Short Stirling

E53991

World War II aircraft four‑engined bomber heavy bomber military aircraft

The Short Stirling was a British four‑engined heavy bomber used by the Royal Air Force during World War II, notable as the RAF’s first operational four‑engined bomber.

Aliases (1)

Short Bomber (Stirling) for RAF ×1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	World War II aircraft → four‑engined bomber → heavy bomber → military aircraft →
armament	machine guns in dorsal turret → machine guns in nose turret → machine guns in tail turret → ventral gun positions →
bombLoad_kg	6350 →
conflict	World War II →
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom →
crew	7 →
designedBy	Arthur Gouge →
designedToSpecification	Air Ministry Specification B.12/36 →
emptyWeight_kg	16390 →
engineModel	Bristol Hercules →
engineType	radial piston engine →
enteredSquadronServiceWith	No. 7 Squadron RAF →
firstFlight	1939-05-14 →
firstOperationalUseYear	1941 →
grossWeight_kg	31750 →
height_m	6.9 →
introduced	1941 →
landingGear	retractable conventional landing gear →
length_m	26.6 →
manufacturer	Short Brothers →
maximumSpeed_kmh	454 →
notableAs	RAF’s first operational four‑engined bomber →
numberOfEngines	4 →
operator	No. 149 Squadron RAF → No. 15 Squadron RAF → No. 7 Squadron RAF →
powerplant	4 × Bristol Hercules radial engines →
primaryRole	strategic bombing →
retiredFromRAF	1946 →
roleChangeLaterWar	airborne forces support → mine‑laying → special operations support →
secondaryRole	glider tug → paratroop transport → transport aircraft →
serviceCeiling_m	5000 →
tailConfiguration	conventional tailwheel →
usedBy	Royal Air Force → Royal Canadian Air Force → Royal New Zealand Air Force → South African Air Force →
wingConfiguration	mid‑wing monoplane →
wingspan_m	30.2 →

Referenced by (8)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Battle of Berlin (air campaign) → Operation Hydra →	aircraftUsed
Short Brothers → Short Brothers ("Short Bomber (Stirling) for RAF") →	notableProduct
Royal Air Force Bomber Command →	aircraftType
Allied strategic bombers →	notableAircraftType
Gee navigation system →	usedByAircraftType
H2S radar →	usedOnAircraft