Supermarine Spitfire operational history

[nb 2][27] Although the Merlin III engine of Spitfire Is had a power rating of 1,030 hp (770 kW), supplies of 100 octane fuel from the United States started reaching Britain in early 1940.

With the prospect of two long over-water flights, and knowing that their range was substantially reduced when escorting bombers or in the event of combat, the Jagdflieger coined the term Kanalkrankheit or "Channel sickness".

Against modern fighters like the Spitfire and Hurricane the Zerstörergruppen (roughly "Destroyer Groups") suffered heavy casualties and, after 18 August, fewer of them were encountered over Britain because the rate of attrition was outpacing production.

[57] Spitfire pilots who flew over enemy territory using the standard technique of flying at low rpm and high boost pressures to economise on fuel often found themselves in trouble when intercepted by Fw 190s.

[57] As a result of the high number of casualties being inflicted on Spitfires the Air Tactics Department (A.T.D) issued a guide on the optimum engine settings to use while flying over enemy territory; in part it read: 2.

This version had reduced diameter supercharger impeller blades on the Merlin for optimum performance at lower altitudes and the wing-tips were removed and replaced by short fairings to improve their rate of roll.

[citation needed] This operation saw the successful combat debut of the Spitfire Mk IX and the lessons learned from "Jubilee" would contribute to the formation of the 2nd Tactical Air Force (2 TAF).

2 TAF would combine RAF fighter, fighter/bomber and light and medium bomber squadrons into a powerful army support organisation which would help lead to the successful outcome of D-Day.

They were re-equipped with Spitfire IXs in early September 1942 and were disbanded in late-September 1942 as their aircrew and aircraft were transferred to the fledgling USAAF's Eighth Air Force to become the nucleus of the 4th Fighter Group.

A unit called the Höhenkampfkommando der Versuchsstelle für Höhenflüge, equipped with a small number of Junkers Ju 86R bombers, was able to bomb England from above 40,000 ft (12,000 m) without impediment from RAF fighters, or from anti-aircraft guns.

[71][72] To counter the threat, the "High Altitude Flight" was formed at RAF Northolt; this unit used a pair of Spitfire Mk Vcs which were converted into IXs by Rolls-Royce at the Hucknall plant.

However, problems were caused by the freezing air at that altitude and the combat was not decisive: the port cannon suffered a jam and, whenever the pilot fired a burst, the aircraft would slew and fall out of the sky.

[79] In spite of a reluctance on the part of German fighters to be drawn into low-altitude combat the Spitfire XIIs scored several successes against low-flying fighter-bomber Fw 190s and Bf 109 Gs attacking targets in and around the south-eastern coastal towns of Britain.

[82] The limited combat radius of the Spitfire meant the RAF support operations were restricted to the North Sea-coastal regions of Belgium and north-western France and across the English Channel to Normandy.

[86]As a wing commander, Johnson was allowed to paint his initials JE-J on the sides of the fuselage, in place of the usual squadron code letters AE- He also had the Spitfire's guns re-harmonised to converge their fire to a single point ahead of the aircraft, rather than the standard pattern which spread the rounds evenly over a circle a few yards across.

[95] The bulk of the Spitfire squadrons, which by D-Day were incorporated into the Second Tactical Air Force, were progressively moved across the Channel, operating from advanced landing grounds in Normandy, close behind the front-lines.

403 Squadron RCAF and although its primary role was tactical reconnaissance, the unit also engaged in fighter sweeps resulting in successful encounters with Luftwaffe aircraft, including the destruction of an Me 262.

The Germans had developed special flak wagons to protect valuable transport trains from air attack and "set traps" for unwary Allied fighter pilots.

Neither aircraft had the speed or altitude performance to avoid enemy fighters and their light armament meant that fighting their way to a target to take photographs was a forlorn hope.

In retaliation for an incident six days earlier, when a Sgt Parrot failed to bring back photos due to heavy flak, Manifould also strafed the AA posts and radar station, rendering the latter useless.

[161] However, the carriers were thought to be vulnerable to attack from the Luftwaffe while out at sea[162] so in late October through to early November, a total of 12 Spitfire Vcs, equipped with a single huge 170-gallon drop tank, flew direct from Gibraltar, a distance of 1,000 miles.

"[171] On 17 August 1944, after training at Canne airfield, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Termoli, an RAF Squadron with Yugoslavian pilots provided 53 Spitfire Vs to the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force.

Moreover, the Spitfire had a centre of gravity positioned well forward and could easily stand on its nose while manoeuvering on soft or uneven ground; the flight manual expressly forbade taxiing in such conditions without a man sitting astride the tail for balance.

[citation needed] Another factor in the initial high attrition rate was the relatively short endurance of the Spitfire:[186] most of the sorties were, as a matter of course, flown over the wide expanse of ocean between Australia, New Guinea and Timor.

[citation needed] As a result of this, RAAF Spitfire Vs and VIIIs were increasingly used in the fighter-bomber role in mopping-up operations against the large pockets of Japanese forces still remaining in New Guinea, and some Australian based units did not get to see any combat at all.

In late February, they played a major part in thwarting the Japanese Ha-Go offensive, an attack intended to isolate and destroy British Indian divisions in the Arakan Province of Burma.

Spitfires ensured that the Allies gained and held air superiority during the battles of Kohima and Imphal from early to mid 1944, in which the Japanese attempt to destroy the British Fourteenth Army and invade India was also defeated.

The main foreign air force to use Spitfire was France's Armée de l'Air that ordered more than 500 Supermarine fighters, Mark V, VIII, IX, and XVI variants.

Several S 31 photographic missions in the late 1940s entailed flagrant violations of Soviet and, at least once, Finnish airspace in order to document activities at the air and naval installations in the Baltic and Kola regions.

On 1 January 1951 the last offensive sortie made by RAF Spitfires was flown by a flight of four 60 Squadron Mk XVIIIs, led by Grp Capt Wilfrid Duncan Smith, in a strike against a target near Kota Tinggi.