Oban Bay, and the surrounding landscape seems much flatter than than at Oban, which seems relevant given the Sunderland's noted lack of climbing ability. So setting aside the likelihood of this theory actually having any substance, how viable would it have been from the point of view of the performance of the Sunderland?
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I know a Sunderland once took off across the Clyde at Dumbarton. (they built them there).
If the tide is right in, might be a mile. But there's plenty of high ground right ahead. I think he turned right and flew down river.
I measured it and about .8 of a mile is all there is- bank to bank.
I guess a fully loaded one might need much more though...
If the tide is right in, might be a mile. But there's plenty of high ground right ahead. I think he turned right and flew down river.
I measured it and about .8 of a mile is all there is- bank to bank.
I guess a fully loaded one might need much more though...
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On the subject of the same theory, how long would the result of a board of enquiry normally remain secret and under what grounds might it be witheld? A factor which has given fuel to this was that the accident report remained classified long after the end of the war without, on the face of it, any real need from a defence or military point of view.
I remember somebody on another forum asked about the court martial/cashiering of a decorated navigator (1945/6) and when it was looked into - that was still secret as well !! ??
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Thanks guys. The photo of RB-J is evocative but I'm wondering if it might have beeen taken at Loch Indaal on (if on's the right word) Islay, which was another Sunderland base. The landscape and even the settlement in the background, perhaps Bowmore, look to fit there better.
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A bit of drift but I took a very close friend of ours flying the other day. Bear in mind we have known her for decades and her husband was my closest friend until his death.
'My father would have enjoyed this' she said as we flew over the Humber Estuary.
'Did he like flying' I asked in my stupid innocence.
'Oh yes' she said 'He used to fly Sunderlands out of Ceylon during the war.'
And you didn't think to mention this before then....
'My father would have enjoyed this' she said as we flew over the Humber Estuary.
'Did he like flying' I asked in my stupid innocence.
'Oh yes' she said 'He used to fly Sunderlands out of Ceylon during the war.'
And you didn't think to mention this before then....
