Production
After the destruction of the main Itchen and Woolston works by the Luftwaffe in September 1940, all Supermarine manufactured Spitfires were built in a number of "Shadow Factories"; by the end of the war there were ten main factories and several smaller workshops which built many of the components. A fuller explanation can be found in Supermarine Spitfire. The main Castle Bromwich factory was also aided by a smaller number of the shadow factories. The breakdown of production figures is taken from Air International 1985, p. 187. Information as to when the first production aircraft emerged is from the serial number lists provided in Morgan and Shacklady 2000. Because the first of the Mk IXs were converted from Mk VCs the first true production Mk IX is listed by serial Number.
| Mark | Built by | Numbers Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| F VII, H.F VII | Supermarine | 140 | First Mk VII September 1942 |
| F VIII, L.F VIII | Supermarine | 1,658 | First Mk VIII 11 November 1942 |
| F IX, H.F IX, L.F IX | Supermarine, Castle Bromwich | 5,656 | First Mk IX BR581 June 1942 |
| PR X | Supermarine | 16 | First Mk X May 1944 |
| PR XI | Supermarine | 471 | First Mk XI November 1942 |
| XVI | Castle Bromwich | 1,054 | First Mk XVI October 1944 |
Read more about this topic: Supermarine Spitfire (late Merlin Powered Variants)
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