58 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS
Type: Ten-crew maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft
First fl ight: March 9, 1949; entered service April 1951
Powerplant: Four 2,450hp (1,827kW) Rolls-Royce Griffon 57A V12s
Dimensions: Span 120ft (36.58m), length 87ft 3in (26.59m)
Weights: Empty 54,200lb (24,585kg), all-up 86,000lb (39,010kg)
Max speed: 300mph (483km/h) at 18,300ft (5,578m)
Range: 3,800 miles (6,115km)
Armament: Twin 20mm guns in the nose and dorsal turret. Bomb load: 15,000lb
(6,804kg) of bombs and/or depth charges
Replaced: Lancaster MR.3
Taken on charge: 29 MR.1, 47 MR.1A, 69 MR.2, 12 AEW.2, 34 MR.3
Replaced by: Hawker Siddeley Nimrod and Boeing SentryAVRO SHACKLETON MR.1
Developed in the late 1940s as
a replacement for Lend-lease
Liberators and Fortresses in
service with Coastal Command,
the Shackleton would fly on for an
incredible four-plus decades.
The aircraft was designed to
specification R.5/46 and was a
development of the Avro Lincoln.
Although it retained the bomber’s
wings and undercarriage it
introduced a shorter fuselage and
Rolls-Royce Griffon engines turning
contra-rotating propellers.
The prototype Shackleton MR.1
(VW126) first flew on March 9,
1949 and the premier example
entered service with 120 Squadron
at RAF Kinloss in April 1951.
Short noses with ‘chin’ radomes
defined the 77 MR.1 and 1A
variants, whereas the 59 improved
MR.2 airframes had a longer, more
streamlined nose complete with twin
20mm guns.
Shackletons replaced the Lancaster
MR.3 in service and the type first
flew combat sorties in 1957 during
the Oman rebellion, when 42
Squadron dropped bombs
and leaflets.MARITIME PATROL
The aircraft were progressively
modified throughout their service
lives but by the mid-1950s
there was a need for a much-
improved version. The most
obvious difference in the resultingThe arrival of the Hawker Siddeley
Nimrod [see page 80] from the
1970s led to the gradual replacement
of maritime patrol Shackletons and
the final MR.2s were retired by 204
Squadron in April 1972.MR.3 variant was the switch
to a nosewheel undercarriage,
but other changes included the
addition of wingtip fuel tanks and
a clear-vision frameless canopy. To
assist take-off, a pair of 2,500lb
st (11kN) Bristol Siddeley Viper
turbojets were fitted below the
wings of later examples.
The first aircraft (WR970)
performed its maiden flight on
September 2, 1955 and 34
examples joined the RAF from
August 1957. It fell to 220
Squadron to debut the variant at
RAF St Eval, Cornwall from where
the type’s 18-hour endurance made
it a capable maritime patrol and
anti-submarine aircraft.1951 TO 1991
SHACKLETON
AVRO
1918 2018Above
Tricycle undercarriage
and wingtip fuel tanks
were traits of the
Shackleton MR.3. Later
examples also had small
jet engines below the
wings, to help improve
take-off performance.
ALL KEY UNLESS STATED