Date:	Thursday 13 June 1940
Time:	Early mornin
Type:	Blackburn Skua II
Owner/operator:	803 Sqn FAA RN
Registration:	L2896
MSN:	-
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	In the sea at Orkdalsfjord Sør-Trøndelag 17 miles west of Trondheim. -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	HMS Ark Royal
Destination airport:	HMS Ark Royal

Narrative:
Following the bombing of the German Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Trondheim Harbour, early morning of 13th June 1940, the 803 Sqn. Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, Blackburn Skua, L2896 "A7-A", was shot down by 4/JG-77 Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 flown by Oberfeldwebel Erwin Sawallisch. The aircraft ditched In the sea at Orkdalsfjord Sør-Trøndelag 17 miles west of Trondheim. Pilot, Lieutenant-Commander, John, Casson and Observer, Lieutenant, Peter Evelyn Hornblower Fanshawe were rescued and became prisoners of war. The wreckage of the aircraft was recovered from the sea in 2008 (pictures of the recovery are on " https://tihlde.org/~ktsorens/flyvrak/orkdalsfjord.html ") and taken to the National Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bodø.

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, inflicting only minimal damage on the Battleship Scharnhorst.

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Flying Personnel 1939 - 1947 (aircrewremembered.com)
Black Thursday – a disastrous Fleet Air Arm raid | Naval Air History
World War 2 - FAA No. 803 Squadron, January/June 1940 (epibreren.com)
English Channel sea battles, June 1940 (naval-history.net)
Skua!: The Royal Navy's Dive-Bomber - Peter C. Smith - Google Books
Kracker Luftwaffe Archive (aircrewremembered.com)
Blackburn Skua Orkdalsfjord (tihlde.org)
https://www.toredgarolsen.net/preservation%20plan.htm
Euro Demobbed - Out of Service Military Aircraft in Europe
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/10/secondworldwar.norway
http://skua.no/index.html
http://www.goodall.com.au/warbirds-directory-v6/blackburn-hawker-siddeley.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Dec-2020 15:45	Peter Clarke	Added