RAF Santa Cruz

For the current civilian use of this facility, see Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

RAF Santa Cruz
IATA: BOM ICAO: VABB
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	Royal Air Force
Location	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Built	1941 (1941)
In use	1942–1947
Elevation  AMSL	37 ft / 11 m
Coordinates	19°05′19″N072°52′05″E / 19.08861°N 72.86806°E / 19.08861; 72.86806
Map
Santa Cruz Location in India Show map of Maharashtra Santa Cruz Santa Cruz (India) Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 04/22 5,174 1,577 Concrete 09/27 5,220 1,590 Concrete 14/32 5,030 1,530 Concrete

External image
A 1945-46 photo of RAF Santacruz taken from the air showing its three runways

Royal Air Force Santa Cruz or more simply Santa Cruz is a former Royal Air Force station in Bombay (now called Mumbai), then British India which saw extensive use in the Second World War.

History

The Airfield was constructed in the 1930s when the nearby Juhu Aerodrome, located close by, could not cope with the fighters, bombers and other large transport planes of the Air Force, that required longer and stronger runways. Santa Cruz Airfield covered an area of about 1,500 acres (607 hectares). It had three runways originally ^[1] and built as a standard Class A airfield, the main feature of which was a set of three intersecting concrete runways placed in a triangular pattern. The technical area and apron were located to the south between 09/27 and 14/32 and connected to a 50 feet (15 m) wide perimeter track. After the end of the War, the airport was handed over to the Director General of Civil Aviation for Civil operations and continues civilian operations. ^[2]

Squadrons

Numerous Fighter Squadrons and support units were stationed at Santa Cruz from 1942 to 1947. ^[3]

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 159 Squadron RAF	October 1945 - June 1946	Consolidated Liberator	VIII	Detachment from RAF Salbani, West Bengal [4]
No. 203 Squadron RAF	15 November 1943 - 9 October 1944	Vickers Wellington		[5]
No. 217 Squadron RAF	April 1943 - April 1944	Bristol Beaufort	I	Detachment from RAF Vavuniya [6]
No. 244 Squadron RAF	March 1944 and May 1945	Wellington	XIII	Detachment from RAF Masirah [7]

Current use

It is now part of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

1. "Transport by Air". Maharashtra State Gazetteers. 1987. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
2. "Airfield, Santa Cruz". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 30 October 1946. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
3. "RAF Santa Cruz". www.rafweb.org. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 63.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 68.
6. Jefford 1988, p. 71.
7. Jefford 1988, p. 77.

• Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN   1-85310-053-6.