The squadron has operated the following aircraft types.

PRE - WW2

  • Various (Oct 1914 – Feby 1915)
  • Nieuport 17 (Dec 1916 – Jan 1917)
  • Sopwith Triplane (Dec 1916 – Dec 1917)
  • Sopwith Camel (Dec 1917 – Feb 1919)
  • Sopwith Snipe (Oct 1918 – Oct 1918)
  • Supermarine Southampton Mk.II (Jan 1929 – Dec 1936)
  • Saro London Mk.I (Apr 1936 – Jun 1938)
  • Saro London Mk.II (Jan 1938 – 1938)

The squadron has operated the following aircraft types.

WW2 & After

  • Short Sunderland Mk.I (Apr 1940 – Jan 1942)
  • Short Sunderland Mk.II (May 1941 – Mar 1944)
  • Short Sunderland Mk.III (Jan 1942 – Jun 1945)
  • Short Sunderland Mk.V (Feb 1945 – Feb 1957)
  • Short Seaford Mk.I (Mar 1946 – Apr 1946)
  • Avro Shackleton MR.3 (Oct 1958 – Dec 1970)
  • Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod MR.1 (Oct 1970 – Feb 1983)
  • BAe Nimrod MR2 (Jan 1982 – Mar 2010)
  • Boeing Poseidon MRA1 (Aug 2021 – present)

HS Nimrod

Span: 115ft 1in Length: 126ft 9ins Height: 29ft 8ins
Weight: 184,0001b Speed: 490mph at 3,0000ft
Ceiling: 42,000ft
Engines: 4 x 12,160lb thrust Spey 250 turbofans
Range: 3,500 miles (unrefuelled)
Endurance: 8hrs (Typical Profile)

201 Squadron operated both the MR1 and MR2 variants of this aircraft.

Armament: Included the Sting Ray torpedo, Harpoon ASM and provision for 4 x AIM 9G/L Sidewinder missiles for self-protection along with the AN ALE 40 and BOZ chaff/flare dispensers.

The MR2 tactical suite included an AQS 901 acoustics processor, Thorn EMI Searchwater radar (later in colour), Yellowgate ESM system (carried in wingtip pods) and a Canadian MAD system.

Later updates to the MR2 included a new IN/GPS navigation system, colour tactical screen. Link 11 datalink system, AQS 971 acoustic system and an Electrooptic/IR imaging system.

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Avro Shackleton

Span: 119ft 10ins Length: 92ft 6ins Height: 23ft 4ins
Weight: 100,000lb Speed: 253mph cruise, 302mph max
Climb: 850ft per min Ceiling: 19,200ft
Range: 3,660 miles at 200mph
Engines: 4 x 2455 HP RR Griffon 58 (1966 aircraft were also fitted with 2 x 2,500lb thrust Viper Turbojets)

Armament: 2 x 20mm nose cannon and various bomb bay-carried weapons including torpedoes, bombs, depth charges and sonobuoys.
The Shackleton was the mainstay of the maritime force for many years and its endurance was loved and hated by its crews. The only export customer for the Shackleton was the South African Air Force.

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Short Sunderland

Span: 112ft 9ins Length: 85ft 4ins Height: 33ft
Weight: 60,000lb Speed: 213mph at 5,000ft
Climb: 840ft per minute Ceiling: 13,900ft
Range: 2,980 miles
Endurance: 13 ½ hours
Engine: 4 x 1,200 HP Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp Rl830
Armament: Dependent upon Mark, a combination of:
Nose: 1 x Vickers later upgraded to 2 x Vickers machine gun (MG).
Tail: 4 x Vickers MGs. Mid-upper: 2 x Vickers MGs.
Waist gun: I x 0.5 Browning each side.

Some aircraft had 4 fixed forward-firing MGs for strafing surfaced submarines.
Bomb load was 8 x 100lb or 250lb or 4 x 500lb bombs or depth charges .
Other stranger plans included the mounting of a forward firing 37mm cannon in the nose and a plan to mount 2 x 37mm cannon firing vertically down through the planing hull of the Sunderland.
A total of 739 Sunderlands were built.

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