The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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U.S. Navy. Via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped by author.
Supermarine Seafire Mark IB
| Crew | 1 | |
| Dimensions | 36'10" by 29'11"
by 12'8" 11.23m by 9.12m by 3.86m |
|
| Weight | 4517-5796 lbs 2049-2629 kg |
|
| Maximum speed | 354 mph at 17,550
feet 570 km/h at 5350 meters |
|
| Climb rate | 42 feet per second 12.8 meters per second |
|
| Service ceiling | 31,500 feet 9600 meters |
|
| Power plant | 1 1440 hp (1074 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 vee-12 liquid-cooled engine. | |
| Armament | 2 20mm fixed wing
cannon 4 0.303 fixed wing machine guns |
|
| Range | 410 nautical miles (670 km) on internal fuel | |
| Fuel | 180 gallons 680 liters |
|
| Production | From 6/42: |
|
| 166 | Mk.I conversions from 1942-2 | |
| 402 | Mk.II from 1942-6 | |
| 1220 | Mk.III from 1943-4 | |
| Variants |
Mark
II had better landing gear, catapult spools, and a 1645 hp (1227 kW)
Merlin 46. Mark III was a fully navalized version with folding wings and a 1585 hp (1182 kW) Merlin 55M. |
|
The Seafire was the navalized version
of the famous Spitfire.
The initial Mk.Is were converted from Spitfire VBs for the Torch
landings in North
Africa. Later versions were purpose built as carrier
aircraft. The Seafire was unfortunately not a success, lacking the
sturdy undercarriage
required
for carrier operations and having a rather short range.
However, it stood at
least some chance against the Zero,
which could not be said of the other British
carrier fighter of that period, the Fulmar.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2011 by Kent G. Budge. Index
