Supermarine Walrus - Operational History

Operational History

The first Seagull V, A2-1, was handed over to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1935, with the last, A2-24 delivered in 1937. The type served aboard HMA Ships Australia, Canberra, Sydney, Perth and Hobart.

Walrus deliveries started in 1936 when the first example to be deployed was with the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy, on HMS Achilles – one of the Leander class light cruisers that carried one Walrus each. The Royal Navy Town class cruisers carried two Walruses during the early part of the war and Walruses also equipped the York class and County class heavy cruisers. Some battleships, such as HMS Warspite and HMS Rodney carried Walruses, as did the monitor HMS Terror and the seaplane tender HMS Albatros.

By the start of World War II the Walrus was in widespread use. Although its principal intended use was gunnery spotting in naval actions, this only occurred twice: Walruses from HMS Renown and HMS Manchester were launched in the Battle of Cape Spartivento and a Walrus from HMS Gloucester was used in the Battle of Cape Matapan. The main task of ship-based aircraft was patrolling for Axis submarines and surface-raiders, and by March 1941, Walruses were being deployed with Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) radars to assist in this. During the Norwegian Campaign and the East African Campaign, they also saw very limited use in bombing and strafing shore targets.

By 1943, catapult-launched aircraft on cruisers and battleships were being phased out; their role at sea was taken over by much improved radar. Also, a hangar and catapult occupied a considerable amount of valuable space on a warship. However, Walruses continued to fly from Royal Navy carriers for air-sea rescue and general communications tasks. Their low landing speed meant they could make a carrier landing despite having no flaps or tailhook.

The RAF used Walruses mainly in the Air-sea rescue role. The specialist air-sea rescue squadrons flew a variety of aircraft, using Spitfires and Boulton Paul Defiants to patrol for downed aircrew, Avro Ansons to drop supplies and dinghies, and Walruses to pick up aircrew from the water. RAF air-sea rescue squadrons were deployed to cover the waters around the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

Three Walruses, delivered in March 1939, were used by Irish Air Corps as maritime patrol aircraft during the Irish Emergency of World War II.

A Walrus I flying boat was shipped to Arkhangelsk with other supplies brought on the British Convoy PQ 17. After sustaining damage it was repaired and supplied to the 16th air transport detachment. This sole Walrus flew to the end of 1943.

After the war, some Walruses continued to see limited military use with the RAF and foreign navies. Eight were operated by Argentina, two flew from the cruiser ARA La Argentina as late as 1958. Other aircraft were used for training by the French Navy's Aviation navale. Walruses also found civil and commercial use. They were briefly used by a whaling company, United Whalers. Operating in the Antarctic, they were launched from the Factory ship FF Balaena, that had been equipped with an ex-navy aircraft catapult. A Dutch whaling company embarked Walruses, but never flew them. Other Walruses found use carrying passengers.