Short Seamew

Short Seamew

Short Seamew

The Short SB.6 Seamew was designed in 1951 by David Keith-Lucas of Shorts as a lightweight anti-submarine platform to replace the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Grumman Avenger AS 4 with the Reserve branch of the service. It first flew on 23 August 1953, but, due to poor performance coupled with shifting defence doctrine, it never reached service and only 24 production aircraft had flown before the project was cancelled. The Short Seamew was selected to fulfill Admiralty Specification M.123D for a simple, lightweight anti-submarine aircraft capable of unassisted operation from any of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers in all but the worst of conditions; in particular escort carriers which the UK still had in considerable numbers from World War Two.  Although specifically designed for naval operations, the Seamew was also intended for land-based use by the RAF.  It was to be suitable for mass production and operation by the Air Branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). This specification was in response to the alarming increase in capabilities of the Soviet submarine forces following the Second World War. Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Seamew

Short Sturgeon

Short Sturgeon

Short Sturgeon

The Short Sturgeon was a British carrier-borne reconnaissance bomber whose development began during Second World War with the S.6/43 requirement for a high-performance torpedo bomber, which was later refined into the S.11/43 requirement which was won by the Sturgeon. With the end of the war in the Pacific production of the aircraft carriers from which the Sturgeon was intended to operate was suspended and the original reconnaissance bomber specification was cancelled.
The Sturgeon was then redesigned as a target tug which saw service with the fleet for a number of years. Later, the basic Sturgeon design was reworked as a prototype anti-submarine aircraft.
The development process leading to the S.38 Sturgeon began with the 1943 S.6/43 requirement for a high-performance torpedo bomber with a bomb bay that could accommodate six 500 lb bombs or any of the current standard aerial torpedoes, operating from Audacious and Centaur-class aircraft carriers. A maximum all-up-weight of 24,000 lbs was specified.
The main production variant, the TT.2 naval target tug spent most of its life with No. 728 Squadron at Hal Far, Malta. The type was also operated by No. 771 Squadron at RNAS Ford in 1950–1954. Their primary role as a target tug included towing targets for ground-to-air firing practice, photographic marking of ground-to-air firing, target towing for air-to-air practice by night and day, “throw-off” target practice and radar calibration. Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Sturgeon

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