Cheers Pete thank you for your reply.i feel this could be a tough task. everything is possible.the date 42 confuses it a little.also (Ref.76 ref Bry.)
apparently it was shot down in the Uk.
Always a shame when the history is lost.but i will try and look into your reply
Cheers Brad

Link seems not to work and I cannot locate it on Spink’s site.

Try this http://www.spink.com/files/catalogue/13003.pdf

The challenges begin way before getting in the water. Sidescan sonar can find a fleck of fly crap on the seabed, but just towing a sonar around a random area is just a good way to burn diesel and find nothing. Once found, accurately dropping a line on a small target is a skill and the greater the depth of water the harder it is to miss. I spent 10 minutes following a anchor drag line looking for a submarine in 45m of water…I couldn’t find the sub but had swum pretty much the entire length of the submarine before I realised it was less than 10m from my right shoulder…now consider the size of a radial engine compared to a sub…visibility is severely restricted and just finding the target is a challenge.

Depth also increases the complexity of the dive. Breathing normal air at pressure (5 bar at 40m) makes the nitrogen content of air narcotic and reactions are dulled/slowed…adding helium into the mix reduces the narcotic effect but pushes the cost way up, as well as adding to the time spent decompressing before surfacing…Then there is the issue of the shipping lanes and no diver wishes to be run down by a container vessel. Bottom trawling may well have moved/trashed the remains…

Weather and tidal windows add to the complexity and its not unusual to wait weeks for everything to line up.

So yes, anything can be dived. Would it be easy? No…but if you have a rough idea about where to look then we can consider it as a project.

Many Thanks for all the above reply’s and for Simon Brown for giving me the pros and cons of a possible dive.

So it sounds as if it could be dived but would be a major challenge, as previous reply’s have stated the whereabouts of the 6 swordfish would be a challenge in itself. but the Aircraft were just of Calais when they were attacked by the Luftwaffe and Kingsmarine.but with the strong currents of the English channel the likely hood of any remains would be slim,but who knows as the Pegasus engines alone weigh a fair bit and possibly could of been snagged up on the channels sea bed.

It still amazes me how Leutenant Commander Eugene Esmondes body was recovered from the River Medway at Gillingham, Kent, (near the Strand i Believe) having drifted from near Calais.

Also Nearly two weeks later, the body of Leading Airman W G Smith was found on Upchurch Marshes, close to Gillingham, Kent. in itself shows how far the currents of the channel can carry an object.

But i live in hope that one day that i diver or possibly a trawler may come across any remains of any of the 6 swordfish aircraft, that would produce some kind of relic to help to tell the story of the heroism and bravery of the 18 Airman, of the Fleet Air arms suicide mission on the 12th February 1942.

Hopefully one day with the aid of the ever improving technology and a brave recovery team of divers etc.
that this could be achieved…. Sooner rather than later…..

Cheers

A friend of mine has just returned from a dive on the wreck of a Cirrus that went down mid-way across the English Channel during the early part of this year.

All the usual tools and aids were employed during the diving operation. I understand that the purpose was to establish whether the ballistic parachute had been used and whether the pilot was still with the aircraft.

The questioner (above) asks whether any of the attacking Swordfish – or, parts thereof would still exist. The answer, regrettably, has to be no. This is due to the activities of trawling fishng vessels. Once, as in the case of the Cirrus, they have criss-crossed the area, aircraft especially, are dismembered and scattered.

Thanks John for your reply, just read about the Cirrus another tragedy claimed by the English Channel.

The date of manufacture is not necessarily the date of use. HMS Vengeance did not enter service until January 1945, with 1850 Sq (Corsairs) joining in February. In March they were at Hal Far, Malta, rejoining the ship in March. So Vengeance did stop there on her way out to the British Pacific Fleet.

Which may or may not be relevant…

Many thanks for the 2 replies,

Thanks for the info,
I also believe that 812 Squadron also embarked on HMS Vengeance along with 1850 squadron during Feb 1945,and were based as you say at Hal Far Malta.812 Squadron then flew exercises over Sicily.
So its possible that Lac Smith may of been part of this squadron.
Hopefully someone can help throw anymore light into this.