The first underwater images and video of the Catalina and Sunderland flying boats wreck sites. These lie off the Oban coastline and very near to our base at Dunstaffnage. Conditions can be  challenging here, making diving difficult and photography even harder.

The wreck sites were first dived April and May 2014 by the Dive Oban and Argyll dive team. The wrecks were filmed  in HD1080 (online video of reduced size).

Oban was a Seaplane (flying boat) base during WW2 with Catalina and Sunderland planes stationed there at Ganavan. More historical info to be added in due course.

Please note it is highly likely that these sites could be war graves. As such the dive team treat the sites as such and with the upmost respect. We don’t give out marks for the sites or encourage private visitors to ensure the sites can be managed.

See below for a One Show video when we hosted Andy Torbet in June 2015 and measured the wingspan of one wreck to confirm it’s bigger than a Hampden bomber. This gives us a positive indication that this particular site is a Sunderland.

 

Plumose Anemones on the Sunderland Wreckage

Tanks in the Wing Structure

Machine Gun (Rear) on the Sunderland

Diver illuminates the Catalina cockpit in poor visibility

Internal view of the Catalina cockpit, note wheel, throttles and windows

One of the Catalina engines with the propellors sticking out of the silt