World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseDesigned by trophy-winning aircraft designer Reginald J. Mitchell and manufactured by Vickers-Armstrongs' subsidiary Supermarine, Spitfire fighters were made to be fast and maneuverable. The first prototype, K5054, took flight on 5 Mar 1936 at Eastleigh Aerodrome, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom; this first flight did not live up to Mitchell's expectations, but Mitchell knew that he had a good foundation to work with. After much hard work, it was finally accepted by the British Air Ministry; upon that time, director of Vickers-Armstrongs Sir Robert MacLean named it Spitfire, which was his daughter's nickname. The first order was placed on 3 Jun 1936 for 310 units, and it took two years for Supermarine to prepare for full scale production thanks to the complex design. The wings, for example, were thin, covered with stressed metal skin, and of a revolutionary elliptical shape. Notably, it was reported that a German Bf 109 fighter took a third less time to build than a Spitfire aircraft. However, Supermarine was still able to produce them in great numbers. During the design's production life, 20,351 were built, including the Seafire carrier fighter variant, two-seater trainer variant, and many others. The design was produced in greater numbers than any other Allied fighter design, and was the only Allied fighter in production at the outbreak of the European War that was still in production at its end.

ww2dbaseThe first Spitfire aircraft to enter service with the No. 19 Squadron RAF arrived at Duxford, England, Britain on 4 Aug 1938; unfortunately, Mitchell did not live to see this event. Men of the No. 19 Squadron RAF reported that the fighter had leakage and engine starting problems, but overall the performance was outstanding. By Sep 1939, when the European War began, 400 Spitfire aircraft were in service with the RAF, and a further 2,000 were on order. The first Spitfire fighters lost were to a friendly fire incident on 6 Sep over Medway, England. Together with the venerable Hawker Hurricane fighters, these two types of fighters defended Britain from Germany's aerial invasion during the Battle of Britain; while the slower Hurricane fighters often acted as bomber interceptors, the speedy and maneuverable Spitfire fighters targeted their escorting fighters. Their speed was not only an effective offensive weapon in attacking enemy fighters, but the speed was also a reason for many Spitfire pilots' survival as well, particularly when given chase by enemy fighters; author Stephen Bungay noted that "not until the advent of the first swept-wing jets in 1949 was there anything which could catch it".

ww2dbaseMost Spitfire fighters had their fuel tanks lined with Linatex to prevent leakage through bullet holes, which prevented fire during combat. This lining was proven to be very effective, thus it was later applied to fuel tanks for Hurricane fighters as well.

ww2dbaseIn late 1941, with the introduction of the Fw 190 fighters on the German side, Spitfire losses climbed until upgraded versions reached adequate numbers. To counter this disadvantage, some Spitfire Mk XII and Mk XIV were equipped with the new and more powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engines, making them much more capable in low-level combat situations. The first of the Griffon-powered Spitfire fighters took flight on 27 Nov 1941, and the pilots of these new variants found themselves wielding effective weapons. Pilots such as Flight Officer Ken Collier reported that their Griffon-powered Spitfire fighters were so fast and agile that they were capable of flying in parallel with German V1 rockets and then close in to tip the rockets' wings to cause them to crash. The Griffon-powered Spitfire fighters were so lethal that German Luftwaffe General Adolf Galland noted that "[t]he best thing about the Spitfire Mk XIV was that there were so few of them".

ww2dbaseBeginning in Mar 1942, many of the Spitfire fighters flew off of carrier decks to be transferred to Malta to aid the defense there. In 1943, as Allied bombing missions increased in range, Spitfire fighters with their shorter ranges were limited to bomber escort missions to northwestern France only, while bombing missions into Germany were escorted by American fighters that had longer range. After the Normandy invasion, Spitfire squadrons were moved to France to operate from tactical airfields close to German lines. As the German Luftwaffe weakened toward the end of the war, they began providing tactical ground support for the advancing army units.

ww2dbaseOperations off Norway and in the Mediterranean Sea revealed that the British Royal Navy did not possess carrier fighters that were capable enough to deal with modern fighters. Given that the RAF had already successfully used Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, the Admiralty demanded to test them as carrier fighters. "Sea Hurricane" fighters were modified from Hurricane fighters; they were considered the less favorable of the two. "Sea Spitfire" fighters, on the other hand, seemed to be ideal. The first carrier landing of modified Spitfire fighters for carrier operations was Lieutenant Commander H. P. Bramwell, commanding officer of the Royal Navy Fighter School. In the River Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom, he successfully landed a modified Spitfire fighter on the carrier HMS Illustrious, which was anchored in the river; this took place on 10 Jan 1942. After further successful landings by Bramwell, 250 Spitfire Mk VB and VC aircraft were slated to be converted for carrier use. These new conversions became the first of Seafire fighters. Seafire IIC variants were the first purpose-built carrier fighters of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Later in the war, folding wings were introduced. United States Navy pilot Corky Meyer made a positive comment about the Seafire fighter he test flew during the Joint USAAF/US Navy Fighter Conference in Florida, United States in Mar 1943:

ww2dbaseDuring the Pacific War, Seafire fighters were operated from British carriers and played a vital role in Task Force 57's mission to protect the southern flank during the Okinawa campaign. Their main tasks were typically defensive in nature due to their medium to low altitude performance, making them ideal weapons to guard against the diving kamikaze special attack aircraft that were used by the Japanese by this stage of the war. British Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot Lieutenant Commander Mike Crosley of 880 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS Implacable commented that "we felt that the Seafire, of all aircraft, would be the best possible defence in such circumstances, and we were not too frightened provided we could see the kamikazes coming." Nevertheless, due to the speed that special attack aircraft dove in, even the Seafire fighters could only shoot down some of the many suicide aircraft diving at British carriers. During the Okinawa campaign, British carriers were hit 7 times by special attack aircraft.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Spitfire aircraft were used in many air forces around the world, including Sweden, Italy, Israel, and many others. Some of them remained in service well into the 1960s. In the post-war age of jet fighters, many pilots remain attached to the Spitfire design. George Unwin, who flew with No. 19 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain, recalled:

Spitfire Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Mk Ia

Machinery	Rolls-Royce Merlin III rated at 1,030hp
Armament	8x7.7mm Browning machine guns
Span	11.23 m
Length	9.12 m
Height	3.02 m
Wing Area	22.50 m²
Weight, Empty	2,257 kg
Weight, Loaded	2,806 kg
Speed, Maximum	582 km/h
Service Ceiling	9,750 m

Mk Vb

Machinery	Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 rated at 1,470hp
Armament	2x20mm Hispano HS 404 cannons, 4x7.7mm Browning machine guns, 2x113kg or 1x230kg bombs
Span	11.23 m
Length	9.12 m
Height	3.48 m
Wing Area	22.50 m²
Weight, Empty	2,309 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,071 kg
Speed, Maximum	605 km/h
Service Ceiling	11,300 m
Range, Normal	1,835 km

Mk IXe LF

Machinery	Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 rated at 1,575hp
Armament	2x20mm Hispano HS 404 cannons, 2x0.50cal Browning M2 machine guns, 4x113kg or 2x230kg bombs
Span	11.23 m
Length	9.47 m
Height	3.86 m
Wing Area	22.50 m²
Weight, Empty	2,251 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,343 kg
Speed, Maximum	642 km/h
Service Ceiling	12,650 m

Mk XIVe

Machinery	Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 rated at 2,050hp
Armament	2x20mm Hispano HS 404 cannons, 2x0.50cal Browning M2 machine guns
Span	11.23 m
Length	9.96 m
Height	3.89 m
Wing Area	22.50 m²
Weight, Empty	3,034 kg
Weight, Loaded	4,653 kg
Speed, Maximum	721 km/h
Service Ceiling	13,560 m
Range, Normal	1,375 km

Seafire L III

Machinery	One Merlin 55M engine rated at 1,585hp
Armament	2x20mm Hispano cannon, 4x7.7mm Browning machine guns
Crew	1
Span	11.23 m
Length	9.21 m
Height	3.86 m
Wing Area	22.50 m²
Weight, Empty	2,814 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,222 kg
Weight, Maximum	3,565 kg
Speed, Maximum	578 km/h
Speed, Cruising	350 km/h
Service Ceiling	9,753 m
Range, Normal	825 km

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4.  Alan Chanter says:
2 Feb 2010 02:18:51 AM

I have uncovered a little more information regarding the loss of four RAF Spitfires to Israeli Spitfires in January 1949.

The RAF Spitfires were on an unarmed tactical reconnaissance mission along the ill defined Israeli border when they were attacked by Israeli Spitfires and ground fire. On the next day a Tempest fighter on a search and rescue mission was also shot down in the same region. Thankfully only one pilot was killed, otherwise the consequences might have been much more serious.

Clearly this was no accident, but a clear attempt by the Israelis to force a conflict with Great Britain.

5.  Bill says:
8 Jun 2010 03:09:55 PM

Did you know...

There were more Hurricane Squadrons, than
Spitfire's, but its a myth that the Battle of Britain was won by the spit.
The Hurricanes fought both German fighters
and bombers However, both aircraft turned
the battle, they were the "Few"

7.  Bill says:
5 Sep 2010 10:07:44 AM

With eight .303 caliber machine guns the
spitfire pilot had about 20 seconds firing time, thats about 300 rounds per gun.

During the Battle of Britain the Spitfire Mk
IIB took part and was armed with a mix of
.303 machine guns and two 20mm cannons the
cannon's were more lethal against the bombers
the problem with mixed armament was the
.303 machine guns and 20mm cannon's had much
different muzzle velocities, and the guns
had to be harmonized for a specific range
In air combat, the closer you get to an
enemy aircraft, your gonna shoot it down.

21.  David Stubblebine says:
20 Jun 2017 08:59:17 PM

Mr. Lewis-Watts (above):
Cliff Robertson’s Spitfire MK923 / 5J-Z appears to be on display in an airworthy condition at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. Their website lists it as on loan from the Apex Foundation (now the Gupta Family Foundation). See: http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/supermarine-spitfire-mkix