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|image= Shorland armoured car mk1.jpg
|image= Shorland armoured car mk1.jpg
|image_size = 300
|image_size = 300
|caption=A Mk1 Shorland Shorland Internal Security Vehicle
|caption=A Mk1 Shorland Internal Security Vehicle
|origin={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|origin={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|type=[[Armored car (military)|Armoured car]]
|type=[[Armored car (military)|Armoured car]]
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| armour=
| armour=
| engine=Rover [[petrol]]
| engine=Rover [[petrol]]
| engine_power=91 hp (68 kW)
| engine_power={{convert|91|hp|kW|abbr=on}}
| pw_ratio=
| pw_ratio=
| crew=3
| crew=3
}}
}}


The '''Shorland''' is an [[Armored car (military)|armoured patrol car]] that was designed specifically for the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] by Frederick Butler. The first design meeting took place in November 1961. The third and final prototype was completed in 1964 and the first RUC Shorlands were delivered in 1966. They were reallocated to the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] in 1970. The Royal Ulster Constabulary soon replaced the Shorland with an armoured Land Rover with more conventional profile and no [[machine gun]] turret.
The '''Shorland''' is an [[Armored car (military)|armoured patrol car]] that was designed specifically for the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] by Frederick Butler. The first design meeting took place in November 1961. The third and final prototype was completed in 1964 and the first RUC Shorlands were delivered in 1966. They were reallocated to the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] in 1970. The Royal Ulster Constabulary soon replaced the Shorland with an armoured Land Rover with more conventional profile and no [[machine gun]] turret.


The vehicles were built by [[Short Brothers|Short Brothers and Harland]] of [[Belfast]] using the chassis from the Series IIA [[Land Rover]].
The vehicles were built by [[Short Brothers|Short Brothers and Harland]] of [[Belfast]] using the chassis from the Series IIA [[Land Rover]].
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==Design==
==Design==
The Shorland is a long wheelbase [[Land Rover (Series/Defender)|Land Rover]] with the turret similar in appearance to that of a Mk 2 [[Ferret armoured car|Ferret scout car]]. The vehicle has upgraded suspension to deal with the extra weight of the armour.
The Shorland is a long wheelbase [[Land Rover (Series/Defender)|Land Rover]] with the turret similar in appearance to that of a Mk 2 [[Ferret armoured car|Ferret scout car]]. The vehicle has upgraded suspension to deal with the extra weight of the armour.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.royal-irish.com/stories/the-shorland-armoured-car | title=The Shorland Armoured Car &#124; Royal Irish - Virtual Military Gallery }}</ref>

==August 1969 deployment==
In August 1969 [[1969 Northern Ireland riots|widespread sectarian violence and street unrest]] broke out in Northern Ireland, set against the backdrop of the ongoing [[Northern Ireland civil rights movement]]. In response the RUC deployed Shorland armored cars in [[Belfast]], initially in a crowd control role.<ref name="geraghty21">Geraghty, Tony. ''The Irish War: The hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence''. JHU Press, 2000. p.21.</ref> On 14 August an IRA unit<ref>Bishop, Mallie, p109, Hanley, Millar, p127</ref> opened fire on RUC officers and loyalist militants gathered at the intersection of Dover and Divis Street, at the edge of the predominantly Catholic district. Protestant Herbert Roy (26) was killed<ref name="sutton69">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1969.html Sutton Index of Deaths: 1969] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219010535/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1969.html |date=19 February 2012 }}. ''[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]]''.</ref> and three officers were wounded.<ref name="hastings39">Hastings, Max. ''Going to the Wars''. Pan Macmillan, 2001. p.39.</ref> Police responded with bursts from [[Sterling submachine gun]]s.<ref name="Ombudsman Divis">{{cite web |title=The circumstances of the deaths of Patrick Rooney, Hugh McCabe, Samuel McLarnon and Michael Lynch in Belfast on 15 August 1969 |url=https://www.policeombudsman.org/PONI/files/20/20876293-a4e6-486e-9ea4-505905ba5a86.pdf |publisher=[[Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland]] |pages=109–111 |date=5 May 2021}}</ref> At this point, the RUC, misinterpreting the unrest as an IRA uprising, deployed the Shorlands in a live-fire role,<ref name="scarman"/> and their .30 calibre bullets reportedly "tore through walls as if they were cardboard".<ref name="coogan9192">Coogan, Tim Pat. ''The Troubles''. pp.91–92.</ref> In response to the RUC coming under fire at Divis Street, three Shorlands were requested. The Shorlands came under fire, and were also attacked with an explosive device and petrol bombs. The RUC believed that the shots had come from the [[Divis Flats]] complex. RUC officers inside the Shorlands opened fire with their turret-mounted machine-guns. At least thirteen Divis flats were recorded struck in the hail of gunfire. A nine-year-old boy, Patrick Rooney, was killed instantly by Shorland machine-gun fire as he lay in bed in one of the flats. He was the first child fatality during the violence.<ref>All of the Patrick Rooney incident from; McKittrick, David. ''Lost Lives''. Mainstream, 1999. pp.&nbsp;34–36</ref>

The [[Republican Labour Party]] MP for [[Belfast Central (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|Belfast Central]], [[Paddy Kennedy (politician)|Paddy Kennedy]], who was in the vicinity, phoned RUC headquarters and pleaded with Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs, [[Robert Porter (Northern Ireland politician)|Robert Porter]], for the Shorlands to be withdrawn and the shooting to cease. Porter responded that this was impossible as "the whole town is in rebellion". Porter told Kennedy that Donegall Street police station was under heavy machine-gun fire when in fact it was undisturbed during the entirety of the unrest.<ref>All of the Kennedy/Porter exchange from, Bishop, Mallie, The Provisional IRA, p111</ref> Following the shooting of Catholic man Hugh McCabe in the Divis complex, a mob of 200 loyalists attacked Divis Street and began burning Catholic homes there.<ref name="hastings45">Hastings, p.45</ref> Six IRA members in St Comgall's School opened fire with rifle and submachinegun fire, repelling the invasion and wounding eight.<ref>Bishop, Mallie, p 112</ref> Shortly afterwards an RUC Shorland appeared and opened fire on the school,<ref name="hastings45"/> but the IRA unit returned fire and escaped.<ref name="scarman">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/scarman.htm ''Violence and Civil Disturbances in Northern Ireland in 1969 – Report of Tribunal of Inquiry''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827142651/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/scarman.htm |date=27 August 2011 }}. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1972.</ref>

The Scarman Tribunal later commissioned by the UK Government to investigate the Northern Ireland violence of August 1969 was highly critical of the RUC's deployment of Shorland armoured cars:

{{quote|The use of Browning machine-guns in Belfast on 14 August and 15 August... was a menace to the innocent as well as the guilty, being heavy and indiscriminate in its fire: and on one occasion (the firing into St Brendan's block of flats where the boy Rooney was killed) its use was wholly unjustifiable<ref name="scarman"/>}}


==Variants==
==Variants==
===Mk 1===
===Mk 1===
*67&nbsp;bhp (50&nbsp;kW) engine
*{{convert|67|bhp|kW|abbr=on}} engine


===Mk 2===
===Mk 2===
*
*
*77&nbsp;bhp (57&nbsp;kW) engine
*{{convert|77|bhp|kW|abbr=on}} engine


===Mk 3===
===Mk 3===
*Introduced in 1972
*Introduced in 1972
*91&nbsp;bhp (68&nbsp;kW) engine
*{{convert|91|bhp|kW|abbr=on}} engine
*Thicker armour than Mk 1, Mk 2
*Thicker armour than Mk 1, Mk 2


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* {{flag|Brunei}}: 15<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Brunei}}: 15<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Burundi}}: 7<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Burundi}}: 7<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Guyana}}: 4<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Guyana}}: 5<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Iraq}}: 72<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Iraq}}: 72<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Kenya}}: 8{{sfn|The Military Balance 2021|p=472}}
* {{KEN}}
* {{LBN}} - 30 in service with the [[Internal Security Forces]].
* {{LBN}} - 30 in service with the [[Internal Security Forces]].
* {{flag|Lesotho}}: 8{{sfn|The Military Balance 2021|p=473}}
* {{LES}}
* {{flag|Libya|1977}}: 15<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Libya|1977}}: 15<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Malaysia}}: 20<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Malaysia}}: 20 (retired service)<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Mauritius}}: 4<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Mauritius}}: 4<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Nigeria}} - Some of local manufacture.
* {{flag|Nigeria}} - Some of local manufacture.
* {{NLD}}
* {{NLD}}
* {{flag|Pakistan}} - 24 in service with the [[Sindh Police]].<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Pakistan}} - 24 in service with the [[Sindh Police]].<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Papua New Guinea}} - 5<ref name=trade/>
* {{flaglist|Papua New Guinea}} - 5<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Portugal}} - 38 in service with the [[Portuguese Republican National Guard]].<ref>Monteiro, ''Berliet, Chaimite e UMM – Os Grandes Veículos Militares Nacionais'' (2018), p. 36.</ref>
* {{flag|Portugal}} - 38 in service with the [[Portuguese Republican National Guard]].<ref>Monteiro, ''Berliet, Chaimite e UMM – Os Grandes Veículos Militares Nacionais'' (2018), p. 36.</ref>
* {{flag|Rhodesia}} - 2 mock Shorlands equipped with [[Ferret armored car|Ferret]] turrets were deployed for a [[Selous Scouts]]' covert operation in 1979.<ref>Locke & Cooke, ''Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80'' (1995), p. 94.</ref>
* {{flag|Rhodesia}} - Unlicensed variant; 2 were built and deployed for the [[Selous Scouts]] in 1979.<ref>Locke & Cooke, ''Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80'' (1995), p. 94.</ref>
* {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}: 40<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}: 40<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Seychelles}}: 8<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Seychelles}}: 8<ref name=trade/>
Line 107: Line 116:
* {{UK}}
* {{UK}}
* {{flag|Venezuela}}: 15<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Venezuela}}: 15<ref name=trade/>
* {{flag|Kuwait}}: Kuwait national guard and the kuwait police force


==See also==
==See also==
Line 115: Line 125:


==References==
==References==
* {{cite book|title=The Military Balance 2021|date=February 2021|volume=121|isbn=9781032012278|publisher=Routledge|ref={{harvid|The Military Balance 2021}}|author=International Institute for Strategic Studies|author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies}}
* Christopher F. Foss, ''Jane’s Tank & Combat Vehicle recognition guide'', HarperCollins Publishers, London 2002. {{ISBN|0-00-712759-6}}
* Christopher F. Foss, ''Jane's Tank & Combat Vehicle recognition guide'', HarperCollins Publishers, London 2002. {{ISBN|0-00-712759-6}}
* Pedro Manuel Monteiro, ''Berliet, Chaimite e UMM – Os Grandes Veículos Militares Nacionais'', Contra a Corrente, Lisboa 2018. {{ISBN|9789899901261}} ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]/[[English language|English]] text)
* Pedro Manuel Monteiro, ''Berliet, Chaimite e UMM – Os Grandes Veículos Militares Nacionais'', Contra a Corrente, Lisboa 2018. {{ISBN|9789899901261}} ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]/[[English language|English]] text)
* Peter Gerard Locke & Peter David Farquharson Cooke, ''Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80'', P&P Publishing, Wellington 1995. {{ISBN|0-473-02413-6}}
* Peter Gerard Locke & Peter David Farquharson Cooke, ''Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80'', P&P Publishing, Wellington 1995. {{ISBN|0-473-02413-6}}
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* [http://www.shorlandsite.com The Shorland Site]
* [http://www.shorlandsite.com The Shorland Site]


{{ModernUKAFVsNav | style= wide }}
{{Modern IFV and APC}}
{{Modern IFV and APC}}


[[Category:Armoured cars of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Armoured cars of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Armoured personnel carriers]]
[[Category:Armoured personnel carriers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wheeled armoured personnel carriers]]
[[Category:Wheeled armoured personnel carriers]]
[[Category:All-wheel-drive vehicles]]
[[Category:All-wheel-drive vehicles]]
[[Category:Internal security vehicles]]
[[Category:Internal security vehicles]]
[[Category:Paramilitary vehicles]]
[[Category:Armoured cars of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Armoured cars of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Land Rover vehicles|Shorland]]
[[Category:Land Rover vehicles|Shorland]]
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[[Category:Ulster Defence Regiment]]
[[Category:Ulster Defence Regiment]]
[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Military vehicles introduced in the 1960s]]

Revision as of 08:40, 19 April 2024

"Shorland" redirects here. For other uses, see Shorland (disambiguation).

Shorland Internal Security Vehicle
A Mk1 Shorland Internal Security Vehicle
TypeArmoured car
Place of origin United Kingdom
Service history
In serviceRoyal Ulster Constabulary
Ulster Defence Regiment
WarsThe Troubles
Lebanese Civil War
Rhodesian Bush War
Second Malayan Emergency
Internal conflict in Burma
Sri Lankan Civil War
Libyan Civil War
Production history
ManufacturerShort Brothers and Harland
Specifications
Length4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)
Width1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Height2.29 m (7 ft 6 in)
Crew3
Main
armament
7.62×51mm NATO machine gun
EngineRover petrol
91 hp (68 kW)
Suspension4 X 4
Operational
range
260–510 km (160–320 mi)
Maximum speed 88 km/h (55 mph)

The Shorland is an armoured patrol car that was designed specifically for the Royal Ulster Constabulary by Frederick Butler. The first design meeting took place in November 1961. The third and final prototype was completed in 1964 and the first RUC Shorlands were delivered in 1966. They were reallocated to the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1970. The Royal Ulster Constabulary soon replaced the Shorland with an armoured Land Rover with more conventional profile and no machine gun turret.

The vehicles were built by Short Brothers and Harland of Belfast using the chassis from the Series IIA Land Rover.

By the nineties, the Land Rover Tangi, designed and built by the Royal Ulster Constabulary's own vehicle engineering team, was by far the most common model of armoured Land Rover.

Shorts and Harland continued to develop the original Shorland from an armoured patrol car with a crew of three to an armoured personnel vehicle, capable of carrying two up front and six in the rear; a small number of these were used on the streets in Northern Ireland as late as 1998.

In 1996, the Short Brothers sold the complete Shorland design to British Aerospace Australia.

They were also used by the RAF Police in Germany in the 1990s for Special Weapons (Nuclear) escort duties.

Design

The Shorland is a long wheelbase Land Rover with the turret similar in appearance to that of a Mk 2 Ferret scout car. The vehicle has upgraded suspension to deal with the extra weight of the armour.[1]

August 1969 deployment

In August 1969 widespread sectarian violence and street unrest broke out in Northern Ireland, set against the backdrop of the ongoing Northern Ireland civil rights movement. In response the RUC deployed Shorland armored cars in Belfast, initially in a crowd control role.[2] On 14 August an IRA unit[3] opened fire on RUC officers and loyalist militants gathered at the intersection of Dover and Divis Street, at the edge of the predominantly Catholic district. Protestant Herbert Roy (26) was killed[4] and three officers were wounded.[5] Police responded with bursts from Sterling submachine guns.[6] At this point, the RUC, misinterpreting the unrest as an IRA uprising, deployed the Shorlands in a live-fire role,[7] and their .30 calibre bullets reportedly "tore through walls as if they were cardboard".[8] In response to the RUC coming under fire at Divis Street, three Shorlands were requested. The Shorlands came under fire, and were also attacked with an explosive device and petrol bombs. The RUC believed that the shots had come from the Divis Flats complex. RUC officers inside the Shorlands opened fire with their turret-mounted machine-guns. At least thirteen Divis flats were recorded struck in the hail of gunfire. A nine-year-old boy, Patrick Rooney, was killed instantly by Shorland machine-gun fire as he lay in bed in one of the flats. He was the first child fatality during the violence.[9]

The Republican Labour Party MP for Belfast Central, Paddy Kennedy, who was in the vicinity, phoned RUC headquarters and pleaded with Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs, Robert Porter, for the Shorlands to be withdrawn and the shooting to cease. Porter responded that this was impossible as "the whole town is in rebellion". Porter told Kennedy that Donegall Street police station was under heavy machine-gun fire when in fact it was undisturbed during the entirety of the unrest.[10] Following the shooting of Catholic man Hugh McCabe in the Divis complex, a mob of 200 loyalists attacked Divis Street and began burning Catholic homes there.[11] Six IRA members in St Comgall's School opened fire with rifle and submachinegun fire, repelling the invasion and wounding eight.[12] Shortly afterwards an RUC Shorland appeared and opened fire on the school,[11] but the IRA unit returned fire and escaped.[7]

The Scarman Tribunal later commissioned by the UK Government to investigate the Northern Ireland violence of August 1969 was highly critical of the RUC's deployment of Shorland armoured cars:

The use of Browning machine-guns in Belfast on 14 August and 15 August... was a menace to the innocent as well as the guilty, being heavy and indiscriminate in its fire: and on one occasion (the firing into St Brendan's block of flats where the boy Rooney was killed) its use was wholly unjustifiable[7]

Variants

Mk 1

  • 67 bhp (50 kW) engine

Mk 2

  • 77 bhp (57 kW) engine

Mk 3

  • Introduced in 1972
  • 91 bhp (68 kW) engine
  • Thicker armour than Mk 1, Mk 2

Mk 4

  • Production started in 1980
  • 3.5 litre Rover V8 petrol engine
  • Improved armour over Mk 3

Series 5

  • Based on the Defender 110 chassis
  • 3.5 litre Rover V8 petrol engine or 2.5 litre Rover Tdi Turbo diesel engine
  • Welded armour fully enclosed body.
  • Versions
    • S5 - Prototype Armoured Patrol Car
    • S51 - Armoured Patrol Car
    • S52 - Armoured Patrol Car
    • S53 - Air Defence Vehicle
    • S54 - Anti-hijack Vehicle
    • S55 - Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC)

Current and former operators

Former Netherlands Police vehicle

See also

  • Shorland S600, an armoured personnel carrier developed in 1995 based on the Mercedes-Benz Unimog

Notes

  1. ^ "The Shorland Armoured Car | Royal Irish - Virtual Military Gallery".
  2. ^ Geraghty, Tony. The Irish War: The hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence. JHU Press, 2000. p.21.
  3. ^ Bishop, Mallie, p109, Hanley, Millar, p127
  4. ^ Sutton Index of Deaths: 1969 Archived 19 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Conflict Archive on the Internet.
  5. ^ Hastings, Max. Going to the Wars. Pan Macmillan, 2001. p.39.
  6. ^ "The circumstances of the deaths of Patrick Rooney, Hugh McCabe, Samuel McLarnon and Michael Lynch in Belfast on 15 August 1969" (PDF). Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. 5 May 2021. pp. 109–111.
  7. ^ a b c Violence and Civil Disturbances in Northern Ireland in 1969 – Report of Tribunal of Inquiry Archived 27 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1972.
  8. ^ Coogan, Tim Pat. The Troubles. pp.91–92.
  9. ^ All of the Patrick Rooney incident from; McKittrick, David. Lost Lives. Mainstream, 1999. pp. 34–36
  10. ^ All of the Kennedy/Porter exchange from, Bishop, Mallie, The Provisional IRA, p111
  11. ^ a b Hastings, p.45
  12. ^ Bishop, Mallie, p 112
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  14. ^ The Military Balance 2021, p. 472.
  15. ^ The Military Balance 2021, p. 473.
  16. ^ Monteiro, Berliet, Chaimite e UMM – Os Grandes Veículos Militares Nacionais (2018), p. 36.
  17. ^ Locke & Cooke, Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80 (1995), p. 94.

References

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