page_title: SR.N6
section_title: Civilian use
hierarchical_section_title: SR.N6 / Operational history / Civilian use
caption_attribution_description: English: P&amp;A Campbell SR.N6-024 used to promote Townsend Car Ferries services around Britain
context_page_description: The Saunders-Roe SR.N6 hovercraft was essentially a larger version of the earlier SR.N5 series. It incorporated several features that resulted in the type becoming one of most produced and commercially successful hovercraft designs in the world.
  While the SR.N2 and SR.N5s operated in commercial service as trials craft, the SR.N6 has the distinction of being the first production hovercraft to enter commercial service. In comparison to the SR.N5, the SR.N6 was stretched in length, providing more than double the seating capacity. Some models of the craft were stretched further, enabling an even greater capacity.
  Experience gained in the development of the SR.N6 has been attributed as heavily contributing towards the design and production of the largest civil hovercraft to be ever produced, the SR.N4. Several major design features of the SR.N6 appeared on both the SR.N4 and further hovercraft designs by Saunders-Roe and its successor, the British Hovercraft Corporation.
context_section_description: Norwegian operator Scanhover served as the SR.N6's launch customer. In June 1965, the first SR.N6 entered commercial service and was quickly joined by another craft. They operated on a 120-mile route, with six stopping points, in the Ålesund area. These craft were later operated between Aarhus and Kalundborg in Denmark and, during February and March 1966, also successfully underwent cold weather trials in Sweden, in the Gulf of Bothnia. The introduction of regular hovercraft services in the form of the SR.N6 attracted worldwide interest.
  On 24 July 1965, British operator Hovertravel took delivery of their first SR.N6, placing it into service in the Solent area on a route between the Ryde Transport Interchange on the Isle of Wight and Southsea. This route was particularly well suited to hovercraft, as the tidal conditions of the surrounding coastline made berthing ships difficult, as well as a high volume of traffic; by 2012, Hovertravel had become the oldest hovercraft operator in the Western world, continuing to operate the same route.
  British Rail, using the operating name of Seaspeed, started a hovercraft service using the SR.N6 across the Solent between Southampton and Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1965. This was later taken over by Hovertravel. The service ended in 1980 because of rising costs and increased competition.
  In 1966, operator P & A Campbell, in conjunction with Townsend Ferries, purchased SR.N6-024 to conduct their Townsend Car Ferries service, initially performing cross-Channel services between Dover and Calais, however, this service did not prove popular and was terminated after roughly two months. During 1966 and 1967, Campbell toured various holiday resorts across Great Britain, offering pleasure rides on the craft. SR.N6-024 was subsequently sold to Hovertravel, who soon deployed it on board the Cunard ocean liner RMS Sylvania in order to perform practical demonstrations in the Mediterranean to officials of various nations as well as some trips for passengers on board.
  In 1967, Hoverwork, a subsidiary of Hovertravel, operated a pair of SR.N6s at Expo 67, a World's fair held in Montreal, Canada, to provide passenger services between the exhibition site and Montreal itself. In 1968, a single Hoverwork SR.N6 traversed a 2,400 km route of inhospitable jungle terrain within central South America, between Manaus, Brazil and Port of Spain, Trinidad, for a National Geographic scientific expedition. Between Hoverwork and Hovertravel, a fleet of up to nine SR.N6s was employed on both scheduled and chartered operations around the world.
  Prior to its introduction of the far-larger SR.N4, British Rail's hovercraft operating division, named Seaspeed, decided to adopt a pair of SR.N6s for route proving and information gathering purposes. In October 1966, Charles Brindle and several engineers surveyed several potential sites on both the British and French sides of the English Channel, using an SR.N6 to determine their suitability for the future SR.N4 service. In late 1971, the company stretched its SR.N6 to the larger Mk 1S standard and fitted more powerful Gnome engines to account for the increased payload. However, in the long term, it was determined by Seaspeed that the SR.N6 could not be profitable on the Cowes-Southampton route to which it had tasked the type.
  During the late 1960s, Hoverlloyd also launched a cross-Channel service using a pair of SR.N6s, running four return trips per day. Like Seaspeed, Hoverlloyd used its SR.N6 fleet to gain experience prior to its own acquisition of the larger SR.N4.
  In 1998, the Canadian Coast Guard decommissioned its last SR.N6 that was in active service, commissioned as CCGH 045.
caption: SR.N6-024 at Westgate beach, Kent 1967
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