Seafires XVII SX122 SX159 SX125 831 Sqn 1947
Seafire XVII Rocket Assisted Take-Off 1947
Seafire XV NS490 in flight
Prototype Seafire Mk XV NS493
Seafire Mk XVII NS493 1947
Seafire Mk Ib HMS Tracker November 1943
Seafire Prototype NS493
Seafire Mk XV PR498 Canadian Navy
Seafires Mk III aboard HMS Khedive at Malta
Seafires Mk Ib MB345 and IIc MB182 on deck HMS Formidable 1943
Prototype Seafire Mk III MA970
Seafire Mk XV NS490 2nd Prototype
Seafire Mk Ib 736 Sqn NAS in fight September 1943, ex-AD582
Seafire Mk Ib NX953 1943
Forward view of a Seafire Mk III Prototype
Seafire Mk III
Seafire FR XVII SX283
Seafire Ib NX942 of No. 736 Squadron, at RNAS Yeovilton 1942
Seafire II on aircraft carrier
Seafire II taking off from HMS Furious
Seafire Mk III
Seafire F.47 PS946 in flight
Seafire crash
Seafire Cockpit 1944
Seafire on aircraft carrier elevator 1944
Seafires Mk 46 LA561 LA559 1832 Sqn NAS
Seafires over HMS Indomitable
Three Seafire IBs of No. 736 Naval Air Squadron
Wren and rocket propulsion equipment (RATO) on Seafire
Crashed Seafire Mk XV SR537 aboard HMS Implacable February 1946
Prototype Seafire XV PK245
Seafire XV 5H-O of No. 806 Naval Air Squadron
Seafire Mk XV 5H of 806 Naval Air Squadron
Prototype Seafire Mk IB BL676, April 1942
Seafire LIIc MB307 with RATOG 1944
Seafire LIIc MA970
Seafire Mk III at Boscombe Down, May 1943
Seafire III 6S-D of No, 807 Sqn, 3rd Naval Fighter Wing
Seafire LIIc MB307 with rockets 1944
Seafire IIc MB307 RATOG 1944
Seafire F47 PS948 taking off from HMS Illustrious 1947
Seafire L.IIc landing on HMS Furious 1944
Seafire Mk XV PR470 of Royal Canadian Navy 1946
Seafire Mk IB trials 1942
Seafire Mk 46 LA541
Seafire III 123 of No. 801 Squadron British Pacific Fleet 1945
Seafire II of No. 801 Squadron aboard HMS Furious
Seafires III of the 801 Squadron, British Pacific Fleet 1945
An early production Mk 47 PS947 of No. 778 Squadron snags the wire as it touches down on a HMS Illustrious.
Crashed Spitfire Vb BL818 HMS Ravager
Seafire F Mk XV Farnborough June 1946
Damaged Seafire III 5S-H
Seafire 8A-M in flight
Seafire Mk 17
Seafire 17 G flipping over after landing
Seafire MK 17 SX283 of No. 778 Squadron 1946
Crashed Seafire Mk III 5X-D PP979 of No 807 Squadron Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Hunter, June 1945
Seafire with folded wings
Prototype Seafire F.45 TM379
Seafire IIC MB312 of No 808 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 1944
Seafire F.46 in flight
Seafire Mk III
Seafire Mk IIc “A” serial MA971 of No. 807 Squadron FAA at Lee-on-Solent 1942 2
Prototype of Seafire landing on British aircraft carrier
Spitfire Mk Vb BL676, Seafire prototype named Bondowoso in flight 1942
Supermarine Seafire landing on aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable
Spitfire Mk Vb BL676 Seafire prototype “Bondowoso” on the flight deck of the HMS Illustrious
Seafire Mk Ib coded AC-B, serial PA103 of No. 736 Squadron Fleet Air Arm at St Merryn
Seafire Mk Ib code G1-A, serial NX957 of No. 761 Squadron FAA in flight
Royal Navy ground personnel prepare to start a Supermarine Seafire
Spitfire Vb BL687, later Seafire IB MB329 on the ground at Eastleigh.
Seafire Mk IIc serial MB240, coded 7-B of No. 880 Squadron FAA, 1943
880 Sqn Seafires prepare to take off on carrier HMS Indomitable 1943
Seafires IIc of No. 807 Squadron FAA at Lee-on-Solent 1942. MA975 in the background
Seafire was a naval variant of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from British aircraft carriers.
The first Seafire was a Spitfire with arrestor hook, which was not a good solution. Initial training on Spitfires with hooks was not easy. Landing approaches were heavy, visibility was poor, arrestor hooks tended to bounce off the aircraft carrier’s surface, damaging the aircraft. But the worst part was that the main landing gear did not withstand the hard surface of the aircraft carriers and just crashed.