Avro Shackleton

The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range <a href="/facts/Maritime_patrol_aircraft/BNXaRGVj">maritime patrol aircraft</a> (MPA) which was used by the <a href="/facts/Royal_Air_Force/P10CbL5H">Royal Air Force</a> (RAF) and the <a href="/facts/South_African_Air_Force/kczqUotd">South African Air Force</a> (SAAF). It was developed by <a href="/facts/Avro/R7EPGE9P">Avro</a> from their <a href="/facts/Avro_Lincoln/GvmaGryM">Lincoln</a> <a href="/facts/Bomber/YKEYbswu">bomber</a>, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime <a href="/facts/Avro_Lancaster/9ndbwh9b">Lancaster</a> bomber.
The Shackleton was developed during the late 1940s as part of Britain's military response to the rapid expansion of the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Navy/t2buEMEK">Soviet Navy</a>, in particular its submarine force. Produced as the primary type equipping <a href="/facts/RAF_Coastal_Command/bv5aWBWg">RAF Coastal Command</a>, the Type 696 as it was initially designated, incorporated major elements of the Lincoln, as well as the <a href="/facts/Avro_Tudor/P9ml5r3h">Avro Tudor</a> airliner, and was furnished with an extensive electronics suite in order to perform the <a href="/facts/Anti-submarine_warfare/dW89ebRA">anti-submarine warfare</a> (ASW) mission, along with much-improved crew facilities due to the long mission times involved in patrol work. The type was named Shackleton, after the polar explorer Sir <a href="/facts/Ernest_Shackleton/VQ0hbGNA">Ernest Shackleton</a>.
The Shackleton entered operational service with the RAF in April 1951 and was used primarily in the ASW and MPA roles, but it was also frequently deployed as an aerial <a href="/facts/Search_and_rescue/pdLTUPgl">search and rescue</a> (SAR) platform and for performing several other secondary roles such as mail delivery and as an ad-hoc cargo and troop-transport aircraft. In addition to its service with the RAF, <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a> also procured the Shackleton to equip the SAAF. In South African service, the type was operated in the maritime patrol capacity between 1957 and 1984. During March 1971, a number of SAAF Shackletons were used during the <a href="/facts/SS_Wafra_oil_spill/uY0LQD54">SS Wafra oil spill</a>, intentionally sinking the stricken oil tanker using <a href="/facts/Depth_charge/bLMx1yF9">depth charges</a> to prevent further ecological contamination.
During the 1970s, the Shackleton was replaced in the maritime patrol role by the <a href="/facts/Jet_propulsion/400rfjox">jet-powered</a> <a href="/facts/Hawker_Siddeley_Nimrod/myfvSf7p">Hawker Siddeley Nimrod</a>, however a small number of the RAF's existing Shackletons received extensive modifications in order to adapt them to perform the <a href="/facts/Airborne_early_warning_and_control/VXDQUphK">airborne early warning</a> (AEW) role. The type continued to be used in this role until 1991, when it was replaced by the <a href="/facts/Boeing_E-3_Sentry/pdIfIP9b">Boeing E-3 Sentry</a> AEW aircraft. These were the last examples of the type remaining in active service.

Avro Shackleton open-in-new

Avro Shackleton