Supermarine Seafire - Operational History

Operational History

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 carrier aircraft which were designed as naval fighters, such as the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair were considerably 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 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 adapted.

The first use of Seafires in carrier operations was Operation Torch. Seafires saw most service in the Far East Pacific campaigns, serving with No. 887 and 894 Squadrons, Fleet Air Arm, aboard HMS Indefatigable and joining the British Pacific Fleet late in 1944. Due to their good high altitude performance and lack of ordnance-carrying capabilities (compared to the Hellcats and Corsairs of the Fleet) the Seafires were allocated the vital defensive duties of Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over the fleet. Seafires were thus heavily involved in countering the kamikaze attacks during the Iwo Jima landings and beyond. The Seafires' best day was 15 August 1945, shooting down eight attacking aircraft for one loss. During the campaign 887 NAS claimed 12 kills and 894 NAS claimed 10 kills (with two more claims earlier in 1944 over Norway).

The top scoring Seafire pilot of the war was Sub-Lieutenant R.H. Reynolds DSC of 894, who claimed 4.5 air victories in 1944–5.

Post war, the Fleet Air Arm replaced its Merlin powered Seafires with Griffon powered aircraft, initially with the Seafire Mk XV and Mk 17 and from 1948 by the definitive Seafire Mk 47. In 1950, Triumph started a tour of the Far East, embarking 800 Naval Air Squadron with Seafire 47s along with 827 Naval Air Squadron equipped with Fairey Fireflys. Following the outbreak of the Korean War, Triumph was diverted to operations to try and stem the North Korean offensive, Seafires flying ground attack and combat air patrols from July until September 1950, when Triumph was replaced by HMS Theseus, equipped with Sea Furys. During operations off Korea, Seafires flew 360 operational sorties, losing one aircraft shot down by friendly fire from a B-29 Superfortress and a second aircraft lost when its arrestor hook failed to extend. The Seafire proved more vulnerable to the stresses of carrier operation with many aircraft suffering wrinkling of the rear fuselage brought about by heavy landings. Following the end of operations, when peacetime airworthiness rules were re-imposed, all but three of 800 Squadron's Seafires were declared unserviciable owing to wrinkling.

The Royal Canadian Navy and French Aviation Navale also obtained Seafires to operate from ex-Royal Navy aircraft carriers following the end of World War II. Canada's Seafire Mk XVs were flown from HMCS Magnificent and HMS Warrior before being replaced by Sea Furies in 1948. France received 65 Seafire Mk IIIs, 24 of these being deployed on the carrier Arromanches in 1948 when it sailed for Vietnam to fight in the First Indochina War, the Seafires operating from land bases and from Arromanches on ground attack missions against the Viet Minh before being withdrawn from combat operations in January 1949. After returning to European waters, the Seafire units were re-equipped with Seafire XVs but these were quickly replaced by F6F Hellcats from 1950.

The Irish Air Corps operated Seafires for a time after the war, despite having no naval air service nor aircraft carriers. The aircraft were operated from Baldonnel (Casement Aerodrome) much in the same way as normal Spitfires but retaining the folding wings. An attempt to recycle the Merlin engines was made in the 1950s, by replacing the ailing Bedford engine in a Churchill tank with an engine from a scrapped Seafire. The project collapsed from lack of funds.

In the Fleet Air Arm, Spitfires and Seafires were used by a number of squadrons, the Spitfires used by training and land based squadrons. Twelve 800 series squadrons used Spitfires and Seafires (Numbers 801 NAS, 802 NAS, 808 NAS, 809 NAS, 879 NAS, 880 NAS, 884 NAS, 885 NAS, 886 NAS, 887 NAS, 897 NAS and 899 NAS). Several units of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve also flew Seafires postwar, including 1831, 1832 and 1833 squadrons.