Lockheed Hudson

Maritime patrol · Lockheed · United States

Typical crew	6
Engines	2 × Wright Cyclone
First flight	1938
Number built	2,941

Photographs

Lockheed Hudson USN XR4O-1 prototype NAN3-90 — The single U.S. Navy Lockheed XR4O-1 transport (c/n 1482, BuNo 1441). In 1938 the U.S. Navy ordered a staff transport version of the Lockheed Model 14-H2 Super Electra. It was delivered to the USN on 15 October 1938 and remained in the inventory until 1944. The aircraft spent most, if not all, of its service life based at Naval Air Station Anacostia, Washington D.C. (USA). The Lockheed Hudson was later developed from this plane.

ⓘ licence & credit
USN / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_Hudson_USN_XR4O-1_prototype_NAN3-90.jpgView source & full licence →

Lockheed Hudson over North Sea.2 — A pair of Lockheed Hudsons fly over the North Sea

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_Hudson_over_North_Sea.2.jpgView source & full licence →

Lockheed Hudson ExCC — A Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed Hudson Mk.1 (OY-C) from No. 11 Bombing and Reconnaissance Squadron, based at RCAF Station Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Canada), between October 1939 and July 1942.

ⓘ licence & credit
RCAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_Hudson_ExCC.jpgView source & full licence →

Lockheed A-29s over Mt McKinley Feb 1942 — U.S. Army Air Forces Lockheed A-29-LO Hudson planes (s/n 41-23383, 41-23454, 41-23458) flying over the mountains of Alaska with Mount McKinley in the background, February 1942.

ⓘ licence & credit
U.S. Army Signal Corps. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_A-29s_over_Mt_McKinley_Feb_1942.jpgView source & full licence →

Lockheed A-29s over Alaska Feb 1942 — U.S. Army Air Forces Lockheed A-29-LO Hudson planes (s/n 41-23383, 41-23454, 41-23458) flying over the mountains of Alaska in the vicinity of Mount McKinley, February 1942.

ⓘ licence & credit
U.S. Army Signal Corps. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_A-29s_over_Alaska_Feb_1942.jpgView source & full licence →

Lockheed A-29s near Mt McKinley Feb 1942 — U.S. Army Air Forces Lockheed A-29-LO Hudson planes (s/n 41-23383, 41-23454, 41-23458) flying over the mountains of Alaska in the vicinity of Mount McKinley, February 1942.

ⓘ licence & credit
U.S. Army Signal Corps. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_A-29s_near_Mt_McKinley_Feb_1942.jpgView source & full licence →

Lockheed A-29 Hudson USAF — ⓘ licence & credit
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_A-29_Hudson_USAF.JPGView source & full licence →

Lockheed A-29 Hudson USAAF in flight c1941 — A U.S. Army Air Force Lockheed A-29-LO Hudson (s/n 41-23403) in flight.

ⓘ licence & credit
USAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_A-29_Hudson_USAAF_in_flight_c1941.jpgView source & full licence →

Kato Hayabusa Sento-tai (201602-09 Lockheed Hudson 03) PDVD 009 — Lockheed Hudson from "Kato hayabusa sento-tai (Colonel Kato's Falcon Squadron)".

ⓘ licence & credit
東宝 (Toho) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kato_Hayabusa_Sento-tai_(201602-09_Lockheed_Hudson_03)_PDVD_009.JPGView source & full licence →

Kato Hayabusa Sento-tai (201602-08 Lockheed Hudson 02) PDVD 008 — Lockheed Hudson from "Kato hayabusa sento-tai (Colonel Kato's Falcon Squadron)".

ⓘ licence & credit
東宝 (Toho) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kato_Hayabusa_Sento-tai_(201602-08_Lockheed_Hudson_02)_PDVD_008.JPGView source & full licence →

Kato Hayabusa Sento-tai (201602-07 Lockheed Hudson 01) PDVD 007 — Lockheed Hudson from "Kato hayabusa sento-tai (Colonel Kato's Falcon Squadron)".

ⓘ licence & credit
東宝 (Toho) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kato_Hayabusa_Sento-tai_(201602-07_Lockheed_Hudson_01)_PDVD_007.JPGView source & full licence →

Hudsons near Timoeka, Dutch New Guinea, 1943 (27662883594) — PRG 1614/1/29 Aerial view of 'Hudsons near Timoeka, Dutch New Guinea & Cape van der Bosch 11/1/43. 13 Sqdn. Rare shot showing the scuttle or tunnel gun in "wound down" position. Visit the State Library of South Australia to view more photos of South Australia

ⓘ licence & credit
State Library of South Australia from Australia / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hudsons_near_Timoeka,_Dutch_New_Guinea,_1943_(27662883594).jpgView source & full licence →

De Oranje in Indië, Bestanddeelnr 934-6667 — ⓘ licence & credit
Anefo / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:De_Oranje_in_Indi%C3%AB,_Bestanddeelnr_934-6667.jpgView source & full licence →

Airfield with planes (AM 80143-1) — There are four aircrafts. One aircraft looks as though it is about to take off. The planes are possibly military air force planes. One plane has a star painted on it, and is possibly of the US military. Here is an automobile next to it. One of the planes has "NZ 755" painted on it. There is a concrete square, possibly with planks of wood around it. Gravel road is in the foreground.

ⓘ licence & credit
Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airfield_with_planes_(AM_80143-1).jpgView source & full licence →

Aircraft in the Flight Research Building at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (GRC-1944-C-05416) — A Consolidated B–24D Liberator (left), Boeing B–29 Superfortress (background), and Lockheed RA–29 Hudson (foreground) parked inside the Flight Research Building at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. A P–47G Thunderbolt and P–63A King Cobra are visible in the background. The laboratory utilized 15 different aircraft during the final 2.5 years of World War II. This starkly contrasts with the limited-quantity, but long-duration aircraft of the NASA’s modern fleet. The Flight Research Building is a 272- by 150-foot hangar with an internal height ranging from 40 feet at the sides to 90 feet at its apex. The steel support trusses were pin-connected at the top with tension members extending along the corrugated transite walls down to the floor. The 37.5-foot-tall and 250-foot-long doors on either side can be opened in sections. The hangar included a shop area and stock room along the far wall, and a single-story offic

ⓘ licence & credit
NASA Glenn Research Center / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_in_the_Flight_Research_Building_at_the_Aircraft_Engine_Research_Laboratory_(GRC-1944-C-05416).jpgView source & full licence →

Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection CI273 — Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Air_Ministry_Second_World_War_Official_Collection_CI273.jpgView source & full licence →

A Lockheed Hudson Bomber A16-10 from The Powerhouse Museum — Lockheed Hudson Bomber A16-10, from The Powerhouse Museum

ⓘ licence & credit
Clyde works in Granville, NSW / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Lockheed_Hudson_Bomber_A16-10_from_The_Powerhouse_Museum.jpgView source & full licence →

About

The Lockheed Hudson was the first major American aircraft ordered for the RAF, a military development of the Lockheed Electra airliner bought to give Coastal Command a modern maritime reconnaissance machine. It entered service with No. 224 Squadron in 1939 and became the backbone of Coastal Command’s patrol force in the war’s early years, ranging over the North Sea from east-coast bases.

The Hudson collected a string of firsts. On 4 September 1939 one became the first RAF aircraft to engage the Luftwaffe, and that November Hudsons claimed Coastal Command’s first aerial victory. Its most famous exploit came on 27 August 1941, when a No. 269 Squadron Hudson forced the submarine U-570 to surrender — the only occasion an aircraft captured a U-boat. Armed with nose guns and a Boulton Paul dorsal turret, the Hudson also flew anti-submarine, air-sea rescue and transport duties before newer types replaced it.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Lockheed Hudson IIIA — RAF Museum and Lockheed Hudson in RAF Service — historyofwar.org. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.