Hampden Bomber Wreck Site

3D Model

Handley Page Hampden medium bombers were flow in combat in the early years of World War II, before being pulled from the front lines over Europe to serve as training aircraft. The Hampden was powered by a pair of Bristol Pegasus engines, and flown by a crew of four in somewhat cramped quarters.

A number of these aircraft from RAF Operational Training Unit (OTU) No. 32 based in Victoria, crashed in the waters around Vancouver Island during training flights. We believe this is Hampden P5433 which crashed into Saanich Inlet on March 14, 1943 while practicing low-level flying (bombing runs) at night. All four crew were killed.

The UASBC dived this site in Saanich Inlet several times in 2022 and 2023 to inventory and map the site, and identify the aircraft. The remains of the fuselage and cockpit have not been identified. We suspect that these parts were dredged during attempts to recover the crew, as was the practice at the time.

This model was generated from 620 images; photogrammetry by Ewan Anderson.