På
morgenen den 11. Juni 1940 forlot tolv fly av typen Lockheed Hudson
Skottland med kurs mot Trondheim havn for å angripe det tyske slagskipet
Bismarck og slagkrysseren Scharnhorst. Rett etter klokken elleve kommer
den Britiske skvadronen inn over Agdenes og former fire formasjoner
før de går til angrep på Trondheim havn og de tyske skipene som ligger
for anker her. Under angrepet ser man at Scharnhorst er truffet sammen
med flere andre mindre skip. Men nå begynner det tyske luftvernet å
finne sine mål, og tyske jagere tok av fra Værnes flystasjon for å avvise
angrepet. Under ilden fra det tyske luftvernet blir to fly truffet alvorlig,
og Captain J. Craigs fly styrter kort tid i havet ved Pine Mølle. Det
andre flyet styrter en kilometer nord ved Steinshylla. Av besetningen
på fire mann, omkommer to menn, inklusive J. Craig som førte flyet.
Navigatøren klarte å unngå fangenskap og returnere til England etter
å ha flyktet til Sverige, men telegrafisten ble tatt til fange av tyskerne.
Vrakrestene av denne Lockheed Hudson ligger ca 500 meter utenfor Pine
Mølle i Buvika på en dybde av femti til femtifem meter. Stedet er en
krigsgrav, og det er derfor ikke lov å dykke her...
On the morning of 11.
June 1940 twelve airplanes of the type Lockheed Hudson
leaves Scotland
with course towards Trondheim
to attack the German battleship Bismarck
and the battlecruiser Scharnhorst.
Right after 11 o'clock the British squadron arrives over Agdenes
and form four formations before they launch the attack on Trondheim
harbor and the German ships they lays at anchor there. Under the
attack they can see that Scharnhorst
is hit, together with several other smaller vessels. But now the
German anti-aircraft defense start to find their targets,
and German fighters are also launched from Værnes
airport to repulse the assault. Under the fire from the German
anti-aircraft guns to airplanes are severly hit, and Captain J. Craig airplane shortly after crashes
in the ocean at Pine Mølle. The second
airplane crashes a kilometer north near Steinshylla.
Of the crew of four men, to men perishes, including J. Craig that
flied the airplane. The navigator managed to avoid captivity and
return to England after escaped to Sweden, but the telegraphist
was captured by the Germans. The wreck debris of this Lockheed
Hudson lies approx. 500 meters outside Pine Mølle
in Buvika on a depth of fifty to fifty-five
meters. The site is considered a war grave, and there are therefore
not allowed to dive here...
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Lockheed Hudson MK
II
First flight (prototype) 10 December 1938 Operational service from
early 1939 until 1949.
Manufacturer Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Number produced 2.941 total
Length 13.81 m Height 3.31 m
Empty weight 5484 kg Operational weight 7938 kg typical,8845 kg max
Wing Span 19.96 m Wing Aspect ratio 7.79
Wing Area 51.19 m² Service ceiling 6401 m
Maximum speed 357 km/h at 2408 m Cruising speed 307 km/h at 3048 m
Initial climb rate 664 m per min,Climb to 3.050 m in 10 min 0 sec
Fuel capacity internal 2.438 liters
Machine guns • 2 × 7,7 mm Browning fixed forward-firing
in the upper nose, 500 rounds each • 2 × 7,7 mm Browning
trainable in the Boulton Paul Type C Mk II power operated dorsal turret,
1.000 rounds each
Bomb load Up to 612 kg, carried in the lower-fuselage weapons bay,
rated at 635 kg. General disposables load consisted of: • 4
× 113 kg anti-submarine, general-purpose or semi-armor-piercing
bombs, or • 10 × 50 kg anti-submarine bombs, or •
12 × 51 kg Mk VIIc anti-submarine bombs The Hudson was the British
answer to the increasing fleet of Germany's U-boats. When Hitler gained
power in Germany, he started an extensive rearmament program. In the
Navy department a lot of emphasis was placed on U-boats, since the
German U-boats had been very succesful during World War I (or the
Great War, 1914-1918).Initially the British (and French) rearmament
was started later, and more modest, so that at a certain moment Germany
was leaping ahead leaving the expanse of the British forces far behind.
The British realised that they were too late to start and develop
their own types, and so they were forced to used foreign designs that
were already in existance, or close to production. Lockheed understood
the needs of the British, and decided to create a mock-up of a Maritime
Patrol Bomber based on the Model 14
Remarks:
The Hudson had a lot of 'Firsts' on it's account. It is noted that
the Hudson was the first USA built aircraft in RAF service. It was
the first RAF aircraft to score a kill against an enemy aircraft on
8 October 1939. It was the first aircraft in Coastal Command to be
fitted with an A.S.V. radar. It was the first aircraft to destroy
a submarine with underwing rockets in may 1943. Apart from that it
is known that a Hudson forced a German submarine to surrender, just
by circling it in August 1941. The Hudson was used by the Alied forces
all over the world, in virtually all theatres. It was used in the
European theatres mostly by Coastal Command, and in the Far East it
was used against the Japanese. Not only were they used for maritime
patrol, but also as plain bombers in the Netherlands East Indies and
New Guinea.
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