The Short SB.6 Seamew was a rather curious looking aircraft ostensibly to the same specification as the Fairey Gannet. It was intended as a light anti-submarine aircraft and according to some reports it was undertaken as a fallback option in case the Fairey project failed.
It had a rather prominent cockpit for the three crew members, a rather thin rear fuselage, and, surprisingly, it also sported a fixed undercarriage. The result is often nominated as one of the ugliest aircraft to ever fly.
It first flew on October 131953 but never reached service, only 19 being built before the project was cancelled.
The ShortSeamew was selected to fulfil Admiralty Specification M.123, for a simple, lightweight anti-submarine aircraft capable of unassisted operation from any of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers in all but the worst of conditions.
Arthur Pearcy wrote "only Short Brothers' test pilot Wally Runciman seemed able to outwit its vicious tendencies and exploit its latent manoeuvrability to the limit." Rumours that the crash had been cause by a material failure were current at the time but the accident investigation did not confirm them.
Seamew MR.2 : land-based anti-submarine aircraft for RAF.
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