Not to be confused with the 1928 Supermarine Seamew or 1940 Curtiss SO3C Seamew. The Short SB.6 Seamew was a British aircraft designed in 1951 by David Keith-Lucas of Shorts as a lightweight anti-submarine platform to replace the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA)'s Grumman Avenger AS 4 with the Reserve branch of the service. It first flew on 23 August 1953, but, due to poor performance coupled with shifting defence doctrine, it never reached service and only 24 production aircraft had flown before the project was cancelled. It has been described as a "camel amongst race-horses". The Short Seamew was selected to fulfill Admiralty Specification M.123D for a simple, lightweight anti-submarine aircraft capable of unassisted operation from any of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers in all but the worst of conditions, in particular escort carriers which the UK still had in considerable numbers from the Second World War. Although specifically designed for naval operations, the Seamew was also intended for land-based use by the RAF. It was to be suitable for mass production and operation by the Air Branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). This specification was in response to the alarming increase in capabilities of the Soviet submarine forces following the Second World War. Three prototypes were ordered in April 1952 and the first flight (XA209), piloted by test pilot Sqn. Ldr. Walter J. "Wally" Runciman, took place on 23 August 1953. This same aircraft, also piloted by Runciman, took part in the 1953 Farnborough Airshow three weeks later. In 1954 both XA209 and the second prototype XA213 took part at Farnborough, where the following year both prototypes and two production AS Mk 1 models (XE171 and XE172) gave a formation display. The pilot and observer were located in tandem cockpits located high up in the front of the deep, narrow fuselage, creating a decidedly "curious" profile. They sat atop the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop in front and the weapons bay to the rear of them. The design had originally called for the tried and tested Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine but the Royal Navy had made it policy to phase out piston engines, in order that supplies of highly flammable high octane aviation fuel need not be carried in large quantities on ships. The turboprop engine also caused less airframe vibration so that the pilot could be sat directly over it with the absence of a piston engine ignition system which would have interfered with the radar scanner mounted below the engine housing. For simplicity, and so that a nosewheel would not obscure the forward field of the radar scanner, a fixed tailwheel undercarriage was used. The long stroke necessary on the main undercarriage to allow for heavy deck landings while giving the radar scanner and propeller adequate clearance from the ground resulted in an alarming attitude on the ground and the cockpits mounted at a seemingly perilous height. For landing the tailwheel extended so it could land at a more level attitude. The pilot and observer sat very far forward in order for the pilot to have a reasonable field of downward vision for takeoff and landing and so that both he and the observer had a good field of view for spotting surface vessels even when in level flight. A total of 26 Seamew were produced. Variants. SB.6 Seamew Three prototype anti-submarine aircraft, one completed as a structural test rig. SB.6 Seamew AS.1 (Specifications below) Production anti-submarine aircraft for the Royal Navy, 60 aircraft ordered later amended to 30 but only 24 completed. SC.2 Seamew MR.2 Production aircraft for the Royal Air Force Coastal Command, larger wheels with low-pressure tyres, manual wing-folding and no deck handling gear, 30 aircraft ordered but only 4-built that were converted or completed to AS.1 standard.
