Buccs in combat

[futuredogfight]

Hello everybody! I was wondering if Blackburn Buccaners ever saw combat in other times besides the Gulf War.

Thanks,
~FD

 

[stona]

They bombed the Torrey Canyon........with limited success
Steve

 

[futuredogfight]

Where's is that?

 

[stona]

Sorry,my post was a bit brief.
This wasn't combat bombing. Torrey Canyon was an oil tanker,one of the first "supertankers", which had run aground of the Cornish coast in 1967. It was a huge environmental disaster. In an effort to burn the oil the RN and RAF bombed the wreck. Buccaneers and Hunters were definitely involved. To say the results were equivocal would be polite.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Glider]

South Africa had a small number of Buccaneers and its safe to assume that they saw a fair bit of action.

 

[futuredogfight]

Thank you! I was on an aviation art site and I saw a non-Gulf War Bucc bombing something, so I wondered about it and came here

 

[Matt308]

Oooo... Bucs! My favorite.

 

[buffnut453]

'Nana-bombers were flown over Beirut in 1983 but, AFAIK, they didn't drop any bombs.

 

[yulzari]

IIRC Buccaneers penetrated the east cost of the USA from HMS Eagle in exercises but that doesn't count.

 

[futuredogfight]

I would hope not!

 

[stona]

IIRC Buccaneers penetrated the east cost of the USA from HMS Eagle in exercises but that doesn't count.

It must have been post 1812 (I don't remember Franklin inventing the jet engine),since when we've been on the same side,so I don't reckon it counts either
Cheers
Steve

 

[steve51]

As Glider pointed out, South Africa used Buccaneers in combat. They were mainly used in long range interdictions strikes into Angola. Dive bombing and toss bombing from low altitude were used. Defensive SAMs were frequently incountered as the war went on, in addition to AAA, but no Buccaneer was ever lost to enemy fire.

 

[futuredogfight]

Danke!

 

[nuuumannn]

RN Buccs were sent on combat sorties from the carrier Ark Royal against Guatemala in 1971 (I think) because of the threat of invasion of British Honduras (now Belize). The Buccs were launched and flew through US territory (over water), but were picked up by US radar and were intercepted by American jets and were told to break off, but the Buccs flew down low and eventually the Yanks gave up. The Buccs didn't actually fire their weapons in anger as the operation was called off before the target area was reached.

Regarding Buccaneers in exercises against the Americans, I once heard a story by an ex-RAF Bucc driver who told me about exercises conducted off the coast of Scotland, where the UK was under threat of invasion by a foreign power, represented by a US carrier task force - I can't remember what year this was, but before the carrier got withing range of launching its aircraft, Buccs from 12 Sqn were launched from Lossiemouth on the Moray Coast of Scotland and sped under the US radar and gave the Yanks a heck of a surprise by popping up undetected and giving a high speed fly-over of their carrier before speeding back to Lossie, counting the carrier as a 'kill' on return!

 

[Matt308]

Hmmm... no detection until over the deck? Hmmm...