First flown in November 1961 it was delivered to BEA at Heathrow as V.953 Vanguard "Superb" on 13th December 1961. During 1970/71 it was converted as a V.953C Merchantman and re-delivered to BEA Cargo, (renamed British Airways Cargo on 1st April 1974), on 8th March 1971. Sold to Air Bridge Carriers, (Hunting Air Cargo from 1992), in November 1979, it was stored at East Midlands Airport until entering service in 1981. When retired in September 1996 it was the last airworthy Merchantman, and made its last flight on 17th October 1996 when it was donated to the Brooklands Museum by Hunting PLC.

from my collection, photographer not known, delivered new to BEA Nov 1966, to Transair Canada as CF-TAZ May 1970, to SOACO Gabon as TR-LWR Sep 1976, to IPEC Aviation as VH-IPB Sep 1978, to Safe Air as ZK-SAL May 1990, back to IPEC Nov 1990, wfu and b/u short time afterwards

Became TR-LWQ, VH-IPA, scrapped in 1990

Revuechrome S21 slide scan. Delivered 1961, converted to Merchantman 1970. Merged into British Airways 1974, Air Bridge 1979, withdrawn 1989. Flown to Perpignan for spares use, scrapped past 1995.

Delivered to British European Airways (BEA) in 1961 as a Vickers 953 Vanguard in passenger configuration. Intended to be named "Arethusa" after a Royal Navy warship, in line with the rest of the class, but the name was never carried due to a change in BEA's corporate colour scheme at the time of introduction to service. Converted to 953C Merchantman freighter standard in 1971. Sold to Air Bridge in 1979. Withdrawn from use in 1983. Used for Fire Training at East Midlands Airport till 1996.

Operated by Air Bridge Carriers in ex-BEA colours without titles. Delivered to BEA as G-APEG in 1961. Converted to a Merchantman freighter in 1971. Merged into British Airways in 1974. To Air Bridge Carriers in 1979. Withdrawn from use at East Midlands in 1983 and used as a fire trainer. Scrapped in 1997.