https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Seafire
The Supermarine Seafire was a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted
for operation from aircraft carriers. The name Seafire was arrived at by
abbreviating the longer name Sea Spitfire.
The Admiralty first showed an interest in the idea of a carrier-borne Spitfire
in May 1938 when, during a meeting with Richard Fairey (of Fairey Aviation),
Fairey proposed that his company could design and build such an aircraft. The
idea met with a negative response and the matter was dropped. As a result, the
Fleet Air Arm (FAA), at that point still part of the Royal Air Force, was forced
into having to order Blackburn Rocs and Gloster Sea Gladiators, both of which
proved to be woefully inadequate. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War,
many of the aircraft operated by the FAA were considered to be obsolete in
comparison to Germany's land-based fighters; thus the need for more capable
aircraft was readily apparent. As the Hawker Hurricane had quickly proven to be
adaptable to carrier-based operations, there was considerable interest in
navalising the Spitfire as well.
The main structural change was made to the lower rear fuselage which
incorporated an A-frame style arrestor hook and strengthened lower longerons. It
was soon discovered that the fuselage, especially around hatches, was too weak
for carrier operations. In an attempt to alleviate this condition, reinforcing
strips were riveted around hatch openings and along the main fuselage longerons.
A further 118 Seafire Mk Ib's incorporating the fuselage reinforcements were
modified from Spitfire Vbs by Cunliffe-Owen at Eastleigh and Air Training
Service. These aircraft were equipped with Naval HF radio equipment and IFF
equipment as well as a Type 72 homing beacon. In these and all subsequent
Seafires the instruments were re-calibrated to read kn and nmi rather than mph
and mi. The fixed armament was the same as that of the Spitfire Vb; two 20 mm
(.79 in) Hispano Mk II cannon with 60 rpg fed from a "drum" magazine and four
.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns with 350 rpg. Provision was also made to
carry a 30 gal (136 l) "slipper" fuel tank under the fuselage.
Role
Carrier-based fighter
Manufacturer
Supermarine
First flight
7 January 1942
Primary users
Royal Navy
French Navy
Irish Air Corps
Royal Canadian Navy
Number built
2,334
Developed from
Supermarine Spitfire
The Seafire II outperformed the A6M5 (Zero) at low altitudes when the two types
were tested against each other in World War II. Contemporary Allied aircraft
specifically designed for carrier use, such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the
Vought F4U Corsair, were considerably larger and more robust and generally more
powerful. The more powerful Seafire III enjoyed better climb rates and
acceleration than these other fighters. Late-war Seafire models equipped with
Griffon engines enjoyed a considerable increase of performance compared to their
Merlin-engined predecessors. The Griffon powered Seafires had some serious
faults; the main problem was a result of the increased power yielded by the
Griffon engine; the increase in torque meant the pilot had to continuously
correct the flight of the aircraft (to prevent the frame of the aircraft
rotating in the other direction to that of the propeller). This was a huge
problem when attempting to take off and land from an aircraft carrier. The
torque also affected the lift of the right wing (the Griffon engines rotated
anti-clockwise) which would lose lift and even stall at reasonable speeds. The
increased weight of the engine meant that the take-off had to be longer and
proved very dangerous from most British carriers. The increased weight of the
engine further affected the centre of gravity that Mitchell had concentrated on
so carefully in the original Spitfire. As a result, the handling of the aircraft
suffered. Eventually most of these problems were fixed in Seafire 47 when the 6
bladed contra-rotating propeller was adopted.
During 1944, Seafires were used for air cover in support of several aerial
bombing missions against the German battleship Tirpitz. In June 1944, multiple
Seafire squadrons were used during the Normandy landings for the purpose of
locating in-land targets for naval gunnery batteries to attack; during this
operation, these aircraft had been placed under RAF control and were operated
from shore bases, these were returned to FAA control in July 1944. In August
1944, Seafires were used to support Allied ground forces during Operation
Dragoon in Southern France.
Specifications (LF Mk III)
General characteristics
Crew: one
Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.22 m)
Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.48 m)
Empty weight: 6,204 lb (2,814 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 7,640 lb (3,466 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 359 mph (578 km/h) at 5,100 ft (1,554 m)
Cruise speed: 218 mph (351 km/h)
Range: 513 mi (825 km)
Service ceiling: 32,000 ft (9,754 m)
Rate of climb: 1.9 min to 5,000 ft (1,525 m)
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