SLAF Stories: Fairey Barracuda
It was early 1972 and the No 1 FTS at China Bay was busy training 6 Commissioned Officers of non-GD Branches as pilots to overcome the pilot shortage after the 1971 JVP insurgency.
As the working day was drawing to a close at 1300 hrs, we got news that some people had discovered a wartime aircraft in the sea and had dragged it to the beach at Sober Island and was in the process of breaking it up for scrap.
Soon after a quick lunch, Sqd Ldr Denzil Fernando, CFI of No 1 FTS gathered a few interested Officers, including Flt Lts Ranjith Ratnapala and Wimal Fernando, Flt Sgt David Fernando and Flg Off Chira Fernando and commandeered a boat from Sea Anglers Club. A 10-minute boat ride in to Sober Island and we came across a group of men breaking up a rather badly damaged aircraft, which they had dragged on to the beach.
It was a sad sight. The Plexiglas and most of the aluminum structure was still recognizable as an aircraft. The deflated rubber tires were still on the wheels. A man was using a crowbar to break up the Rolls Royce Merlyn engine. He had been told that there was gold in the engine! F/S David Fernando inspected the engine. The Magnesium based cylinder heads were eaten away by the salt water but as he ran his fingers on the inside of the cylinder walls he commented on the excellent condition of the cylinders; so much so the lubricant oil still remained inside!
The men had a document issued by the Government Agent (GA) giving them permission to salvage the aircraft as scrap. The GA had not bothered to contact the Air Force. It was a very sad situation and the Air Force team had no way of contacting anyone to stop the carnage (these were the days before mobile phones). Also, sadly there is no photographic evidence of this incident.
An examination of the salvaged parts revealed a Vickers machine gun with a drum type magazine with live ammo still in the magazine. There were two Verey signal pistols as well, all of which was confiscated. F/Lt Ratnapala recovered a Graviner Fire Extinguisher bottle, which he actually activated! A few other Instruments were also confiscated but the bulk of the wreckage had to be abandoned.
In hindsight, the engine should also have been confiscated for historical preservation. Flg/Off Chira Fernando later identified the aircraft by its very peculiar landing gear, as a Fairey Barracuda. Approximately 2500 of these aircraft were delivered to the Royal Navy and the first aircraft to the RAF were delivered to the 618 Squadron, RNAS China Bay in December 1944. The records show that some Mk II aircraft were delivered to Trincomalee in 1946 as well.
In 1979, during Chira’s tenure as the Deputy Commandant ofthe SLAF Academy in China Bay, a British ex-serviceman and submarine fitter, who had been stationed in Trincomalee during the war, visited China Bay. He was the curator of the Royal Naval Museum at RNAS Yeovilton. He was shocked to learn about the scrapping of this historic aircraft, as there is not a single complete Fairey Barracuda aircraft existing in the world to date.
