Interesting Story/Rumor/Fable whatever you want ?

…I did see a film on TV a while ago which showed literally dozens of crated jeeps being shoved off a ship into the sea at the end of the war, and it didn’t look like they were out at sea but in a harbour of sorts…

Not trying to disparage you, this programme or the event (if it happened as described), and stating the right bleedin’ obvious but you just don’t dump stuff in a harbour you might even remotely use again! Quite apart from actually blocking the waterway anyone who falls over the side could be injured, or worse.

Hi All,
Here is an update from the man on the scene so to speak with his reply and a bonus of a PDF file called ‘Target Ceylon’ for those interested.
Hi Geoff,
I checked with several people and no one has ever heard of this story.
The trinco outer harbour area can go as deep as 800m as there is a submarine canyon eating into the continental shelf.
So if true it is possible that these are lying very deep.
I did some research on google, but never found any references to this.
(i.e. https://serendipity365.com/uploads/Target_Ceylon_1942__Sep_08_.pdf)
Also can’t remember reading about this in the Most Dangerous Moment. Need to look at it again however.
Please let me know more information if you do get any historical evidence that this actually happened.
Thanks you
Dharshana

Geoff.

Hi

Indirectly relevant to this thread I guess, but I did see a film on TV a while ago which showed literally dozens of crated jeeps being shoved off a ship into the sea at the end of the war, and it didn’t look like they were out at sea but in a harbour of sorts. All the servicemen were in shorts so it was somewhere hot, the Pacific possibly.

I think that the concept was “we have not use for these now, don’t bother bringing them back, where would we put them anyway?”. So I can well believe the dumping part and can’t see why it wouldn’t apply to aircraft. No real reason to carry crated aircraft on a carrier if you are just transporting them.

James

Only if they were put on board, whereas (as seen on the other thread) aircraft – or bits of – have been craned onto carriers for disposal. Crates would have been carried on freighters, etc…
Not that it has (probably) never happened but I haven’t seen any pictures of crates being heaved overboard from a carrier – just aeroplanes, pianos, old cars, catapult test weights…

Wouldn’t a carrier be more likely to be carrying uncrated aircraft?

Moggy

I seem to remember that when the wreck of HMS Hermes was found, there was an attempt to locate her consort, HMAS Vampire, without success, as it was thought she had sunk in a deep trench in the seabed. So there is a possibility that any jettisoned aircraft could also be too deep to locate.

Hi All,
Thanks for that will let you know how I get on.

Geoff.

The Barracuda on the other thread is being loaded onto HMS Queen, a Bogue class escort carrier transferred to the RN in 1943 and used for trooping from the Far East after the end of the war, before being returned to America. I’d imagine – due to the logistics of trying to push things overboard – that all the dumpings at sea would be done from carriers: a lovely great, flat deck previously used to land aircraft would make the prefect surface to heave stuff over the side. Crates? Obviously aircraft did arrive in crates but, thinking about it, I’ve not heard of crates being dumped over the side; it would need onboard cranes which wouldn’t be impossible, but generally that sort of thing would be the preserve of a harbour/dockside crane.

Problem with documentation – the Royal Navy’s records (certainly, at least, as far as the Fleet Air Arm goes) were destroyed after the war.
On the other thread Lee Howard says the surviving records are divided between The National Archives at Kew and the FAA Museum at Yeovilton, but the latter might just concern the FAA. For shipping movements try the Royal Naval Museum Library, in the Naval Base at Portsmouth: http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/

Hi all,just thought i would mention this and nothing to do with aircraft but my mother was born in Trincomalee in 1940 and her father was a major i think in that part of the world and her mother was a nanny for some military family.When she was two her parents and her younger sister were evacuated from there ceylon in 1942 because of the fret of the japanees invading ceylon which i don’t think they did in the end but they were brought back to England on a troop ship and were very lucky to make it back.

Hi All,
Snafu,
Many thank’s for the link was very interesting reading it now only pushes me forward to find out the truth behind the story, While the veteran Air-Mech did state to my neighbour that it was Trincomalee Harbour I have a feeling it most certainly in deeper water further away. I saw my neighbour just a minute ago and he said he was told this 20+ years ago but Trincomalee was the location We know two things for definite The Japanese where repatriated from Ceylon and the RN had a policy of dumping unwanted aircraft, the only problem is the it’s the crated Spitfire (Seafires ?) I have a problem with as it’s quite easy to push a rolling airframe but a crated aircraft ?
My neighbour also stated that Barracudas where dumped and some evidence exists i.e. the pictures in the thread link you provide, also the vessel they where dumped off was it a carrier or freighter ? the problem is where I go from here I need RN Historical archives if they exist ?

Geoff.

See this thread, where dumping of lend-lease Fleet Air Arm aircraft out that way is discussed – and illustrated. Nothing about Spitfires though…
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?129892-FAA-Aircraft-Serial-Query

Sorry – didn’t see this thread before now.

Hi All,
Obviously an interesting thread 😀 Anyway here is an update of my own efforts for truth or folly.The veteran was a RN AirMech/Airframe Mech, Trincomalee I have discovered is a vast natural harbour in fact the worlds largest and not as I was thinking a harbour in the traditional sense until you the coast itself, anyway Mk12 has informed me that there have been cases of aircraft pushed over the side for whatever reason at the time during WWII.
I have been in touch with a local tourist diving outfit who have this web page http://www.divesrilanka.com/
Here is the reply to my e-mail below from the above link :-
Hi Geoffrey,
Your story is quite a surprise as I have never heard of it before.
I will however investigate.
There were only two attacks on ceylon. April 5th and April 9th 1942.
The only ship capable of carrying air crafts were HMS Hermes. At the time it sank, most of its air craft were in Colombo for for the protection of the city.
While there are air craft here and there. Never heard of any “trail of wreckage”.
If it existed in reasonably deep water (divable) we would have got to know through fishermen.
However, I will check again.
Regards
Dharshana
While I appreciate there are quite a lot of wrecks from various era’s there however a number of WWII era wrecks obviously HMS Hermes and the Floating dock that was sunk to name two. Here is a small list of some wrecks. http://www.divesrilanka.com/RgTrin.html It is evident that there may be some truth in this story ? My next step is the RN, Is there anybody with any Ideas as to what branch of the RN I should start with please ? I assume I would obviously need a list of vessels who took part in repatriating the Japanese POW’s from Trincomalee. Any help will be gratefully appreciated.

Geoff.