World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn Mar 1938, Curtiss-Wright designer Donovan Berlin approached the US Army Air Corps staff regarding a new fighter design in the Hawk series, and it immediately gained favor. In Jan 1939, when USAAC announced a competition for a new fighter aircraft, it was not surprising that Curtiss-Wright would emerge the winner. The first USAAC order for the new P-40 fighters was issued in Apr 1939; its size, 524 aircraft at the cost of US$13,000,000, was the largest contract issued to date. The P-40 design, internally named Hawk 81 at Curtiss-Wright, was similar to that of P-36 Hawk. They were relatively maneuverable at high speeds, but at lower speeds they were not up to par when compared with their contemporaries. Their top speed made them effective interceptors when they were initially introduced, but over time Curtiss-Wright engineers would frustratingly work countless hours attempting to increase their top speed to match their more modern competitors, especially the German fighters. Aircraft mechanics would later express appreciation for the Donovan Berlin's purposeful design that made maintenance simple; everything positions in front of the firewall could be changed by a skilled mechanic in 14 hours, for example.

ww2dbaseInterest soon came from France, and the Tomahawk variant was developed for the export market. While the French never took receipt of the Tomahawk fighters due to German occupation, Britain's order began rolling off production lines in Aug 1941; Britain would also take over the French contract for these fighters. By the end of Dec 1941, 10 fighters would be delivered to Britain, 72 to Canada, and 476 to Commonwealth squadrons in the Middle East (2 aircraft originally destined to the British forces were lost in transit). The first Tomahawk fighter to see combat belonged to the No. 112 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force over North Africa; they noted the Tomahawk fighters' ability to absorb battle damage. On 29 Aug 1941, Australian pilot Clive Caldwell was engaged by two German Bf 109 fighters, including one piloted by hit by ace Werner Schroer; Caldwell downed Schroer and forced Schroer to disengage by heavily damaging his fighter, then made it safely back to base with damage from over 100 7.9mm bullets and five 20mm cannon shells. Later in the war, the Soviet also received some fighters of this design (247 examples of Tomahawk aircraft and 2,178 examples of P-40E, P-40K, P-40L, P-40M, and P-40N aircraft); initially they were delivered by ship to northwestern Russian ports such as Murmansk, but later on some were delivered via Persia while a few were delivered by flying them from US Territory of Alaska to the Siberia region of Russia. Three among the two-time Hero of the Soviet Union were Tomahawk/P-40 pilots.

ww2dbaseWhile the USAAC received its first P-40 fighter in Mar 1940, the first American to see combat in the cockpit of a P-40 fighter was not an active duty serviceman. That honor went to the pilots of the American Volunteer Group fighting alongside the Nationalist Chinese forces against Japan. They were initially equipped with 100 P-40 fighters originally built for Britain (special negotiations were conducted so that Britain would receive 100 later model fighters in exchange). These fighters, characteristically painted with shark mouth markings (although Luftwaffe Me 110 Zerstörer units were credited as being the first to use the shark mouth design, while No. 112 Squadron RAF made such design popular within the Allies), were among the most memorable in military aviation history. The durable P-40 fighters of the AVG "Flying Tigers" were a good match for the more maneuverable but less-armed Japanese Army fighters deployed in China. AVG pilots flying P-40 fighters shot down 115 Japanese fighters (some estimates were as high as 297) in China at the cost of 21 losses prior to the official entry into WW2.

ww2dbaseIn Jan 1942, Merlin engines began appearing in P-40 fighters, and these new "F" variants were the first to be given the nickname Warhawk. While 1,131 P-40F Warhawk fighters were built, the most numerous variant would be the later P-40N (known as Kittyhawk IV to the RAF), 5,215 of which would be built between Mar 1943 and Nov 1944. By that time, however, US Army Air Forces were already ordering more capable fighters from Curtiss-Wright's competitors, and the upgraded P-40Q variant design came too late to change the mind of USAAF leaders. Thus, production ceased on 30 Nov 1944 after 13,736 fighters were built. They would remain in front line service until the end of WW2, however. "If you flew wisely, the P-40 was a very capable aircraft", said American ace Robert Marshall DeHaven.

P-40 Warhawk Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

P-40E

Machinery	One Allison V-1710-39 liquid-cooled V-12 engine rated at 1,150hp
Armament	6x12.7 Browning M2 machine guns, optional 680kg bombs
Crew	1
Span	11.38 m
Length	9.66 m
Height	3.76 m
Wing Area	21.92 m²
Weight, Empty	2,880 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,760 kg
Weight, Maximum	4,000 kg
Speed, Maximum	580 km/h
Speed, Cruising	435 km/h
Rate of Climb	11.00 m/s
Service Ceiling	8,840 m
Range, Normal	1,050 km

Photographs

Visitor Submitted Comments

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4.  Bill says:
9 Jul 2010 12:36:31 PM

The Curtiss P-40 was the third largest in
number sent to the Russians during WWII.
The other two fighters were the Airacobera and Hurricane.
Some of the early model P-40's were sent by the British who were phasing them out, and
longer being used by them in Europe.
The Soviet air force was suffering heavy losses and accepted any fighter they could get.
Some of the early shipments from the U.S.A.
were by ship, on a cash and carry basis the fighters were paid for with gold, platinum
and other goods of value. By 1942 the P-40's
started to be ferried from Alaska to the
U.S.S.R. The Russians used the P-40 as a
fighter, ground attack, reconnaissance and
whatever mission the Russians could use the P-40 to hit back at the Germans.

Russian naval aviation also used the P-40
for air cover of supply convoys, and other
attacks against the Germans.
After the war, the P-40's were retired from
front line service. Some of the surviving
fighters, were used as trainers and served
until the late 1940's.

5.  Bill says:
10 Jul 2010 05:15:09 PM

"THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING"...


Ladd field was a staging area for lend-lease
aircraft being supplied to the USSR.
The first Russian ferry pilots arrived in 1942, Ladd field was divided into two areas
the Russians used one-half of the field, the
US other half. A detachment of 300 Russians
were stationed, barracks, hangers and other maintanence and supply shops were built.
US pilots flew lend-lease aircraft from
Great Falls Montana through Canada to Ladd field.
The Russians would check out all the aircraft
test fly them and leave Ladd for Fairbanks via Galena that was used as an emergency and intermedite airfield, and on to Nome, to
Siberia and to European Russia.
The USA supplied over 18,763 aircraft to the
USSR, 8,000 were flown from Alaska.

Did you know...

Ladd field was named after Major Arthur Ladd,
U.S Army Air Corps who was killed in a 1935
air crash.

Forty Nations received lend-lease equipment
during World War II.
Cost: Between Forty Two (42) and Fifty (50)
Billion Dollars!

Aircraft delivered:

Curtiss P-40
Bell P-39 Aircobera
Bell P-63 Kingcobera
Republic P-47
North American B-25
Douglas A-20
Plus a number of transports and trainers.

*Note
Politicians talk about Billions and now even
Trillions what does it mean.

Take One Trillion, One Dollar Bills, Stack
them they would reach (67) Sixty Seven Miles
High!

6.  Bill says:
11 Jul 2010 10:33:18 AM

Lend-Lease to the Russians:

Metals
Chemicals
Petroleum
Machinery
Food & Clothing
Textiles & Dyes
Rubber Products
Communication Equipment
Miscellaneous Supplies & Material
Railroad Rolling Stock & Locomotives

The Allies also sent: 350,000 Trucks,78,000 Jeeps and 22,000 Aircraft, this is about 10%
of the USSR's War Production.
Plus Weapons, Spare-Parts and Ammunition.
And over Two Billion Cans of Spam!!...

The Allied Aid was supplement to the Russians
own massive war production, still the
Capitalist goods helped push the German
Wehrmacht back towards Berlin.