Blackburn Skua

Blackburn Skua

Infobox Aircraft
name=B-24 Skua
type=Dive bomber / Fighter
manufacturer=Blackburn Aircraft


caption= Skua "L2923", Red-1 of 803 NAS. One of 16 Skuas from RNAS Hatston to attack and successfully sink the "Königsberg" in Bergen on 10 April 1940. This aircraft spun out on the return flight and crashed, the only aircraft lost on that day.
designer=G.E.Petty
first flight=9 February 1937
introduced=November 1938
retired=1941 (withdrawn from front line)
March 1945 (withdrawn from other duties)cite web |url=http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Skua.htm |title=Blackburn Skua aircraft profile |accessdate=2008-03-24 |format=HTML |work= Fleet Air Arm Archive]
status=
primary user=Fleet Air Arm
more users=
produced=
number built=192
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=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.

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 [Messerschmitt Bf109E with DB601A engine] 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.

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 mostly 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.

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

Recovery of L2896

In April 2007, the only known nearly complete Blackburn Skua was discovered in Orkdalsfjorden in Norway at 242 metres depth. [ [http://luftfart.museum.no/Nyheter/2007/Skua/T%20Skus.jpgSkua 31 May 2007] "Aeroplane", July 2007. Retrieved: 13 April 2008.] Due to an engine failure, the Skua, flown by John Casson, leader of 803 squadron, had to make an emergency landing on the fjord. [ [http://home.online.no/~oela/ Operation Skua] ] 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 tail broke off. The engine had become detached in the original crash landing. The fuselage, cockpit and wings were salvaged. The Skua will be restored at Norways aviation museum in Bodø. [ [http://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/2008/04/10/532155.html Article in Dagbladet, Norway] ] [ [http://luftfart.museum.no/Engelsk/News/2008/Blackburn%20Skua/skua.htm Norway's Aviation Museum] ]

Operators and units

;UK
*Fleet Air Arm:* 755 Naval Air Squadron:* 757 Naval Air Squadron:* 758 Naval Air Squadron:* 759 Naval Air Squadron:* 760 Naval Air Squadron:* 767 Naval Air Squadron:* 769 Naval Air Squadron:* 770 Naval Air Squadron:* 771 Naval Air Squadron:* 772 Naval Air Squadron:* 774 Naval Air Squadron:* 776 Naval Air Squadron:* 778 Naval Air Squadron:* 779 Naval Air Squadron:* 780 Naval Air Squadron:* 782 Naval Air Squadron:* 787 Naval Air Squadron:* 788 Naval Air Squadron:* 789 Naval Air Squadron:* 791 Naval Air Squadron:* 792 Naval Air Squadron:* 794 Naval Air Squadron:* 797 Naval Air Squadron:* 800 Naval Air Squadron:* 801 Naval Air Squadron:* 803 Naval Air Squadron:* 806 Naval Air Squadron

*Royal Air Force
** RAF Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units

pecifications (Skua Mk. II)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Fleet Air Arm Archive

crew=2
length main=35 ft 7 in
length alt=10.8 m
span main=46 ft 2 in
span alt=14.1 m
height main=14 ft 2 in
height alt=4.3 m
area main=312 ft²
area alt=29.0 m²
empty weight main=5,490 lb
empty weight alt=2,490 kg
loaded weight main=8,228 lb
loaded weight alt=3,730 kg
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
engine (prop)=Bristol Perseus XII
type of prop=radial engine
number of props=1
power main=905 hp
power alt=675 kW
max speed main=225 mph
max speed alt=195 knots, 360 km/h
max speed more=at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
range main=800 mi
range alt=700 nm, 1,300 km
ceiling main=20,200 ft
ceiling alt=6,150 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=26.4 lb/ft²
loading alt=128 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.11 hp/lb
power/mass alt=180 W/kg
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

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Blackburn Roc
similar aircraft=
* Aichi D3A
* Douglas Dauntless
* Fairey Fulmar
lists=
* List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm
* List of bomber aircraft

References

Notes

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.

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=303 British Aircraft Directory]
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/john.dell/blackburn_skua.htm Dinger's Aviation Pages (John Dell}: Blackburn Skua]


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