The need for a long-range anti-submarine and maritime reconnaissance aircraft had been made apparent during WWII when the Consolidated Liberator closed the Atlantic “Gap” and helped win the battle for the Atlantic.
With the end of the war and the repatriation of Coastal Commands Liberators, the Avro Lancaster was utilised but what was needed was a true maritime aircraft. Roy Chadwick at Avro took on the challenge and looked closely at the company’s Lincoln bomber before substituting Griffon engines for the Linclon’s Merlins and designing a new, more spacious fuselage.
The MR.1 shown here fathered a whole family of Shackleton’s, the last of which did not finally retire until 1991.
