Catalina Wreck

On a sunny day, Vatersay, the westernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides, looks like an idyllic island paradise with its white sand beaches and sparkling aquamarine waters. But just below the island’s main road lies a sobering reminder of the navigational hazards presented by this dramatic Scottish landscape.

The wreckage is the fateful result of a World War II-era training exercise flown by the Royal Air Force out of Oban on May 12, 1944. During the flight, the flying boat’s crew lost their way and found themselves well off course. The plane’s pilot attempted to gain altitude but crashed into the hillside, killing three of the nine people aboard.

Parts of the wreckage were dragged some way down the hill by the recovery team, but were eventually left just below the road. The crash site has been left as a memorial and can be freely accessed from the roadside. The rusting fragments of the crashed Catalina flying boat remain scattered among the boulders, and there’s a stone pillar bearing a plaque listing the names of those aboard the aircraft.