Supermarine Seafire

Aboard HMS Formidable, January 1943

• Role: single-seat naval fighter
• Conception: Reginald J. Mitchell and Joseph Smith, for Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd
• Production: Supermarine A. W. Ltd, Air Service Training, Cunliffe-Owen, Westland.
  2556 planes built.
• First flight of prototype: K5054: March 5th, 1936

Development

• The first navalized Spitfires, basically Mk Vb airframes with an added arrestor hook, were used mostly for evaluation and training purposes.
• Seafire Mk Ib: this first version of the Seafire had a strengthened Spitfire Mk Vb airframe, with an arrestor hook, slinging points and naval radios. It was powered by a Merlin 45 (1470 HP) or Merlin 46 (1415 HP) engine. 166 such conversions were made.
• Seafire Mk IIc: fitted with Spitfire 'c' wings, these planes had catapult spools. The Mk II could carry a 250 kg (500 lb) bomb. 262 such planes were built. Both Mk I and Mk II Seafires were delivered to the Royal Navy in June 1942.

	Seafire Mk IIc
	Engine	Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 liquid-cooled V12	1470 hp
	Armament	2x 20mm cannons and 4x 7.7 mm (0.303 cal) Browning machine guns

• To improve low-altitude performance, the Seafire L IIc was powered by a boosted Merlin 32 engine, producing 1640 HP, and had a four-bladed propeller. 30 of these planes were converted to the Seafire LR IIc, a photo reconnaissance version.
• The Seafire Mk III was the first Seafire to have folding wings. The Seafire L Mk IIIc was fitted with the 1585 HP Merlin 55M engine, had a centerline rack for a 250 kg (500 lb) bomb and could launch rockets. 1218 Seafire Mk IIIs were built, including more than 120 Seafire FR III photo reconnaissance conversions.
• The Seafire F XV was powered by the 1815 HP Rolls-Royce Griffon VI, and was the last wartime Seafire.
• After World War 2, the Seafire development went on with the Seafire 17, Seafire 45 (based on the Spitfire Mk 21), Seafire Mk 46 (based on the Spitfire Mk 22) and the final Seafire FR 47, whose production came to a stop in March 1949.

Stof's notes about this plane in iMOL's WarBirds

The opinions expressed below are only my own, and nothing more...

Strong points:

• Visibility is quite good, especially compared to the Grumman F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat navy fighters.
• The Seafire has an easy handling and good turning abilities.

Weak points:

• The Seafire carries very little ammo, you've got to be careful not to waste it.
• The weight/power ratio is not as good as the Spitfire Mk Vb's, because of the weight of the naval equipment.