Supermarine Seafire - Origins of The Seafire

Origins of The Seafire

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 the proposal was made 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.

The matter of a seaborne Spitfire was raised again in November 1939 when the Air Ministry allowed a Commander Ermen to fly a Spitfire I. After his first flight in R6718 Ermen learned that Joseph Smith, Chief Designer at Supermarine had been instructed to fit an "A-frame" arrestor hook on a Spitfire and that this had flown on 16 October; a drawing of this aircraft had been shown to the FAA on 27 October. After further discussions Supermarine submitted a drawing of a Spitfire with folding wings and an arrestor hook. In this case the wings were designed with a fold just outboard of the undercarriage bays; the outer wings would swivel and fold backwards, parallel with the fuselage. On 29 February 1940 the Admiralty asked the Air Ministry to sanction the production of 50 folding wing Spitfires, with the first deliveries to start in July. For various reasons Winston Churchill who was First Lord of the Admiralty cancelled the order, writing to Lord Beaverbrook:

At a time of need for land Spitfires, the diversion of resources to the construction of a naval variant would reduce Spitfire production. To cover the gap until the Fulmar's replacement (Specification N.5/40 - which would be the Fairey Firefly) was able to enter service, Grumman Wildcats were ordered for the FAA. These would enter service towards the end of 1940 as the Martlet.