Welcome to the Operation Skua website.

Operation Skua 2009

Operation Skua is the name of our team, tracking down lost Skuas from the Norwegian Campaign. We have reason to believe that there are more Skuas lost in Norway, not yet found. So we still search in several parts of the country, mostly in fjords and mountain lakes. Our aim is a complete Blackburn Skua on display at NLM Bodø.

Operation Skua arrange meetings, and set up film interviews with aircrew still alive. We collect reports,
books, drawings, photographs, articles, and anything connected with the story of the Blackburn Skua, and its
significance during the Norwegian Campaign.

A search . . .
Several witness tells a story about an aircraft with a tail of smoke circling down, and force landing somewhere in
the mountains nearby Kvam, in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway.
The locals also tells about two British aircrew arriving at some huts about two hours later, where they got dry clothing. They were wet from wading in the deep snow. This all happend on April 26th. 1940.
Our search (2005 - 2009) regarding this story are now finally narrowed down to one certain lake. The lake is very deep and very muddy, and at about 3000 feet above sea level.

08 04 2008. Blackburn Skua L2896 salvaged nearby Trondheim.
Due to bad weather condition only ROV survey of the Skua could be carried out on Monday 7th. April.
The salvage operation started on Tuesday 8th, at 08:00 hours.
After several attempts all strops were finally attached between the lift frame and the Skua.
The lift started at 17:30 in the afternoon. Some divingwork were carried out to secure loose parts.
The Skua then broke surface in the evening at app. 21:00 hours.
The Skua was unloaded the following morning at Trondheim harbour, dismantled, cleaned, and packed in containers ready for transport to Bodo, in only 2 days. A well done job by the hard working crew.
The containers arrived at Bodo Airforce Base on Saturday 12th. April, efficiency all the way, as usual.
An ROV search for missing parts from the salvaged Skua were carried out on the 16th, and some parts from the rear cockpit section were salvaged. Hopefully we will have another search later on.

Article part 1

Article part 2

Blackburn Skua info

Photos from the salvage operation

This painting, by C E Turner, illustrates very well the story that lead to "Operation Skua."
Three FAA, Blackburn Skuas on patrol over the northwest coast of Norway in April 1940. The Skuas usually operated from carriers in the North Sea, but often they flew directly from an airfield at Hatston, on the Orkneys.
Only 192 Blackburn Skuas were built, and about 30 Skuas were lost in Norway, during the Norwegian Campaign.

Restoring Skua L2896