Avro Shackleton bomber fitted with an air-droppable boat. Called "airborne lifeboats" they were dropped on survivors of water landings when weather didn't allow seaplanes to land.
Planes already carried emergency rubber dinghies to keep the men out of the water, but this boat had an engine and sails for propulsion, a manual to teach the men to sail, radio, waterproof clothing, rations, medical supplies, a self-draining deck to keep them dry, a fishing kit, and a screen to protect the men from the sun.
The whole package would drop with parachutes, upon landing gas bags similar in concept to an airbag would turn the boat the right way up, and lastly rockets would be launched that stretched lines out to sea for the survivors to grab.
