Catalina affair
The Catalina affair (Swedish: Catalinaaffären) was a military confrontation and Cold War-era diplomatic crisis in June 1952, in which Soviet Air Force fighter jets shot down two Swedish aircraft over international waters in the Baltic Sea.
Tp 79 Hugin at F 8 Barkarby in 1951 | |
| Incident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 13 June 1952 |
| Summary | Shot down |
| Site | East of Gotska Sandön 58°23′31″N 20°17′28″E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | DC-3A-360 Skytrain |
| Aircraft name | Hugin |
| Operator | Swedish Air Force |
| Flight origin | Stockholm Bromma Airport Stockholm, Sweden |
| Destination | Stockholm Bromma Airport |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 8 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The Catalina shot down by Soviet forces while searching for the missing Hugin | |
| Incident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 June 1952 |
| Summary | Shot down |
| Site | East of Gotska Sandön |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | PBY-5 Catalina |
| Operator | Swedish Air Force |
| Flight origin | F 2 Hägernäs near Stockholm, Sweden |
| Destination | F 2 Hägernäs |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
The first aircraft to be shot down was an unarmed Swedish Air Force Tp 79, a derivative of the Douglas DC-3, carrying out radio and radar signals intelligence-gathering for the National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets radioanstalt, FRA). None of the crew of eight survived.
The second aircraft to be shot down was a Swedish Air Force Tp 47, a Catalina flying boat, involved in the search and rescue operation for the missing DC-3. The Catalina's crew of seven were saved.
The Soviet Union publicly denied involvement until its dissolution in 1991. Both aircraft were located in 2003; the DC-3 was salvaged.