British multi-purpose twin-engined military aircraft of the Second World War
Warwick
Warwick B/ASR Mk.I
Role
Maritime reconnaissance, air-sea rescue, transport
Type of aircraft
Manufacturer
Vickers-Armstrongs
First flight
13 August 1939
Status
retired
Primary users
Royal Air Force South African Air Force Polish Air Force in exile BOAC
Number built
846[1]
Developed from
Vickers B.9/32
The Vickers Warwick was a British twin-engined bomber aircraft developed and operated during the Second World War that was primarily used in other roles. In line with the naming convention followed by other RAF heavy bombers of the era, it was named after a British city or town, in this case Warwick. The Warwick was the largest British twin-engined aircraft to see use during the Second World War.[2]
The Warwick was designed and manufactured by Vickers-Armstrongs during the late 1930s. It was intended to serve as a larger counterpart to the Vickers Wellington bomber. The two aircraft share similar construction and design principles but development of the Warwick was delayed by a lack of suitable engines. Its first flight was on 13 August 1939 but delays to its intended powerplant and by the time adequate engines were available, it was obsolete.[3]
The Warwick entered production during 1942 and squadron service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Barely a dozen aircraft were built as bombers.[4] The type was used by RAF Transport Command as a transport, and by RAF Coastal Command as an air-sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The Warwick was also operated by the Polish Air Forces in exile in Great Britain and the South African Air Force. A civil operator, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), also operated a handful of transport Warwicks.
^Barfield 1972, pp. 167-168.
^Cite error: The named reference barfield 146 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
The VickersWarwick was a British twin-engined bomber aircraft developed and operated during the Second World War that was primarily used in other roles...
Wellington, the other being the Vickers Wellesley. A larger heavy bomber aircraft designed to Specification B.1/35, the VickersWarwick, was developed in parallel...
of the war. As a possible replacement for the pre-war Vickers Wellington medium bomber, Vickers had proposed a series of designs. The first, to meet the...
enter service until near the end of the war, first appearing on the VickersWarwick. Other wartime, or postwar, uses included the Bristol Brigand and Buckmaster...
first carried by Lockheed Hudson aircraft in February 1943. Later, VickersWarwick bombers carried the Mark II lifeboat. The Fox boats successfully saved...
cases.” About 1943 he designed a 27-foot lifeboat to be dropped from VickersWarwick aircraft when rescuing downed aircrew or mariners; its deficiencies...
wood. A similar construction using aluminum alloy was used in the VickersWarwick with less material than would be required for other structural types...
modified to use Napier designed annular radiators; also in experimental VickersWarwick V. Sabre VII 3,055 hp (2,278 kW). Mk VA strengthened to withstand high...
later used by Wallis's employer, Vickers-Armstrongs in a series of bomber aircraft, the Wellesley, Wellington, Warwick and Windsor. In these aircraft,...
Tupolev PS-35 Soviet Union 1937 11 Vickers Type 264 Valentia bomber/transport United Kingdom 1934 VickersWarwick United Kingdom 1939 114 South Africa...
Heinkel He 177 Piaggio P.108 Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 Short Stirling VickersWarwick Avro Vulcan Boeing B-47 Stratojet Boeing B-50 Superfortress Boeing...
Tu-95MR USSR 1961 4 Tupolev Tu-142 USSR 1968 100 VickersWarwick GR Mk.II and V UK 1939 328 Vickers Wellington GR.Mk.VIII/XI/XII/XIII/XIV UK 1936 2,230...
No. 167 Squadron RAF (1944-1945) VickersWarwick I and III. No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron (1945) VickersWarwick I and III. Free Polish Air Force Squadron...
role, configuration, and era Martin XB-33 Super Marauder Tupolev Tu-2 VickersWarwick Yokosuka P1Y Ginga Related lists List of bomber aircraft List of German...
Type of Aircraft Station No. 22 Squadron RAF Vickers Vildebeest RAF Thorney Island No. 42 Squadron RAF Vickers Vildebeest RAF Bircham Newton No. 48 Squadron...
used for military aircraft production, in particular the Vickers Wellington, VickersWarwick and Hawker Hurricane and was extensively camouflaged. Trees...
with Boulton Paul, Bristol, Fairey, Handley Page and Shorts. Vickers also had its Warwick, which had Napier Sabre engines, but eventually chose against...
mainly carried by Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft like the VickersWarwick and later the Avro Lancaster, Avro Shackleton and Hawker Siddeley Nimrod...
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