“To affirm that the aeroplane is going to 'revolutionize' navel warfare of the future is to be guilty of the wildest exaggeration.” - Scientific American, July 1910.Nationality: English
Year of Production: 1938 (proposed), 1941 (produced)
Number built: 2669
Weight (empty): 3.9 tons
Wingspan: 11.2 metres
Length: 10.4 metres
Height: 3.9 metres
Speed: 578 kph (Merlin engine), 727 kph (Griffon engine)
Engine: Rolls Royce Merlin 55M V12, developing 1585 hp. Later, the Griffon 88 V12 would be used, developing 2350 hp.
Armament: 2x 20mm cannon, 4x 0.303 machine guns, later on, 4x 20mm cannon. (The Seafire F. Mk 47 had up to 8x rocket launchers, firing RP-3 air to ground rockets. They all could carry bombs, from 110 kg to 250 kg.)
Background: I daresay most people know about the beautiful little Spitfire, the aircraft that flew during the Battle of Britain, and during World War Two as a whole.
This story relates to the Seafire, trust me. Or not. Anyway, in 1931, the British Air Ministry was calling out for a new fighter plane capable of going at 404 kph. A man called Reginald Joseph Mitchell, of the Supermarine Aviation Works responded, with the Supermarine Type 224, which was rejected, as well as the later Supermarine Type 300, but eventually got accepted with the F7/30.
In 1936, the first prototype Spitfire flew, causing the RAF to squeal like schoolgirls and immediately order 310 of them, before the trials had been completed. Over 20,000 Spitfires, and the variants, would be built.
Unfortunately, while the RAF was enjoying their brand spanking new toy, the Fleet Air Arm were stuck with Blackburn Rocs and Gloster Sea Gladiators, of which, although they were decent aircraft... weren't quite as magnificent as the Spitfire.
The FAA got turned away from having their own Spitfires by Winston Churchill, but that's sort of understandable since that was during the Battle of Britain, and your own country's defense is more important then anything else, in my view.
However, in 1941, the Admiralty had a look at the Spitfire again, and 48 Spitfire Mark Vb aircraft were converted to have hooks on them, since a plane's not much good if it can't actually land. The new Seafires were used to get the Navy used to using their new toys, with modifications being constantly made, to make them more useful for general defense and attack purposes.
Why should I be afraid of it? And what was it for?
“The air fleet of an enemy will never get within striking distance of our coast as long as our aircraft carriers are able to carry the preponderance of air power to sea.” - Rear Admiral W. A. Mofflet, Chief of US Bureau of Aeronautics.
It's role was to hang around aircraft carriers, and to teach anything that isn't on it's side that the Royal Navy only wants pretty pictures and words taken when it damn well wants you to, and not whenever you want to.
The Seafire mainly operated in the Far East campaign against Japan, on the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable (R10), where they took on the kamikaze attacks, at one point taking out eight aircraft for the loss of only one of their own.
Post-World War Two, the Seafire was upgraded to the Mk47, and served in the Korean War, helping to blunt North Korean offenses in the skies and on the ground, with only two lost, one to friendly fire, and the other when the grappling hook failed to extend. Unfortunately, by the end of it, all but 3 of the Seafires in the 800 squadron were declared unservicable.
The Canadians and the French also used Seafires, the latter on the Arromanches (formerly HMS Colossus), which fought against the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War, before being withdrawn in 1949.
The Irish used the Seafire as well, but they didn't really seem to do anything much with them.
Ultimately, the Seafire, while in some ways a strong aircraft, was also a fragile thing, however, by all accounts it served magnificently. Then again, when you come from the same stock as the Supermarine Spitfire, how could you not?
Sources used:
Supermarine Seafire: Wikipedia
Fleet Air Arm Archive: Supermarine Seafire
Supermarine Seafire: Classic Warbirds
Supermarine Spitfire variants: specifications, performance and armament: Wikipedia
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