Beaufighter found

Kyt · Jun 9, 2009

timesofmalta.com - Minesweepers find aircraft wrecks on the seabed

A NATO minesweeper squadron yesterday found a Beaufighter wartime bomber and a late 1940s Firefly naval fighter in searches off Malta.

Ray Polidano, who heads the Malta Aviation Museum, said the assistance of the minesweepers had been sought so that their equipment could check the condition of a number of known aircraft wrecks on the seabed. That operation led to the discovery of the hitherto unknown wrecks of the two aircraft.

Mr Polidano said the Beaufighter was in good condition while the Firefly was in five pieces. However, there were no plans to recover them.

Among the known wrecks located yesterday was that of an American Skyraider whose pilot was the first to have ever been rescued by a helicopter, in 1946.

One of the vessels accompanying the minesweepers, the FGS Danau of the German Navy, also provided the AFM Air Squadron with the opportunity for some deck landing experience for its helicopter pilots. The AFM said all its helicopter pilots and crews are being trained so that operations can then be conducted using the AFM’s P61 long-range patrol boat, which has a helicopter deck.

Similar training was carried out on the USS Robert G. Bradley in April.

Some of the helicopter crews logged as much as 20 landings on deck during a single sortie.
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SNMCMG – 2 Mine Counter Measures Force South have teamed up with local experts to search for WWII aircraft wrecks off the coast of Malta and three have already been found.

Before entering Harbour Commander Marcus Paetsch accepted Lt. Commander Philip Webb’s, Assistant Naval Attaché, American Embassy for Malta request for the force to execute a seabed survey of aircraft wrecks.

This was done in collaboration with the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, The Armed Forces of Malta Maritime Squadron and The Malta Aviation Museum Foundation. The operation started at 8am after all the Maltese participants were ferried over to the ships by means of the Maritime Squadron SAR-Boat Melita 1. Unfortunately, one of the mine hunters was declared unserviceable and did not participate in the survey.

Members from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, The Armed Forces of Malta Maritime Squadron and The Malta Aviation Museum Foundation were then put abroad the three ships that were actually conducting the survey, ITS Gaeta, TCG Akcakoa and HS Kallisto. The survey then went underway, with a slight break for lunch and ended at 6pm when all the ships anchored together to enable the Maltese survey participants to disembark and be ferried back to Malta aboard the P 23 Patrol boat.

The aims of the survey were to check on known aircraft wrecks in order to assess their condition following their initial discovery in 1998. This was achieved when they were videoed by the ROV’s and it was noted that they have suffered no deterioration since their discovery.

During the 1998 survey that was conducted by the Italian mine hunters MHC Chioggia, MHC Milazzo and MHC Lerici a number of ‘hits’ were registered by the ships instruments but they could not be identified due to bad weather. These ‘hits’ could now be identified and two ‘new’ aircraft, a Bristol Beaufighter and a Fairey Firefly were videoed by means of the ships ROV’s and identified. A Bristol Beaufighter was recorded lost in the area while on a practise bombing mission when it was hit by its own bomb splash. Further research has to be made to verify this theory. There are no records of Fireflies being lost in the area so there is a good possibility that this aircraft could have been a pilotless target drone.
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owering out of Haywharf to the open sea on board the AFM’s Melita I is certainly an exhilarating experience, especially in the crisp morning air.

I was lucky enough to be invited by the Armed Forces of Malta to join NATO’s “Mine CounterMeasures Group 2” where an interesting day of activities took place last Wednesday, which included sonar and robotic location of WWII wrecks off Malta’s coast as well as deck landing training for the AFM’s Air Wing Alouette pilots.

What was quite amazing was the short time it took the Melita I to speed us out to the flotilla’s flagship – the logistics ship FGS Donau, a German vessel under the command of Marcus Paetsch.

Members of the Cultural Heritage Superintendence and the Malta Aircraft Museum were also present along with Lt Commander Philip Webb, Assistant Naval Attaché at the American Embassy for Malta. It was Lt Cmdr Webb who made the request for the flotilla to search some underwater sites with specialist sonar and remote submarine vehicles.

What made this search so special was that the flotilla, comprised of ITS Gaeta (Italy), FGS Bad Bevensen, FGS Donau (both German), TCG Akcakoa (Turkey) and HS Kallisto (Greece), was made up of four minesweepers – or mine hunters, as the Germans call them. To explain, the job of these ships is to search for underwater mines or unexploded ordinance, locate them, identify them and blow them up. To do this, they have sonar and remote submarines – perfect tools to search the seabed.

During a briefing, it was explained that some of the wrecks they were searching for had already been identified in 1998 and were merely being checked. It was also explained that whatever is found and identified will not be brought to shore, as bitter experiences in Italy have shown that if aircraft are salvaged, they become big hunks of rust that eventually deteriorate and collapse.

Interestingly, underwater, such wrecks are easy to dismantle, as nuts and bolts can be loosened easily – definitely not the case on land. After that, the aircraft components are washed constantly and kept moist for about two years prior to rebuilding and restoration work.

Members from the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, The Armed Forces of Malta Maritime Squadron and The Malta Aviation Museum Foundation were then put on board the three ships that were actually conducting the survey, ITS Gaeta, TCG Akcakoa and HS Kallisto.

During the 1998 survey, which was carried out by the Italian mine hunters MHC Chioggia, MHC Milazzo and MHC Lerici, a number of ‘hits’ were registered by the ships’ instruments but could not identified due to bad weather. These ‘hits’ could now be identified and two ‘new’ aircraft, a Bristol Beaufighter and a Fairey Firefly. A Bristol Beaufighter was recorded lost in the area while on a practice bombing mission when it was hit by its own bomb splash. Further research has to be made to verify this theory. There are no records of Fireflies being lost in the area, so there is a good possibility that this aircraft could have been a pilot-less target drone. Other aircraft that were searched for included one of the fabled Gladiator fighters, a Sky Raider and Sea, a German Messerschmitt Bf-109, an RAF Barracuda, a RN Swordfish, and Italian Macchi 200/202.
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Antipodean Andy · Jun 9, 2009

Looks like they had a field day and some nice surprises. It'll be interesting to find out the histories of the wrecks if that's at all possible.

It was also explained that whatever is found and identified will not be brought to shore, as bitter experiences in Italy have shown that if aircraft are salvaged, they become big hunks of rust that eventually deteriorate and collapse.

Interestingly, underwater, such wrecks are easy to dismantle, as nuts and bolts can be loosened easily – definitely not the case on land. After that, the aircraft components are washed constantly and kept moist for about two years prior to rebuilding and restoration work.
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The Italians have been successful in preserving the only surviving P-40L in 'as recovered' so they're not that bad! Expensive business though.

The Firefly is an interesting find. Apparently 74 Fireflies were converted to target drones. I have to admit, at the time of reading, I was hoping they'd misidentified her and she's actually a Fulmar but I have no doubt how good the Maltese chaps are so it's a personal wish that won't be realised!

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