As finalized, the P4M-1 would go one to carry a complete crew of nine and, structurally, it had an overall length of 85.1 feet, a wingspan of 114 feet and a height of 26 feet. Empty weight was 48,535lb with a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 88,380 feet. Power was from 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" air-cooled radial piston engines of 3,250 horsepower each and these were aided by 2 x Allison J33-A-23 turbojet engines of 4,600 thrust each. Performance included a maximum speed of 410 miles-per-hour, a range out to 2,850 miles, and a service ceiling up to 35,000 feet. The aircraft was fitted with the AN/APS-33 search radar.
Even as Lockheed's Neptune design went on to win the original USN requirement, the value of the Mercator was not overlooked by authorities as a mine-laying platform so a production order for the design followed in 1947 leading to service entry in 1950. As soon as 1951, the fleet was converted for the SIGINT role and operated under the aforementioned P4M-1Q designation - these flew with additional mission support equipment and more crewmembers for the revised role.
In this guise, Mercators undertook daring, often dangerous, spying missions around communist territories near the likes of the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and Vietnam. On August 22nd, 1956, a Mercator was shot down by Chinese interceptors, killing all aboard, and another such incident followed with the Soviet Union over Mediterranean waters after the Mercator was caught near Ukraine. Similarly, North Korean interceptors met a Mercator with gunfire though the American warplane managed to survive the encounter and limp home.
Once their useful service lives were over (and pure jet aircraft took over in full), the Mercator line was given up in favor of the Douglas A-3 "Skywarrior" through its "EA-3B" guise. Unlike the Mercator, the Skywarrior was compact enough to be operated from, and be stored below, the decks of American carriers of the period. The last Mercator was retired in 1960 and none of the surviving airframes were spared.
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