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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The Hawker Sea Fury was a British fighter aircraft
designed and manufactured by Hawker. It was the last propeller-driven fighter
to serve with the Royal Navy, and also one of the fastest production single
piston-engined aircraft ever built. Developed during the Second World War, the
Sea Fury entered service two years after the war ended. The Sea Fury proved to
be a popular aircraft with a number of overseas militaries, and was used during
the Korean War in the early 1950s, as well as against the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
of Cuba.
The Sea Fury's development was formally initiated in 1943
in response to a wartime requirement of the RAF, thus the aircraft was
initially named Fury. As the Second World War drew to a close, the RAF
cancelled their order for the aircraft; however, the Royal Navy saw the type as
a suitable carrier aircraft to replace a range of increasingly obsolete or
poorly suited aircraft being operated by the Fleet Air Arm. Development of the
Sea Fury proceeded, and the type began entering operational service in 1947.
The Sea Fury has many design similarities to Hawker's
preceding Tempest fighter, having originated from a requirement for a
"Light Tempest Fighter"; both the Sea Fury's wings and fuselage
originate from the Tempest but were significantly modified. Production Sea
Furies were fitted with the powerful Bristol Centaurus engine, and armed with
four wing-mounted Hispano V cannons. While originally developed as a pure
aerial fighter aircraft, the definitive Sea Fury FB 11 was a fighter-bomber,
the design having been found suitable for this mission as well.
The Sea Fury attracted international orders as both a
carrier and land-based aircraft; it was operated by countries including
Australia, Burma, Canada, Cuba, Egypt, West Germany, Iraq, and Pakistan. The
type acquitted itself well in the Korean War, fighting effectively even against
the MiG-15 jet fighter. Although the Sea Fury was retired by the majority of
its military operators in the late 1950s in favour of jet-propelled aircraft, a
considerable number of aircraft saw subsequent use in the civil sector, and
several remain airworthy in the 21st century both as heritage and racing
aircraft.
The first Sea Fury prototype, SR661, first flew at
Langley, Berkshire, on 21 February 1945, powered by a Centaurus XII engine.
This prototype had a "stinger"-type tailhook for arrested carrier
landings, but lacked folding wings for storage. SR666, the second prototype,
which flew on 12 October 1945, was powered by a Bristol Centaurus XV that turned
a new, five-bladed Rotol propeller and did feature folding wings. Specification
N.7/43 was modified to N.22/43, now representing an order for 200 aircraft. Of
these, 100 were to be built at Boulton-Paul's Wolverhampton factory.
In 1945, the original order to specification N.22/43 was
reduced to 100 aircraft; as such the manufacturing agreement with Boulton-Paul
was ended and all work on the Sea Fury transferred to Hawker Aircraft's
facilities at Kingston. This included the construction of what was intended to
be a Boulton-Paul built Sea Fury prototype, VB857, which was transported to
Kingston in January 1945; this aircraft, built to the same standard as SR666,
first flew on 31 January 1946. Immediately upon completion of the first three
airframes, the flight testing programme began at Kingston. It was soon
discovered that the early Centaurus engine suffered frequent crankshaft failure
due to a poorly designed lubrication system, which led to incidents of the
engine seizing while in mid-flight. The problem was resolved when Bristol's
improved Centaurus 18 engine replaced the earlier engine variant.
The first production model, the Sea Fury F Mk X (Fighter,
Mk 10), flew in September 1946. With the completion of flight testing at
Boscombe Down in 1946, the trials process was repeated aboard the aircraft
carrier HMS Victorious. Carrier testing revealed directional stability issues
related to rudder effectiveness during landing, and this was resolved by the
adoption of a tail wheel lock, which also improved the wheel retraction
behaviour. Several rectifying design changes were made by Hawker in response to
feedback from the test pilots, including the adoption of a five-bladed Rotol
propeller to greatly reduce overspeed tendencies, a re-designed rudder assembly
to increase rudder effectiveness, Dynafocal engine mountings to reduce
vibration at low speeds, and an improved undercarriage with greater
flexibility; these changes greatly improved the aircraft's deck landing
characteristics. Arrestor hook trials initially revealed the Sea Fury to be
prone to missing the wires, this was rapidly resolved by modifications to the
hook dampener mechanism.
By March 1947, production Sea Furies were already being
produced for the Fleet Air Arm. The fourth and sixth production aircraft were
used in further trials with Illustrious, and the main change from the earlier
aircraft was the adoption of a longer, stiffer arrestor hook. Fifty Mk X Sea
Furies were produced. These were identical to the SR666 prototype except for
the Centaurus 18 engine and four-bladed propeller; at least 20 of the 50
aircraft performed in the aircraft's intensive trials programme. Following the
successful completion of weapons trials at the A&AEE Boscombe Down, the Sea
Fury was cleared for operational use on 31 July 1947.
Hawker Aircraft continued to develop and refine the Sea
Fury Mk X, resulting in the more capable Sea Fury Mk 11, otherwise known as the
Sea Fury FB 11. This upgraded model had several improvements, most notable
being the hydraulically powered wing folding mechanism which eased flight deck
operations and the adoption of new weapons for performing air-to-ground combat.
Iraq ordered a two-seat Sea Fury model and the British Admiralty followed suit.
During testing, the rear canopy collapsed, leading to a redesign of the type's
two-seat cockpit prior to entering service. Designated as the Sea Fury T 20, a
total of 60 trainers were manufactured for the Fleet Air Arm between 1950 and
1952. The Royal Navy bought a total of 615 Sea Furies, mostly of the Mk 11
standard.
Hawker Aircraft was keen to market the Sea Fury to
foreign operators, and conducted an intense sales drive for their export
version of the aircraft, designated Sea Fury F 50. On 21 October 1946, the
Royal Netherlands Navy placed an order for ten F 50 aircraft, which were
basically identical to the FAA's Sea Fury Mk X aircraft, to equip the
Netherlands' first aircraft carrier, the ex-HMS Nairana, renamed HNLMS Karel
Doorman. The Dutch also ordered an additional twelve FB 60s in 1948 and these were
delivered in 1950. A manufacturing licence was also acquired for the production
of a further 25 FB 51s by Fokker Aircraft in the Netherlands, which were
delivered from 1951 onwards.
The Sea Fury became an export success, being purchased
both to operate on foreign aircraft carriers and for purely land-based roles by
a number of nations, including Australia, Germany, Iraq, Egypt, Burma, Pakistan
and Cuba. Several of the nations that did not have active aircraft carriers
often had the tail hooks and catapult hooks removed from their aircraft.
A final variant, the Sea Fury TT 20 was developed by
Hawker for West Germany as a target tow aircraft, these remained in service
into the 1970s. Upon the type's withdrawal from military service, a large
number of Sea Furies were sold onto private individuals, often as a racing
aircraft due to its high speed. The final production figures for all marks
reached around 860 aircraft.
778 Naval Air Squadron was the first unit of the Fleet
Air Arm to receive the Sea Fury, with deliveries commencing in February 1947 to
the squadron's Intensive Flying Development Unit, while 787 Squadron, the Naval
Air Fighting Development Squadron, received the Sea Fury in May that year. The
first operational unit to be equipped with the Sea Fury was 803 Naval Air
Squadron of the Royal Canadian Navy, which replaced Seafires with Sea Furies in
August 1947, with 807 Naval Air Squadron was the first operational Royal Navy
Sea Fury squadron when it received the aircraft in September that year. The Seafire
was ill-suited to carrier use, as the pilot's poor view of the deck and the
aircraft's narrow undercarriage made both landings and takeoffs difficult.
Consequently, the Sea Fury F Mk X replaced the Seafire on most carriers. For
some years the Sea Fury and Seafire operated alongside each other, with the
shorter-range Seafire operating as a fleet defence fighter while the Sea Fury
was employed as a longer-range fighter-bomber.
Sea Furies were issued to Nos. 736, 738, 759 and 778
Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. The F X was followed by the Sea Fury FB 11
fighter-bomber variant, which eventually reached a production total of 650
aircraft. The Sea Fury remained the Fleet Air Arms primary fighter-bomber
until 1953, at which point jet-powered aircraft, such as the Hawker Sea Hawk
and Supermarine Attacker, were introduced to operational service.
The Sea Fury FB 11 entered service with the fighter
squadrons of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in August 1951. The RNVR
units also operated the Sea Fury T.20 two-seat trainer version from late 1950
to give reserve pilots experience on the type before relinquishing their
Supermarine Seafire aircraft. RNVR units which were equipped with the Sea Fury
were Nos. 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835 and 1836 Squadrons. No. 1832, based at
RAF Benson, was the last RNVR squadron to relinquish the type in August 1955.
Following the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950,
Sea Furies were dispatched to the region as a part of the British Commonwealth
Forces Korea, Britain's contribution to the United Nations multinational task
force to assist South Korea following an invasion by North Korea. Sea Furies
were flown throughout the conflict, primarily as ground-attack aircraft, from
the Royal Navy light fleet carriers HMS Glory, HMS Theseus, HMS Ocean, and the
Australian carrier HMAS Sydney. After a Fleet Air Arm Seafire was shot down by
a United States Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress on 28 July 1950, all
Commonwealth aircraft were painted with black and white Invasion stripes.
The first Sea Furies arrived in theatre with 807 Naval
Air Squadron embarked on HMS Theseus, which relieved HMS Triumph in October
1950. Operations on Theseus were intense, and the Sea Furies of 807 Squadron
flew a total of 264 combat sorties in October. During a brief rest period at
the Japanese port of Iwakuni the catapult was found to be excessively worn,
necessitating the launch of Sea Furies with RATOG assistance until it was
repaired. In December 1950, Sea Furies conducted several strikes on bridges, airfields,
and railways to disrupt North Korean logistics, flying a further 332 sorties
without incurring any losses. At this early point in the war little aerial
resistance was encountered and the biggest threats were ground-based
anti-aircraft fire or technical problems.
In addition to their ground attack role, Sea Furies also
performed air patrols. In this role a total of 3,900 interceptions were carried
out, although none of the intercepted aircraft turned out to be hostile. During
the winter period, the Sea Furies were often called upon as spotter aircraft
for UN artillery around Inchon, Wonsan, and Songiin. In April 1951, 804 Naval
Air Squadron operating off HMS Glory, replaced 807 Squadron, which in turn was
replaced by HMAS Sydney in September 1951 with 805 and 808 Squadron RAN. The
Australian carrier air group flew 2,366 combat sorties.[42] In January 1952,
HMS Glory with 804 NAS returned to relieve Sydney following a refit in
Australia. For the rest of the war Glory and Ocean relieved each other on duty.
In 1952, the first Chinese MiG-15 jet fighters appeared.
On 8 August 1952, Lieutenant Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael, of 802
Squadron, flying Sea Fury WJ232 from HMS Ocean, shot a MiG-15 down, making him
one of only a few pilots of a propeller driven aircraft to shoot down a jet.
The engagement occurred when a formation of Sea Furies and Fireflies was
engaged by eight MiG-15s, during which one Firefly was badly damaged while the
Sea Furies escaped unharmed. Some sources claim that this is the only successful
engagement by a British pilot in a British aircraft during the Korean War,
although a few sources claim a second MiG was downed or damaged in the same
action. In addition, the recollections of Sub-Lieutenant Brian
"Schmoo" Ellis, the youngest member of the flight, differ from the
official version of events.
Australia was one of three Commonwealth nations to
operate the Sea Fury, with the others being Canada and Pakistan. The type was
operated by two frontline squadrons of the Royal Australian Navy, 805 Squadron
and 808 Squadron; a third squadron that flew the Sea Fury, 850 Squadron, was
also briefly active. Two Australian aircraft carriers, HMAS Sydney and HMAS
Vengeance, employed Sea Furies in their air wings. The Sea Fury was used by
Australia during the Korean War, flying from carriers based along the Korean
coast in support of friendly ground forces. The Sea Fury would be operated by
Australian forces between 1948 and 1962.
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)
became a significant customer of the Sea Fury, and many of its aircraft were
diverted from existing Royal Navy contracts. On 23 June 1948, the first
aircraft was accepted at RCAF Rockcliffe. The type was quickly put to use
replacing Canada's existing inventory of Seafires, taking on the primary role
of fleet air defence operating from the aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent. Two
Canadian squadrons operated the Sea Fury, Nos. 803 and 883 Squadrons, which
were later renumbered as 870 and 871. Pilot training on the Sea Fury was
normally conducted at the RCN's HMCS Shearwater land base. Landing difficulties
with the Sea Fury were experienced following the RCN's decision to convert to
the US Navy's deck landing procedures, which were prone to overstressing and
damaging the airframes as the Sea Fury had been designed for a tail-down
landing attitude. The Sea Fury would be operated between 1948 and 1956 by the
RCN, at which point they were replaced by the jet-powered McDonnell F2H
Banshee. The aircraft themselves were put into storage, and some were
subsequently purchased by civilians.