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The Lockheed Hudson Mk.IV was the eventual designation given to 100 aircraft ordered for the RAAF and originally given the Australian designations Hudson Mk.I and Mk.II. They differed from the RAF Hudson Mk.I by being powered by the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp SC3-G in place of the Wright engine used on the RAF machines. They were otherwise similar to the RAF machines, and were meant to be armed with the same Boulton-Paul turret, although the first batch had to enter service before the turrets reached Australia, and so were armed with a gun in a flexible mount.
The first fifty aircraft were ordered late in 1938, and were given the RAAF designation Hudson Mk.I. A second batch of 50 was soon ordered, this time using the Hamilton constant speed propeller also introduced in the RAF Hudson Mk.II. This duplication of mark numbers was not a great problem at first, for the RAAF aircraft were based in Australia and the Far East and the RAF aircraft in Britain and the Mediterranean, but it had the potential to cause confusion, and so the Australian aircraft were eventually designated as the Mk.IV by the RAF.
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3G “Twin Wasp”
Horsepower: 1,050hp
Wing span: 65ft 6in
Length: 44ft 4in
Empty Weight: 13,195lb
Gross Weight: 18,500lb
Max Speed: 284mph at 15,000ft
Cruising Speed: 224mph
Climb rate: 2,160ft/min
Ceiling: 27,000ft
Range: 2,160 miles
Armament: Four 0.303in machine guns, two in the front and two in a Boulton-Paul dorsal turret
Another 52 Hudson Mk.IVAs were provided to the RAAF after the start of lend-lease. They were powered by the same Pratt & Whitney engine as the earlier aircraft, but under its USAAF designation of R-1830-45. They were produced as the A-28-LO. Eventually the RAAF would receive 200 Hudsons – the original 100 Mk.IVs, 52 Mk.IVAs, 41 Mk.IIIAs and 7 Mk.IVs taken from an RAF order for thirty Mk.IVs.
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-45 “Twin Wasp”
Horsepower: 1,050hp at take-off, 1,000hp at 11,500ft
Wing span: 65ft 6in
Length: 44ft 4in
Empty Weight: 12,800lb
Gross Weight: 18,500lb
Max Speed: 260mph at 12,500ft
Cruising Speed: 206mph
Ceiling: 26,000ft
Range: 1,800 miles
Armament: Four 0.303in machine guns, two in the front and two in a Boulton-Paul dorsal turret
Lockheed Hudson Aircraft in WWII, Andrew Hendrie, Crowood Press. A look at the development of the Hudson, and its career with the RAF, USAAF, RNZAF and RAAF. Covers the anti-submarine and anti-shipping uses of the Hudson, as well at its role in Air-Sea Rescue and special operations. The text is supported by a good collection of first hand accounts.
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