page_title: No. 201 Squadron RAF
section_title: Shackletons and Nimrods
hierarchical_section_title: No. 201 Squadron RAF / History / Shackletons and Nimrods
caption_attribution_description: English: HS/BAE Nimrod MR.1 XV250 of 201 Squadron RAF Kinloss at RAF Finningley in 1977
context_page_description: No. 201 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, until March 2010, operated the Nimrod MR2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It is the only squadron affiliated with Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. This affiliation started in 1935 and is commemorated in the museum on Castle Cornet. Its history goes even further back than the RAF itself, being formed originally as No. 1 Squadron RNAS on 17 Oct 1914. The squadron will stand up again in 2021 as the second squadron equipped with the P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
context_section_description: The squadron was reformed at RAF St. Mawgan, when No. 220 Squadron RAF was renumbered to 201 Squadron. The squadron flew the next twelve years with the Avro Shackleton MR.3, a version that used a tricycle undercarriage as opposed to the earlier tailwheel variants. Following the Shackleton's retirement, the squadron converted to Nimrods in October 1970. 
  The squadron was active for over a decade in the Gulf region, in support of both Gulf War 1 and 2 and more recently the conflict in Afghanistan. Until March 2010, the squadron was also on active duty in the UK and maintained continuous 24-hour/365-day search and rescue standby, shared with the sister 120 Squadron, both flying from RAF Kinloss. The Nimrod MR2 was withdrawn in March 2010, and the squadron was formally disbanded on 26 May 2011. It had been preparing to operate the Nimrod MRA4 but this aircraft was cancelled under the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
  In July 2017, it was announced that No. 201 Squadron would be one of two RAF squadrons to fly the P-8A Poseidon, based at RAF Lossiemouth.
caption: Nimrod MR.1 of 201 Squadron exhibited at the Queen's Silver Jubilee Review at RAF Finningley in July 1977.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "4800", "Image YResolution": "4800", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2015:05:24 21:49:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "184", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "422", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3466", "EXIF ExifVersion": "[0, 2, 2, 0]", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:05:01 09:31:14", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:05:01 09:31:14", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "[0, 1, 0, 0]", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "676"}