Flying Boat T9044 remains, Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre

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Pembroke Dock was Britain’s largest base for flying boats in the Second World War. These large planes used the dock’s sheltered waters as a runway from 1931 to 1959. In wartime they patrolled the western Atlantic to detect enemy submarines and aircraft which threatened vital supply routes from North America.

Photo of flyng boat at Pembroke Dock in 1955The RAF aerial photo, courtesy of the Welsh Government, shows one of the flying boats at its mooring at Pembroke Dock in April 1955.

Sunderland Mk1 Flying Boat T9044 sank at Pembroke Dock in a gale in November 1940. It was discovered by divers decades later. Many items have been recovered from the wreck and conserved, including two of the aircraft’s mighty Pegasus engines. Many of the recovered items are on public display here at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, in the former Royal Dockyard Chapel.

T9044’s sinking was a blow to the RAF, which had so few Sunderlands – by far the largest aircraft in RAF service at the time. Britain was also facing the real threat of Nazi invasion. T9044 was active for only two months, in which time it flew 14 operational missions from Oban and Pembroke Dock.

Postcode: SA72 6WS

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