Spitfire MJ892 was a floatplane conversion aircraft and is apparently on the bed of Ullswater, in the region of Oldchurch Bay, having sunk while at it's moorings. Nothing more of this incident is yet known. Other references to this aircraft on the internet suggest it was converted back to a wheeled aircraft after the float trials were complete. If it sank at it's moorings then it can't have floated too well on standard wheels.
The MoD have received a number of licences to excavate / recover items from what is claimed to have been Spitfire MJ892. The dates of the licence applications are 19th June 2006 (refused), then 16th August 2006, 16th October 2007, 29th January 2009, 17th March 2010, 25th May 2011, 8th October 2012, 22nd April 2014, 17th June 2015 and 28th September 2016 (all granted). Clearly something is down there and worthy of making all these licence applications.
The aircraft's published Air Britain history makes no mention of it being lost in a lake. Spitfire MJ892 was built to contract B.981687/39 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Castle Bromwich but was retained by them for conversion to a float plane. On 29th December 1943 it passed to the Controller of Research and Development at Staverton for conversion to Type 385 Mk.IXB floatplane. It appears to have then passed to Folland's at Hamble for test and on 15th September 1944 it is listed as having passed to 9 MU at Cosford. There is then a gap in the published history. The next date is on 25th September 1945 when it was taken to AST Ltd. at Hamble where the airframe is listed being re-Cat.E. This suggests a possible earlier Cat.B incident somewhere that was initially thought repairable so it was taken to AST Ltd but they then deemed it beyond repair so wrote it off. It was then struck off charge on 22nd November 1945.
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