Grumman Tracker Airframe Histories

Serial	Type	Delivered	Const No.	RAN Code	Aircraft History
USN Bu.133160	S-2A	?	131	n/a	Ex-USN Bu 133160.Delivered in 1966 prior to operational aircraft for instruction, was purchased purely as a training aid/instructional airframe. See note at the end of this table for full details. Currently on display at the Queensland Air Museum.
USN Bu.151646	S-2E	?	179C	n/a	Ex-USN Bu 151646.Never flew with RAN, was purchased purely as a training aid/instructional airframe. Was dropped into Sydney Harbour whilst being unloaded. See note at the end of this table for full details. The forward fuselage of Bu.151646 is at the FAA Museum, Nowra marked as 853.
N12-152333	S-2G	05/04/77	220C	844	Ex-USN Bu 152333 Withdrawn from service 12/08/84. Flew with RAN Historic Flight carrying civil registration VH-NVX. A change of policy in 2008/9 saw the RAN Historic Flight cease flying operations, and this aircraft languished for some ten years before finally being offered for sale by Tender, along with one other Tracker and a number of other HF airframes.  The Historic Aircraft Restoration Society won the Tender and, after considerable work, flew 844 from Nowra to Albion Park in September 2019.  We understand that HARS intends to keep the aircraft airworthy.
N12-152334	S-2G	05/04/77	221C	845	Ex-USN Bu 152334 Was marked as NH/713 prior to service with RAN. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Hulk at HMAS Albatross. Sold to private owner (Keith Boundy) for $200 to prevent scrapping. Located on private property near HMAS Albatross Nowra for many years in a decrepit state, until destroyed by bushfire 31/12/2019.  The owner had donated the aircraft to the Vietnam Veterans Museum at San Remo Phillip Island. Their team had spent several weeks in August and October taking the centre wing section of the fuselage and preparing the wing and fuselage for transport to San Remo. The transport was supposed to occur in Novembe 2019 but could not be organised in time due to the team leaders sudden illness. Ironically, the main part they needed was the fuselage to do a transplant on the S2G they have which was full of corrosion, the fuselage was destroyed by the fire but the the wings survived the fire.
N12-152800	S-2G	05/04/77	269C	846	Ex-USN Bu 152800 Was marked as NH/107 prior to service with RAN. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 09/92. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013 Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 02/2016.
N12-152805	S-2G	05/04/77	274C	847	Ex-USN Bu 152805 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Appears to be stored inside at West Sale.
N12-152807	S-2G	05/04/77	276C	848	Ex-USN Bu 152807 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Retained at HMAS Albatross until scrapped in 1995.
N12-152809	S-2G	05/04/77	278C	849	Ex-USN Bu 152809 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 02/03/92. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 02/2016.
N12-152811	S-2G	05/04/77	280C	850	Ex-USN Bu 152811 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 24/10/91. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage  at West Sale since at least 08/2015.
N12-152812	S-2G	05/04/77	281C	851	Ex-USN Bu 152812 Was marked as NH/707 prior to service with RAN. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold 02/02/90 to Qantas as training aid. Sold 2006 to Historical Aircraft Restoration Society. Arrived at HARS 06/11/2006. Reported will be rebuilt to flying condition.
N12-152816	S-2G	05/04/77	285C	852	Ex-USN Bu 152816 Was marked as NH/702 prior to service with RAN. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 11/91. Wears US registration N16FV although it never left Australia. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 02/2016. 06/2016 dismantled for export to USA. 09/2016 noted in United Aeronautical Corporation’s yard adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB Arizona.
N12-152837	S-2G	05/04/77	306C	853	Ex-USN Bu 152837 Was marked as NH/016 with prior to service with RAN. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 15/04/94. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 08/2015. The fuselage marked as 853 at FAA Museum, Nowra is really Bu.151646.
N12-153566	S-2G	05/04/77	322C	854	Ex-USN Bu 153566 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. Displayed outside Gippsland Armed Forces Museum. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. 02/2016 still on display at West Sale outside museum. 06/2016 dismantled for export to USA. 09/2016 noted in United Aeronautical Corporation’s yard adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB Arizona.
N12-153567	S-2G	05/04/77	323C	855	Ex-USN Bu 153567 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation. Sold to Melbourne/Kangan TAFE 02/94. Acquired by Vietnam Veteran’s Museum Phillip Island, Vic 11/2013. Currently on outside display at front of museum.
N12-153576	S-2G	05/04/77	332C	856	Ex-USN Bu 153576 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 05/01/93. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 02/2016.
N12-153578	S-2G	05/04/77	334C	857	Ex-USN Bu 153578 Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 08/2015.
N12-153580	S-2G	05/04/77	336C	858   114	Ex-USN Bu 153580 Retained USN side code 114 Never flown by RAN, retained as hulk until scrapped in 1995.
N12-153582	S-2G	05/04/77	338C	859	Ex-USN Bu 153582. Withdrawn 12/08/84. On display FAA Museum, Nowra NSW.
N12-153595	S-2E	27/07/67	339C	840	Officially handed over 27/07/67 in the USA prior to delivery on HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153596	S-2E	22/11/67	340C	841	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153597	S-2E	22/11/67	341C	842	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Undamaged by the hanger fire which wrote off 9 S-2E’s and damaged 3 more as it was with Hawker de Havilland in Bankstown at the time of the fire. On board HMAS Melbourne, ‘Spithead Deployment’ 28/04/77 to 04/10/77 with VC816 as the only S2 aboard. Exercise ‘Highwood’ 5-20/07/77, North Sea. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to private owner (Keith Boundy) for $200 to prevent scrapping. Located on private property near HMAS Albatross Nowra in a decrepit condition.  Survived bushfire about 2017, and another on 31/12/2019 which destroyed 845.
N12-153598	S-2E	22/11/67	342C	843,   841	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Damaged by Nowra hanger fire 04/12/76. Repaired and put back into service. Originally coded 843 but when S-2G’s arrived it was given a new code of 841. On board HMAS Melbourne, ‘Spithead Deployment’ 28/04/77 to 04/10/77 with VC816. Greenham Common Air Tattoo, Berkshire UK 25-26/06/77 static display. Exercise ‘Highwood’ 5-20/07/77, North Sea. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and flown to West Sale Vic. 12/91. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 08/2015. 06/2016 dismantled for export to USA. 09/2016 noted in United Aeronautical Corporation’s yard adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB Arizona.
N12-153599	S-2E	22/11/67	343C	844	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153600	S-2E	22/11/67	344C	845	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Damaged in hanger fire 04/12/76 but not repaired. Used as training air frame and later displayed outside FAA Museum. In storage FAA Museum, Nowra NSW.  Transferred to defunct ‘Historic Flight’ date unknown.  Was sold as part of Tender to Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in late 2018, and moved by road to HARS Main Base at Albion Park on 13Jul20.  Intent is to restore this aircraft to static display condition for possible display at mooted HARS site adjacent to FAAM, if Defence agree to the lease of land there.
N12-153601	S-2E	22/11/67	345C	846	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153602	S-2E	22/11/67	346C	847	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153603	S-2E	22/11/67	347C	848	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153604	S-2E	22/11/67	348C	849,   840	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Damaged by Nowra hanger fire 04/12/76. Repaired and put back into service. When S-2G’s arrived it was given a new code of 840. On board HMAS Melbourne, ‘Spithead Deployment’ 28/04/77 to 04/10/77 with VC816. Exercise “Highwood” 5-20/07/77 North Sea. Nose wheel collapse 29/08/77 during this cruise, slight damage to props and nose wheel area. Transported from HMAS Melbourne to Nowra by Chinook. Withdrawn 12/08/84. Sold to Hookway Aviation and taken to West Sale Vic. 29/11/91. Offered for sale by Grays On-line Auctions 10/2013. Sold to United Aeronautical Corporation, USA. Noted in outside storage at West Sale since at least 02/2016. 06/2016 dismantled for export to USA. 09/2016 noted in United Aeronautical Corporation’s yard adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB Arizona.
N12-153605	S-2E	22/11/67	349C	850	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off after Nowra  hanger fire  04/12/76.
N12-153606	S-2E	22/11/67	350C	851	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off and disposed of after Nowra hanger fire 04/12/76.
N12-153607	S-2E	22/11/67	351C	852	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Written off and disposed of after Nowra hanger fire 04/12/76.
N12-153608	S-2E	22/11/67	352C	853	Delivered aboard HMAS Melbourne 22/11/67. Served with 816 Sqn RAN. Ditched 10/02/75 after night flying when doing a Bolter (missed wire and going around again) from HMAS Melbourne. The 4 crew were all rescued unhurt. DSTO extract from report into accident This was the only RAN Tracker lost during flying operations. Forward fuselage section marked as 853 at FAA Museum, Nowra is really Bu.151646.

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NOTE: TRACKER INSTRUCTIONAL AIRCRAFT

The following note on Instructional Airframes was provided by ADF Serials. 

To support the introduction of the Grumman S-2 Tracker into R.A.N. service, two additional airframes were acquired as training aids. These airframes were:

S-2A    Bu No133160
S-2E  Bu No151646

The S-2A was a complete aircraft which was available to Chief Petty Officers Jock Collins and Arthur Sharland during their exchange duty with the U.S.N. at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego where they spent thirteen months (1966-67) being trained as engineering instructors on the Tracker. The S-2A also served as a repository for various training aids acquired in SanDiego.

The S-2E was obtained as an incomplete and damaged airframe, having been ditched into Long Island Sound during a pre-delivery test flight from the Grumman factory. The S-2E never flew again after this accident and it was acquired by the R.A.N. with the specific intention of cutting it up to provide components for training purposes.

On Monday 7^thNovember 1966, the U.S. freighter “Australian Surf” arrived in Sydney from New York. This vessel was carrying at least one and probably both of the Tracker instructional airframes as deck cargo. It is speculated that the “Australian Surf” loaded the damaged S-2E at New York and that the ship later called at San Diego to uplift the S-2A. On Wednesday 9^thNovember 1966, as the floating crane “Falcon” was lifting a Tracker from the Pyrmont wharf on to a lighter, a sling broke and the aircraft fell into Sydney Harbour. Navy divers later attached slings to the aircraft which was raised after spending four hours immersed. Contemporary press reports of the recovery depict a damaged and engineless  Tracker which appears to be an S-2E. What can be stated definitely, however, is that the aircraft is NOT an S-2A. The damage to the underside of this aircraft is consistent with what might be expected on an aeroplane which had been ditched previously. Therefore, there can be no doubt that the “dunked” Tracker was the S-2E 151646.

After its recovery, this aeroplane was off-loaded on the banks of the Parramatta River at Gladesville. It is believed that the aircraft was subsequently dismantled or cut up at this location before being trucked to Nowra where the centre section served as an undercarriage retraction training aid. The severed nose section of the S-2E resides with the Naval Aviation Museum at Nowra to this day. In the absence of any recollections of a complete S-2E at Nowra during this period, it is likely that the airframe was cut up prior to transportation to Nowra. Given that this aeroplane was ditched prior to delivery and spent another four hours on the bottom of Sydney Harbour, it is noteworthy for probably having spent more time in the water than in the air!

A report in “Australian Air Log” of April 1967 states that a Tracker instructional airframe “at Bankstown airport under overhaul” is the same aircraft reported at Gladesville after having been recovered from Sydney Harbour. We now know that these were two different aircraft. That the reporter was led to assume that two different aircraft were one and the same, tends to support the belief that both instructional airframes arrived together on the “Australian Surf”.

More fortunate was the complete S-2A, which was successfully unloaded and transported to Hawker de Havilland at Bankstown where it was de-preserved and serviced under the supervision of Chief Petty Officer Arthur Sharland. Subsequently, the aeroplane was released for a one-off flight with the undercarriage locked down. The S-2A’s one and only flight in Australia was under the command of U.S.N. exchange pilot Lieutenant Commander Saltz, with R.A.N. pilot Lieutenant Commander Ken Douglas acting as co-pilot and Chief Petty Officer Arthur Sharland occupying the observer’s seat. So successful was the test flight that it did not return to Bankstown but terminated at Nowra, where Jock Collins witnessed the landing. Windy Geale, Curator of the Naval Aviation Museum at Nowra, inspected Ken Douglas’ logbook which confirmed that the aircraft was S-2A N12-133160 and that the date was 4^thMay 1967.

After its arrival at Nowra, the S-2A was used as a training aid for engine running and ground handling. To ensure that it would not be flown, Jock Collins cut a hole in the skin on the  starboard side of the fuselage. This hole served the dual purpose of providing a viewing port for the radome and MAD operating mechanisms.

After the first batch of operational Trackers was delivered on HMAS Melbourne in November 1967, the S-2A must have outlived its usefulness at Nowra, for it was decided that it should go to HMAS Nirimba, a training station at Schofields near Sydney where it was to be used as a “Repair Procedure Fuselage”. In view of this planned role, together with the requirement that it be transported through the streets of Sydney, the S-2A had its wings, engines, tail group and internal systems removed at Nowra. The resultant hulk was then transported from Jervis Bay to Sydney on HMAS Sydney,probably during 1970. (Subsequently, the Sydney sailed for the U.S. to collect the second batch of Trackers, which reached Australia in July 1971). The S-2A was then trucked from Sydney to HMAS Nirimba where the Aviation Historical Society of Australia Journal reports its presence on 21^stSeptember 1970 (having been “transferred recently from Nowra”).

Quite clearly, it was during the trip from Jervis Bay to Sydney that a dismembered S-2A carrying the side number “60” was photographed on the deck of HMAS Sydney, and not as previously assumed, during its delivery from the U.S. The non-standard side number was evidently derived from the Bureau Number 133160 and applied as an unofficial allocation during the aircraft’s time at Nowra.

The R.A.N. eventually disposed of the S-2A hulk to Gary Volkers who subsequently sold it to David Bussey who in turn donated it to the Queensland Air Museum. A QAM recovery crew departed for Schofields on 8^thJune 1990 and the aircraft was later trucked to Caloundra where it arrived on 16^thJune. There can be no doubt that the aeroplane in QAM’s possession is an S-2A, given that:

1. It has provision for the upper AN/APA-69 radome unique to the S-2A. (QAM has the pylon but not theradome).
2. It carries a ventral barrier hook unique to theS-2A.
3. It has only 8 sonobuoy ejector tubes in each engine nacelle whereas the S-2E has

Furthermore, during an inspection by QAM members Nick Sayer and Martin Hooper, traces of the Bu No 133160 were found on the rear fuselage. Jock Collins (also a QAM member) confirms that the Tracker in QAM’s collection bears evidence of the hole he cut in the fuselage of the S-2A atNowra.

The author wishes to thank the following for their contributions to this document: Trevor Boughton, Jock Collins, Ken Douglas, Bob “Windy” Geale, Martin Hooper, John Hopton, Nick Sayer and Arthur Sharland.

It is hoped that much of the confusion which has surrounded these two aeroplanes, has now been resolved.

Ron Cuskelly