Short Sturgeon

Short Brothers · United Kingdom · first flew 1946 · reconnaissance aircraft

The Short Sturgeon was a twin-engined British naval aircraft, designed as a carrier-borne reconnaissance bomber and later used as a target tug. It first flew on 7 June 1946.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	13.41 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Twin Rolls-Royce Merlin engines driving contra-rotating propellers
Mid-wing cantilever monoplane with outboard wing folds
Single fin and rudder, with main wheels retracting rearwards into the engine nacelles

Look for a clean twin-engined mid-wing monoplane with a single tail fin. The target-tug versions have a long glazed nose that projects ahead of the propeller arcs.

Specifications

The Short Sturgeon has a length of 13.41 m (44 ft).
It has a wingspan of 18.26 m (60 ft).
Its maximum speed is 589 km/h (366 mph).
Typical crew: 3.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

It was Shorts' tender to specification S.11/43 for a twin-engined naval reconnaissance aircraft that could also bomb, and an order for three prototypes was placed in October 1943. With the end of the Pacific war the original role was cancelled and the design was reworked as a target tug.

Variants

The production S.39 Sturgeon TT.2 was a target tug with a lengthened glazed nose, and five were later converted to TT.3 standard. The last two airframes were rebuilt in 1949 as prototypes for the S.B.3 anti-submarine aircraft with Mamba turboprops.

Where you'll see it

Twenty-eight Sturgeons were built. They served with the fleet as target tugs and liaison aircraft for a number of years.

Related aircraft

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