Blackburn Skua
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| B-24 Skua | |
|---|---|
 Skua L2923, Red-1 of 803 NAS. One of 16 Skuas from RNAS Hatston to attack and successfully sink the Königsberg in Bergen on April 10, 1940. This aircraft spun out on the return flight and crashed, the only aircraft lost on that day. |
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| Type | Dive bomber / Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Blackburn Aircraft |
| Designed by | G.E.Petty |
| Maiden flight | 9 February 1937 |
| Introduced | November 1938 |
| Retired | 1941 (withdrawn from front line) March 1945 (withdrawn from other duties)[1] |
| Primary user | Fleet Air Arm |
| Number built | 192 |
| Variants | Blackburn Roc |
The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm which combined the functions of dive-bomber and fighter. It was designed in the mid-1930s and saw service in the early part of the Second World War. It took its name from the seabird.
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[edit] Design and development
Built to Air Ministry specification O.27/34, it was of all-metal (duralumin) construction, with a retractable undercarriage and enclosed cockpit. It was the Fleet Air Arms first service monoplane and was a radical departure for a service that was primarily equipped with open cockpit biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish.
Performance for the fighter role was compromised by the aircraft's bulk and lack of power, resulting in a relatively low speed; the contemporary marks of Messerschmitt Bf 109[2] made 290 mph at sea level over the Skua's 225 mph. However the aircraft's armament of four fixed 0.303 inch Browning machine guns in the wing and a single rearward-firing Vickers K machine gun was effective for the time. For the dive-bombing role, a single 250 or 500-lb bomb was carried on a special swinging crutch under the fuselage which enabled the bomb to clear the propeller arc on release. Four 40-lb bombs or eight 20-lb Cooper bombs could also be carried in racks under each wing. It had large Zap-type air brakes / flaps which helped both in dive bombing and landing on aircraft carriers at sea.
[edit] Operational history
Skuas are credited with the first confirmed "kill" by British aircraft during the Second World War: a Dornier Do 18 flying boat was downed over the North Sea on 26 September 1939 by three Skuas of 803 Naval Air Squadron, flying from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. On 10 April 1940 16 Skuas of 800 and 803 NAS led by Lt. Cdr. William Lucy, flying from RNAS Hatston in Orkney Islands sank the German cruiser Königsberg in Bergen harbour during the German invasion of Norway. This was the first major warship ever to be sunk by dive bombing, indeed the first major warship ever sunk in war by air attack. Lucy later also became a fighter ace flying Skua. However, these two most Skua squadrons suffered heavy losses during an attempt to bomb the battlecruiser Scharnhorst at Trondheim on 13 June 1940; of fifteen aircraft on the raid, eight were shot down and the crews killed or taken prisoner. Among the latter were both squadron commanders, Cpt. R. T. Partridge (RM) and Lt. Cdr. John Casson (RN).
Though it fared reasonably well against Axis bombers over Norway and in the Mediterranean, the Skua suffered heavy losses when confronted with modern fighters - particularly the Bf 109 - and they were withdrawn from front-line service in 1941. The aircraft was largely replaced by another two-seater, the Fairey Fulmar, which doubled the Skua's forward armament and also had a speed advantage of some 50 mph. A number of aircraft were converted to target tugs following withdrawal from frontline service. Others were in fact completed as target tugs from the factory and used by the RAF and Fleet Air Arm in this role ('Fleet Requirements'). They were also used as advanced trainers for the Fleet Air Arm. The last Skua in service was struck off charge in March 1945.
The Blackburn Roc was a very similar aircraft developed as a "turret fighter" with all its armament in a dorsal turret. The Roc was expected to serve alongside the Skua. Rocs were attached to Skua squadrons to protect the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow in early 1940, briefly from HMS Glorious and Ark Royal during the Norwegian campaign and also over the English Channel during Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk.
[edit] Variants
- Skua Mk.I : 2 prototypes. Powered by the Bristol Mercury, it had distinctive fairings to the engine cowling over the tappet valves of the Mercury. First prototype, K5178, had a much shorter nose while the second prototype, K5179, had a lengthened nose to improve longitudinal stability.
- Skua Mk.II : Production aircraft powered by the sleeve valved Bristol Perseus. Long nose as per K5179 but with a shorter, smooth cowling. Two-seat fighter and dive bomber for the Royal Navy - 190 built by Blackburn at Brough Aerodrome
[edit] Recovery of L2896
In April 2007, the only known nearly complete Blackburn Skua was discovered in Orkdalsfjorden in Norway at 242 metres depth. [3] Due to an engine failure, the Skua, flown by John Casson, leader of 803 squadron, had to make an emergency landing on the fjord. [4]Both crew members survived but faced five years as prisoners of war. Despite efforts to get the aircraft to the surface as gently as possible, the engine fell off. The fuselage, cockpit and wings were salvaged. The Skua will be restored at Norways aviation museum in Bodø. [5] [6]
[edit] Operators and units
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- Royal Air Force
- RAF Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units
[edit] Specifications (Skua Mk. II)
Data from Fleet Air Arm Archive[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 35 ft 7 in (10.8 m)
- Wingspan: 46 ft 2 in (14.1 m)
- Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.3 m)
- Wing area: 312 ft² (29.0 m²)
- Empty weight: 5,490 lb (2,490 kg)
- Loaded weight: 8,228 lb (3,730 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol Perseus XII radial engine, 905 hp (675 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 225 mph (195 knots, 360 km/h) at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
- Range: 800 mi (700 nm, 1,300 km)
- Service ceiling 20,200 ft (6,150 m)
- Wing loading: 26.4 lb/ft² (128 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (180 W/kg)
Armament
- Guns:
- 4× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) forward-firing Browning machine guns
- 1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K gun on flexible mount in rear cockpit
- Bombs: 1× 500 lb (230 kg) semi-armour piercing bomb or 1× 250lb (115 kg) semi-armour piercing/ General Purpose bomb and 4× 40 lb bombs or 8× 20 lb bombs
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Blackburn Skua aircraft profile (HTML). Fleet Air Arm Archive. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
- ^ Messerschmitt Bf109E with DB601A engine
- ^ Skua 31 May 2007 Aeroplane, July 2007. Retrieved: 13 April 2008.
- ^ Operation Skua
- ^ Article in Dagbladet, Norway
- ^ Norway's Aviation Museum
[edit] Bibliography
- Brown, Eric, CBE, DCS, AFC, RN.; Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. "Blackburn Skua and Roc." Wings of the Navy, Flying Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War Two. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1980, p. 29–40. ISBN 0-7106-0002-X.
- Jackson, A.J. Blackburn Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., ISBN 0-37000-053-6.
- Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1994. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
- Partridge, Major R.T., DSO, RM. Operation Skua. Friends of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, 1983. ISBN 0-90263-386-4.
- Smith, Peter C. Skua! the Royal Navy's Dive-Bomber. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword, 2006. ISBN 1-84415-455-6.
- Smith, Peter C. History of Dive-Bombing: A Comprehensive History from 1911 Onward . Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword, 2007. ISBN 1-84415-592-7.
- Willis, Matthew. Blackburn Skua and Roc. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2007. ISBN 83-8945-044-5.
[edit] External links
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