Saro Lerwick
Encyclopedia
The Saunders-Roe A.36 Lerwick was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
built by the Saunders Roe Limited
Saunders-Roe
Saunders-Roe Limited was a British aero- and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works East Cowes, Isle of Wight.-History:The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliot Verdon Roe and John Lord took a controlling interest in the boat-builders S.E. Saunders...
(Saro). It was intended to serve alongside the Short Sunderland
Short Sunderland
The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers. It took its service name from the town and port of Sunderland in northeast England....
in the Royal Air Force's
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
, but it was a flawed design and only a small number were built. They had a poor service record and a high accident rate - out of 21 aircraft, 10 were lost to accidents and one lost for unknown reasons.
Design and development
Air Ministry Specification R.1/36 was issued in March 1936 toseveral companies that had experience in building flying boats. The specification was for a flying boat to replace the Royal Air Force's Saro London
Saro London
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Five: Flying Boats. London: Macdonald & Co. Ltd., 1962 . ISBN 0-356-01449-5....
, Supermarine Stranraer
Supermarine Stranraer
|-Surviving aircraft:A single intact Stranraer, 920/CF-BXO, survives in the collection of the Royal Air Force Museum London. This aircraft was built in 1940, one of 40 built by Canadian Vickers. In service with the Royal Canadian Air Force, it flew with several squadrons, on anti-submarine patrols,...
and Short Singapore biplane flying boats, in the anti-submarine
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
, convoy escort
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
and reconnaissance
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
roles.
An order was placed for a prototype of Blackburn's
Blackburn Aircraft
Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft during the first part of the 20th century.-History:...
radical response to the specification - the Blackburn B-20
Blackburn B-20
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Townend, David R. Clipped Wings -- World War Two Edition. Markham: Aerofile Publications, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9732020-1-4....
- but this would only be delivered in 1940. Meanwhile, a contract was issued in June 1937 to buy 21 of Saunders-Roe's proposed aircraft - the S.36 Lerwick - even though this only existed on paper. The Lerwick was a compact twin-engined, high-winged monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
of all-metal construction. It had a conventional flying boat hull with a planing bottom and two stabilising floats carried under the wings on long struts. It was powered by two Bristol Hercules
Bristol Hercules
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, B. Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways. Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-526-8*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...
engines and initially had twin vertical stabilisers
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
and rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
s. For defense, the Lerwick was equipped with three powered Gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s. The nose turret had a single Vickers K gun
Vickers K machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers K machine gun, known as the Vickers Gas Operated in British service, was a rapid-firing machine gun developed and manufactured for use in aircraft by Vickers-Armstrongs...
; the other two had Browning machine guns
M1919 Browning machine gun
The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...
- two guns in the FN.8 turret in the dorsal position and four in the Nash & Thomson
Nash & Thomson
Nash & Thompson was a British engineering firm that specialised in the production of hydraulically-operated gun turrets for aircraft. The company was also an important manufacturer of hydraulic powered radar scanners, used on radar systems such as H2S and AI Mark VIII.- History :Nash & Thompson was...
FN4.A turret at the tail. The offensive weapons - 2000 lb (900 kg) of bombs or depth charges - were carried in two streamlined nacelles behind the engines.
The first three aircraft were used as prototypes, with the first being launched on 31 October 1938 after numerous delays during design and construction. The Lerwick was immediately found to be unstable, both aerodynamically and on the water, and not suited to "hands off" flying, a major problem in an aircraft designed for long-range patrols. Numerous adjustments, including the addition of a greatly enlarged single vertical tail unit and increasing the wing incidence
Angle of incidence
Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on", for example:* in the approach of a ray to a surface, or* the angle at which the wing or horizontal tail of an airplane is installed on the fuselage, measured relative to the axis of the fuselage.-Optics:In geometric...
, failed to remedy its undesirable characteristics, which included a vicious stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
and unsatisfactory rates of roll and yaw. In service, several aircraft would be lost because of wing floats breaking off, suggesting this was a structural weakness. Persistent problems with the aircraft's hydraulics would see the bomb doors sometimes dropping open during flight
On one engine, the Lerwick could not maintain height, nor could it maintain a constant heading as the controls couldn't counter the torque of a single engine on maximum power. Thus, an engine failure would inevitably see the aircraft flying in slowly descending circles. On one occasion, the loss of an engine forced a Lerwick to make an emergency landing in the Caledonian Canal
Caledonian Canal
The Caledonian Canal is a canal in Scotland that connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford, and is a sister canal of the Göta Canal in Sweden, also constructed by...
. The aircraft was then towed to Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
at the end of a string of coal barges.
Service
In the summer of 1939, four Lerwicks were allocated to 240 SquadronNo. 240 Squadron RAF
No. 240 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force flying boat and seaplane squadron during World War I, World War II and up to 1959. It was then reformed as a strategic missile squadron, serving thus till 1963.-Formation and World War I:No...
. But by October, the squadron had stopped flying them and reverted to its older and slower Saro London flying boats. The Lerwick programme was cancelled on the 24 October, but restarted on 1 November. In December 1939, Air Vice-Marshal Sholto Douglas recommended the Lerwicks be scrapped and Saunders-Roe put to building Short Sunderlands, but the production changeover would have taken months and, with the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, aircraft were urgently required.
No. 209 Squadron RAF
No. 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service and saw active service in both World Wars, the Korean War and in Malaya...
based at Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
in 1940, replacing Short Singapores. The squadron soon began losing aircraft to accidents. During the service with 209 Squadron, all the Lerwicks were grounded twice for urgent safety modifications; on only two occasions were U-boats ever attacked by a Lerwick and neither one of the submarines was damaged.
In April 1941, 209 Squadron began receiving PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
s. The last of a total of 21 Lerwicks was delivered in May, but the type was withdrawn from front-line service in the same month. Most of the remaining Lerwicks were transferred to Number 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit
Operational Conversion Unit
An Operational Conversion Unit is a unit within an air force whose role is to support preparation for the operational missions of a specific aircraft type by providing trained personnel. OCUs teach pilots how to fly an aircraft and which tactics best exploit the performance of their aircraft and...
at Invergordon
Invergordon
Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:The town is well known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it was also known for the repair of oil rigs which used to be lined up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated...
; three were sent to 240 Squadron for service trials at the highly-secret Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment
Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment
The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment was a British military research and test organisation. It was originally formed as the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station in October 1918 at RAF Isle of Grain, a former Royal Naval Air Service seaplane base, to design, test and evaluate seaplanes,...
at Helensburgh
Helensburgh
Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....
.
In the Summer of 1942, the Lerwicks were briefly returned to service for the purpose of operational training with 422 Squadron
No. 422 Squadron RCAF
No. 422 Squadron RCAF was a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II.422 General Reconnaissance Squadron formed at RAF Castle Archdale near Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, in April 1942. It was a flying-boat squadron, flying PBY Catalinas and Short Sunderlands to patrol the...
and 423 Squadron
No. 423 Squadron RCAF
423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force. It currently operates the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King from CFB Shearwater in Nova Scotia, Canada.-History:...
, Royal Canadian Air Force, based at Loch Erne. By the end of 1942 the type had been declared obsolete; by early 1943, the survivors had been scrapped.
Operators
Canada
- Royal Canadian Air ForceRoyal Canadian Air ForceThe history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
- No. 422 Squadron RCAFNo. 422 Squadron RCAFNo. 422 Squadron RCAF was a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II.422 General Reconnaissance Squadron formed at RAF Castle Archdale near Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, in April 1942. It was a flying-boat squadron, flying PBY Catalinas and Short Sunderlands to patrol the...
- No. 423 Squadron RCAFNo. 423 Squadron RCAF423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force. It currently operates the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King from CFB Shearwater in Nova Scotia, Canada.-History:...
- No. 422 Squadron RCAF
- Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
- No. 209 Squadron RAFNo. 209 Squadron RAFNo. 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service and saw active service in both World Wars, the Korean War and in Malaya...
: 1939-1941 - No. 240 Squadron RAFNo. 240 Squadron RAFNo. 240 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force flying boat and seaplane squadron during World War I, World War II and up to 1959. It was then reformed as a strategic missile squadron, serving thus till 1963.-Formation and World War I:No...
: Three Lerwicks used for service trials. - No. 4 (Coastal) Operational Training UnitOperational Conversion UnitAn Operational Conversion Unit is a unit within an air force whose role is to support preparation for the operational missions of a specific aircraft type by providing trained personnel. OCUs teach pilots how to fly an aircraft and which tactics best exploit the performance of their aircraft and...
: 1941
- No. 209 Squadron RAF
Operational Losses
| Date | Aircraft | Cause of loss |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 39 | L7249 | Operating with the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe Felixstowe Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK... , sank after launching as a camera hatch was left open; written off |
| 20 Feb 1940 | L7253 (WQ-G) | Wing float broke-off as it touched down, the aircraft rolled upside down and four crew died. |
| 29 June 1940 | L7261 | Wing float broke-off while taxing after landing, rolled over and sank in Ardentrive Bay, Kerrera Kerrera Kerrera is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, close to the town of Oban. In 2005 it had a population of about 35 people, and it is linked to the mainland by passenger ferry on the Gallanach Road.... ; no casualties |
| 21 Nov 1940 | L7251 | Sank at its moorings in Loch Ryan Loch Ryan Loch Ryan is a Scottish sea loch that acts as an important natural harbour for shipping, providing calm waters for ferries operating between Scotland and Northern Ireland... |
| 6 Dec 1940 | L7255 (WQ-A) | Sank, when it lost a float in a gale while moored on Loch Ryan |
| 7 Jan 1941 | L7262 | Sank after an accident during take-off; two crew died. |
| 22 Feb 1941 | L7263 (WQ-L) | Went missing while on patrol in fine weather with a crew of 14 |
| 24 Mar 1941 | L7252 | Damaged after bouncing during landing, sank |
| 14 Oct 1941 | L7268, | Operating with No. 4 (C)OTU, crashed into the sea, killing nine |
| 16 Oct 1941 | L7254 | Sank after striking a rock during taxing |
| 21 Oct 1941 | L7248 | The first Lerwick built; crashed on the 21 October, killing six RAF personnel and a civilian technician. The aircraft was flying on a calibration flight from the MAEE when it developed an engine fault and crashed into a hillside above Faslane |
| 11 November 1941 | L7257 (WQ-F) | Sank at its moorings during a gale |
| 21 Dec 1941 | L7265 (WQ-Q) | Flying with No. 4 (C)OTU, it was written off after crashing during landing |
| 6 Sept 1942 | L7267 | Lost during an aborted landing - the pilot increased power to Go-around Go-around A go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach.- Origin of the term :The term arises from the traditional use of traffic patterns at airfields. A landing aircraft will first join the circuit pattern and prepare for landing in an orderly fashion... but one engine failed to respond. A wingtip struck the water and the aircraft was spun around, tearing a gash in its hull. The crew climbed out through the astrodome Astrodome (aviation) An astrodome is a hemispherical transparent dome fitted in the cabin roof of an aircraft to allow the use of a sextant during astro-navigation.... and began swimming to shore as the aircraft sank, but were picked up by a boat |