General Aircraft Ltd; the latter would later carry out the majority of the Sea Hurricane conversions. While the FCS were crewed by the Royal Navy and the aircraft flown by FAA pilots, the Sea Hurricanes were also flown from CAMs (Catapult Aircraft Merchantmen), which were crewed by civilians while the aircraft were flown by RAF pilots. Operating a Sea Hurricane from these merchantmen was a ‘one-way only’ operation, as there were no facilities to recover the aircraft after it was launched. If the aircraft was not in range of an airfield, the pilot had only two options; to bail out or to ditch the aircraft near an Allied ship. The latter option was particularly hazardous because of the Hurricane’s large under belly radiator intake, which tended to dig into the water on touchdown and pitch the fighter straight down, often sending the aircraft under the surface almost instantly. The first successful operation involving a Sea Hurricane Mk Ia came on 2 August 1941 when Lt R. W. H. Everett was launched from the FCS HMS Maplin. Everett’s quarry was an Fw 200, which, after a very long chase and avoiding as much defensive fire from the large bomber as possible, he set on fire to crash into the sea a few minutes later. Everett’s Sea Hurricane had taken several hits and was losing oil, so the FAA pilot decided to take to his parachute instead of risking a ditching. However, the fighter had other ideas. Everett made several attempts to bail out with the aircraft inverted, but the Sea Hurricane kept pitching down, forcing Everett back in his seat. Left with no option but to ditch, Everett came down near an Allied destroyer, only for the fighter to pitch into the sea and disappear below the waves. Not the strongest of swimmers, Everett managed to drag himself to the surface to be rescued a few moments later. He was later awarded the DSO for becoming the first pilot to destroy an Fw 200 ‘Condor’ using a catapult Sea Hurricane. The Sea Hurricane Mk Ib The first dedicated Sea Hurricane for the FAA was the Mk Ib, which was fitted with catapult spools and an arrestor hook and was designed to be operated from carriers. The first example was a Canadian-built Mk I (later Mk X), P5187, which first flew as a Sea Hurricane Mk Ib in March 1941. Full production began from May 1941 onwards and by October 120 Mk Ibs had been completed. However, included within this number are several early Hurricane Mk IIas and Mk IIbs and a handful of Canadian-built Mk X, XI and XIIs. This has made the exact definition of a Sea Hurricane very difficult. The general consensus is that a Sea Hurricane Mk Ib is ‘any Hurricane which possessed an arrestor hook and whose gun armament did not protrude forward of the wing leading edge’ (i.e. a 20mm cannon). The armament reference was introduced when the Admiralty ordered 100 Merlin III-powered Sea Hurricane Mk Ibs to be re-armed with 20mm Oerlikon cannon; this variant would be designated the Mk Ic. By the end of 1941, the FAA could boast four squadrons of Sea Hurricane Mk Ibs, which finally gave the Royal Navy the opportunity to phase out the dependable yet now obsolete Fairey Fulmar. © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
Hurricane Mk IIa Z2346 remained in the hands of Hawkers and Rolls-Royce for trials work. It is seen here at Boscombe Down on 20 November 1940. After extensive trials flying throughout its career, the fighter, which never fired a shot in anger, was SOC on 19 July 1944. (Via author)
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