(picture: "Christmas Run" by Arthur Benjamins)
(picture: "Christmas Run" by Arthur Benjamins)
contents
After the sinking of Bluebird K4 on Coniston Water in 1951, Donald Campbell and chief mechanic Leo Villa both became restless in their nine to five jobs at Kines. John Cobb had announced that he was going to after the water speed record, to go with his current land speed record in 1939. Campbell believed that with Cobb, Reid Railton and Peter Du Cane on board, they would be successful. There was no doubt that they certainly had the technical experience and Cobb would bring the water speed record back to England.
There was also another craft called White Hawk registered K5, wanting to bring the water speed record back to England. The 25ft craft was partially designed by Ken Norris, he had done their sums for them. The craft was built and after floatation tests she was transported to Windermere, after three months they were unsuccessful in getting their craft to lift at speeds at over 70 mph.
Donald had become restless and typically, he suddenly announced to Leo that they build a boat to go after the Harmsworth Trophy. Donald had been discussing this idea with the Coley’s for some time and with Leo’s blessing, Donald approached the Norris brothers to see if they would prepare some drawings for a screw powered racing craft suitable to bring the Harmsworth Trophy back to England after it had been dominated by the United States.
By 1952, Norris Brothers Ltd, consultant engineers, had been formed. Lewis Norris, who had worked with Campbell on the K4, his brother Eric, and his younger brother Kenneth were part of the company and Donald was elected Chairman.
By the middle of 1952, White Hawk, had proved that she was not capable of the speed required to bring the record back to England, so Campbell took an interest in Cobb’s efforts on Loch Ness.
Crusader was powered with a Ghost jet engine, and built of birch plywood, reinforced with a high tensile alloy. This craft was a reverse three pointer. John Cobb made several trial runs on Loch Ness and worked up to speeds of around 180 mph, but by September the weather caused havoc causing waves and debris floated into the loch.
The front planing shoe showed weakness approaching speeds of 200mph and Commander Du Cane wanted to take the boat back to Portsmouth to have it strengthened. Cobb refused and said only he’d reach 190mph - just enough to break the record.
On September 29th 1952, Cobb was killed as he attempted to break the record; he was on his return run and travelling at over 200mph when Crusader met three swells, and smashed her planing prow, and started porpoising violently. Every time she bucked, water would flood her jet intakes, eventually bursting the hull right open. Hundreds of pieces were found floating on the loch, the biggest was only 3 feet long, the engine plunged to the depths below at over 1000 feet.
Cobb received some terrible injuries, but they were not enough to kill a man as powerfully built as Cobb, he died of shock later.
Although rather tragic, this provided Donald with an opportunity. People were talking about a barrier that might exist around the 200mph and referred to it as the water barrier, similar to the one that existed in the air and killed several pilots whilst they tried to break the mach 1 barrier. Although rather short of money, Donald approached Lewis Norris and Ken Norris, who had offices at Burgess Hill, and they analysed the film of the Crusader crash frame by frame. From this, a new concept boat was conceived which was to be an all metal craft.
Donald’s aim was for 200 mph, and it was calculated that by using a propeller for thrust, he would require an engine developing 2,500 horse power. His influential friends made sure he received encouragement and placed two Rolls-Royce Griffin units at his disposal.
After the basic layout had been finalised, they took the design to Saunders-Roe, who built a scale model and tested it. Several runs were made that simulated a speed of around 200 mph, but it was found virtually impossible to design a propeller to spin at 14,000 revs per minute, from the 2.500 horse power engine they had proposed, so Donald looked elsewhere and elected to use a jet engine.
Saunders-Roe became apprehensive about the handling and construction of a jet boat, and withdrew entirely from the project.
Donald’s next task was to locate a jet engine that would give out about 4,500 lb’s of thrust. It seemed that such power was not obtainable at that time, until Commander Rod Banks, a friend of Campbell’s, suggested a Metropolitan-Vickers unit called the ‘Beryl‘. Banks laid his hand on three of these units, which were overhauled and put aside for Donald.
After the design for the new boat was complete, Campbell’s team constructed a scale model for wind tunnel testing. Leo Villa recalled how ‘one morning a lorry rumbled down the drive with one of the overhauled Beryl’s. The driver handed us an instruction manual on how to run the engine. Donald scratched his head. I looked at him and thought ‘For God’s sake, what the hell do we do now?’ But you’re so involved that in some way or other, miraculously, you try and overcome these things. The net result was that we bolted the engine-cradle to the floor, got a fuel tank fixed up, fitted a dummy board with controls and gauges and proceeded to run the engine according to the book’.
Before long, two of Sir Frank Whittle’s original engineers arrived to assist them, and they gave explicit instructions to stay clear of the hot end and make sure that no loose objects should be around which could be sucked in and wreck the engine. However, after two static tests, Leo and Donald found the loose stones from Donald’s driveway on the road, and two trees had been scorched on his driveway.
Sir Wavell Wakefield, MP for Kendal, was the chairman of the Ullswater Navigation Transport Company which operated two steamers on the lake. Donald met Wakefield and on the assumption that Ullswater was used, he would provide a slipway and resources. Bluebird would attract tourists bringing in money for Wakefield and an agreement was signed. Bluebird was to be constructed at Salmesbury Engineering Ltd, near Preston. They were used to building buses and were originally against the idea of building this craft, but Campbell held a meeting with John Smythe - the General Manager and he agreed, especially after checking the accuracy of the drawings.
During July 1954, the team moved to Preston to assist in the construction. The tubular space frame had been built by Accles and Pollock, and was delivered to Salmesbury along with a Beryl jet engine and the alloy which it was to be built with.
Many unforeseen delays occurred delaying the project, for example the tubular control to the rudder had been completed, but when tested under load in the workshop the combination of steel tubes folded up and collapsed and the layout had to be re-designed.
After making it look complete, Bluebird K7 was handed over to Donald Campbell on the 26th November 1954, after being unveiled by Lady Wakefield. The boat was not quite finished at this time as leaks were found during tests that had to be rectified after the ceremony. The boat had personally cost Donald around £18,000, which he could only finance by remortgaging his home.
Ullswater is the second largest lake in the Lake District and is approximately 13kms (8 miles) long and 1 km at its widest point. At its deepest it is 60 metres. It is one of the prettier lakes and has several villages on or close to its shore. There are many lay-bys on the road between Pooley Bridge at the north end and Glenridding & Patterdale at the south end where visitors often stop for a few hours just to enjoy the serenity of the area.
There is a passenger boat service for approximately 6 months of the year. The Ullswater Steamers have been plying the lake for trade for well over 100 years and, indeed, the two current boats, MY Raven and MY Lady of the Lake, were both assembled on the shores of the lake at the end of the 1800s. There are piers at Glenridding, Pooley Bridge and Howtown. Left: Bluebird K7 at Ullswater in February 1955. (picture: Mike Varndell collection) Bluebird K7 had been transported under police escort to a new boathouse at Glenridding, at the head of the lake in late January 1955. Leo Villa was in charge of preparing Bluebird and the boathouse for Campbell’s arrival later in the week.
Already the project had its problems, the wooden slipway constructed by a local joiner Tom Craig, could not be placed flat on the lakebed because of a sandbank a few yards from shore. Patterdale’s fire brigade came to the rescue, and using a high powered jet removed the sand bank.
The attempt began on February 11th, when Campbell’s 26 year old wife, Dorothy, smashed a quart bottle of champagne on the boat and said ‘I name this boat Bluebird. May god bless her, her pilot and all those who work with her’
With Campbell in the cockpit, Bluebird was towed out onto Ullswater for her first slow trial run. Astute newspapermen positioned themselves near a radio monitor station, on the shoreline, in the hope of catching the conversation passing between Donald and his team.
On first trials it was found that water was leaking into the boat, the nose went down in the water and water was entering the air intakes and fear was that this could damage the turbine engine.
Many modifications had to be made to Bluebird, and it was mid-March, before Donald could reach speeds of around 100 mph. Major modifications had been to the shape of the cockpit canopy. It was replaced by a clear plastic one, the shape of the boats nose was heavily modified and modifications were made to the shape of the sponsons.
It was to be July before high speed trials could begin again. On July 13th, Donald informed the Marine Motoring Association that they intended to make an attempt on the world water speed record.
As soon as the news was published, a spate of reporters and cameramen began to flood into the small village, all wanting to know when Campbell was make the record attempt and seeking general information about Bluebird.
On July 23rd 1955, Campbell averaged 202.32 mph. This run was described as a trial, but on her first run Bluebird achieved 215.08 mph, and on the return 187.57 mph, the average of the speed was enough to break Stanley Sayer’s record in Slo Mo Shun.
Campbell left Ullswater, but was remembered by the dales men, not as a record breaker, but as a modest and pleasant individual who attended functions, chose beauty queens, presented cups and left behind the Campbell Trophy, to be awarded annually to the best local sportsman of the year. After his successful run on Ullswater, Campbell had been invited to Lake Mead, Campbell especially liked the idea as he was to receive possibilities of television coverage all over the states, free accommodation and sponsorship by Mobil Oil was mentioned in the negotiations.
Bluebird was transported to London Airport, where Donald had laid on a DC10 freighter. The size of the boat caused problems, and his team had to remove the sponsons and the spars and whatever could be removed to reduce the boat’s width.
The DC10 landed in Las Vegas the next afternoon, and the boat was re-assembled at a Mobil gas station and on October 12th was transported to Lake Mead, a man-made lake.
Campbell had been contracted to make a run live on television on October 16th, where it would be relayed by NBC to no less than 160 other television stations and viewed by an estimated 50 million viewers.
Several trial runs were made, and on October 16th, the wind had sprung up but Campbell was committed, he made a run of 160 mph, and on her return run the rough water put the jet engine out and the boat came to a standstill, and she was not carrying her own starting apparatus. Before his team could reach him for a re-start, hundreds of pleasure craft converged on Bluebird and created a wash which swamped the boats stern and water poured into her tailpipe, and when Bluebird was being towed in she sank nose first in fifty feet of water. American divers located her, and the boat was lifted back to base.
Her tailpipe was missing, the cockpit canopy broken and the rear of the jet engine was severely damaged. Water was streaming out of holes that once held rivets, and the boat resembled a huge watering can. The boats rudder and forward planning shoes had turned black, due to the lakes high mineral content. The boat looked a sorry state, and would take many weeks to repair the damage.
Peter Carr, an Englishman at the local Air Force base who had helped Campbell since he had first arrived approached General Roberts, his chief, and obtained permission for Donald to bring the boat to Nellis Air Field, offering to supply assistance should the Bluebird team require it.
Within three weeks the boat was back in the water, they had been working non-stop. Water logged instruments, the damaged wind screen and tail pipe had been repaired, sections of the hull re-riveted and the spare engine installed. The air speed indicator on the front of the boat was replaced with a circular metal plaque, which said Nellis on it.
Several trials were still hampered by strong winds, and further modifications were made to the air intakes and spray de-deflectors.
Left: Bluebird K7 planes across Lake Mead in November 1955. (picture: Mike Varndell collection) On 16th November 1955, the timekeepers were in place and set for the record run. But even this attempt was delayed by three hours when the timekeepers discovered that the one mile of timing apparatus had been severed and stolen. This had fortunately been retrieved by the National Service Park and re-laid.
Campbell’s first run came by at a terrific speed and a second or two later, his agitated voice came over the radio and exclaimed ‘God, I’ve accelerated too fast through the Kilo. I don’t think I’ve enough room to pull up before I hit the bank.’
His timed speed for that run was 239.5mph. He told Leo afterwards that on reaching the start of the mile, he spotted the air speed indicator reading just over 200mph. He banged his foot down and the boat leapt forward. Within seconds he managed to take another peep at the instruments and got one hell of a shock to see it reading over 280mph.
Within 15 minutes, he was making his return run, the conditions on the water had deteriorated and he was getting a rough ride, with the boat leaping out of the water and he only reached 192.2mph, bringing his average down to 216.2 mph.
The APBA official radioed Donald and told him that his second run was not so hot and would he like to make another run? Campbell retorted ’Not me old boy, but you are welcome to have a bash if you want to!’
Donald later showed Leo the abrasions and bruises on his shoulders from the safety harness where it had dug in, and commented, ‘Unc, the bloody bashing about I got was out of this world. But I could have sworn I was doing 300!’
After the record attempt, K7 was washed down and polished and put on display by the swimming pool at the Sahara hotel. Campbell was entertained by Charles Russell - the Governor of Nevada and presented with a very large gold cup. Over dinner one evening it was put to Campbell that he should go for the unique double of breaking the land and water speed record in one calendar year. Donald gave this some thought as they returned back to England on the Queen Mary.
Donald’s endeavour had aroused several people’s interest including Sir Billy Butlin, of Butlin’s holiday camps. He proposed that he would give a solid gold cup called the Butlin Trophy, to a British pilot and British boat which could smash the water speed record, and with it came a cheque for £5,000, and this was to be presented for the next five years. After successful runs on Ullswater and Lake Mead in 1955, Campbell still believed that Bluebird could go faster. He returned to Coniston Water in September 1956.
After K7’s return from Las Vegas, modifications were made: a new cockpit canopy and air breathing apparatus had been fitted. An ejector seat had been proposed as a safety precaution but owing to the tightness of the cockpit it had to be ruled out.
On September 20th 1956, Campbell made a run on Coniston Water. K7 entered the kilometre at 6.15pm at a terrific pace and Donald said ‘I’m getting a hell of a shaking. I can’t hold her. What the hell’s happening?’
When Bluebird was being re-fuelled, he asked Leo for his speed, Leo replied 286mph. The skipper said ‘Don’t be so bloody stupid! My air speed indicator was registering 240. I can’t believe it’.
By 6.42 pm, and with fading light, Donald made a return run reaching 170mph. On arrival at the jetty, he looked haggard and sick. The cockpit had been so full of fumes that he nearly passed out, and that he was doing things automatically.
He had raised his own water speed record to 225. 63mph, and received the 1st Billy Butlin trophy and a cheque for £5,000.
A thorough check had been made, but Leo and the mechanics could find nothing amiss. The inaccuracy of the air speed indicator was blamed on water entering the pitot head when getting underway. Campbell was eager to see his boat Bluebird average 250 mph on water. Bluebird was taken to Canandaigua (pronounced Can-an-DAY-gwa and derived from a Native American word meaning "the chosen spot") after receiving an invite from Howard J Samuels.
Bluebird was shipped across the Atlantic on the USS United States from Southampton docks on 20th June 1957, to Canandaigua which lies in the state of New York with a thriving community of about 10,000 people and located about 30 miles southeast of Rochester.
The lake is the community's most important asset and an essential part of its identity. It’s a pleasant looking place, much prettier than Las Vegas, with a good deal of greenery and motels. There is a City of Canandaigua, and a Town of Canandaigua, which have separate governments.
Campbell arrived on June 26th 1957. Howard J Samuels, president of Canandaigua Lake Promotions started ‘ceremonies’ at the Bluebird Theme Park, where a piece of British soil was transported and planted. The theme park consisted of fun fair rides, candy and ice cream stalls, with a general ‘come and enjoy yourself’ atmosphere.
There were several occasions when Campbell was scheduled for runs which did not come off because of poor water conditions. On his initial run on July 4th, a demonstration run at 5 am - dozens of curious boaters, in spite of warnings, swarmed round him and this created waves causing the engine to flame out. As Bluebird was barely buoyant and a very small wake from a very small boat was capable of sinking her, a repetition of the Lake Mead incident was narrowly averted.
Spectators who observed Campbell’s runs, were familiar with fast speedboats, and Campbell made several runs in the early morning hours when the lake was calmest. Members of the Bluebird Research Group and a handful of local boatmen who had been part of Campbell’s team, visited every summer home on the perimeter of the lake, making certain that the 4,000-5,000 residents/ owners of the estimated 1,000 pleasure craft understood the risks involved.
They explained that even on a dead straight course in quite calm water (as opposed to an ideal running surface which could be described as oily of glass calm), Campbell has very little control of Bluebird. They explained that Campbell had no particular desire to kill himself, but had stronger feelings about killing someone else, and that the creation of even small wakes from nearby boats could not only cause Bluebird to flame out and sink, but could first send her totally out of control.
On the first two days in August, Campbell ran trials. There was not a single pleasure craft on the whole lake from 4 to 8am on either day, but the lake was not smooth enough and the runs were slow.
On August 15th 1957, promoters of his venture said it had been a ‘financial failure’. Campbell had rocketed Bluebird to over 200mph that morning, but a swell on the lake prevented him pushing it all the way. Samuels, the President of Canandaigua Lake Promotions said ‘people are simply not coming into Bluebird park to see Don and his boat. It’s as simple as that. We were wrong in our estimates of attendance. We will probably only draw 35,000 people and many of those were complimentary.’
Campbell’s contract expired on September 7th, and Samuels doubted Campbell would make runs on August 16th. He also said he doubted whether the investors would get anything back on their original investment of $30,000, that would just cover Campbell’s expenses.
On August 16th, several runs were made, ‘I was lucky to come through alive’. He averaged 209.25 mph on the combined morning runs, but was ‘afraid I was going to flip’ midway through the south run. Bluebird reached 240 mph when it hit a swell, which Campbell blamed on a small pleasure craft, running across the cause before his run. Bluebird lifted out of the water for 200 feet. He slowed her as he rapidly could to avoid her flipping onto her back. He completed the run and achieved a speed of 220.83 mph, averaging 198.67 mph for both runs.
In the New York Times, Donald said it was possible he would make further record attempts this year on Lake Coniston, Lake Mead, Nevada, or Lake Picton, Ontario. He ruled out Lake Ontario.
To pay the bills, the promoters took Campbell and his boat to the Canadian National Exposition, for a two week stand, where she gave a couple of runs in a narrow stretch of water adjacent the exhibition hall.
Bluebird was then taken to Onondago and arrived on September 19th. It seemed ideal but Leo described it as an ominous sort of place as the water looked dark and oily, black carp of enormous proportions thrived in it, locals said it was because of a sewerage plant at the head of the lake.
Several runs at over 200 mph were made, but the water was unsuitable; on what appeared to be a flat calm surface, the boat oscillated violently when approaching speeds of 240 mph for no apparent reason so the timing of the actual events are rather vague. Bluebird’s team even got an outside team to look at the boat, the American surveyors who checked it with a theodolite were surprised on how accurately it had been built.
The Bluebird team used a US Navy landing craft as a launch base, and K7 was fitted with a small fin to house a braking parachute, the tail fin was a lot smaller than the one used later in 1958, and trials with the parachute proved inconclusive.
Leo, Andrew Brown and Jim Hinton returned to England early, to prepare for an attempt at Coniston, whilst Donald stayed with the boat. Bluebird returned to Coniston by late October. During an engine test on October 31st, the jet engine was damaged as something had entered the air intake. After removing the engine it was found that several rivets and part of the intake structure had come adrift and damaged the blades. The spare engine was quickly installed and Donald gave it a static test run on the slipway, followed by several trial runs to test out an attachment designed to hold a parachute to slow the craft down. This proved to be a hazard and was promptly dropped.
On Friday November 7th, Bluebird’s team arrived at the lakeside and observed that a frost had whitened the fell sides and the shore, along the shoreline bonfires were lit by the spectators who had taken the opportunity to get a good view of the run.
During his attempt the conditions of the water were not good. At 9.41 am there was mist at the south end of the lake reducing visibility. By 9.44, visibility was 400 to 500 feet along the measured kilometre. By 9.57, a driftwood search had been completed and at 9.59, Andy Brown, team manager, reported that the water was excellent at the south end of the lake. At ten o clock, Campbell told the timekeepers ‘to be ready’, by 10.02 Bluebird was towed to her starting point, and by 10.03, he was off and commented ‘she’s riding like hell’. By 10.06, the 1st run completed, and Donald was talking to Leo about his speed. Villa confirmed it as 260 mph.
Villa warned Donald about the wash which was widening to between 400 and 500 feet. Before the wash could reach the shore and rebound into his path, Bluebird simply turned and commenced her second run at 10.08, and via the radio link could be heard to be saying ‘it’s pretty rough’. Villa replied ‘your nose is up, be careful’. This was a warning to Donald as owing to swell or ripples, Bluebird could leap through the air and flip over backwards. By 10.09, Bluebird was at the north end of the lake being tied up. He had achieved 218.024 mph, giving an average of 239.07 mph.
Campbell said ‘I dared not stop to refuel, every minute was vital. There was a menace of a wind coming up. I got a real pasting’. His mother, Lady Dorothy Campbell had missed his run, as she was left in the village without a car. When she finally greeted her son she said ‘that’s 16 records for our family, darling’.
At a press conference after the run, he said ’Next year you may see a much stranger looking animal on Coniston Water. Bluebird in her present form will not see three hundred miles an hour. We are now on the top limit of her safety, the ten year-old boat was designed for 250 mph, but twice beaten that’.
Bluebird K7 was modified for her runs at Coniston during late September 1958. Not only had the small tail fin had been added, the sponson shape had been modified to reduce the air lift and a camera pod was fitted just behind the cockpit to film the runs.
The weather turned foul and Campbell was complaining that the boat would yaw off course when approaching 250 mph, so several tail fins were made for him at Vickers, in Barrow. After several trial runs he set a new record but not without incident. The two-way run must be completed within the hour, but due to flameouts with the engine, and the refueling boat breaking down, Campbell managed three runs within the hour, and set a record of 248.62 mph. In May 1959, Campbell arrived at Coniston again; the only difference to the boat was that the camera pod had been removed. Campbell was joined with his mother and third wife Tonia Bern-Campbell. This was Donald’s quickest record, the weather was perfect and no major technical problems. On May 14th 1959, the skipper lifted his record to 260.35mph (his first run was 275.15 mph and the return run was 245.55mph).
Left: Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water in May 1959. (picture: Mike Varndell collection) After the attempt, Donald turned to Leo and said ‘Unc, now that we seem to have got the old bird behaving herself, given the right conditions, I’d like to have a crack at the 300. I wonder what the Old Man would think if he could see me now? D’you think he’d be proud?’ Leo replied ‘Of course he would be, skipper.’ Left: Remarkable aerial shot of Bluebird K7 on Lake Bonney in November 1964. (picture: Mike Varndell collection)
After Campbell’s land speed record in July 1964, he took Bluebird out of storage from Adelaide where she was on show, and took her to Lake Bonney. After several runs and torrential rain bringing currents down into the lake, a new stretch of water had to be found.
Several locations had been suggested to Donald and he went to look at these himself, whilst Leo stayed at Lake Bonney in readiness. Within three days, Lake Dumbleyung had been located.
The lake did not look impressive, as it had stumps of wattle sticking up, and there was no slipway or any accommodation for the team.
Despite all of this, Bluebird K7 arrived on December 17th, allowing 14 days to obtain the double. The Australian timekeepers held full time jobs, so they had to be flown from Perth at short notice.
Several runs were made, and on Boxing Day, Campbell made three runs before the wind sprang up, one of these runs was timed at 275mph - things were looking a bit more hopeful.
On New Years Eve 1964, the wind was howling, and things looked extremely bleak. Donald flew to Perth and this was the end of the project. Some local water skiers asked Leo if it was all right to use the lake, if Campbell wasn’t going to run, a few minutes later the water skiers returned and told Leo, it’s like a sheet of glass in the middle of the lake.
Campbell’s plane could be seen circling the lake, as he’d had problems taking off. The next hour was like panic stations, the timekeepers had to come from Perth, checking radio equipment and getting the rescue boats in place.
Campbell made his first run and Bluebird looked steady and created very little wash. Donald wanted to make a return run before the conditions changed, but Leo held him as the conditions did not look right. Leo gave Donald the all clear to run after five minutes, and Bluebird was away. Over the intercom people heard ‘Bugger it! I’ve stalled the ruddy engine. Come on boys! Come over and start me up again, will you! Make it quick!’
He had two options: to start the run from where he was or ask to be towed back to where he should be. Being impatient and knowing that time was running out, Campbell started the second run from where he’d stalled. The Beryl engine was fired up and she was away. Not long after he’d completed his second run it was dark. Donald had just made it, he’d set a new water speed record of 276.30mph.
He called for a minute’s silence for his late father, who’d died on New Years Eve in 1948. This was his finest moment, he had done the double. Even to this day no one has ever equalled his achievement.
A memorial is now in place at Dumbleyung to remember Donald Campbell's achievements. It is located on Pussy Cat Hill on the lake shoreline, offering excellent views over the lake. In 1966, after the boat had been modified with a Bristol Siddeley Orpheus jet engine and a new tail fin had been added, Donald brought K7 to Coniston Water for his final attempt. Bluebird K7 arrived at Pier Cottage on November 2nd and the lorry, which Bluebird K7 was carried on, got stuck in the mud as the driver took a short cut. This led to bad publicity for Donald - he did not expect to see the headlines ‘Bluebird stuck in mud’. During the later 60’s, Campbell’s popularity had declined. People were more interested in the space race, and not his small operation in breaking 300 mph.
After much bad luck, his engine was destroyed within the first week; the boat would not plane, and had to be resolved by adding sand bags to Bluebird’s stern. The weather prevented runs as the team had to endure horrific rain for many weeks and this led to added pressure for Donald.
When conditions were perfect, the boat would not be ready and vice versa, after several runs things looked promising. Donald took out Bluebird K7 on Christmas day without the timekeepers present and he unofficially broke his own record.
On 4th January 1967, the lake had a glass like surface, and Donald felt this was the day. The previous night he had been playing a card game and turned over the ace and queen of spades. Being a superstitious man, Donald remembered that Mary Queen of Scots had drawn these cards the night before she was be-headed. Donald took this as a bad omen, and the press liked to gloat on this.
Donald made a run starting at 8.42 am and on the run northwards he achieved a speed of 297 mph, Donald needed to achieve 303 mph on his return run to break the 300 mph barrier, or he could return at a slower speed and break his own record of 276.33 mph.
Without re-fuelling, he swung Bluebird round and made a return run. Without speaking to Leo Villa or waiting for the wash of his first run to die down, Donald put his foot down but immediately began to get in trouble. The boat was tramping badly and disaster finally struck. The sponsons were raised out of the water, Bluebird’s nose rose by over 6 degrees, and she finally lifted out of the water and turned a full somersault. Donald was still doing his commentary right to the end. A brave and heroic man died that day, and the Campbell legend was created.
Divers found the boat in 140 feet of water, and found that she had split in two halves. His widow Tonia Burn-Campbell wished that the ‘skipper stays with his boat, and the boat stays with the skipper’. The body of Donald and Bluebird remained in Coniston Water until March 2001.
Bluebird K7 was rediscovered in August 2000, by a team of divers led by Bill Smith, she was raised Bluebird K7 in March 2001, and the K7 was brought back to the media’s interest. In May 2001, Donald’s body was finally recovered, and a post mortem was carried out.
On September 12th 2001, Donald was finally laid to rest in St Andrew’s new churchyard in Coniston, which is situated behind the Crown Hotel.
Bluebird K7 currently resides in a workshop near Tyneside, it is hoped that with Lottery funding, and assistance from various sources she will be re-built to her 4th January specification, and displayed at the Ruskin Museum at Coniston.
Donald and Bluebird K7 will always be remembered for that grainy footage taken on the 4th January 1967, but from this people respect and admire the great man, this was proven on September 12th 2001, although the weather was typically foul and wet, thousands of people turned up to line the streets to pay their respects - from the very young to people who could remember the events of 1966/67.
Who would have thought it, Donald Campbell and Bluebird K7 still hold a place in people’s memories, and the legend will never be forgotten.
John Bullivant 2002 Acknowledgements:
‘Donald Campbell Lives For Speed - Thundering on the water at 300 miles per hour may be exhilarating, but it’s also dangerous!’ By Diana Bartley ‘Sport’ November 1957
‘Into The Water Barrier’ by Donald Campbell & Alan W Mitchell
‘Bluebirds- The Story Of The Campbell Dynasty’ by Gina Campbell & Michael Meach
‘And Now - Bluebird For Scrap - She’s Reached Her Limit’ - Daily Express Reporter, Friday 8th November 1957
‘Lakeland Reporter - Recollections Of A Cumbrian Newspaperman’ by John Hurst
Tom Reidy - a local resident brought up at Canandaigua
‘The Record Breakers - Sir Malcolm and Donald Campbell Land and Water Speed Kings of the 20th Century’ by Leo Villa and Tony Gray
‘The World Water Speed Record’ by Leo Villa and Kevin Desmond
New York Times - August 16th & 17th 1957
Related feature articles
The Idea
Design
Build
Ullswater, 1955
Lake Mead, 1955
Coniston Water, 1956
USA, 1957
Coniston Water, 1958
Coniston Water, 1959
Australia, 1964
The Last Campaign, 1966/7
Bluebird rediscovered