Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

Hawker Sea Hurricane

1941 WORLD WAR 2

History of Hurricane Hawke

The land-based Hurricane Hawke was chosen as the "Hurricane at Sea" during World War II when British shipping needed protection from air attack. The work was carried out by General Aircraft Corporation, which took a Hurricane Mk I fighter jet and made approximately 80 modifications to the design to make it suitable for use on specially modified Navy Merchant and Support ships. The Sea Hurricane brand used by Royal Navy escort carriers later found additional service.

The 250 Mk I fighters were originally converted to the Sea Hurricane Mk IA standard and their appearance was first characterized in 1941. Despite the aircraft's naval-centric combat role, the pilots were withdrawn from the RAF ranks.

These early "Sea Hurricanes" were equipped with "catapult spools" for aircraft catapult launches from ships without built-in deck facilities (unlike aircraft carriers). Thus, sea hurricanes can be launched from these ships but cannot be recovered, leaving pilots to manage their fuel supplies wisely and find an Allied base to land their aircraft on or simply disembark, hoping to pass Allied ships and not the enemy.

The Sea Hurricane Mk IB subsequently introduced a carrier deck locking device while still retaining the catapult spool functionality. Combined equipment allows the aircraft to operate on decks of merchant ships and aircraft carriers without additional work. Mk IB has a total of 340 transitions.

The Sea Hurricane Mk IC followed and adopted the equipment of the Mk IB variant, but introduced the pure wings of its land-based Hurricane brothers (4 x Hispano guns, two per wing). Their 1,400 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin III series engine has also been revised to improve service at lower altitudes, giving the brand a more powerful form.

This type entered service in February 1942 and added 400 conversions.

The

Sea Hurricane Mk IIC is followed by an upgraded 1,460-horsepower Rolls-Royce XX engine. These are further developed into surface combatants with specially installed naval radio kits. They also kept the complete wing of the Mk IC variant.

These Mk IICs continued to serve on Royal Navy aircraft carriers as the number of aircraft carriers grew.

Sea Hurricane Mk XIIA is a Canadian made land-based model of Hurricane Mk XIIA, albeit rebuilt to Sea Hurricane standards. Canada also contributed more than 1,400 land-based versions of Hurricane 14,000+ during the war.

The Sea Hurricanes were in heavy service for most of the war from 1941 to 1943, when the UK had more specialized naval fighter types at their disposal, including Supermarine Seafires (a naval modification of the classic Spitfire) and American Grumman F4Fs Wildcat.