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Donald
Campbell inherited Sir Malcolm's taste for adventure,
plus of course a Bluebird boat to start him on the
trail to a LSR and WSR career, purchased for a nominal
fee, after Sir Malcolm passed away in 1948. The
K4 was converted from propeller drive to jet engine,
but Major Halford from de Havilland was disinclined to
to see Donald use it because of his inexperience.
Accordingly, he asked for it to be returned. Hene
Vospers were asked to convert it back to propeller
drive, which pleased Leo Villa. All that
remained was to fit the Rolls Royce engine, then on
10th August, Donald made four runs and later in the
week experienced a scary moment or two but
nevertheless did not let up.
Donald
Campbell
Reid
Railton brought it to the attention of the team that
Stanley Sayers boat used a special propeller that
enabled the boat to lift out of the water - a prop
rider. Reid Railton had seen K4 in action and noticed
it rise a the rear, causing the nose to point down
into the water. After this Donald wanted to
convert the boat to a full-blown prop rider. Lewis and
Ken Norris were commissioned to do the design work.
The engine was moved forward to alter the centre of
gravity, and the seat was relocated on the port side.
A new propeller was also specified.
During
this conversion Donald was invited to enter the
Oltranza Cup, an Italian event. The race took
part on Lake Garda. This was four laps over a 5-mile
triangular course; with the winner winning the Grand
Prix for the fastest overall speed and the Oltranza
cup going to the boat that set the fastest time over
two consecutive laps.
The
race took place on the 10th of June after being
delayed due to bad weather. After failing to
start the engine, the ywere forced to change all 24
spark plugs. Because of this they had no chance
of winning the Grand Prix. They could however
still win the Oltranza cup. Leo Villa accompanied
Donald for a rather exciting ride. The K4 took a
bit of a pounding smashing many instruments. The
ride was sufficient to draw a few choice words from
Leo as to Donald's performance. However they won
the Oltranza cup by a convincing margin. This
win did wonders for Donald's recognition for his
skills as a driver. So began Donald's career in
fast boats.
Donald
suffered a 170Mph crash in 1951. As a result of
this crash he developed a completely new boat, the K7,
after enlisting the services of a brilliant designer Ken
Norris. Ken had earlier worked on the ill
fated White
Hawk K5 jet hydrofoil boat. The resulting K7
was to prove a formidable steed that saw him set
7 World Water-Speed records between 1955 and 1964.
The first was at Lake Ullswater where he set a record
of 202Mph. This was raised to 216mph at Lake Mead in
1955. Then began a sequence of record raising
runs at Coniston where he attained 248mph in 1958.
But to really push out the boat record wise he went to
Lake Dumbleyung, Australia, where the K7 set a new
world records of 276mph in 1964.
The
K7 first run 4 January 1967
Donald's
career spanned 18 years and finally end in tragedy on
Lake Coniston, where he was trying to best his own
record to drum up sponsor interest. In addition,
there was a prize for each time the water speed record
was broken, which it is believed the speedster benefited
from during his 12 year career on water. This tragedy
was later made into a film to commemorate the great
man starring Anthony Hopkins as Donald Campbell, named
'Across the Lake'. Unfortunately for many
enthusiastic about the BBC docudrama, the film is not
on general release.
A
heavier, more powerful gas turbine engine was fitted
to K7 and the position changed so as to correct the
boats trim. Donald had overspent keeping his
crew on while waiting for a break in the weather.
Determined to give the Press a show to make their wait
worthwhile, at around 8:30am Donald clambered into his
boat. An army of photographers had been camped by Lake
Conniston waiting for something to happen and this was
it. To the amazement of all gathered to record
the event and with shutters clicking for all they were
worth, the K7 gracefully took to the air, somersaulted
and nose dived into the lake. There was a
stunned silence for quite a time before somebody
reported over the radio: "There's been a
complete accident. No details. Over." Although
the wreck was not recovered, the K7's insurers made an
ex-gratia payment to the estate of Donald Campbell
against this total loss.
He
was travelling at more than 300mph (483 km/h) on
Coniston Water when the boat was catapulted 50ft (15m)
into the air after its nose lifted.
Forty-six-year-old Mr Campbell was killed instantly as
the boat hit the water and immediately
disintegrated. He
was just 200 yards (183m) from the end of the second
leg of his attempt when the accident happened.
This sequence is almost identical to an incident
involving Slo-mo-shun in 1950. Indeed, John
Cobb was to suffer a fatal crash in his jet
propelled hydrofoil boat, Crusader.
After
a swig of coffee laced with brandy, Donald Campbell
slid into the cockpit of Bluebird K-7, his lapis blue
colored hydroplane, gave a thumbs-up, and ignited the
4,000-pound-thrust jet engine. Since 1955, he
and Bluebird had cheated death to break the water
speed record seven times. When he captured the land
speed title in 1964, Campbell became only the second
person besides his father, Sir Malcolm, to hold both
records. Throughout the United Kingdom, the Campbells
were legendary and the Bluebird an icon.
There
wasn't a hint of wind as Donald Campbell throttled to
the other end of the mirror smooth lake. Within
seconds, he'd raced through the measured kilometer, at
297 mph. "Full house!" he radioed. Campbell
had just gone 21 mph faster than anyone had ever gone
before, putting him in a place where the effects of
air and water on a boat were a mystery. But to
establish a record sanctioned by the UIM (Union
Internationale Motonautique) the powerboat governing
body, requires two runs through the trap in opposite
directions within an hour. Impatiently, Campbell
started his second pass driving into the ripples left
by his own wake. At 200 mph, his eyeballs began
oscillating as he hammered across Coniston water.
"I can't see much, and the water is very
bad," he said. At around 300 mph, Campbell felt
like he was riding a turbine-powered vibrator. "I
can't see anything I'm having to draw back [on the
throttle]." Suddenly, Bluebird lifted
off the lake. "I've got the bows up!" he
said. "I've gone... oh... "
On
the first leg he had reached speeds of 297mph
(478km/h), which meant he had to top 308mph (496km/h)
on the return journey. Initial reports suggest
he had actually reached speeds of up to 320mph
(515km/h). This means the water speed record of
276.33mph (444.61km/h), which Campbell himself set in
Australia in 1964, remains unbroken as both legs of
the attempt were not completed. Had he broken
this barrier it would have been his eighth world water
speed record.
Bluebird
K7 crash 4 January 1967
Thirty-four
years later a salvage operation led by Bill Smith,
finally raised the wreck of the K7 to the surface of
the lake. Tonia Bern-Campbell witnessed the
landing of the craft. Donald's body had not been
located by this time, but the search continued apace
and with the aid of modern sonar equipment, Donald's
body was also recovered two months later in May 0f
2001 and laid to rest. May he rest in peace.
The
salvage operation started in December
2000 when divers
testing underwater cameras came on the wreckage.
Underwater surveyor, Bill Smith found the wreck at 150
feet half buried in silt. Donald Campbell’s body was
never found at the time of the tragedy. In March 2001
Bluebird was recovered from the lake bed . Campbell's
widow Tonie Bern Campbell, 64 watched it emerge from
the lake. The tail was undamaged but the front cockpit
area was completely crushed.
The Coniston Institute and Ruskin Museum Charitable
Trust now want to provide a permanent home for the
remains of Bluebird and are seeking permission for a
10m by 10m extension to the Museum to house it. The
application is supported by a letter from the Curator
of the museum stating that Bluebird is part of
Coniston’s heritage and the people of Coniston
"believe most strongly" that the craft
belongs in the town as a "permanent memorial to a
great British hero".
In August 2001 the Barrow in Furness coroner decided
that based on DNA evidence the remains found near the
wreck of Bluebird were those of the late Donald
Campbell. His daughter, Gina Campbell, 51, from Leeds,
can at last officially hold an official service
following the loss of her father, who died when she
was just 17. DNA
tests taken from her and compared with the remains
found in the water were confirmed as matching.
The
funeral service at Coniston Parish Churchyard took
place in September 2001. Donald Campbell has finally
been given a permanent headstone on the edge of
Coniston Water 35 years after his death. Family,
friends and those involved in the salvage of the
record-breaking Bluebird, were present at the moving
service in St Andrew's Church, Coniston.
The headstone features a carved bluebird and replaces
the temporary stone, which has been moved to the
Bluebird Cafe. The salvage team is to bring back a
fully working and faithfully
restored Bluebird and house it in Cumbria but lacks
the funding.
The restoration project could take up to three years.
“Bluebird”
has been in storage in the northeast since she was
raised from the bed of Coniston Water in March 2001 by
a team of divers led by Bill Smith of Newcastle. Now
Lake District planners have approved plans to extend
the village’s Ruskin Museum to house the boat in a
permanent exhibition celebrating the record-breaking
achievements of Donald Campbell and his father,
Malcolm. Applicants the Coniston Institute and Ruskin
Museum Charitable Trust have been granted permission
to build a 33ft by 33ft extension to the museum
The
K7 wreckage recovered 8 March 2001
One
of the most controversial acts to have taken place at
Coniston in recent years was the raising of Bluebird
from the lake bed during the spring of 2001. It is
probably fair to say that the majority of those born
and bred in the village were against any form of
salvage. The general opinion was that the wreck should
be left where it had been lying for the previous 34
years.
Nevertheless, the project continued despite local
misgivings. The position of Bluebird had been
accurately located the previous August. This had
created quite a significant risk which was that
souvenir hunters would systematically start to strip
the wreck. There was also a feeling within the
Campbell family that the wreck should be
raised, restored and put on permanent display in the
village. As a result, the salvage operation commenced
in February 2001, unfortunately without any
consultation with the community of Coniston for their
opinion or approval.
Despite this initial unsympathetic approach it has to
be said that the project to locate the boat and the
subsequent salvage, which was carried out by Bill
Smith of Newcastle, was a triumph of skill, stamina
and technology. To the lay person a project to raise a
wreck, which was only 150 feet below the surface,
might seem easy. In reality the difficulties were
immense. It is impossible for us to understand the
extremely hostile conditions existing below the
familiar surface of our lake.
Salvage
operations started with the assembly of two large
barges on the car park of the Bluebird Café at the
lake shore. Once completed the barges became a
floating platform which could hold the lifting crane
and the mass of underwater equipment needed for the
salvage operation to proceed. The platform was
launched on March 2nd, towed out to a point
above the wreck and secured with ropes to concrete
blocks which had been placed on the lake bed.
Next
day, with the assistance of a remote operating vessel,
divers started to secure lifting lines to the wreck.
Once complete the delicate operation was started to
lift the craft clear of the thick glutinous mud on the
lake bed, without causing any further damage. This
took several days and was completed on March 7th
with the help of hydraulic lifting bags. By the close
of play that day Bluebird had been raised from the
lake bed and was hanging from the floating platform,
just below the lake surface, by its lifting lines.
Tonia Berne
Bill Smith raises the K7
The following day the salvage was completed. The team
arrived at the Bluebird Café at 4:30 am, to be met by
TV crews who were already in position. Once out on the
platform Bluebird was checked and found not to have
suffered any harm after a night suspended from the
lifting lines. When all was ready the securing lines
holding the platform to the blocks on the lake bed
were released and the platform, with Bluebird hanging
underneath, slowly moved up the lake towards the
Bluebird Café.
A large crowd had assembled by this time to watch the
operation. When close to the shore the lifting bags
were deflated and Bluebird was allowed to settle back
onto the bed of the lake while the recovery trailer
was brought into position. The team knew that lifting
Bluebird onto the trailer was never going to be an
easy job, but eventually all was secure and the
recovery trailer was slowly winched towards the shore.
First the tail fin and then the bulk of Bluebird
herself cleared the surface of the lake. At this point
a degree of apprehension ran through the watching
crowd. It was an especially poignant moment for those
who had been involved in the record attempt
thirty-four years earlier and for the few present who
had actually witnessed the disaster. Understandably
many Coniston people had decided to stay away.
Two days later Bluebird was load ed onto a lorry,
covered with a tarpaulin and by 4 pm the same day was
safely delivered to a factory building on Tyneside
where stabilisation and some degree of restoration was
to be carried out.
Since the salvage operation, the team returned to the
crash site several times to look for additional
sections of Bluebird. Inevitably, during one of these
visits, the body of Donald Campbell was located, a
short distance away from where the wreck had been
found. Gina Campbell, Donald's only daughter, had
especially requested then to look out for him.
"Find my dad" she had asked, "I want to
put him somewhere warm".
Soon after the body was located it was recovered with
great dignity and with the full co-operation of the
coroner and police. A casket was lowered onto the lake
bed and the remains were placed in it. On Bank Holiday
Monday the casket was lifted onto the team's boat and
covered with the union flag. It was then brought to
Pier Cottage. While still out on the lake a short
impromptu service was carried out by the salvage team
as they waited for the coroner to arrive.
News of the location and recovery of the body again
shattered the village. However most people quickly
came round to the opinion that, whereas recovery of
the boat was questionable, recovery of the body was a
legitimate act which would allow a proper burial to
take place in Coniston at a later date.
There was one final act of recovery that was carried
out by the team. Gina Campbell was aware that her
father would have been wearing a small gold medallion
round his neck during the record attempt. It had been
given to him many years earlier by his father. The
team was asked to see if they could find it. The
outcome of this is best left to the writings of Bill
Smith, on the project web site:
Donald
Campbells body
On
the 28th May 2001 A body was recoverd from Coniston
Water by the Bluebird Project Team. Gina
Campbell,
Donalds Daughter asked if the team could locate and
recover her fathers body. There seems no doubt that
the body is that of Donald Campbell. DNA tests are
being carried out to confirm this.
The team recovered from the body a St Christopher,
which Sir Malcolm gave to Donald, and which has now
been passed on to Gina.
Body
in lake is Campbell Friday,
10 August, 2001
A
coroner has confirmed that human remains found in
Coniston Water are those of powerboating legend Donald
Campbell. An inquest heard tests on DNA samples
taken from the body and from members of Campbell's
family proved the remains were 1.9 million times more
likely to be those of the speed hero's than anyone
else.
Campbell
was trying to break his own water speed record of
276mph when his boat somersaulted before crashing.
Divers found the remains in May - 34 years after
Campbell's attempt ended in his death. Furness
coroner Ian Smith said there was "absolutely no
doubt" the body was that of Donald Campbell.
After the hearing in Barrow Town Hall, Cumbria,
Campbell's daughter Gina, 51, said she felt
"totally relieved". She said:
"There was always a little bit of doubt. Now
there is no doubt.
"The
mystery of the lake now becomes a reality."
Anthony
Hopkins plays Donald Campbell
Donald
Campbell CBE
23
March 1921 - 4 January 1967
"Of
records and record breakers, I would remind you that speed
is relative to time. What we consider slow now, was
unthinkable in years gone by. However, each time a
contender goes out onto the field of battle, he or she faces
the same hurdles, the same fears and financial challenges as
those before us, and most importantly of all, has to muster
themselves to boiling point make it all happen. In the
end, players will either triumph or fail, but in doing so,
show others where to, and where not to tread. All too
often players pay the ultimate price. Whether they
raise Man's technical mastery up another notch or not,
history should remember every last one of them - for they
were players." (Nelson
Kruschandl December 2005)
Nelson
Kruschandl
LINKS
:
Hydroplanes
and Racing:
Hydrofest
Hyrdroplane
& Raceboat Musuem
World
Water Speed Records
Hydros
Seattle
Outboard Association
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