OPERATION TUNGSTEN [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: OPERATION TUNGSTEN [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ADM 1306
  • Other titles: THE ROYAL NAVY IN NORTHERN AND ATLANTIC WATERS [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Operations onboard HMS Victorious during the first of the carrier air-strikes against the battleship Tirpitz in April, 1944.
  • Description: I. The task force sorties from Scapa. In line astern of the cameraship are escorting destroyers, turning to pass to starboard of the carrier, while beyond them in the far distance are two escort carriers and two cruisers - pan right to passing destroyer HMS Onslaught (G.04). XLS of three escort carriers being led out by the cruiser HMS Royalist. Onboard Victorious they man the ship for leaving port - the carrier passes the flagship HMS Duke of York which signals. Armourers wearing foul weather gear supervise the arming of a Barracuda - one man has opened the starboard bomb gear access panel while others attend to the lifting of a 500-pound SAP bomb up to the hard point in the wing. Another bomb, without tail assembly, is wheeled along the deck on a trolley. MS over Barracudas parked on deck. CUs of a pilot in the cockpit of a Corsair and one of the chockmen, wearing a balaclava. A Barracuda takes off, followed by a Corsair. II. Sequence shot from navigator's seat of a Barracuda. The aircraft is part of a flight which skims low over the sea before climbing to cross the Norwegian coast. Some small ships are visible in a fjord. The aircraft flies past the coastal mountains to a second fjord. Cut to aerial view of Victorious and the battleship Anson as the aircraft returns to the fleet. III. Victorious at sea with HMS Furious in line ahead, and then in quarter line with HMS Anson also present. Pilots board Barracudas and aircraft are flown off - it is raining. CU as Flight Deck Control Officer waves another aircraft off. Barracuda is launched by catapult. HA aft as a Barracuda lands on - the aircraft appears to be carrying sonobuoys. Group shots and CUs of Corsair and Barracuda pilots standing by their respective aircraft. HA aft onto a running range of Corsairs - aircraft 6B takes off. Barracudas take off and land on - cameraman shoots aft from a position forward of the safety barrier as aircraft touch down, the barrier is lowered, and they taxi forward into the deck park - CU as a deck crewman grasps the outer wing section handling rail and two others tug on the Fairey-Youngman flap on Barracuda's starboard wing to prepare it for folding. A Corsair lands on, bouncing as it hits the deck - a second is turning in to approach but overflies the deck as the first aircraft taxies forward. Another Corsair lands, rather more smoothly - Furious in the background. Pilots and deck crew move amidst a range of Corsairs parked aft - one man loses his footing on the upward slope of the inboard wing section and slides off. MS forward along rain-swept deck as men walk aft with a Barracuda, wings folded. Corsair 8J is struck down on the aft elevator.
  • Alternative Title: THE ROYAL NAVY IN NORTHERN AND ATLANTIC WATERS [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: ADM 1306
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-04
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Admiralty (Production sponsor)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Navy, Victorious (regiment/service) Royal Navy, FURIOUS (HMS), light cruiser (regiment/service) Royal Navy, ONSLAUGHT (HMS) (regiment/service) Royal Navy, DUKE OF YORK (HMS), battleship (regiment/service) Royal Navy, ANSON (HMS), battleship (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: ships, British naval - aircraft carrier, fleet: Victorious (object name) ships, British naval - aircraft carrier, fleet: Furious (object name) ships, British naval - battleship: Duke of York (object name) ships, British naval - battleship: Anson & [-] (object name) ships, British naval - destroyer: Onslaught (G.04) (object name) aircraft, British naval - combat: Fairey Barracuda (object name) aircraft, United States naval - combat: Vought F4U Corsair & [British] (object name) weapons, British naval air - bomb: 500-pound (object name) operations, British naval air - preparation: arming aircraft (object name) operations, British naval - sortie (object name) Second World War & Operation Tungsten & 4/1944 (event)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 863 ft; Running time: 10 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ADM 1306

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