The Saunders Roe A.37 Shrimp was a 1930s
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
two-seat four-engined experimental flying boat built by
Saunders-Roe Limited ("Saro") at
Cowes
Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...
.
Development
The Shrimp was designed by H Knowler in
1939
This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
as a half-size research aircraft as part of a development programme for the
Saunders-Roe S.38 a four-engined patrol flying-boat to
Specification R.5/39 – a replacement for the
Short Sunderland
The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of ...
.
[Jarrett 1991, p.146.] The R.5/39 project was cancelled but the Shrimp was completed as a private venture. Registered as G-AFZS, it was first flown at Cowes in October 1939. It was based at
Beaumaris
Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...
,
Anglesey
Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
where a slipway was built for it. The
Ministry of Aircraft Production
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian mi ...
acquired it in
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
with the
serial ''TK580'' for tests to help the design of the
Short Shetland a successor to the R.5/39 project being developed jointly by Saro and
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
. For this its twin rudder tail was swapped for a single fin and the hull was modified to represent that of the Shetland.
[Jarrett 1991, p.148.]
The Shrimp was scrapped at
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...
in
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025
* January 2 – Luis ...
.
Operators
;
*
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
*
Saunders Roe
Saunders-Roe Limited, also known as Saro, was a British aerospace and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works, East Cowes, Isle of Wight.
History
The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliott Verdon Roe (see Avro) and John Lord took a ...
Specifications
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
* Green, William. ''Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying Boats''. London: Macdonald & Company (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (5th Impression 1972). .
* Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919''. London: Putnam & Company, 1974. .
*
Jarrett, Philip. "Nothing Ventured...No 12". ''Aeroplane Monthly'', March 1991, Vol 19 No, 3 Issue 215. ISSN 0143-7240. pp. 146–150.
* London, Peter. ''Saunders and Saro Aircraft Since 1917''. London: Putnam (Conway Maritime Press), London, 1988. .
*
External links
Saro A.37– British Aircraft Directory
– British aircraft of World War II
a 1940 ''Flight'' article
{{Saro aircraft
1930s British experimental aircraft
Flying boats
Shrimp
A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
Four-engined tractor aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1939
Four-engined piston aircraft
Twin-tail aircraft