An ‘unamed obstruction’ that resulted in a warning being issued to all marine traffic navigating the Milford Haven Waterway has finally been identified as the engine and propellor of possibly one of the mighty Sunderland flying boats.

The discovery was made last weekend following warnings issued on July 17 by the Milford Haven Port Authority concerning ‘an unnamed obstruction’ that had been located 300 metres south southeast of the Valero Pembrokeshire Oil Terminal in Waterston. The object was standing some 2.5 metres above the seabed, between the 10m and 15m contours.

Now, following weeks of speculation, the unnamed object has finally been identified as the propellor and engine of what is believed may be a Sunderland flying boat.

“This is a very big find indeed,” commented John Evans, who is patron of the Pembroke Dock Heritage Trust.

“A great deal of work now has to be done to clean up the find, but early examinations suggest that it could be a Pratt and Whitney engine which powered the later Sunderlands.  But it may even be a Catalina flying boat which operated with the RAF.

“There were a number of accidents and crashes in the Haven, particularly during the war years, and we know that a Catalina crashed in the Haven in 1941 or 42 and that its remains are still there.”

After being lifted from the Milford Waterway, the engine and propellor were temporarily moved to the Neyland Marina. Earlier this week they arrived at the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre where work will now begin on cleaning them up and attempting to assess the engine’s origins.

“It’s going to be a pain-staking job as it’s been in sea water for more than 70 years,” continued John Evans.

“To attempt to find its serial number is going to be very difficult as so much of the aluminium will have been erased by the sea.

“But even if we won’t be able to find out its full story, we’ll do our very best to identify its origin.

“We’re extremely grateful to the Milford Haven Port Authority for giving us the opportunity to investigate this further - it just proves that the Milford Waterway is continuing to unravel all these secrets after so many years.”

Nearly 750 Short Sunderland flying boats were built between 1938 and 1946 and many flew from RAF Pembroke Dock which, during the war years, was the largest flying boat station in the world.

In November 1940 two Sunderlands sank at moorings off Pembroke Dock during a gale, while two airmen on one of the aircraft drowned. With newspapers heavily censored, there were no reports in the ‘Pembrokeshire Telegraph’, and the wartime incident was soon forgotten.

Five decades later, one of the two Sunderlands – serial number N6138 of 201 Squadron – was driven ashore at Hobbs Point and over the coming days was salvaged with great difficulty and after repairs, was able to fly once again.

The wreck of the other missing Sunderland T9044, of 210 Squadron, was found by divers lying in around 20 metres on the Haven seabed.  Its engine was worked on by volunteers who transformed it into a remarkable exhibit which today can be seen in the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre.