RAF says farewell to the Mighty Hercules
On 19 December 1966, the very first Hercules C1 transport aircraft for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) arrived at Marshall’s of Cambridge. This actually was the second aircraft built, serial XV177, and it was subsequently delivered to 242 Operational Conversion Unit (242OCU) at RAF Thorney Island.
After over fifty-six years of distinguished service, the era of the Hercules within the RAF will come to an end on 30 June 2023. On this date, the last operational squadron to fly this plane will also be disbanded. This is 47 squadron, which was first established on 1 March 1916, and which has been equipped with Hercules aircraft since 25 February 1968.
A lot has happened in this period, from regular support to British and other NATO forces during the Cold War era, to humanitarian aid missions in for example Africa and war time missions ranging from the Falklands War (1982) until Operation Shader which currently is still on going and where the last operational Hercules mission was flown on 4 June 2023.
Initially the Ministry of Defence (MoD) purchased sixty-six C-130K aircraft, which were delivered between December 1966 and May 1968. A large portion of the fleet was retired when twenty-five C-130J aircraft were purchased as replacement.
The new C-130Js were delivered between 1998 and 2000, again to Marshall’s at Cambridge. The first C-130J was delivered to the RAF for operational service on 21 November 1999. Despite this, a limited number of C-130Ks soldiered on, mainly for Special Forces Support Missions, until 28 October 2013.
In March 2021 it was announced that also the C-130J Hercules would be retired. Their role was to be taken over by twenty-two Airbus A400M aircraft, of which the last one was delivered on 22 May 2023. Over time, the C-130J fleet has been gradually reduced in size with only five aircraft still in operational service by the start of June 2023: ZH867, ZH868, ZH870, ZH871 and ZH889.
Of the C-130J Super Hercules, two were lost while in service: ZH873 on 25 August 2017 and ZH876 on 12 February 2007. All others were retired to Marshall’s at Cambridge for storage pending a decision on their future. Seven of them have already been sold and delivered to other countries: four to Bangladesh (ZH881, ZH882 ZH884 and ZH887), two to Bahrain (ZH880 and ZH886) and one to the United States (ZH885, which became the new “Fat Albert” with the famous US Navy Demonstration Squadron “Blue Angels”).
A fitting farewell flypast is planned on 14 June 2023. Three aircraft will overfly all four nations of the United Kingdom, including twenty-three locations which in some way are historically tied to this iconic aircraft:
Photo by Mike Schoenmaker (Scramble Archive)