Fairey Seal

Fairey Seal
Type:	spotter
Design country:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Fairey Aviation Company
First flight:	September 11, 1930
Commissioning:	1933
Production time:	1932-1935
Number of pieces:	91

The Fairey Seal was a carrier-based, biplane- style reconnaissance aircraft and was very similar to the Fairey Gordon . Both were further developments of the Fairey III F . The Fairey Seal was used in five reconnaissance squadrons from 1934 to 1936, but two squadrons took over their Seal s from squadrons that had already been converted. Some machines were also used as airplanes between 1932 and 1938 and Seal s were used in training units until 1940 .
The last remaining machines were used as target tow planes.

Development of the Seal

Since 1917 the Fairey III was an essential part of the combat aircraft of the British Air Force and served since 1927 in the version IIIF in several squadrons in the Middle East, light bomber squadrons at home and several flights in the Navy. In order to improve take-off performance with a full load, in particular, Fairey had proposed a version with a double-star Panther engine from Armstrong-Siddeley instead of the water-cooled Napier Lion , which went into series production as Gordon and of which more than 200 machines, a small part too created by rebuilding IIIF .
The British naval aviators had identical wishes and Fairey converted the IIIF Mk.IIIB S 1325 to the prototype IIIF Mk.VI according to the tender tender 12/29 with a 525 HP Armstrong-Siddeley-Panther IIA, which was then named Seal . In terms of its external dimensions, the Seal was largely identical to that of the Gordon procured from land-based squadrons . The first series order under the specification 17/32 then only received slightly more rounded rear surfaces and a rear wheel instead of the spur previously used. The machine was armed with a front-firing Vickers machine gun and a movable machine gun of the Lewis type . There were suspensions of up to 227 kg (500 lb) bombs under the wings. The second production order was built according to specification 11/34, which does not differ significantly . The machines could also be placed on a float chassis , which was tested by the prototype S1325 , which started on September 29, 1932 for the first time.

The Navy Air Force , at that time still part of the Royal Air Force , received only one version:

Seal

equipped with a 525 PS (356 kW) Armstrong-Siddeley Panther IIA of which 91 machines were built. It was the first airborne British aircraft type with wheel brakes and a catch hook.

production

Approval of the Fairey Seal by the RAF:

version	1932	1933	1934	1935	total
Mk.I	3	45	25th	17th	90

Used by the British Fleet Air Force

Even before series delivery began, the prototype was sent to Buenos Aires on the HMS Eagle . It belonged to an additional flight (swarm) on board the carrier, which was supposed to demonstrate the new British aircraft types at the "British Empire Trade Exhibition" held abroad for the first time in March 1931. The exhibition unit also included the Hawker fighters Nimrod and Osprey , as well as the Blackburn Ripon torpedo bomber . The exhibition was opened by the Prince of Wales , whose De Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth was also transported on the carrier.

Seal float plane

The first series Seal came with floats in December 1932 to Flight 444 of the aircraft of the 2nd Battle Squadron alongside Fairey IIIF float planes. Up until December 1933, there was at least one Seal aircraft here. From November 1936 to February 1938 there was also at least one float plane at Flight 701 of the 1st Battle Squadron in the Mediterranean and from February 1937 to October 1938 at Flight 702 of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. This was the last time a Fairey Seal was used as an operational machine in the Navy.

As the first carrier-supported unit, the 821 squadron on the HMS Courageous was converted from the IIIF to the Fairey Seal from April 1933 . It initially received nine machines and was later increased to twelve machines. This season the Seal s had their longest operating time of 35 months before they were replaced by Blackburn Shark Mk.I in March 1936 .
As the second season, the 820 also used by the Courageous replaced part of their IIIF in June 1934 with six seals . This season was not completely converted, but received new Blackburn Shark Mk.I. in December 1934 .
The third season with Fairey Seal machines as an operational model was the new season 824 with nine machines , which was set up on October 8, 1934 . The squadron went to Far East on the carrier HMS Hermes and stayed on the carrier until it went back to the reserve and was replaced by the HMS Eagle , which moved to the China Station with a new Fairey Swordfish squadron . In December 1934, the 823 squadron replaced its IIIF with the six seals of the 820 squadron, which had been converted to Shark . The squadron assigned to porter training due to the repair of the HMS Glorious der Courageous was replenished to twelve emergency planes.

Because of the Abyssinia crisis , the porters Glorious and Courageous moved to the Mediterranean in August 1935 . Your aircraft groups were in August from seasons 802 ( Nimrod / Osprey ) and the B-flight of 823 .Staffel ( Seal ), as well as to acquired on September 2 in Malta, from the Eagle abandoned squadrons 812 ( Blackburn Baffin ) and 825 ( Fairey IIIF ) on Glorious and
800 ( Nimrod / Osprey ), 810 ( Baffin ), A-Flight / 820 (6 Baffin , due to engine problems of the new Shark ), 821 ( Seal ), B-Flight / 822 (6 IIIF ) and the A-Flight of 823 .Staffel ( Seal ) on Courageous together.
In October, the Seal squadron 823 was reunited on the Glorious . In November 1936, this season in the Mediterranean was then equipped with new Fairey Swordfish .

As the last airborne squadron, the 822 squadron replaced their Fairey IIIF temporarily with the twelve Fairey Seal of the converted 821 squadron in order to be converted to the Blackburn Shark Mk.II as early as November . At the beginning of 1937, only a few float planes on battleships and the machines of the 824 squadron on the Hermes were in use in the 1st line. The machines that remained on Ceylon later came to the RAF.

The Seal could not completely replace the previous Fairey IIIF and was replaced even after a short period of service by the Blackburn Shark , also a transitional type, and the Fairey Swordfish , which was to equip all bomber and reconnaissance squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and also in the Remained in service during World War II. At the outbreak of World War II were still four Fairey Seal in the service of the FAA at the Observer School (753rd season) next to the main equipment with Shark Mk.II . The FAA's last operational machine served with the 782nd Northern Communication Squadron until early 1941.

However, the Royal Air Force also used some Seal as target tug planes. No 10 Bombing and Gunnery School had twelve machines until 1940. Another four machines were used by the 273rd Squadron on Ceylon for coastal surveillance and were used at times on swimmers. In May 1942 the RAF had also removed their last seal .

Argentine Fairey Seal

Assignments to other nations

Fairey Seal aircraft are said to have been delivered to four nations :

Argentina

The Argentine Navy received six Fairey IIIF float planes (F.1122-1127) in 1930 , which were powered by de Dietrich engines. It converted five of these machines into Seal s by installing British 605 PS AS Panther IV engines with NACA hoods . A Seal with hull number F.2111 was delivered from Great Britain. It is unclear whether this was the sample machine for the conversion or the replacement for a lost machine.

Latvian Fairey Seal

Latvia

In 1934 the Baltic state ordered four Seal float planes (F.2112-2115), which could also be converted into agricultural machinery. These machines were powered by 690 hp Bristol Pegasus III M2 engines, and they became known in parts of Europe through a sightseeing flight under Colonel Janis Indans with three aircraft over 6000 km from June 22 to July 5, 1936 around the Baltic Sea to Great Britain and through other northern European countries. The machines came under the control of the Red Army during the Soviet occupation in autumn 1940 and were lost at the beginning of the German attack on the Soviet Union.

No further information could be found about the machines allegedly delivered to Peru and Chile .

There were also exports of similar aircraft, which were called Fairey Gordon :

Brazil

the South American state bought 20 Gordon s for its Air Force and Navy, five of which were supplied as float planes.

New Zealand

In 1939 the Dominion received 41 (49) Fairey Gordon from RAF holdings for training purposes.

Egypt

The Royal Air Force is said to have received six machines from the RAF.

Apart from the establishment of a number of sources, no further information on Gordon delivered to China could be found.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Seal	Gordon
crew	3	2
length	10.26 m	11.20 m
span	13.95 m
height	3.89 m	4.32 m
Wing area	41.2 m²	40.69 m²
Empty mass	1633 kg	1589 kg
Takeoff mass	2727 kg	2679 kg
Top speed	222 km / h	240 km / h
Range	966 km
Service ceiling	6705 m	6700 m
drive	an Armstrong-Siddeley Panther IIA with 525 PS (386 kW)
Armament	1 fixed / 1 movable machine gun
Bomb load	227 kg

literature

• Peter Lewis: The British Bomber since 1914 , Putnam London, 3rd edition 1980, ISBN 0-370-30265-6
• Kenneth Munson: Bomber 1919–1939 , Orell Füssli; Zurich, 1971
• Ray Sturtivant: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm , Air-Britain Tonbridge, 1984, ISBN 0-85130-120-7

Web links

Commons : Fairey Seal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Fairey Seal demonstrated in 1933
• Fairey Seal Fleet Air Arm Archive
• Latvian Fairey Seal (Engl.)
• Fairey Seal (Russian)
• Fairey Seal
• Argentine Fairey Seal (span.)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Lewis, The British Bomber since 1914, p. 200
2. ^ Lewis, p. 201.
3. ↑ Halley, James J .: The K File. The Royal Air Force of the 1930s, Tunbridge Wells, 1995, pp. 307 ff.
4. ↑ Empire Trade Exhibition (PDF; 322 kB)
5. ↑ Sturtivant: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm , p 468
6. ↑ Sturtivant, p. 26
7. ↑ Sturtivant, p. 29
8. ↑ On which ships seals were in use could not be determined, the battle cruiser Repulse had a seal on board
9. ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 250, 252
10. ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 243, 247
11. ↑ Sturtivant, pp 258, 262
12. ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 256f.
13. ↑ Sturtivant, p. 256
14. ↑ Sturtivant, p. 87
15. ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 133f.
16. ↑ Indans' Great Amok , "Insignia" Issue 11, Volume 3, Number 3, Spring 1999, ISSN  1360-4848 , p. 76-81
17. ↑ Information on 41 Fairey Gordon in service