Military air / sea / land craft in unusual places

[Sun Chariot]

What military craft have you seen, in a decidedly un-military location?

I lived in London Docklands from 2005 to 2012 and we had occasional visits from air and sea craft. Here is a selection:

- HMS Illustrious, Invincible class aircraft carrier, moored by Greenwich pier, with Army and Navy Lynxes & Navy Wildcat.
- HMS Westminster, type 23 frigate moored next to Canary Wharf, with Navy Merlin helicopter.
- HMS Dauntless, type 45 destroyer entering King George V Dock, close to my home 2006-2012.
- A variety of naval craft, on display by Excel for the biennial military expo. 2005, I lived on Victoria Dock, opposite Excel.

Illustrious was retired in 2014 and was scrapped in 2016. Westminster was retired in 2024 and due to be scrapped.

 

[Gloster]

Not so much place as time. Around 1972 we visited the Normandy D-Day beaches while on holiday in France. The last thing we did before leaving was to look down on the beach at Arromanches, where the Mulberry Harbour had been. Suddenly a propellor-driven monoplane flew from left to right across the beach below cliff level. Just for a moment it seemed as though everything had slipped back nearly thirty years. It remains a strange memory.

(I always thought that it must have been a Fairey Gannet, but on delving tonight I feel that the similar Breguet Br.1050 Alize is more likely. They have a lot of similarities.)

 

[GusB]

The Buccaneer filling station in Elgin was host to a retired jet aircraft for a few years (I'll let you work out what type it was). The plane was sold in 2021, but
It's still visible on an older Street view image:

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Ted633]

I lived in London Docklands from 2005 to 2012 and we had occasional visits from air and sea craft. Here is a selection:

- HMS Illustrious moored by Greenwich pier, with Army and Navy Lynxes, a Navy Wildcat and a fixed wing jet that I can't identify.
- HMS Westminster, a frigate moored alongside Canary Wharf.
- HMS Dauntless, a destroyer moored alongside King George V Dock, close to my home 2006-2012.
- A variety of naval craft, displayed at a biennial military expo in Excel. That year, I lived on Victoria Dock, opposite Excel.

What military craft have you seen, in decidedly un-military locations?

Are some of those photos just for illustrative purposes?
The fixed wing jet is an F-16 (Belgian to be exact) performing an air display. Highly doubt that was over East London. Photos 2, 4 & 5 look like an air display as well, again unlikely over London. Happy to be proved wrong though!

My dad used to work at Canary Wharf and kept a pair of binoculars in his drawer for viewing various military vessels that came up the Thames. Highly likely the ame ones you've shown here

 

[Sun Chariot]

Hello @Ted633 the fixed wing jet is, admittedly, an interloper from RNAS Yeovilton. The Lynxes and Wildcat came in with HMS Illustrious but I can't recall why they were at Greenwich for a few days nor why they were buzzing the sky during their stay.

I still recall local news coverage, of very tight clearance when Illustrious went through the Thames Flood Barrier.
I lived five minutes walk from it; but I was at work elsewhere, when the ship navigated the Barrier.

The Buccaneer filling station in Elgin was host to a retired jet aircraft for a few years (I'll let you work out what type it was). The plane was sold in 2021, but
It's still visible on an older Street view image:

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

What a fabulous "Easter Egg" on Street View! Wish I'd visited Elgin when the Bucc was still there.

Recently, I worked in aviation - and there is a Hawker Harrier stuffed and mounted within the Air Traffic Control centre at Swanwick, Hampshire.
I'm unsure if it's a fibreglass mockup, or a decommissioned real one.

 

[Llanigraham]

A Chinook sitting on a pad at the top of the Hafren Forest, here in Mid Wales.
I suspect a certain Regiment were out "playing"

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Now this is going back to 21st May 1982, but does an 820 Squadron Sea King, ZA134, landing at one's school count...?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Now this is going back to 21st May 1982, but does an 820 Squadron Sea King, ZA134, landing at one's school count...?

That certainly trumps the Air Ambulances which drop into our local rugby fields now and then.
Is that a young Master M, looking pleased as punch in one photo,

 

[GusB]

What a fabulous "Easter Egg" on Street View! Wish I'd visited Elgin when the Bucc was still there.

It's now at the Scottish Deer Centre in Fife, so it still continues to occupy an unusual location!

Now this is going back to 21st May 1982, but does an 820 Squadron Sea King, ZA134, landing at one's school count...?

Now that brings back another memory - we had a 202 Sqn Sea King land at our school, probably early 90s. It was in connection with some charity event, probably Children in Need, and the celebrity passenger was the late Mark "there's been a murrderr" McManus.

It wasn't unusual to have helicopters land nearby to meet awaiting ambulances, but not actually in school grounds.

 

[Meerkat]

In Woking there was an entertainment venue which had a two seat Hunter on a pole outside and a Buccaneer over the bar.

 

[Sun Chariot]

In Woking there was an entertainment venue which had a two seat Hunter on a pole outside and a Buccaneer over the bar.

Fabulous! Wish I'd seen that. I'll trawl the Web for images. Edit: aha:

Thunder & Lightnings - Hawker Hunter - Survivor XL623

Cold War British military aircraft, including history, surviving airframes, profile drawings, photos, walkarounds, links, references. Also viewing guides for UK airfields and the Test Flying Memorial

www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Is that a young Master M, looking pleased as punch in one photo,

That's a 15 year old me, yes - guilty as charged!

The visit was arranged through someone in the year below me... his brother was in 820 and the squadron CO and school Principal both very quickly agreed the visit; fortunately as you can see the weather on the day co-operated.



I also have pictures of an Indian Coast Guard hovercraft on the beach at Bembridge, Isle of Wight, but I don't think that counts as it was still on test ( the factory that built it being at Woolston near Southampton ) and was still the property of the factory at the time. I have a picture of myself driving it as well...

 

[yorksrob]

Does anyone remember that Russian submarine that was parked in Folkestone harbour for a few years ? That was worth a look around.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I also have pictures of an Indian Coast Guard hovercraft on the beach at Bembridge, Isle of Wight, but I don't think that counts as it was still on test ( the factory that built it being at Woolston near Southampton ) and was still the property of the factory at the time. I have a picture of myself driving it as well...

I am envious! I haven't had the delight of driving a hovercraft.
My only 'unusual drives' were an Armoured Personnel Carrier and a Snow Cat. They both were extremely noisy and equally uncomfortable...

 

[Ediswan]

I was staying at Glenmore Lodge (near Aviemore) a few years ago. The local mountain rescue groups met there one evening. Some arrived by Land Rover, others arrived by RAF Sea King. Once their meeting was over, the RAF spent about half an hour hovering, winching the minimum wage junior staff up and down.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I was staying at Glenmore Lodge (near Aviemore) a few years ago. The local mountain rescue groups met there one evening. Some arrived by Land Rover, others arrived by RAF Sea King. Once their meeting was over, the RAF spent about half an hour hovering, winching the minimum wage junior staff up and down.

"...others arrived by RAF Sea King". Pure class!
I bet the junior staff were thrilled at getting an impromptu go on the heli's winch.

Does anyone remember that Russian submarine that was parked in Folkestone harbour for a few years ? That was worth a look around.

This one? U-475 Black Widow. Moored at Folkestone from 1998 to 2004; then Strood (Medway) since 2004.

Submarine U-475 Black Widow - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This one? U-475 Black Widow. Moored at Folkestone from 1998 to 2004; then Strood (Medway) since 2004.

Funnily enough I went to have a look at that in August.

 

[Bob figgis]

Harolds D Day Cafe at the side of the A17 near Holbeach. Various items of military equipment in the grounds. Tank, big gun and plane.

 

[yorksrob]

"...others arrived by RAF Sea King". Pure class!
I bet the junior staff were thrilled at getting an impromptu go on the heli's winch.


This one? U-475 Black Widow. Moored at Folkestone from 1998 to 2004; then Strood (Medway) since 2004.

Submarine U-475 Black Widow - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Oh, I didn't realise it was still in Kent !

 

[birchesgreen]

How about 3 German Naval minesweepers and a support ship at Poplar Dock? That was back in 2014.



An armoured car outside a scrap metal dealer in Aston.

 

[StoneRoad]

Apart from the Air-Sea / Navy Bods visiting school, back quite a few years ago now ...

Various helos at Harbour days [It has been suggested that we try a pick-up from a rowing lifeboat one day]

A certain Royal Flight dropped a minor royal off near our works a few years ago [can't find my images ...]

There's a surplus jet provost on the roof at a business in the Stoke on Trent area. [I know I took a pic !]

If I ever find those images ...

e2a - the international lifeboats in Poole [although the RNLI and it's counterparts are not, strictly speaking, actually military organisations].

{OK} lfp - RNLI*200 - Lifeboat Festival, Poole {May 2024}

By StoneRoad2013. The weekend of 18 / 19 May 2024 saw the RNLI hosting a Lifeboat Festival in Poole, some events were at the Headquarters and others were at one of the Marinas. A number of privately-o…

www.ipernity.com

 

[Sun Chariot]

How about 3 German Naval minesweepers and a support ship at Poplar Dock? That was back in 2014.

The wooden trestle table on the rear deck - intriguing, was it being used as a floating bar / promotional purposes?

 

[birchesgreen]

The wooden trestle table on the rear deck - intriguing, was it being used as a floating bar / promotional purposes?

From memory i think it was just being used for a card game!

 

[barringtoncem]

Before the heart hospital moved to the biomedical complex a RAF Sea King landed on the playing field opposite presumably having done a long range medical pick up and the ambulance was waiting i cannot recall the year though

 

[Meerkat]

Fabulous! Wish I'd seen that. I'll trawl the Web for images. Edit: aha:

Thunder & Lightnings - Hawker Hunter - Survivor XL623

Cold War British military aircraft, including history, surviving airframes, profile drawings, photos, walkarounds, links, references. Also viewing guides for UK airfields and the Test Flying Memorial

www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk

Here’s a photo of the Buccaneer over the bar - apparently it started to leak hydraulic fluid over the bar and staff!

Thunder & Lightnings - Blackburn Buccaneer - Survivor XX895

Cold War British military aircraft, including history, surviving airframes, profile drawings, photos, walkarounds, links, references. Also viewing guides for UK airfields and the Test Flying Memorial

www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk

 

[Sun Chariot]

Here’s a photo of the Buccaneer over the bar - apparently it started to leak hydraulic fluid over the bar and staff!

Thunder & Lightnings - Blackburn Buccaneer - Survivor XX895

Cold War British military aircraft, including history, surviving airframes, profile drawings, photos, walkarounds, links, references. Also viewing guides for UK airfields and the Test Flying Memorial

www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk

Crikey, what a sorry state it's in now.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Here’s a photo of the Buccaneer over the bar - apparently it started to leak hydraulic fluid over the bar and staff!

I'm surprised it wasn't drained of everything before being released from the RAF - were they a lot less careful about fluids back then?

 

[Nick Ashwell]

An armoured car outside a scrap metal dealer in Aston.

View attachment 172192

Normally I'd be a pedant and state the Saracen was an APC, apart from that llooking like it's the South African armoured car variant? I'm being little super nerd over here

 

[birchesgreen]

Normally I'd be a pedant and state the Saracen was an APC, apart from that llooking like it's the South African armoured car variant? I'm being little super nerd over here

Yes i should have said armoured fighting vehicle but was lazy.

I can't find a photo of it alas but i did also once see a Red Top missile atop a caravan in a small business compound in Staffordshire a few years ago.

 

[Meerkat]

I'm surprised it wasn't drained of everything before being released from the RAF - were they a lot less careful about fluids back then?

I was wondering whether maybe that had happened but that not all the hydraulic fluid was where it was supposed to be……
And does ‘drained‘ always mean the same as ‘flushed’?