Supermarine Seagull (1921)

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Supermarine Seagull
Seagull III Richmond 1928 AWM P02332.006.jpeg

Supermarine Seagull A9-6.jpg

Type: Double Decker - flying boat , reconnaissance aircraft
Design country:

United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom

Manufacturer:

Supermarine Aviation Works , Southampton

First flight:

May 1921

Commissioning:

1922

Production time:

1922-1926

Number of pieces:

34

The Supermarine Seagull was a single-engine, three-seat reconnaissance flying boat of the Royal Air Force , which was also used on British aircraft carriers . The Seagull was an amphibious aircraft , which made it possible to land on aircraft carrier decks and its wings could be folded back, as with most carrier aircraft . The wooden flying boat hull was under the lower wing and the engine was suspended between the two wings .

The Australian Air Force (RAAF) received a slightly improved version in 1926 for cooperation with the Australian Navy (RAN), which remained in service until 1936 and was used by the seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross and most recently by Australian cruisers. The replacement development for the Australian Navy led to the Supermarine Walrus .

development

The company Supermarine developed the Seagull on behalf of the aviation ministry from 1920. In autumn 1920 the company took part in a competition of the ministry with three other companies, in which a civil aircraft taking off on the water was sought. The competition, which took place in Felixstowe and Martlesham Heath near Woodbridge (Suffolk) in September and October 1920 , was narrowly won by the Vickers Viking III G-EAUK. 2nd prize of £ 4000 won the first independent design of Supermarines new chief engineer Reginald Joseph Mitchell , the Commercial Amphibian G-eave, before the Fairey III - floatplane G-EALQ. The Ministry doubled the prize money to £ 8,000, believing that Supermarine had presented an excellent design with outstanding performance despite inferior engine performance. Unfortunately, the new Supermarine plane crashed in October 1920 and was never rebuilt.

The Ministry of Aviation ordered the prototype N146 for military use under the designation Seal Mk.II from Supermarine . Under a straight double-deck structure of the same span there was an oval boat hull with 2 steps. In order to facilitate the accommodation on aircraft carriers, the wings could be folded back. A Napier Lion IB with a pull propeller was installed between the wings - braced to both wings - although Supermarine had previously preferred pusher propellers behind the wings. The pilot sat in an open cockpit in front of the wings, next to which a rigid machine gun was mounted. The radio operator was in a second cockpit behind the wings, where a movable machine gun was installed. The prototype first flew in May 1921 and an identical machine was delivered to Japan. The tail unit had to be modified during the test.

According to specification 7/20 , the N146 was further modified and received a Lion II engine and a modified radiator as well as modified ailerons and modified floats under the wings. After the changes, it was renamed the Seagull Mk.I in July 1921 . In February 1922 two more prototypes ( N158 , N159 ) were ordered, which received a modified tank system. A machine of this Seagull Mk.II named version was also built for Japan.

The five first series machines ( N9562-N9566 ) were manufactured according to specification 21/21 and in May 1923 formed the “Fleet Reconnaissance Flight” (swarm) 440 . In February and June 1923, 18 further machines ( N9603-N9607, N9642-N9654 ) were ordered according to specification 13/23 .

In use, the machines usually had a pilot, an observer and a radio operator on board. The only armament was a 7.7 mm Lewis machine gun .

a Seagull III is lifted onto the HMAS Albatross

Overall, the RAF aircraft used in the fleet received the following versions:

Seagull Mk.I
the prototype N146 , originally Seal Mk.II
Seagull Mk.II
Series version with 450 PS (335 kW) Napier Lion III engine from 1922, 25 machines manufactured, some modified later (N158 / 159, N9562-N9566, N9603-N9607, N9642-9654)

in addition the

Seagull Mk.III
Australian version with 465 PS (346 kW) Napier Lion V and additional equipment for tropical operation; six machines manufactured from 1925 (A9-1 to A9-6), plus three ex RAF Mk.II to A9-9
Seagull Mk.IV
unofficial designation of a modified 1928 Seagull Mk.II N9605 with Handley-Page - slats and a twin tail, which was sold on the civilian market for testing and was used as a G-AAIZ briefly for flights to the Channel Islands.

In addition to the last mentioned machine, two other machines were entered in the British civil register (G-EBXH ex N9653, G-EBXI ex N9654). The N9644 was used as a test machine for the installation of a Bristol Jupiter IX radial engine with pressure screw.

Use of the Seagull Mk.II / Mk.III

On April 1, 1923, the Royal Air Force reorganized its units intended for naval combat. For the first time, special flights (swarm) were set up for the use of aircraft carriers. On May 1, 1923, the "Fleet Reconnaissance Flight" 440 with Supermarine Seagull flying boats was set up. Previously, three flights ( 441 , 442 , 443 ) had been set up with identical tasks, the initial equipment of which was the Parnall Panther from the World War II .

HMS Eagle

The Flight 440 was intended for the HMS Eagle and went to the Mediterranean Fleet in early June 1924 with the aircraft carrier completed at the end of the year . The Eagle aircraft group was the largest of an aircraft carrier at the time and consisted of four flights of six machines each. In addition to the Flight 440 were the flights 402 with Fairey Flycatcher - fighter planes , 422 with Blackburn Blackburn scouts and 460 with Blackburn Dart - torpedo planes on board. However, one of the four flights was usually detached from one of the land bases (Halfar on Malta or Aboukir near Alexandria ). A Seagull II was reportedly the first British aircraft to be launched with a catapult in 1925.

In January 1925, the Seagull amphibians in the fleet service on Flight 440 were replaced by Fairey IIID wheeled aircraft, which could also be used on floats if necessary.

The HMAS Albatross

The Australian Navy received nine Supermarine Seagull Mk.III and MK.II in 1926 , which formed the 101st Flight of the Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Point Cook , Victoria . The unit moved to RAAF Base Richmond in August 1926 .

Together and supported by HMAS Moresby , the Seagull 's undertook surveying tasks on the Great Barrier Reef and the Queensland coast . In part, a photographic reconnaissance of Papua New Guinea has also begun. From 1929 the flight formed the aircraft group on the seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross, which had come into service until it went into reserve in 1933. Then the flight provided the aircraft for the heavy cruisers HMAS Australia and HMAS Canberra . The Supermarine Seagull Mk.III was replaced from 1935 by the new Supermarine Seagull Mk.V , as the Supermarine Walrus was initially called, as it had been developed for the RAAF and the HMAS Albatross . As the last Seagull Mk.III in active service, the A9-5 was landed on March 3, 1936 by HMAS Canberra and retired.

Use in other countries

The company Supermarine was able to sell small reconnaissance flying boats of the previous type, the Supermarine Channel, to Norway (4), Japan (3 Mk.II), Sweden and Chile (1 Mk.II each). From the new development for the RAF, she sold one Seal Mk.II , Seagull Mk.II and Seagull Mk.III (?) To Japan.

Another order of twelve aircraft of the type Supermarine Scarab of Spain was based on the civil Supermarine Sea Eagle settled.

Further development

Seagull Mk.V on HMAS Australia

In 1923 the revision of the Seagull began after the first operational experience and Supermarine built a prototype Sheldrake according to the order , but there was no series production. The structure of the Seagull was used in 1928 for two more prototypes, which were named Seamew . They were small twin-engine flying boats that were tested until 1930 but did not convince. The manufacturing company was certainly more interested in the continuous development of Southampton .

In 1930 the development of a small flying boat began with a metal frame and was powered by a Bristol Jupiter IX engine with a pusher propeller. The new type should be used by the Australian seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross and as an on-board aircraft for cruisers . This machine was named Seagull Mk.V , first flew in 1933 and was first used in the Australian Navy from 1935. Further developed it was named Walrus and became the most built British flying boat and even had a double-decker successor with the Sea Otter .

Technical specifications

Parameter Channel Mk.I Seal Mk.II Seagull Mk.II Scarab Walrus
crew 2-3 3 3 3 3-4
length 9.14 m 10.00 m 11.50 m 11.28 m 11.45 m
span 15.37 m 14.02 m 14.02 m 14.02 m 13.97 m
height 3.96 m 4.51 m 4.21 m 4.92 m 4.65 m
Wing area 42.1 m² 57.5 m² 55.1 m² 56.7 m² 56.7 m²
Empty mass 1069 kg 1860 kg 1733 kg 1803 kg 2220 kg
Takeoff mass 1542 kg 2630 kg 2581 kg 2608 kg 3265 kg
Top speed 128 km / h 180 km / h 145 km / h 150 km / h 215 km / h
Range 3 h 4 h 4.5 h 400 km 1600 km
Service ceiling 2285 m 2789 m k. A. 5650 m
drive Puma , 240 PS (177 kW),
pusher propeller 		Lion IIB, 480 hp (353 kW) Lion IIB, 492 hp (362 kW) Eagle IX, 360 PS (265 kW),
pusher propeller 		Pegasus VI , 750 PS (552 kW),
pusher propeller
Armament (1 MG) 2 MG 1 MG 1 MG 2 MG
Bomb load without without without 450 kg up to 270 kg

literature

  • CF Andrews, EB Morgan: Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 , Putnam, 1981,
  • David Brown: Supermarine Walrus & Seagull Variants , Profile 224, 1971
  • David Brown: HMS Eagle , Warship Profile 35, 1973
  • Neville Doyle; from Sea Eagle to Flamingo - Channel Island Airlines 1923-1939 , Upton-upon-Severn 1991, ISBN 1-85421-103-X
  • Peter London: British Flying Boats , The History Press, Stroud 2003, ISBN 978-0-7524-6055-0
  • Kenneth Munson: Flying boats and seaplanes since 1910 , Orell Füssli; Zurich, 1972
  • Ray Sturtivant: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm , Air-Britain Tonbridge, 1984, ISBN 0-85130-120-7
  • Owen Thetford: Aircraft of the Royal Navy since 1912 , Putnam London, 4th edition 1978, ISBN 0-370-30021-1

Web links

Commons : Supermarine Seagull (1921)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CF Andrews, EB Morgan: Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 , Putnam, 1981, p. 44
  2. ↑ London: British Flying Boats , p. 50 ff.
  3. ↑ London, p. 68 f.
  4. ↑ London, p. 69.
  5. ↑ a b Sturtivant: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm , p. 467
  6. ^ Brown: HMS Eagle , p. 254
  7. ↑ London, pp. 69–71, 270 says only six machines and names seven series A9-1, -2, -4, -6, -7, -8, -9 on p. 270, the A9-3 is shown ,
    Brown: Supermarine Walrus , Profile 224, lists nine machines; Six new Mk.III A9-1 to A9-6 are correct, plus 3 Mk.II supplied as spare parts, which were used again in Australia