The Saunders Roe A.37 Shrimp was a 1930s British two-seat four-engined experimental flying boat built by Saunders-Roe Limited ("Saro") at Cowes.
Contents
Development
The Shrimp was designed by H Knowler in 1939 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 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, Anglesey where a slipway was built for it. The Ministry of Aircraft Production acquired it in 1944 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. For this its twin rudder tail was swapped for a single fin and the hull was modified to represent that of the Shetland.
The Shrimp was scrapped at Felixstowe in 1949.
Operators
United Kingdom
Air Ministry
Saunders Roe
Specifications
Data from Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying BoatsGeneral characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 43 ft 3+1⁄4 in (13.189 m)
Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
Height: 12 ft 8+3⁄4 in (3.880 m)
Wing area: 340 sq ft (32 m2)
Empty weight: 4,362 lb (1,979 kg)
Gross weight: 5,700 lb (2,585 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 6,200 lb (2,812 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × Pobjoy Niagara III 7-cylinder air-cooled geared radial piston engines, 95 hp (71 kW) each
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 130 mph (210 km/h, 110 kn)
Endurance: 3 hours
Rate of climb: 635 ft/min (3.23 m/s)
Wing loading: 16.8 lb/sq ft (82 kg/m2)