Date:	Thursday 13 June 1940
Time:	Early mornin
Type:	Blackburn Skua II
Owner/operator:	800 Sqn FAA RN
Registration:	L2995
MSN:	-
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Stallvika, Bjugn, 28 northwest of Trondheim, -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	HMS Ark Royal
Destination airport:	-

Narrative:
The 800 Sqn. Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, Blackburn Skua, L2995 'A6-A', was attacked and shot down in flames by two Messerschmitt Me 109's after dive bombing the German Battleship Scharnhorst in Trondheim Harbour. Observer, Lieutenant, Robert Southey Bostock was killed in the action, Pilot, Captain (Royal Marines), Richard Thomas Partridge, suffering from severe burns parachuted into the sea, being picked up by a Norwegian fishing boat and becoming a POW for the duration of the war. Substantial remains of L2995 have been recovered from the crash site at Stallvika, Bjugn, 28 miles northwest of Trondheim by the  Norwegian Aviation Museum at Bodo.

Fifteen Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy Blackburn Skuas took off from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal at 00:05 hrs. on 13th June 1940, (six, 800 Sqn. and nine, 803 Sqn.), to bomb the German Battleship Scharnhorst anchored in Trondheim Harbour. Eight were shot by down Messerschmitt Bf 109's & Bf 110's during the mission with only seven, (two, 800 Sqn. and five, 803 Sqn.) aircraft returning to land back on HMS Ark Royal by 03:45 hrs.
53% of the attacking aircraft were lost during the raid, to inflict only minimal damage on the Battleship Scharnhorst.

https://navalairhistory.com/2012/06/12/black-thursday/
Black Thursday – a disastrous Fleet Air Arm raid | Naval Air History
Roll of Honour.jpg (1125×1113) (skua.no)
Operation Skua 2006
English Channel sea battles, June 1940 (naval-history.net)
Operation Skua
World War 2 - FAA No. 800 Squadron, May 1940 (epibreren.com)
Blackburn Skua (2) (valka.cz)
Skua!: The Royal Navy's Dive-Bomber - Peter C. Smith - Google Books

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Dec-2020 17:56	Peter Clarke	Added