{"id":21612,"date":"2026-08-22T00:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/?page_id=21612"},"modified":"2026-08-22T00:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:02:09","slug":"avro-shackleton","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ar\/aircraft\/avro-shackleton\/","title":{"rendered":"Avro Shackleton"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"mfam\">\n<style> html{overflow-x:hidden} body.page-id-21612{overflow-x:hidden} body.page-id-21612 h1.entry-title.main_title{display:none} body.page-id-21612 #sidebar{display:none} body.page-id-21612 #left-area{width:100%!important;float:none;padding:0} body.page-id-21612 #main-content .container::before{display:none!important;background:none!important} body.page-id-21612 #main-content .container{padding-top:0} #mfam{width:100vw;margin-left:calc(50% - 50vw);overflow:hidden;font-family:'Gilroy regular',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;background:#fff;font-size:17px;line-height:1.65} #mfam 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semiBold';font-size:12px;letter-spacing:1.5px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;margin-bottom:10px} #mfam a.flycard .ft{display:block;font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:20px;margin-bottom:8px} #mfam a.flycard .fd{display:block;font-size:14.5px;color:#aab6c8;margin-bottom:14px} #mfam a.flycard .fgo{display:block;font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:14px;color:#fff;border-top:1px solid #232c39;padding-top:12px} \/* RELATED *\/ #mfam .relgrid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(3,1fr);gap:20px} @media(max-width:820px){#mfam .relgrid{grid-template-columns:1fr}} #mfam a.rcard{border:1px solid #e2e7ee;display:block;color:#0d1117;background:#fff} #mfam a.rcard:hover{border-color:#5C91FF;text-decoration:none} #mfam a.rcard .rimg{width:100%;aspect-ratio:3\/2;object-fit:cover;background:#0d1117} #mfam a.rcard .rb{padding:18px 20px} #mfam a.rcard .rk{display:block;font-size:12.5px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';margin-bottom:6px} #mfam a.rcard .rt{display:block;font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:19px;margin-bottom:6px} #mfam a.rcard .rd{display:block;font-size:14.5px;color:#5b6675} #mfam .relgrid>p,#mfam .track>p,#mfam .fly-track>p,#mfam .gal>p{display:contents} \/* SOURCES *\/ #mfam .srcs{columns:2;column-gap:40px} @media(max-width:820px){#mfam .srcs{columns:1}} #mfam .srcs .src{break-inside:avoid;margin-bottom:16px} #mfam .srcs .src b{font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-weight:normal;display:block} #mfam .srcs .src span{font-size:14.5px;color:#5b6675} <\/style>\n<div class=\"hero\"><img data-opt-id=1463424939  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr3-in-flight.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"hero-img\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Avro Shackleton MR.3 maritime patrol aircraft in flight\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"hero-grad\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"hero-in\">\n<div class=\"hero-bc\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/\">Book of Beasts<\/a> &nbsp;\/&nbsp; Avro Shackleton<\/div>\n<h1>Avro Shackleton<\/h1>\n<p class=\"hero-claim\">Britain\u2019s Cold War submarine-hunter: four screaming Griffons, a crew of ten, and up to sixteen hours over a grey Atlantic &mdash; the Lancaster\u2019s loudest, longest-serving grandchild.<\/p>\n<div class=\"stat-strip\">\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>1949<\/b><span>First flight<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>~185<\/b><span>Built (all marks)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>4&times;<\/b><span>Rolls-Royce Griffon<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>1991<\/b><span>RAF retirement<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"chips\"><span class=\"chip\"><b>Role:<\/b> Maritime patrol \/ anti-submarine \/ AEW<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Era:<\/b> 1951&ndash;1991<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Engine:<\/b> 4&times; Rolls-Royce Griffon (contra-props)<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Origin:<\/b> United Kingdom<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Status:<\/b> Retired &mdash; preserved<\/span><a class=\"chip chip-cta\" href=\"#faq\">Want to fly a real military jet yourself?<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">The Story<\/p>\n<h2>The Avro Shackleton: the Lancaster\u2019s grandchild that guarded the Atlantic for forty years<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lede\">When the Royal Air Force needed a machine to hunt Soviet submarines across the freezing wastes of the North Atlantic, it did not start with a clean sheet. It reached back to the most famous bomber of the Second World War. The Avro Shackleton was drawn straight from the family tree of the Lancaster and the Lincoln &mdash; a big, four-engined, propeller-driven patrol aircraft that first flew in 1949 and, astonishingly, was still flying front-line RAF sorties in 1991.<\/p>\n<p>The lineage is direct and worth stating plainly. The wartime <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-lancaster\/\">Avro Lancaster<\/a> bomber was developed into the more powerful Avro Lincoln; from the Lincoln\u2019s wings and undercarriage, Avro\u2019s chief designer Roy Chadwick\u2019s team drew up a new fuselage for long over-water patrol. Early in its life the aircraft was even known as the Lincoln ASR.3 and the \u201cGR.1\u201d before being named after the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton &mdash; a family connection, as the type\u2019s design owed something to the earlier Avro Tudor airliner. What emerged was unmistakably a Lancaster descendant: the same broad-shouldered stance, the same deep wing, the same throaty roar &mdash; only more so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pull\">\u201cA hundred thousand rivets flying in loose formation\u201d &mdash; the affectionate jibe that followed the Shackleton everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>That roar is the Shackleton\u2019s signature. Where the Lancaster used Merlins, the Shackleton used four Rolls-Royce Griffon V12s, each swinging a pair of six-bladed contra-rotating propellers. The result was one of the loudest aircraft ever to serve &mdash; so loud that it earned the nickname \u201cthe Growler,\u201d and so punishing that high-tone hearing loss became a recognised occupational hazard for its crews. Ten men flew in that noise for sortie after sortie, some lasting well over half a day, taking turns at the radar, the galley and the bunks on patrols that could exceed 3,000 kilometres out and back.<\/p>\n<p>Their quarry was the Soviet submarine fleet. Through the 1950s, 60s and 70s the Shackleton was RAF Coastal Command\u2019s eyes over the Atlantic and the North Sea, sweeping the GIUK gap between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom with search radar, sonobuoys, depth charges and, if needed, homing torpedoes. But maritime patrol was only half the story. Shackletons dropped airborne lifeboats on air-sea rescue missions, hauled troops and freight, and served as the long arm of a shrinking empire &mdash; flying strike and colonial-policing sorties over Aden, bombing rebel positions in Oman\u2019s Jebel Akhdar campaign, supporting the 1956 Suez operation and patrolling during the Indonesia&ndash;Malaysia Confrontation.<\/p>\n<p>Then came its strangest chapter. When the Royal Navy\u2019s carrier-borne early-warning Gannets were retired in 1972, the RAF needed a stopgap airborne early-warning platform &mdash; and reached, once again, for the Shackleton. Twelve MR.2s were fitted with 1940s-vintage AN\/APS-20 radar sets (some of the very sets pulled from those Gannets) and pressed into service as the AEW.2. Intended to last a handful of years, they instead soldiered on until 1 July 1991, by which point the Shackleton was a genuine aviation anachronism: a piston-engined, WWII-radar-equipped machine guarding NATO\u2019s northern flank into the age of the fast jet. South Africa, meanwhile, flew its own Shackleton MR.3s on Cape patrols from 1957 until 1984. Few aircraft have bridged so many eras &mdash; or made so much noise doing it.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth pausing on just how strange the Shackleton\u2019s longevity was. When the prototype flew in 1949, the jet age was barely beginning; the RAF\u2019s front line still bristled with Spitfires and piston-engined Meteors were novelties. When the last Shackleton landed for the final time in 1991, the RAF was flying the Tornado, the Cold War was ending, and stealth aircraft had already flown in combat over Iraq. A single airframe design had stretched across the entire span from the propeller era to the threshold of the modern age &mdash; a bridge no other British front-line aircraft managed to build.<\/p>\n<p>For all its noise and its antiquity, the Shackleton was loved. It was rugged, dependable and forgiving; it brought its crews home from sixteen-hour sorties over the worst weather the North Atlantic could offer; and it did jobs &mdash; sub-hunting, sea rescue, early warning &mdash; that mattered enormously even if they never made headlines. The men who flew it called themselves, only half-jokingly, the last of the \u201ckipper fleet.\u201d The aircraft that emerged from the shadow of the Lancaster ended up carving out an identity entirely its own: not a bomber, but a patient, growling guardian of the grey seas around Britain and the Cape.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top:34px\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Go deeper<\/p>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">01<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton\u2019s lineage: from Lancaster to Lincoln to submarine-hunter<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton is best understood as the third generation of a single design family. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-lancaster\/\">Avro Lancaster<\/a> (first flight 1941) was the RAF\u2019s great wartime heavy bomber. Avro developed it into the larger, longer-ranged Avro Lincoln, which reached squadrons at the very end of the war. When the Admiralty and Air Ministry issued a requirement for a dedicated long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft to replace the Lend-Lease Liberators and the Lancaster ASR\/GR conversions, Avro answered with a design that married a new, fatter fuselage to Lincoln-derived wings, tail and landing gear.<\/p>\n<p>Roy Chadwick, the designer behind the Lancaster, led the early work; tragically he was killed in the 1947 crash of the Avro Tudor 2, before the Shackleton flew. The prototype (VW135) first took to the air on 9 March 1949. Because so much was carried over, the type entered service quickly, reaching the RAF in April 1951 as the MR.1. The bloodline shows in every line of the aircraft &mdash; and in its sound.<\/p>\n<p>The choice to build a piston-engined patrol aircraft in 1949, when Britain was already pioneering the jet engine, was deliberate. Maritime patrol rewards endurance over speed: an aircraft that can loiter at low level for twelve, fourteen, sixteen hours is worth far more to a submarine-hunter than one that can dash at high speed but must turn for home in a fraction of the time. Early jets were thirsty and short-legged; a big, efficient piston aircraft with a broad wing was exactly the right tool. The Shackleton\u2019s designers understood that the Atlantic gap could only be closed by an aircraft that could stay out there, hour after hour, in the worst of weather.<\/p>\n<p>The family resemblance to the Lancaster and Lincoln is not merely cosmetic. The Shackleton shared the twin-fin tail arrangement, the mid-set wing and the same fundamental structural philosophy of its bomber ancestors. Pilots who had flown Lancasters in the war found the Shackleton\u2019s handling broadly familiar, if heavier and even noisier. In a very real sense, the Shackleton kept the spirit of Bomber Command\u2019s workhorse alive for four more decades, long after the last Lancaster had been retired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">02<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Why the Avro Shackleton was so deafening: Griffons, contra-props and crew hearing loss<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Each of the Shackleton\u2019s four Rolls-Royce Griffon engines drove two six-bladed propellers turning in opposite directions on a common axis. Contra-rotating props cancel torque and convert engine power efficiently, but they generate an intense, penetrating drone at a frequency the human ear finds especially fatiguing. Inside the un-pressurised fuselage there was little to soften it.<\/p>\n<p>The consequences were real and are worth handling honestly: many Shackleton aircrew suffered high-tone deafness, and the aircraft\u2019s reputation as \u201cthe Growler\u201d was earned the hard way. Crews wore ear protection, but on patrols that could run past sixteen hours the cumulative exposure took its toll. The later MR.3 added some soundproofing and a few creature comforts &mdash; a proper galley, better bunks &mdash; but no Shackleton was ever a quiet place to work. Even today, ground-runs of preserved aircraft draw crowds precisely for that shattering, unmistakable noise.<\/p>\n<p>The physics behind the sound is worth understanding. A conventional propeller produces most of its noise at the blade tips, where the airflow approaches the speed of sound. Stack two propellers close together, spinning in opposite directions, and the rear disc chops repeatedly through the disturbed, vortex-laden air left by the front disc. The result is a rapid succession of pressure pulses at a frequency the human ear registers as a harsh, buzzing growl rather than a smooth drone. Multiply that by four engines and eight propeller discs, and the effect is overwhelming.<\/p>\n<p>Veterans\u2019 accounts of the noise are consistent and vivid: conversation aboard was impossible without the intercom; the whole airframe vibrated; and crews stepped off after a long sortie with their ears ringing for hours. The recognition of \u201cShackleton ear\u201d as an occupational injury is part of a wider, sobering story about hearing damage among mid-century aircrew, and it deserves to be told plainly rather than romanticised. The Growler\u2019s glorious sound came at a genuine human cost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">03<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Hunting Soviet submarines: the Avro Shackleton\u2019s Cold War maritime patrol mission<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton\u2019s core job was anti-submarine warfare and maritime reconnaissance. Flying from bases such as Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, St Mawgan in Cornwall and Kinloss and Lossiemouth in Scotland, its crews swept the North Atlantic and the strategically vital GIUK gap, watching for Soviet submarines trying to break out into the open ocean.<\/p>\n<p>To do it, the aircraft carried search radar (the ventral \u201cdustbin\u201d radome on the MR.2 and MR.3), sonobuoys to listen for submarines underwater, and a bomb bay that could hold depth charges, homing torpedoes and mines &mdash; up to around 10,000 lb of stores. Two 20 mm cannon in the nose gave it a limited strike and anti-shipping capability. Endurance was the whole point: with a very long-span wing and economical cruise, the Shackleton could stay on task for the better part of a day, far out over water where no other RAF aircraft could loiter so long. It was unglamorous, exhausting work &mdash; hours of grey sea, punctuated by the adrenaline of a contact.<\/p>\n<p>The tactics were painstaking. A patrol crew might spend hours flying a search pattern, watching the radar for the tiny return of a snorkel or periscope breaking the surface. On a promising contact the aircraft would drop a pattern of sonobuoys &mdash; floating hydrophones that radioed back what they heard &mdash; and the crew would work to build a picture of the submarine\u2019s course, speed and depth before committing to an attack with depth charges or a homing torpedo. It was a discipline much closer to detective work than to the slashing dogfights of fighter lore.<\/p>\n<p>The strategic backdrop gave this drudgery its meaning. The Soviet submarine fleet grew rapidly through the Cold War, and NATO\u2019s planners feared that in a war the Atlantic sea lanes &mdash; the lifeline carrying reinforcements and supplies from North America to Europe &mdash; would be cut by submarines slipping through the GIUK gap. The Shackleton, and later the Nimrod, existed to close that gap: to find, track and if necessary sink those submarines before they could reach the open ocean. Every quiet patrol was a small contribution to a very large deterrent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">04<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton AEW.2: the WWII-radar stopgap that served until 1991<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>In 1971 the Royal Navy retired the Fairey Gannet AEW.3, leaving Britain without airborne early warning. The planned replacement (a version of the Nimrod) was years away, so the RAF converted twelve Shackleton MR.2 airframes into airborne early-warning aircraft designated AEW.2, fitting them with the American AN\/APS-20 radar &mdash; a set that dated back to the 1940s and, in several cases, was physically transferred from the retiring Gannets.<\/p>\n<p>These aircraft, flown by 8 Squadron from RAF Lossiemouth and given individual names drawn from the children\u2019s TV series \u201cThe Magic Roundabout\u201d (Dougal, Florence, Ermintrude and others), were meant as a short-term fix. Instead they served for nearly twenty years, finally retiring on 1 July 1991 &mdash; making the Shackleton one of the longest-serving aircraft of its generation and a Cold War curiosity: a piston-engined machine, with wartime radar, holding NATO\u2019s northern early-warning line into the era of the F-15 and Tornado.<\/p>\n<p>The reason the stopgap became permanent is a familiar procurement story. The intended replacement was an airborne-early-warning version of the Nimrod &mdash; the Nimrod AEW.3 &mdash; whose mission-system development ran catastrophically over budget and behind schedule through the 1980s before being cancelled outright in 1986. Britain eventually bought the Boeing E-3 Sentry instead, which did not enter RAF service until the early 1990s. Until it did, the ancient Shackletons were quite literally all the airborne early warning the RAF had, and so they kept flying, year after year, long past any reasonable retirement date.<\/p>\n<p>Flying the AEW.2 was a demanding, old-fashioned business. The radar was maintained by specialists who had learned their trade decades earlier; spares were increasingly scarce; and the aircraft themselves were tired airframes worked hard. That 8 Squadron kept them operational and effective into 1991 is a considerable testament to the ground crews and aircrew involved. When the last one landed, it marked not just the end of the Shackleton but the end of the piston-engined combat aircraft in RAF front-line service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Design &amp; Engineering<\/p>\n<h2>How the Avro Shackleton was built to stay airborne for sixteen hours<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:26px\">Everything about the Shackleton was subordinated to one goal: staying useful over the ocean for as long as possible. That priority explains its choices &mdash; efficient piston engines instead of thirsty early jets, a long, broad wing, a big fuel load, and a fuselage built as a workplace for a large crew rather than a tight cockpit for one pilot. Here is how the three key elements came together.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ecards\">\n<div class=\"ecard\">\n<div class=\"en\">01<\/div>\n<h3>Four Griffons, eight contra-rotating props<\/h3>\n<p>Four Rolls-Royce Griffon 57\/57A V12 engines of roughly 1,960 hp each, every one turning a pair of six-bladed de Havilland contra-rotating propellers. Splitting the power across two counter-rotating discs cancelled torque and gave efficient, high-endurance cruise &mdash; at the cost of a legendary, ear-splitting drone that damaged crews\u2019 hearing. Later MR.3s even gained two small Viper jets to help heavyweight take-offs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ecard\">\n<div class=\"en\">02<\/div>\n<h3>Lancaster DNA, stretched for the ocean<\/h3>\n<p>Lincoln-derived wings, tail and undercarriage carried a new, deep fuselage with room for a crew of ten, bunks and a galley &mdash; a workplace, not a cockpit. The long-span wing and large fuel load bought endurance measured in double-digit hours; the definitive MR.3 added a tricycle undercarriage, wingtip fuel tanks and a little soundproofing for the men inside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ecard\">\n<div class=\"en\">03<\/div>\n<h3>Radar, sonobuoys and a bomb bay<\/h3>\n<p>Air-to-surface search radar in a ventral \u201cdustbin\u201d radome, patterns of sonobuoys to listen for submerged submarines, and a marine-markers and flares fit made it a true sub-hunter. The bomb bay took depth charges, homing torpedoes and mines up to ~10,000 lb, with two 20 mm nose cannon. The AEW.2 swapped all of it for one ancient AN\/APS-20 early-warning radar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top:34px\">\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">05<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">South Africa\u2019s Avro Shackletons: the SAAF\u2019s Cape patrol MR.3s, 1957&ndash;1984<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton\u2019s only export customer was South Africa. The South African Air Force ordered eight Shackleton MR.3s, the first pair arriving in August 1957 and all in service with 35 Squadron by early 1958. From Cape Town they flew long maritime patrols around the Cape of Good Hope &mdash; a vital sea lane &mdash; for more than a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n<p>Their most famous action was environmental rather than military: in 1971 SAAF Shackletons helped deal with the wrecked, blazing tanker SS Wafra by depth-charging and ultimately sinking the hulk offshore to limit an oil spill. An international arms embargo eventually starved the fleet of spares, and combined with airframe fatigue the SAAF retired its Shackletons in November 1984. Remarkably, the SAAF Museum later returned one example, \u201cPelican 22\u201d (1722), to taxiable and even briefly airworthy condition &mdash; though it has since been grounded for safety and crew reasons.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s Shackletons flew some of the longest and most demanding maritime patrols anywhere. The waters off the Cape of Good Hope are among the roughest in the world, and the sea lane around southern Africa carried a huge share of the world\u2019s oil traffic, especially when the Suez Canal was closed. The SAAF\u2019s handful of aircraft covered an enormous expanse of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and their crews built a reputation for endurance flying that matched anything the RAF asked of its own Shackleton squadrons.<\/p>\n<p>The arms embargo imposed on apartheid-era South Africa made the fleet progressively harder to keep flying. Unable to buy spares openly, the SAAF cannibalised aircraft and improvised repairs, but by 1984 the combination of fatigue life and unobtainable parts made continued service impractical. The retirement of the Shackleton left a gap in South African maritime patrol that was never fully filled. The type\u2019s South African chapter ended, but its legend did not: the 1994 loss of \u201cPelican 16\u201d in the Sahara, on a goodwill flight to Britain, became one of the most extraordinary survival stories in the aircraft\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">06<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton\u2019s operating costs: what long-range patrol actually cost<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Hard per-hour cost figures for the Shackleton are not reliably recorded in the public record, and any single number should be treated with caution &mdash; 1950s&ndash;80s RAF accounting did not publish costs the way modern programmes do. What can be said is that the Shackleton was, by the standards of its mission, relatively economical: a piston-engined aircraft burning avgas rather than a thirsty early jet, designed for long, low-and-slow endurance rather than speed.<\/p>\n<p>The real \u201ccost\u201d of the Shackleton was measured differently &mdash; in crew fatigue, in hearing damage from the Griffons, and in the mounting maintenance burden of keeping 1940s-derived airframes and radar serviceable into the 1990s. By the end, spares and fatigue-life, not fuel, were what finally retired the type. We flag all cost figures here as estimates; treat the unit and hourly costs as \u201cnot reliably recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">07<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Avro Shackleton survivors: which airframes still exist, and is any airworthy?<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Several Shackletons survive in museums around the world, and the type has a devoted preservation following. Notable static examples include MR.3 WR977 at the Newark Air Museum, MR.3 XF708 at IWM Duxford, MR.3 WR982 at the Gatwick Aviation Museum (engines runnable), AEW.2 WL790 at the Pima Air &amp; Space Museum in Arizona, and SAAF airframes at the South African Air Force Museum. AEW.2 WL747 lies derelict at Paphos in Cyprus.<\/p>\n<p>Is any Shackleton airworthy today? Honestly: not currently. The SAAF\u2019s \u201cPelican 22\u201d has been ground-run and was once flown post-restoration, but is grounded. In the UK, the Shackleton Preservation Trust has for years been restoring MR.2 WR963 (registered G-SKTN) at Coventry toward a possible return to flight, keeping its Griffons in running order with regular engine-runs &mdash; but as of the mid-2020s no Shackleton is flying. The situation has changed before and could change again, so treat \u201cairworthy\u201d claims with care and check current status.<\/p>\n<p>The preservation community around the Shackleton is unusually active precisely because the aircraft is so evocative. Engine-runs &mdash; where a static aircraft fires up its Griffons on the ground for an audience &mdash; have become popular events in their own right, letting new generations experience the Growler\u2019s extraordinary sound without the aircraft ever leaving the tarmac. WR982 at Gatwick and WR963 at Coventry are among the airframes kept in running order for exactly this reason.<\/p>\n<p>Whether a Shackleton will ever fly again is genuinely uncertain. Returning a large, complex, ageing four-engined aircraft to certified flight is enormously expensive and demanding, and the regulatory bar is high. Enthusiasts remain hopeful, and the WR963 project has made real progress over the years, but nothing is guaranteed. For now, the honest answer to \u201ccan I see a Shackleton fly?\u201d is: not yet &mdash; but you can hear one roar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">08<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Rolls-Royce Griffon and contra-rotating propellers: the heart of the Shackleton<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Rolls-Royce Griffon was the larger, more powerful successor to the famous Merlin that had powered the Spitfire and the Lancaster. With a capacity of around 37 litres against the Merlin\u2019s 27, the Griffon delivered more torque at lower revs &mdash; ideal for turning large propellers efficiently at the low, economical cruise speeds a patrol aircraft needs. The Shackleton used four of them, in the Griffon 57 and 57A versions, each producing roughly 1,960 horsepower.<\/p>\n<p>What made the installation distinctive was the propeller arrangement. Each Griffon drove not one propeller but two, mounted on concentric shafts and turning in opposite directions &mdash; a six-blade contra-rotating unit made by de Havilland. Contra-rotating propellers solve a real problem: a single large propeller absorbing so much power would produce enormous torque and gyroscopic effects, making the aircraft difficult to handle. Splitting the load across two counter-rotating discs cancels the torque, improves efficiency and lets the engine turn a huge amount of power into thrust without an impractically large single propeller.<\/p>\n<p>The trade-off, as every Shackleton crew knew, was noise &mdash; and mechanical complexity. The contra-rotating gearboxes and propeller assemblies were sophisticated pieces of engineering that demanded careful maintenance. But they gave the Shackleton exactly the efficient, high-endurance cruise its mission demanded, and they gave it its unmistakable voice. To many enthusiasts the sound of four Griffons and eight propeller discs is the single most thrilling noise in British aviation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">09<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Variants of the Avro Shackleton: MR.1, MR.2, MR.3, AEW.2 and the trainers<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton evolved through several distinct marks. The <b>MR.1<\/b> and improved <b>MR.1A<\/b> were the first maritime-reconnaissance versions, entering service from 1951 with a dorsal gun turret and the original Griffon installation; around 76 were built. The <b>MR.2<\/b>, from 1953, moved the search radar to a retractable ventral \u201cdustbin\u201d radome and lengthened the nose, improving both aerodynamics and sensor coverage; about 69 were built.<\/p>\n<p>The <b>MR.3<\/b>, first flown in 1955, was the most refined maritime version: it introduced a tricycle undercarriage (replacing the earlier tail-wheel layout), wingtip fuel tanks for greater range, and improved crew comfort including better soundproofing and a proper rest area. Thirty-four were built for the RAF and eight for South Africa. Later RAF MR.3s were fitted with auxiliary Viper jet engines in the outer nacelles to help with heavyweight take-offs, as their all-up weight had grown.<\/p>\n<p>The <b>AEW.2<\/b> was the airborne-early-warning conversion: twelve MR.2 airframes rebuilt from 1971 with the AN\/APS-20 radar in a large chin radome, serving until 1991. Training variants (designated T.4 and others) were also produced by converting earlier airframes to instruct navigators and radar operators. Total production across all marks is usually given as about 185 aircraft, though sources vary slightly on the exact breakdown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">10<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Accidents, losses and the human cost of the Avro Shackleton<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Long-endurance patrol flying, often at low level over hostile seas and in poor weather, was inherently dangerous, and the Shackleton suffered its share of accidents over four decades of service. Crews faced the hazards of night and all-weather operations far from land, heavy aircraft at the limits of their performance, and the sheer fatigue of sorties that could last most of a day.<\/p>\n<p>Among the SAAF fleet, one aircraft was lost with its crew in the Wemmershoek mountains in 1963. The most famous incident, however, ended happily: in 1994 the SAAF Shackleton \u201cPelican 16,\u201d en route to Britain, was forced down in the Sahara after engine trouble. All nineteen people aboard survived the landing and were rescued, though the aircraft could not be recovered and remains in the desert to this day &mdash; a startling, intact relic slowly weathering in the sand.<\/p>\n<p>The other, quieter cost was the hearing damage described elsewhere on this page. It is a reminder that the romance of a vintage aircraft always sits alongside the real experience of the people who operated it &mdash; the long, cold, deafening hours that made the Shackleton\u2019s missions possible. Remembering the aircraft honestly means remembering that human cost too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">11<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Avro Shackleton vs Nimrod vs P-3 Orion: how the Growler compared<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton belonged to the first Cold War generation of long-range maritime patrol aircraft, and comparing it with its successors shows how quickly the field moved. Its direct RAF replacement in the anti-submarine role was the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod &mdash; a jet based on the Comet airliner &mdash; which offered far higher transit speed, a pressurised cabin, and vastly more capable sensors. The Nimrod could reach a distant patrol area much faster and work it in far greater comfort.<\/p>\n<p>Across the Atlantic, the United States and many allied nations flew the Lockheed P-3 Orion, a turboprop that struck a middle path: faster and more modern than the Shackleton, but still propeller-driven for efficient low-level loiter. The P-3 became the Western world\u2019s standard maritime patrol aircraft for decades, and its longevity in some ways mirrors the Shackleton\u2019s own.<\/p>\n<p>What the Shackleton offered that its successors could not was simply time in the air for the money, in an era when jets were still thirsty and short-legged. It was slower, louder and cruder than what came after &mdash; but it was there first, and it did the job for forty years. In the AEW role in particular, its persistence long after it should have been replaced is a story less about the aircraft\u2019s excellence than about the difficulty and cost of replacing it &mdash; a lesson in procurement as much as in engineering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Full Specifications<\/p>\n<h2>Avro Shackleton MR.3 specifications and performance<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:26px\">Representative figures for the Shackleton MR.3, the definitive maritime-reconnaissance variant. The Shackleton was never about outright performance &mdash; its top speed of around 480 km\/h is modest, and its ceiling low &mdash; because its whole design philosophy traded speed and altitude for endurance and load-carrying at low level over the sea. Figures vary between marks and sources; treat all performance numbers as approximate, and note that a heavily-loaded aircraft on a long patrol behaved very differently from the book figures.<\/p>\n<div class=\"specs\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"spec-cap\">Dimensions &amp; performance<\/p>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Crew<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Length<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">26.6 m (87 ft 4 in)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Wingspan<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">36.5 m (120 ft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Max speed<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~480 km\/h (300 mph \/ 260 kn)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Typical patrol speed<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~370 km\/h (200 kn), low level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Range<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~3,600 km (1,950 nmi)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Endurance<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~14&ndash;16 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Service ceiling<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~6,200 m (20,200 ft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Max takeoff weight<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~39,000 kg (86,000 lb)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"spec-cap\">Powerplant, payload &amp; cost<\/p>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Engines<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">4&times; Rolls-Royce Griffon 57\/57A V12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Power<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~1,960 hp (1,460 kW) each<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Propellers<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">6-blade contra-rotating (per engine)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Guns<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">2&times; 20 mm Hispano cannon (nose, MR marks)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Warload<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~10,000 lb: depth charges, torpedoes, mines, bombs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Sensors<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Search radar, sonobuoys; AN\/APS-20 (AEW.2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Number built<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~185 (all marks; figures vary)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Unit cost<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Not reliably recorded<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Cost per flight hour<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Not reliably recorded<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top:40px\">\n<p class=\"spec-cap\">Variants at a glance<\/p>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\" style=\"width:20%%\"><b>Mark<\/b><\/td>\n<td class=\"k\" style=\"width:36%%\"><b>Role &amp; changes<\/b><\/td>\n<td class=\"v\"><b>Notes<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">MR.1 \/ MR.1A<\/td>\n<td class=\"k\">First maritime-reconnaissance version; dorsal gun turret<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">In service 1951; ~76 built<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">MR.2<\/td>\n<td class=\"k\">Ventral \u201cdustbin\u201d search radar; lengthened nose<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">From 1953; ~69 built<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">MR.3<\/td>\n<td class=\"k\">Tricycle undercarriage, tip tanks, soundproofing<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">From 1955; 34 RAF + 8 SAAF<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">MR.3 (Phase 3)<\/td>\n<td class=\"k\">Auxiliary Viper jets in outer nacelles for heavy take-off<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Later RAF upgrade<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">AEW.2<\/td>\n<td class=\"k\">Airborne early warning; AN\/APS-20 chin radar<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">12 MR.2 conversions; 1972&ndash;1991<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">T.4 \/ trainers<\/td>\n<td class=\"k\">Navigator and radar-operator training conversions<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Converted from earlier marks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"color:#5b6675;font-size:14px;margin-top:10px\">Production and conversion figures vary between sources; totals are usually given as roughly 185 aircraft across all marks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top:34px\">\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">12<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Flying the Avro Shackleton: what the aircraft was actually like to operate<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton was, by all accounts, a heavy but honest aircraft to fly &mdash; demanding physically, especially on a long sortie, but predictable and forgiving in a way that mattered enormously for an aircraft asked to operate at low level over the sea in bad weather. The early tail-wheel MR.1 and MR.2 required careful handling on the ground; the MR.3\u2019s tricycle undercarriage made take-off and landing considerably easier.<\/p>\n<p>As all-up weights climbed over the years &mdash; more fuel, more equipment, more crew comforts &mdash; the later MR.3s began to struggle on take-off, particularly from hot-and-high airfields or on a warm day. The answer was pragmatic and very much of its era: two small Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojets were fitted into the outer engine nacelles, used only to boost the aircraft off the ground and shut down once safely airborne. A four-piston-engined aircraft with two auxiliary jets is an unusual sight, and a neat illustration of how the Shackleton was continually adapted to keep doing its job.<\/p>\n<p>In the air, the aircraft cruised low and slow on patrol, often below a few thousand feet, hunting for the tell-tale radar or visual signs of a submarine. It was cold, it was loud, and it was exhausting &mdash; but it was also stable and dependable, exactly what a crew needs when they are sixteen hours into a sortie over an empty, freezing ocean far from home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">13<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton\u2019s radar and sensors: how it actually found submarines<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>A maritime patrol aircraft is really a flying sensor platform, and the Shackleton carried a suite that evolved over its life. The heart of it was air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) search radar, which on the MR.2 and MR.3 lived in a retractable ventral radome &mdash; the distinctive \u201cdustbin\u201d &mdash; giving all-round coverage to detect ships and surfaced or snorkelling submarines at range.<\/p>\n<p>Radar alone could not find a submerged submarine, so the Shackleton also carried sonobuoys: expendable floating sensors dropped in patterns onto the sea, each one lowering a hydrophone to listen for the sound of a submarine and radioing what it heard back to the aircraft. By reading the returns from a spread of buoys, the crew could estimate a target\u2019s position, course and speed. Marine markers, flares and, later, magnetic and electronic detection aids rounded out the fit.<\/p>\n<p>The AEW.2 conversion swept all of this away in favour of a single, very different sensor: the American AN\/APS-20 radar, mounted in a large chin radome, designed to detect low-flying aircraft and surface contacts at long range and pass that early-warning picture to fighters and controllers. That a 1940s-designed radar was still doing useful front-line work into the 1990s says as much about the difficulty of replacing it as about the set itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">14<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton in memory: \u201cthe Growler,\u201d the kipper fleet and the enthusiasts<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Few aircraft inspire the affection the Shackleton does among enthusiasts and veterans. Its combination of extreme age, extraordinary sound and unglamorous, vital work has given it a devoted following. Crews called themselves the \u201ckipper fleet\u201d &mdash; a wry nod to guarding Britain\u2019s fishing grounds and coasts &mdash; and the camaraderie of those long, shared sorties left a lasting bond.<\/p>\n<p>Today that legacy is carried by preservation groups, museums and associations who keep the surviving airframes cared for and, in a few cases, capable of running their engines. Public engine-runs have become events in their own right, drawing crowds who come specifically to experience the Growler\u2019s sound. Documentaries, books and modelling communities keep the type\u2019s story alive for people who never saw one fly.<\/p>\n<p>The Shackleton occupies an unusual place in aviation memory: not a famous fighter or a war-winning bomber, but a patient, noisy guardian whose value lay in the missions that never made the news. That quiet importance &mdash; forty years of watching the seas so that others could sleep &mdash; is exactly why it is remembered so fondly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">15<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The GIUK gap: why the Avro Shackleton spent its life over the North Atlantic<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>To understand the Shackleton you have to understand the geography of the Cold War at sea. The \u201cGIUK gap\u201d &mdash; the stretches of ocean between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom &mdash; was the chokepoint through which Soviet submarines based in the north had to pass to reach the open Atlantic. If NATO could watch and control that gap, it could blunt the submarine threat to the sea lanes; if it could not, convoys carrying reinforcements from North America to Europe would be desperately vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>The Shackleton was one of NATO\u2019s principal tools for closing that gap. Flying from bases in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cornwall, its crews patrolled these cold, grey waters continuously, building a picture of what moved through them and standing ready to prosecute any submarine contact. It was a mission with no front line and no headlines &mdash; just endless vigilance over a stretch of sea that mattered enormously to the balance of the Cold War.<\/p>\n<p>This is why an aircraft optimised for endurance rather than speed made so much sense. The value was in being able to stay out over the gap, hour after hour, in any weather. The Shackleton, and after it the Nimrod, existed to make sure that the northern approaches to the Atlantic were never left unwatched.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">16<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton\u2019s crew of ten: who did what on a sixteen-hour patrol<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Where a fighter is flown by one person, the Shackleton was operated by a crew of around ten, each with a specialised role, working together for the length of a very long sortie. There were two pilots and a flight engineer up front to manage the four Griffons and the aircraft\u2019s systems; navigators to keep track of position over a featureless ocean far from landmarks; and radar and sensor operators to run the search equipment and interpret its returns.<\/p>\n<p>On patrol the crew rotated through their duties, taking turns to rest in the aircraft\u2019s bunks and to prepare food in its galley. This was not a luxury but a necessity: no one could stare at a radar screen or fly at low level over the sea for sixteen hours without a break, and the aircraft was designed so that the team could sustain effectiveness across a sortie that spanned most of a day and night.<\/p>\n<p>That shared endurance forged the strong identity of the \u201ckipper fleet.\u201d The Shackleton was a genuinely collective machine &mdash; its success depended not on a single ace but on a well-drilled team working the sensors, the navigation and the aircraft in concert, deep into the fatigue of a long flight, in a cabin filled with the ceaseless growl of the engines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">17<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The end of an era: the Avro Shackleton as the RAF\u2019s last piston-engined warrior<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>When the last AEW.2 retired on 1 July 1991, it was not just the end of the Shackleton &mdash; it was the end of the piston-engined combat aircraft in RAF front-line service. Every other piston type had long since given way to jets and turboprops; the Shackleton, through a mixture of good design, hard work and procurement delay, had outlasted them all.<\/p>\n<p>The symbolism is striking. The aircraft\u2019s design lineage ran directly back to the Lancaster of 1941; its engines were a wartime family; its AEW radar was a 1940s set. And yet it served alongside the Tornado, in the same air force that would soon operate the Eurofighter, and it kept watch through the final years of the Cold War it had spent its whole life fighting. Few machines have so completely bridged the gap between one age of aviation and the next.<\/p>\n<p>Its retirement closed a chapter that had opened before the jet age began. The Shackleton had been drawn from a wartime bomber, built to hunt a Cold War enemy, and flown until that enemy\u2019s system was collapsing. When it finally landed for the last time, it took with it the last living link between RAF front-line flying and the propeller-driven world of the Second World War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">18<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton\u2019s weapons: depth charges, torpedoes, mines &mdash; and the nuclear question<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>As an anti-submarine and anti-shipping aircraft, the Shackleton carried its offensive load in a long internal bomb bay. The staple weapons were depth charges &mdash; explosive charges set to detonate at a chosen depth against a submerged submarine &mdash; along with homing torpedoes that could chase a submarine once its position was known, and naval mines for laying defensive or offensive barriers. Total warload was on the order of 10,000 lb. For self-defence and light strike, the maritime marks also carried two 20 mm cannon in the nose.<\/p>\n<p>There is also a nuclear footnote to handle carefully. During the Cold War, Western maritime patrol aircraft operating under NATO were, in some cases, cleared to carry American-supplied nuclear depth bombs such as the Mk 101 \u201cLulu\u201d &mdash; weapons intended to destroy submarines with a nuclear rather than conventional warhead. Sources indicate the Shackleton was among the aircraft associated with this capability; as with much Cold War nuclear detail, exact arrangements are not fully documented publicly, so this should be treated as reported rather than definitively established.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, the overwhelming majority of the Shackleton\u2019s work involved conventional stores and, more often still, no weapons release at all &mdash; the aircraft\u2019s job was chiefly to find and track, deterring and reporting far more than it ever attacked. On colonial-policing sorties over Aden and Oman it also dropped conventional bombs in a light-strike role, a reminder of just how many hats this single airframe wore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">19<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Bases and squadrons: where the RAF flew the Avro Shackleton<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Shackletons served with a number of RAF squadrons, principally within Coastal Command (and later Strike Command after the two were merged). Their home was the string of maritime-patrol airfields around the British Isles: RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, and RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth in the north-east of Scotland, all positioned to reach the Atlantic and the northern approaches quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the UK, Shackletons deployed to overseas bases to cover imperial and Cold War commitments &mdash; operating from Aden (RAF Khormaksar) for policing the Aden Protectorate, from bases supporting operations in Oman and around the Mediterranean, and further afield during the Indonesia&ndash;Malaysia Confrontation in the Far East. Detachments to Malta, Gibraltar and Cyprus supported maritime patrol across the Mediterranean and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>The AEW.2 fleet was concentrated with 8 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth, which flew the airborne-early-warning mission from 1972 until 1991. By the end, Lossiemouth was the last home of the last Shackletons &mdash; the place where the RAF\u2019s piston-engined era finally came to a close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">20<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">Why Britain needed the Avro Shackleton: the maritime gap of the late 1940s<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>By the end of the Second World War the RAF\u2019s maritime patrol force was a patchwork of Lend-Lease American aircraft &mdash; Liberators and Catalinas &mdash; and modified British bombers. With the war over, the American aircraft had to be returned or scrapped, and the makeshift conversions were ageing. Yet the maritime threat did not disappear; if anything, the rapid growth of the Soviet submarine fleet made long-range ocean patrol more important than ever.<\/p>\n<p>Britain therefore needed a purpose-built, long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft of its own, and needed it quickly. Air Ministry Specification R.5\/46 set out the requirement, and Avro &mdash; with its proven four-engined bomber pedigree and the Lincoln already in production &mdash; was ideally placed to answer it. By adapting existing components rather than starting from scratch, Avro could deliver a capable aircraft in a fraction of the time a clean-sheet design would have taken.<\/p>\n<p>That urgency shaped the Shackleton\u2019s whole character: a robust, conservative, endurance-focused design that leaned on wartime experience rather than chasing the new jet technology. It was exactly the right answer to the question being asked in 1946, and it is a large part of why the aircraft was ready to serve by 1951 &mdash; and why it lasted so long afterwards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"gd-num\">21<\/span><span class=\"gd-t\">The Avro Shackleton\u2019s legacy: what the Growler left behind<\/span><span class=\"gd-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Shackleton\u2019s direct legacy is the continuity of British maritime patrol. Its anti-submarine role passed to the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, which carried the mission into the twenty-first century; when the Nimrod itself was retired, the capability eventually returned to the RAF in the form of the Boeing P-8 Poseidon. The thread of long-range ocean watch that the Shackleton wove in 1951 runs unbroken to the present day.<\/p>\n<p>Its AEW legacy is more cautionary. The tortured, ultimately cancelled Nimrod AEW.3 programme &mdash; the very failure that kept the Shackletons flying so long &mdash; became a textbook case in the perils of over-ambitious defence procurement, and the RAF\u2019s move to the proven Boeing E-3 Sentry was shaped in part by that painful experience. In that sense the ancient Shackleton AEW.2 was both a symptom and a stopgap of a procurement crisis.<\/p>\n<p>But the Shackleton\u2019s deepest legacy is cultural. It is remembered with real warmth as \u201cthe Growler,\u201d an aircraft whose sound, longevity and unglamorous devotion to duty made it a genuine national character. It stands as a monument to the value of endurance over glamour &mdash; and to the men who flew those long, deafening, vital patrols over the grey seas, decade after decade, so that the sea lanes stayed safe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Timeline<\/p>\n<h2>The Avro Shackleton\u2019s service history, 1947&ndash;1991<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:24px\">From a late-1940s requirement to the last flight in 1991, the Shackleton\u2019s timeline spans the entire arc of the early jet age &mdash; a piston-engined aircraft that outlasted almost everything designed alongside it. These are the milestones that defined its four decades of service.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tl\">\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1947<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>Requirement and design<\/h3>\n<p>Air Ministry Specification R.5\/46 calls for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft; Avro adapts Lincoln components under Roy Chadwick\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1947<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>Chadwick lost<\/h3>\n<p>Roy Chadwick, the Lancaster\u2019s designer and the man behind the early Shackleton, is killed in the crash of the Avro Tudor 2.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1949<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>First flight<\/h3>\n<p>Prototype VW135 flies on 9 March 1949, powered by four Griffon engines with contra-rotating propellers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1951<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>RAF service<\/h3>\n<p>The MR.1 enters Royal Air Force Coastal Command service in April 1951 for maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1953<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>MR.2 introduced<\/h3>\n<p>Improved MR.2 with a longer nose and ventral \u201cdustbin\u201d search radar enters service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1955&ndash;56<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>MR.3 &amp; Suez<\/h3>\n<p>The MR.3 flies (Sept 1955) with tricycle undercarriage and tip tanks; Shackletons support the 1956 Suez operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1957<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>SAAF &amp; Oman<\/h3>\n<p>South Africa receives its first Shackleton MR.3s; RAF Shackletons fly strike sorties in the Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1960s<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>Colonial policing<\/h3>\n<p>Shackletons operate over Aden, and patrol during the Indonesia&ndash;Malaysia Confrontation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1972<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>AEW.2 stopgap<\/h3>\n<p>Twelve MR.2s converted to airborne early-warning AEW.2 with 1940s AN\/APS-20 radar, flown by 8 Squadron from Lossiemouth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1986<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>Nimrod AEW cancelled<\/h3>\n<p>The Nimrod AEW.3 replacement is cancelled after huge cost overruns; the RAF later buys the Boeing E-3 Sentry, keeping the Shackletons flying meanwhile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1984<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>SAAF retirement<\/h3>\n<p>The South African Air Force retires its Shackleton fleet after 27 years of Cape patrols.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1991<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>RAF retirement<\/h3>\n<p>The last AEW.2s retire on 1 July 1991 &mdash; ending 40 years of RAF Shackleton service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">1994<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>Pelican 16<\/h3>\n<p>SAAF \u201cPelican 16\u201d force-lands in the Sahara en route to the UK; all 19 aboard survive; the wreck remains in the desert.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tl-row\">\n<div class=\"y\">2013+<\/div>\n<div class=\"d\">\n<h3>Return-to-flight bid<\/h3>\n<p>The Shackleton Preservation Trust works to restore MR.2 WR963 (G-SKTN) at Coventry toward airworthiness, with regular Griffon engine-runs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"car-head\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"kicker\">Stories &amp; Eyewitnesses<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"margin-bottom:0\">Twelve things that made the Shackleton the Shackleton<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"car-btns\"><button class=\"car-btn\" aria-label=\"Previous\" onclick=\"this.closest('.wrap').querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:-716,behavior:'smooth'})\">&#8249;<\/button><button class=\"car-btn\" aria-label=\"Next\" onclick=\"this.closest('.wrap').querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:716,behavior:'smooth'})\">&#8250;<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"track\">\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The nickname<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">\u201cThe Growler\u201d<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">The Shackleton\u2019s four Griffons and eight contra-rotating propellers produced a sound crews never forgot. \u201cThe Growler\u201d was affectionate; the high-tone deafness many aircrew suffered was not. Ground-runs of preserved aircraft still draw enthusiasts for the sheer, chest-rattling noise. <\/p>\n<p>Pilots described the sound as a physical presence in the cabin &mdash; a growl you felt through your seat as much as heard. It is the single detail nearly everyone who encountered the aircraft remembers first, and it remains the reason preserved airframes are fired up for the public today.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The jibe<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">\u201c100,000 rivets in loose formation\u201d<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">The old line about \u201ca hundred thousand rivets flying in loose formation\u201d has been aimed at several big aircraft, but it stuck to the Shackleton with special affection &mdash; a nod to its rugged, riveted, unmistakably 1940s construction soldiering on for decades. <\/p>\n<p>There was pride buried in the joke. The Shackleton looked and sounded like a relic long before it retired, yet it kept doing difficult, dangerous work reliably. Crews teased it precisely because they trusted it to bring them home.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The mission<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Sixteen hours over grey sea<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">A maritime patrol could keep ten men aloft for the better part of a day. Crews rotated through the radar, the galley and the bunks, scanning empty ocean for the faint signature of a Soviet submarine trying to slip through the GIUK gap. <\/p>\n<p>Most sorties found nothing at all &mdash; hours of monotony over featureless water. But the discipline never slackened, because the one contact that mattered might appear at any moment, and finding it was the whole point of being out there.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The lineage<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">A Lancaster in all but name<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">Built from Lincoln wings and Lancaster DNA, the Shackleton was the last hurrah of Avro\u2019s great four-engined bomber family &mdash; adapted for the ocean instead of the bomb run, and kept in service long after its cousins were gone. <\/p>\n<p>Pilots who had flown the wartime bombers found the Shackleton broadly familiar, if heavier and louder. In a sense it carried the spirit of Bomber Command\u2019s workhorse forward four more decades, into a Cold War its designers had barely imagined.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">South Africa<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">The Wafra oil-spill sinking<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">In 1971 SAAF Shackletons helped deal with the blazing wreck of the tanker SS Wafra, depth-charging and sinking the hulk offshore to contain an oil spill &mdash; a bomber turned, briefly, into an environmental first responder. <\/p>\n<p>It is one of the more unusual missions in the aircraft\u2019s history and the subject of a popular documentary: a maritime patrol aircraft using its anti-submarine weapons not against an enemy, but to protect a coastline from an ecological disaster.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">Survival<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Pelican 16 in the Sahara<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">In 1994 the SAAF Shackleton \u201cPelican 16,\u201d flying to an air show in Britain, suffered engine trouble and force-landed in the Sahara. All 19 aboard walked away; the airframe still lies in the desert, a landmark for the occasional traveller. <\/p>\n<p>The aircraft was on a goodwill flight, intended for preservation in the UK, when it came down. Too remote to recover, it remains where it landed &mdash; remarkably intact &mdash; a lonely monument to both the type and the skill of the crew who put it down safely.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The AEW crews<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Guarding NATO with 1940s radar<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">8 Squadron\u2019s AEW.2 crews flew airborne early warning into 1991 using AN\/APS-20 radar older than many of the aircrew, some sets salvaged from retired Navy Gannets. It was meant to last a few years; it lasted nearly twenty. <\/p>\n<p>The reason was a procurement failure: the Nimrod AEW.3 replacement was cancelled in 1986 after huge cost overruns, and the E-3 Sentry did not arrive until the early 1990s. Until then, these ancient aircraft were all the airborne early warning the RAF had.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">Air-sea rescue<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Dropping the lifeboat<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">Fitted to carry a Saunders-Roe airborne lifeboat, Shackletons could drop a powered boat by parachute to survivors in the water below &mdash; one of the least-known but most humane roles of a machine built to hunt. <\/p>\n<p>The airborne lifeboat was a small marvel in itself: a self-righting powered craft, dropped by multiple parachutes, that gave downed airmen or shipwrecked sailors a real chance in seas where a life raft alone might not be enough.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">Colonial policing<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Aden, Oman and Suez<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">Beyond the Atlantic, Shackletons flew strike and policing sorties over the Aden Protectorate, bombed rebel positions in Oman\u2019s Jebel Akhdar campaign, and supported operations around Suez in 1956 &mdash; the long reach of a contracting empire. <\/p>\n<p>These were often low-level sorties in punishing heat over rugged terrain, far from the aircraft\u2019s natural maritime element. They show how versatile &mdash; and how heavily worked &mdash; the Shackleton fleet was through the 1950s and 60s.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The Magic Roundabout<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Aircraft named Dougal and Florence<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">8 Squadron gave its AEW.2s individual names from the children\u2019s TV show \u201cThe Magic Roundabout\u201d &mdash; Dougal, Florence, Ermintrude, Brian and others &mdash; a very British touch on a very serious Cold War job. <\/p>\n<p>The whimsy was affectionate camouflage for a demanding role. The crews knew exactly how old and how vital their aircraft were; naming them after cartoon characters was a way of carrying that responsibility lightly.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">Life aboard<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">Bunks, galley and a very long day<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">Unlike a fighter, the Shackleton was a workplace: a galley to cook in, bunks to rest in, and a crew that lived together for the length of a patrol. The MR.3 finally added a little soundproofing and comfort &mdash; emphasis on little. <\/p>\n<p>On a sixteen-hour sortie the crew genuinely lived aboard: cooking meals, resting in shifts, and enduring the cold, the vibration and the noise together. The camaraderie of the \u201ckipper fleet\u201d was forged in exactly those long, shared hours.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"sc\">\n<summary><span class=\"sc-k\">The last flight<\/span><span class=\"sc-t\">1 July 1991<\/span><span class=\"sc-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"sc-body\">When the final AEW.2s stood down, the RAF closed the book on forty years of Shackleton service &mdash; retiring a piston-engined, contra-prop, wartime-radar aircraft in the same era it flew the Tornado and prepared for the age of stealth. <\/p>\n<p>It was the end of an era in the most literal sense: the departure of the last piston-engined combat aircraft from RAF front-line service, and the quiet closing of a line that ran directly back to the Lancaster of the Second World War.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Photo Gallery<\/p>\n<h2>The Avro Shackleton in pictures<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:24px\">From the four-Griffon nose to the cavernous bomb bay, from RAF flight-line to South African service and today\u2019s preserved survivors &mdash; a look at the Growler across its long life. All photographs are drawn from Wikimedia Commons and credited to their authors below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gal\">\n<div class=\"gcell wide\"><img data-opt-id=925421609  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1440\/h:1080\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-preserved.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201152%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221152%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221152%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1440\/h:1080\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-preserved.jpg\" data-cap=\"A preserved Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft. Photo: allen watkin (CC BY-SA 2.0).\" alt=\"A preserved Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft. Photo: allen watkin (CC BY-SA 2.0).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gcell \"><img data-opt-id=1305598430  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1024\/h:585\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr1-four-griffon-engines.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201024%20585%22%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22585%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22585%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1024\/h:585\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr1-four-griffon-engines.jpg\" data-cap=\"Shackleton MR.1 and its four Rolls-Royce Griffon engines with contra-rotating propellers. Photo: San Diego Air &amp; Space Museum Archives (public domain).\" alt=\"Shackleton MR.1 and its four Rolls-Royce Griffon engines with contra-rotating propellers. Photo: San Diego Air &amp; Space Museum Archives (public domain).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gcell \"><img data-opt-id=794174140  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/saaf-avro-shackleton-mr3.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201024%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/saaf-avro-shackleton-mr3.jpg\" data-cap=\"A South African Air Force Shackleton MR.3. Photo: Alexei Shevelev (GFDL).\" alt=\"A South African Air Force Shackleton MR.3. Photo: Alexei Shevelev (GFDL).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gcell \"><img data-opt-id=1074638506  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr3-wr977-preserved.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201024%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr3-wr977-preserved.jpg\" data-cap=\"Preserved Shackleton MR.3 WR977 at the Newark Air Museum. Photo: Alan Wilson (CC BY-SA 2.0).\" alt=\"Preserved Shackleton MR.3 WR977 at the Newark Air Museum. Photo: Alan Wilson (CC BY-SA 2.0).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gcell \"><img data-opt-id=2115732059  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1060\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr3-xf708-duxford.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201060%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221060%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221060%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1060\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr3-xf708-duxford.jpg\" data-cap=\"Shackleton MR.3 XF708, preserved at IWM Duxford. Photo: Andrew Thomas (CC BY-SA 2.0).\" alt=\"Shackleton MR.3 XF708, preserved at IWM Duxford. Photo: Andrew Thomas (CC BY-SA 2.0).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gcell wide\"><img data-opt-id=1251158445  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:768\/h:576\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-airborne-lifeboat.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%20576%22%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22576%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22576%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:768\/h:576\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-airborne-lifeboat.jpg\" data-cap=\"A Shackleton carrying a Saunders-Roe airborne lifeboat for air-sea rescue. Photo: Royal Air Force (public domain).\" alt=\"A Shackleton carrying a Saunders-Roe airborne lifeboat for air-sea rescue. Photo: Royal Air Force (public domain).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gcell \"><img data-opt-id=974225360  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-bomb-bay.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"shack-gimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201024%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-bomb-bay.jpg\" data-cap=\"The Shackleton\u2019s cavernous bomb bay for depth charges, torpedoes and mines. Photo: Leo za1 (CC BY-SA 3.0).\" alt=\"The Shackleton\u2019s cavernous bomb bay for depth charges, torpedoes and mines. Photo: Leo za1 (CC BY-SA 3.0).\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"gcap\">Click any photo to enlarge. All images via Wikimedia Commons; credits and licences as noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shack-lightbox\"><button id=\"shack-lb-close\" aria-label=\"Close\">&times;<\/button><button class=\"lb-btn\" id=\"shack-lb-prev\" aria-label=\"Previous\">&#8249;<\/button><button class=\"lb-btn\" id=\"shack-lb-next\" aria-label=\"Next\">&#8250;<\/button><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"shack-lb-img\" src=\"\" alt=\"Avro Shackleton photo enlarged\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"shack-lb-cap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Watch<\/p>\n<h2>The Avro Shackleton on film<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:22px\">If you have never heard a Shackleton, no description quite does it justice &mdash; the four Griffons and their contra-rotating propellers have to be heard to be believed. This short documentary from Mark Felton Productions, an established military-history channel, tells one of the type\u2019s most remarkable stories: how South Africa\u2019s Shackletons were turned, briefly, into an \u201cecological bomber\u201d to sink the wrecked tanker SS Wafra and contain an oil spill off the African coast.<\/p>\n<div class=\"vid\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/2j-SCVwzrGE\" title=\"Avro Shackleton documentary\" loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p class=\"gcap\">\u201cAvro Shackleton &ndash; Ecological Bomber\u201d by Mark Felton Productions (~670,000 views) &mdash; the story of the SAAF Shackletons and the Wafra oil-spill sinking, from an established military-history channel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Operations Overview<\/p>\n<h2>Where the Avro Shackleton flew: origin, RAF roles, export and survivors<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675\">The Shackleton was flown operationally by only two air forces &mdash; the RAF and the South African Air Force &mdash; but its patrols and deployments ranged far wider. Its natural element was the open North Atlantic, which has no borders to shade on a map; what the map below shows instead is where the aircraft was built, where the RAF took it on operations, who else flew it, and where the survivors rest today. Toggle the categories to explore each. Hover over (or tap) any highlighted country for detail.<\/p>\n<div id=\"shack-map-widget\" style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold','Gilroy regular',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;max-width:1080px;width:100%;margin:0 auto;\">\n<div id=\"shack-map-container\" style=\"width:100%;position:relative\"><svg id=\"shack-map-svg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\"><\/svg><\/p>\n<div id=\"shack-tooltip\" style=\"position:fixed;background:#1a1a2e;color:#fff;padding:10px 16px;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:.3px;pointer-events:auto;opacity:0;transition:opacity .15s;z-index:1000;max-width:360px;line-height:1.5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shack-controls\" style=\"display:flex;gap:8px;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:flex-start;margin-top:12px;\"><button class=\"shack-toggle active\" data-cat=\"origin\" data-full=\"Origin &#038; Manufacturer (Britain)\" data-short=\"Origin\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #5C91FF;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap;transition:all .25s\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"shack-label\">Origin &#038; Manufacturer (Britain)<\/span><span class=\"shack-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1;transition:opacity .2s\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><button class=\"shack-toggle active\" data-cat=\"raf\" data-full=\"RAF Service &#038; Roles\" data-short=\"RAF\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #6B8E23;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap;transition:all .25s\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#6B8E23\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"shack-label\">RAF Service &#038; Roles<\/span><span class=\"shack-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1;transition:opacity .2s\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><button class=\"shack-toggle active\" data-cat=\"export\" data-full=\"Export Operator (SAAF)\" data-short=\"Export\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #555;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap;transition:all .25s\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#555\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"shack-label\">Export Operator (SAAF)<\/span><span class=\"shack-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1;transition:opacity .2s\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><button class=\"shack-toggle active\" data-cat=\"survivors\" data-full=\"Surviving Airframes\" data-short=\"Survivors\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #bbb;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap;transition:all .25s\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#bbb\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"shack-label\">Surviving Airframes<\/span><span class=\"shack-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1;transition:opacity .2s\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<div id=\"shack-count\" style=\"text-align:left;font-size:14px;color:#666;margin-top:12px;line-height:1.7;width:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"map-legend\"><b>Origin &amp; manufacturer<\/b> (blue): the United Kingdom, where all ~185 Shackletons were built by Avro. <b>RAF service &amp; roles<\/b> (olive): home bases plus operational theatres &mdash; Suez (Egypt), Aden (Yemen), Oman, and the Indonesia&ndash;Malaysia Confrontation. <b>Export operator<\/b> (dark grey): South Africa. <b>Surviving airframes<\/b> (light grey): countries where preserved Shackletons remain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">By the Numbers<\/p>\n<h2>The Avro Shackleton\u2019s service record<\/h2>\n<div class=\"scards\">\n<div class=\"scard\"><b>40 yrs<\/b><span>RAF service, 1951&ndash;1991<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><b>~185<\/b><span>Aircraft built (all marks)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><b>10<\/b><span>Typical crew<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><b>~16 h<\/b><span>Maximum patrol endurance<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><b>2<\/b><span>Operating air forces (RAF, SAAF)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><b>4&times;<\/b><span>Rolls-Royce Griffon engines<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"color:#5b6675;font-size:14.5px;margin-top:18px\">Figures are approximate and vary between sources. Unlike a fighter, the Shackleton saw no air-to-air combat, so no kill\/loss record applies &mdash; its \u201ccombat\u201d was the patient business of maritime patrol, anti-submarine warfare, air-sea rescue, strike and colonial policing. Its true measure is not victories but decades: forty years of unbroken vigilance over the sea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" id=\"faq\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Questions &amp; Answers<\/p>\n<h2>Avro Shackleton: your questions answered<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:22px\">The Shackleton prompts a lot of questions &mdash; about that unforgettable noise, its Lancaster ancestry, why it served so absurdly long, and whether you could ever fly in one. Here are honest, sourced answers to the ones people ask most, starting with the big one.<\/p>\n<details class=\"qa\" open>\n<summary>Can I fly in an Avro Shackleton?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p><strong>No.<\/strong> No Avro Shackleton is currently airworthy, and none has ever been available as a passenger ride &mdash; the surviving aircraft are museum and preservation pieces, some of them ground-run for their unforgettable engine noise but not flown. The Shackleton Preservation Trust is working to return one example (WR963) to flight in the UK, but that is not a bookable experience. MiGFlug does <strong>not<\/strong> offer Shackleton flights.<\/p>\n<p>However, you <strong>can<\/strong> fly in genuine military aircraft today. MiGFlug arranges flights in jets such as the L-39 Albatros, the Hawker Hunter and even a MiG-29 to the edge of space &mdash; see the full list at <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">migflug.com\/flights-prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Why was the Avro Shackleton so loud?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Each of its four Rolls-Royce Griffon engines drove two six-bladed contra-rotating propellers. That layout is efficient but produces an intense, penetrating drone, and the un-pressurised fuselage did little to muffle it. The aircraft was nicknamed \u201cthe Growler,\u201d and many crew members suffered high-tone hearing loss &mdash; a genuine and well-documented part of the type\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>What was the Avro Shackleton used for?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Primarily long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare &mdash; hunting Soviet submarines over the North Atlantic during the Cold War. It also flew search-and-rescue (dropping airborne lifeboats), transport, and colonial-policing and strike missions over Aden, Oman and Suez. From 1972 to 1991, twelve converted AEW.2 aircraft served in the airborne early-warning role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>How is the Avro Shackleton related to the Lancaster?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Directly. The Shackleton was developed from the Avro Lincoln, which was itself a development of the wartime <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-lancaster\/\">Avro Lancaster<\/a> bomber. It used Lincoln-derived wings, tail and undercarriage with a new fuselage &mdash; making it the last member of Avro\u2019s great four-engined bomber family, adapted for maritime patrol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>How long did the Avro Shackleton serve, and why so long?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>The RAF flew Shackletons from 1951 until 1 July 1991 &mdash; about forty years. The maritime-patrol marks were replaced by the Nimrod in the 1970s, but twelve aircraft converted to the AEW.2 early-warning role soldiered on as a \u201cstopgap\u201d because their intended jet replacement was repeatedly delayed. The result was one of the longest-serving aircraft of its generation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Did other countries fly the Avro Shackleton?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Only one export operator: South Africa. The South African Air Force flew eight Shackleton MR.3s on maritime patrol around the Cape of Good Hope from 1957 until 1984. Every other Shackleton served with the Royal Air Force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Are any Avro Shackletons still flying?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Not at present. Several survive in museums, and a few can run their engines on the ground, but as of the mid-2020s none is airworthy. The Shackleton Preservation Trust has been restoring MR.2 WR963 (registered G-SKTN) at Coventry toward a possible return to flight, keeping its Griffons in running order &mdash; but treat any \u201cflying Shackleton\u201d claim with caution and check the current status.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>How many Avro Shackletons were built?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Approximately 185 aircraft across all marks &mdash; roughly 76 MR.1\/MR.1A, about 69 MR.2, and 34 MR.3s for the RAF plus 8 MR.3s for South Africa, with 12 of the MR.2 airframes later converted into AEW.2 early-warning aircraft. Exact figures vary slightly between sources, so treat these as close approximations rather than definitive counts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Why is it called the Shackleton?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>The aircraft is named after the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Avro had a habit of naming aircraft after explorers and places (the Lancaster, Lincoln, York and Tudor among them), and the polar-explorer name suited a long-range aircraft built to endure harsh conditions far from home. Early in development it was also referred to by other designations before the Shackleton name was settled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Where can I see an Avro Shackleton today?<span class=\"qa-pm\"><\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-a\">\n<p>Preserved Shackletons are on display at several museums. In the UK you can see MR.3 WR977 at the Newark Air Museum, MR.3 XF708 at IWM Duxford, and MR.3 WR982 at the Gatwick Aviation Museum; MR.2 WR963 is under restoration at Coventry. In the United States, AEW.2 WL790 is displayed at the Pima Air &amp; Space Museum in Arizona, and South African examples are held at the South African Air Force Museum. Always check opening times and the current location of individual airframes before travelling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"FAQPage\", \"mainEntity\": [{\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Can I fly in an Avro Shackleton?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"No. No Avro Shackleton is currently airworthy and none has ever been offered as a passenger ride; survivors are museum and preservation aircraft, some ground-run but not flown, and MiGFlug does not offer Shackleton flights. However, you can fly in genuine military jets such as the L-39 Albatros, Hawker Hunter or MiG-29 through MiGFlug at migflug.com\/flights-prices.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Why was the Avro Shackleton so loud?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Each of its four Rolls-Royce Griffon engines drove two six-bladed contra-rotating propellers, an efficient layout that produces an intense, penetrating drone. The unpressurised fuselage did little to muffle it; the aircraft was nicknamed the Growler and many crew suffered high-tone hearing loss.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What was the Avro Shackleton used for?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Primarily long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare, hunting Soviet submarines over the North Atlantic in the Cold War. It also flew air-sea rescue, transport and colonial-policing and strike sorties over Aden, Oman and Suez; from 1972 to 1991 twelve AEW.2 conversions served in airborne early warning.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How is the Avro Shackleton related to the Lancaster?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Directly. The Shackleton was developed from the Avro Lincoln, itself a development of the wartime Avro Lancaster bomber, using Lincoln-derived wings, tail and undercarriage with a new fuselage. It was the last member of Avro\u2019s four-engined bomber family, adapted for maritime patrol.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How long did the Avro Shackleton serve, and why so long?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"The RAF flew Shackletons from 1951 until 1 July 1991, about forty years. Maritime-patrol marks were replaced by the Nimrod in the 1970s, but twelve AEW.2 early-warning conversions soldiered on as a stopgap because their jet replacement was repeatedly delayed, making it one of the longest-serving aircraft of its generation.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Did other countries fly the Avro Shackleton?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Only South Africa. The South African Air Force flew eight Shackleton MR.3s on maritime patrol around the Cape of Good Hope from 1957 until 1984; every other Shackleton served with the Royal Air Force.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Are any Avro Shackletons still flying?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Not at present. Several survive in museums and a few can run their engines on the ground, but as of the mid-2020s none is airworthy. The Shackleton Preservation Trust has been restoring MR.2 WR963 (G-SKTN) at Coventry toward a possible return to flight, but no Shackleton is currently flying.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How many Avro Shackletons were built?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Approximately 185 aircraft across all marks: roughly 76 MR.1\/MR.1A, about 69 MR.2, and 34 MR.3s for the RAF plus 8 MR.3s for South Africa, with 12 MR.2s later converted to AEW.2 standard. Exact figures vary slightly between sources.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Why is it called the Shackleton?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"It is named after the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Avro often named aircraft after explorers and places, and the polar-explorer name suited a long-range aircraft built to endure harsh conditions far from home.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Where can I see an Avro Shackleton today?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Preserved Shackletons are on display at museums including the Newark Air Museum (WR977), IWM Duxford (XF708) and Gatwick Aviation Museum (WR982) in the UK, the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona (AEW.2 WL790), and the South African Air Force Museum. WR963 is under restoration at Coventry.\"}}]}<\/script><div class=\"sec cta\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Fly Something Real<\/p>\n<h2>You can\u2019t fly the Shackleton &mdash; these, you can<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:760px\">The Growler is a museum piece now, and no Shackleton is currently airworthy &mdash; the closest you will get is standing beside one as its Griffons are fired up on the ground. But the thrill of flying in a real, genuine military aircraft is very much bookable. MiGFlug has arranged fighter and jet flights for civilians for two decades, in aircraft flown by former military pilots, all over the world &mdash; from gentle aerobatic sorties in a jet trainer to a supersonic climb to the very edge of space, where the sky turns black and you can see the curvature of the Earth.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fly-track\"><a class=\"flycard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/l-39-albatros-in-switzerland\/\"><span class=\"fk\">Jet trainer<\/span><span class=\"ft\">L-39 Albatros<\/span><span class=\"fd\">Loops, rolls and low-level passes in the classic Cold War jet trainer &mdash; in Switzerland, the USA and beyond.<\/span><span class=\"fgo\">See flights &amp; prices<\/span><\/a><a class=\"flycard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\"><span class=\"fk\">Classic fighter<\/span><span class=\"ft\">Hawker Hunter<\/span><span class=\"fd\">A British Cold War icon: fast, elegant and thunderous over the Alps.<\/span><span class=\"fgo\">See flights &amp; prices<\/span><\/a><a class=\"flycard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\"><span class=\"fk\">Edge of space<\/span><span class=\"ft\">MiG-29 Fulcrum<\/span><span class=\"fd\">Climb to the stratosphere at twice the speed of sound and see the curvature of the Earth.<\/span><span class=\"fgo\">See flights &amp; prices<\/span><\/a><a class=\"flycard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\"><span class=\"fk\">See them all<\/span><span class=\"ft\">The full MiGFlug fleet<\/span><span class=\"fd\">Warbirds, jet trainers and fast jets across the world &mdash; browse every flight and price.<\/span><span class=\"fgo\">See flights &amp; prices<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Related Aircraft<\/p>\n<h2>If you like the Avro Shackleton, meet its neighbours in the Book of Beasts<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:24px\">The Shackleton sits at the meeting point of several stories in our aircraft museum &mdash; the wartime bomber it descended from, the Cold War giants it served alongside, and the maritime patrol tradition it belonged to. Follow the thread to three of its closest relatives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"relgrid\"><a class=\"rcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-lancaster\/\"><img data-opt-id=1074638506  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr3-wr977-preserved.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"rimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201024%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Avro Lancaster\"><span class=\"rb\"><span class=\"rk\">The parent<\/span><span class=\"rt\">Avro Lancaster<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The wartime heavy bomber whose wings and DNA the Shackleton inherited.<\/span><\/span><\/a><a class=\"rcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-vulcan\/\"><img data-opt-id=1305598430  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1024\/h:585\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-mr1-four-griffon-engines.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"rimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201024%20585%22%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22585%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22585%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Avro Vulcan\"><span class=\"rb\"><span class=\"rk\">Cold War delta<\/span><span class=\"rt\">Avro Vulcan<\/span><span class=\"rd\">Avro\u2019s other Cold War giant &mdash; the V-bomber that carried Britain\u2019s deterrent.<\/span><\/span><\/a><a class=\"rcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/pby-catalina\/\"><img data-opt-id=1251158445  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:768\/h:576\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/avro-shackleton-airborne-lifeboat.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"rimg\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%20576%22%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22576%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22576%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PBY Catalina\"><span class=\"rb\"><span class=\"rk\">Flying boat<\/span><span class=\"rt\">PBY Catalina<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The legendary long-range maritime patrol flying boat that hunted where the Shackleton later did.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Sources &amp; Further Reading<\/p>\n<h2>Where these Avro Shackleton facts come from<\/h2>\n<p style=\"max-width:820px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:24px\">This page draws on museum records, preservation groups, veteran testimony, established aviation publications and documentary sources rather than any single reference. Where figures are contested &mdash; production totals, performance numbers, the nuclear-weapons question, current airworthiness &mdash; we have flagged them as approximate or reported. For further reading, these are the sources we would point you to.<\/p>\n<div class=\"srcs\">\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Royal Air Force Museum<\/b><span>RAF Museum aircraft records and the history of Coastal Command maritime patrol, including the Shackleton\u2019s bases and squadrons.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Imperial War Museums (IWM Duxford)<\/b><span>Home of preserved Shackleton MR.3 XF708 and a reference for RAF operational history across the Cold War.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Newark Air Museum<\/b><span>Custodians of MR.3 WR977 and a detailed record of the type\u2019s preservation and marks.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Gatwick Aviation Museum<\/b><span>Holds MR.3 WR982 in engine-runnable condition; a source for the aircraft\u2019s systems and upkeep.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Pima Air &amp; Space Museum<\/b><span>Displays AEW.2 WL790 in Arizona; a key reference for the airborne early-warning variant and its APS-20 radar.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>South African Air Force Museum<\/b><span>Records of SAAF 35 Squadron Shackleton MR.3 service, 1957&ndash;1984, and the surviving South African airframes.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>The Shackleton Association<\/b><span>Enthusiast and veteran association documenting surviving airframes, crew accounts and squadron histories.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Shackleton Preservation Trust<\/b><span>Custodians of the ongoing restoration of MR.2 WR963 (G-SKTN) at Coventry toward a possible return to flight.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Mark Felton Productions<\/b><span>Documentary \u201cAvro Shackleton &ndash; Ecological Bomber\u201d on the SAAF aircraft and the SS Wafra oil-spill sinking.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Vintage Aviation News<\/b><span>Reporting on the Shackleton\u2019s first flight anniversary, preservation projects and public engine-run events.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>PlaneHistoria<\/b><span>Long-form type history covering four decades of Shackleton maritime patrol and the AEW.2 stopgap.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>FlyPast &amp; Aeroplane<\/b><span>Established British aviation magazines with detailed features on the Griffon engines and operational record.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust<\/b><span>Reference for the Griffon V12 engine and the de Havilland contra-rotating propeller installation.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Aircrew Interview<\/b><span>Filmed veteran testimony and airframe tours conveying the crew experience of flying the Shackleton.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>San Diego Air &amp; Space Museum Archives<\/b><span>Public-domain historical photography of the Shackleton and its Griffon engine installation.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>MiGFlug Afterburner<\/b><span>MiGFlug\u2019s own aviation magazine &mdash; Cold War aircraft features and real, bookable military flight experiences.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shack-data\" data-js=\"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\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/cdnjs.cloudflare.com\/ajax\/libs\/d3\/7.8.5\/d3.min.js\"><\/script><script src=\"https:\/\/cdnjs.cloudflare.com\/ajax\/libs\/topojson\/3.0.2\/topojson.min.js\"><\/script><script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/d3-geo-projection@4\/dist\/d3-geo-projection.min.js\"><\/script><script>(function(){var el=document.getElementById(\"shack-data\");var js=decodeURIComponent(escape(atob(el.getAttribute(\"data-js\"))));var sc=document.createElement(\"script\");sc.text=js;document.body.appendChild(sc);})();<\/script><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Book of Beasts &nbsp;\/&nbsp; Avro Shackleton Avro Shackleton Britain\u2019s Cold War submarine-hunter: four screaming Griffons, a crew of ten, and up to sixteen hours over a grey Atlantic &mdash; the Lancaster\u2019s loudest, longest-serving grandchild. 1949First flight ~185Built (all marks) 4&times;Rolls-Royce Griffon 1991RAF retirement Role: Maritime patrol \/ anti-submarine \/ AEWEra: 1951&ndash;1991Engine: 4&times; Rolls-Royce Griffon (contra-props)Origin: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21613,"parent":15960,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21612","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Avro Shackleton: Britain&#039;s Cold War Submarine-Hunter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Avro Shackleton was Britain&#039;s loud, long-serving Cold War submarine-hunter: four Griffon engines, a crew of ten, and RAF service from 1951 to 1991.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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