The Wyvern was planned as a day-fighter able to carry a torpedo, & was designed around a Rolls-Royce Eagle piston engine, which could be replaced by a turboprop if required. The Wyvern first flew in December 1946, all of the six prototypes & 10 pre-production aircraft being fitted with Rolls-Royce Eagle 22 piston engines. The engine was switched to a turboprop in the next three prototypes, one fitted with a Rolls-Royce Clyde & the other two fitted with Armstrong-Siddeley Python 3s. The Python 3 was chosen as the standard powerplant for production Wyverns, & was fitted to 21 pre-production aircraft. These were followed by 87 production Wyvern TF.Mk4 attack aircraft, which were re-designated Wyvern S.Mk4s by the Royal Navy. The Wyvern entered service in May 1953, & participated in the Suez crisis in 1956, making key strikes on Egyptian targets. All of the Fleet Air Arm's Wyverns had left service by mid-1958 after only five years with the Royal Navy.
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