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The SRN6 was built by BHC, Saunders Roe and Hoverwork as a larger version of the SRN5, a craft of very similar design. The SRN6 was bigger and more powerful than the SRN5 however most of the layout of the two craft was identical or at least similar. The craft was used and tested extensively in miliary circles as well as civilian, and operated the passenger hovercraft routes between Portsmouth and the Isle of wight under Seaspeed then Hovertravel, the Ramsgate to Calais route from Ramsgate of Hoverlloyd prior to their introduction of the SRN4 craft, and the Dover to Calais route of Townsend Car Ferries.
The SRN6 came in two main variants, being the single propeller and dual propeller variants. Both are shown in the gallery below, and both were used around the world for different purposes, such as by the Canadian Coastguard. A freighted version was also produced, consisting of a flat decked standard SRN6.
Initially developed, trialled and manufactured from 1963 by Westland in parallel to the SRN5, the SRN6 carried over 500,000 passengers from the mainland to the Isle of Wight in 1964-5 alone!
Residents of the ports from which SRN6s were operated complained of the noise they generated. Their high speed, small diameter, thin propellers generated what was described as an "angry wasp" noise as the tips broke the speed of sound during their rotation. This, high operating costs, and low passenger capacity saw the SRN6s being phased out of routes and/or and replaced with either SRN4s or later AP1-88s.
Talking to Paul, an ex-SRN6 engineer from the Canadian Coastguard service, at the hovershow,
Table: Performance specifications for SRN6 hovercraft (Source: Fuller, 2004; Hovercraft Museum, 2007).
| Feature |
Specification |
| Length (m) |
14.76 |
| Beam (m) |
7.01 |
| Skirt height (hovering) (m) |
1.22 |
| Height (landed) (m) |
4.57 |
| Cruise speed (kts) |
55 |
| Max speed (kts) |
60 |
| Main Engine |
Rolls Royce Gnome Turboshaft |
| Main Engine Power (kW) |
671 |
| Fuel tank capacity (litres) |
1,000 |
| Endurance (hrs) |
3.5 |
| Passenger capacity [after extension] |
38 [58] |
| Operational Limits (Sea state) (m) |
1 - 1.5 |
| Operational Limits (Wind) (Beaufort Scale) |
6 |
(photos sent by Nigel Thornton).
SRN6 "Camber" at port |
Engines off near Dover's Eastern arm. Liferaft drills? |
Crossing the old port. Dover Harbour as it was in the 1960's. |
Cruising through Dover Harbour's Anchorage area |
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In 1969 an SRN6 was taken by a film crew on an expedition into the heart of rural Africa for a wildlife film [facts still being gathered at this stage - if you have more information, i.e. the name of the film/documentary, the crew, the craft's details, etc., please get in touch!].
This photo, kindly sent in by Dave Walsh, is of himself and friends having just "found a way to get off the Isle of Wight"! The Hovertravel craft in the photograph is in fact the one which made the historic journey throughout Africa, a plaque inside it at the time stating just that. |
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The rear-end of an SRN6 arriving at port in HOVERWORK livery. (Scanned and sent by Tim Stevenson). |
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The Canadian Coastguard Service used to operate SRN6 Mk I craft from their Ottawa station, however they have since retired these and replaced them with versions of the AP1-88 [Canadian Coastguard, 2005]
"The bow-on shot of the Coast Guard Hovercraft is I believe #039, built for a Gulf State, but never delivered, although the craft were registered in Ottawa, the SRN6 and one SRN5 was based at Sea island hovercraft base. The two SRN6 were 086 and 039, the SRN5 was decomissioned and another SRN6 was bought from the Arctic, parts were taken from the SRN5 to get the SRN6 working and registered as 045. At the same time the Coast Guard was operating an AP1-88 200 on the East Coast. 086 was retired first, then 045 and finally 039. We now have 2 AP1-88 400 and 2 AP1-88 200, one of each on the West Coast and East coast." - [Parkinson, 2008] |
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An Twin-propeller SRN6 Mk II craft in its original BHC factory paintwork. (Photo: Michael Gardner) |
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An SRN6 in Seaspeed livery leaving Cowes, Isle of Wight and heading out into the Solent in February 1967. (Photo from The Hoverspeed Story) |
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An SRN6 used as a rescue hovercraft somewhere in the world. [Croome, 1984] |
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| A new SRN6 parked outside the soon-to-be-renamed, then Westland factory, at Cowes, Isle of Wight (UK). |
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| An SRN6 operating for Seaspeed at the 1966 Hovershow |
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| SRN6 as used by "Aeronave" in Naples, Italy, in 1968, on the Naples-Capri/Ischia/Naples route. |
Page updated:
08/15/2010
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