The Malta Spitfire U-2

Nice try. 😉

I think you need better anti-aliasing on your serial number…

Just ‘cos you are a very lucky boy, don’t push it. 😀

Would that be this one? 🙂

U-2 DMB

There are Spitfires that are:-

Painted right and look right.

Painted wrong and look wrong.

Painted right but look wrong.

Painted wrong and look right.

I would suggest that BM597/ U-2 in all probability fits nicely in to this last category.

In reality nobody actually as yet come up with a definitive colour or chip for the aircraft dispatched from the USS Wasp to Malta.

Dark Blue, Dark Grey, a US Grey with a dab of this or a dab of that and lastly as the US Wildcats on Wasp. I’ve heard them all ‘ad nauseum’.

Whilst in Malta I saw a photo of a Spitfire ‘in livery’ lined up on the open deck alongside a Wildcat on the Wasp. The Spitfire was definitely several shades darker in tone as a b/w image.

Time marched on, the artwork calleth, and the decision had to made. The Ministry of Aircraft Production chip for ‘Dark Mediterranean Blue was chosen. It may be technically incorrect but it certainly looks the part. To this is the added factor of availability in the ‘temporary’ chemical removable paint range and this is as close as you can get.

A departure shot, before take off back to the UK on 29th September, outside the historically interesting ‘Hangar 4’, the sole remaining WII revetment at Luqa. This limestone block structure is still in use by the military having been roofed over and fitted with doors.

Er! No smoking within 100ft of the aircraft please Charlie!

Mark

Thanks Mike, definately interesting.

Uh-oh, ‘eees back.

Ten HUT!

U-2 can be ‘Dark Mediterranean Blue’

BR124

Mark

Thanks for the info, i thought it was something of that nature. Jerry didn’t get to Malta until octoberish of 1942 and he flew off HMS Furious in Camou MK V b.

Dave

Here are a few pictures of Malta Spitfires from Jerry Billing ( 185 Squ. )
http://www.jerrybilling.com/jerry_billing_militery_career%20WWII.htm

I also mentioned the painting of Spitfires blue to him but he did not remember seeing any blue Spit’s in the sky’s over Malta in his time their.

Dave

Only the USS Wasp Spitfires were painted blue. Many of those destroyed on landing

Here are a few pictures of Malta Spitfires from Jerry Billing ( 185 Squ. )
http://www.jerrybilling.com/jerry_billing_militery_career%20WWII.htm

I also mentioned the painting of Spitfires blue to him but he did not remember seeing any blue Spit’s in the sky’s over Malta in his time their.

Dave

OK….

From a caption in “Spitfire – The History” (paperback edition, page 132):

During April and May 1942 the American aircraft carrier USS ‘Wasp’ despatched 111 Spitfire VCs to Malta, flying them off from a position north of Algiers, during two reinforcement operations. The Spitfires, armed with four 20mm cannon, fitted with tropical filters and 90-gallon slipper tanks, painted in ‘sand and spinach’ camouflage and with their wingtips removed…

The images show the wingtips stuffed into the cockpit.

However, according to “Spitfire MkV Aces 1941-45”, a caption on page 53 beneath a photo of a downed Spit Vc states:

This aircraft (BR112/X of 185 Sqdn) was one of those delivered as part of Operation Calendar in April 1942, its blue paint scheme, hastily applied over the fighter’s original desert camouflage once on Malta, clearly showing signs of peeling away.

The colour profile of this aircraft, on page 36, shows that the bluish paint was applied over the green-painted areas only. There are two or three others painted in a similar fashion.

I overheard this at the Duxford show…. I think Glenn and someone from Corgi explained…

The Spitfires were loaded on the Wasp in a standard Green/Brown/duck egg green? scheme similar to what HAC’s Spitfire used to wear.

The desicion to repaint was taken halfway on route and blue paint which was used for the American WIldcats etc was taken and mixed with other colours black/white etc as well as water so as enough could go around. Paint was applied with brooms and deck brushes so a very uneven finished was produced. Markings were painted around by hand. Therfore no particular paint number is available.

The Merlins Over Malta Spitfire was painted to ‘represent’ a USS Wasp Spitfire.

I think she looks super!

By all accounts the aircraft were put on board Wasp in the standard grey green scheme which was deemed to be inappropriate for Malta, the stores were raided and a blue scheme applied. The exact shade of this blue is a mystery today and 597 was painted in a representative blue.

Maybe the experts can back up this claim, Mark12, VoyTech or even Daz !!!!

Just to throw something into the mix – I’m not making and definite statements here…!

My late grandfather was an RAF ground crew member who was put on Wasp to maintain the Spitfires and prep them for the flight to Malta.

Both my father and I remember him saying that the Spitfires were painted with deck paint from the US stores during the voyage. I remember him also saying that they repainted them several times on the way, and were quite surprised when they actually took off due to the extra weight of the paint! I suspect they were delivered in desert camouflage, I seem to remember him saying that at one stage there was some green added to the scheme.

I also remember him saying that the underside was repainted at least once, but I couldn’t say what colour.

Unfortunately by the time I was old enough to realise this was “significant” information, his memory wasn’t sufficiently good to recall it.

More here: http://www.airwarfareforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4636 including some thoughts on colour etc.

Well I have found an interesting page on Hyperscale where someone has already modelled U-2 and gives a nice history by the look of it (skimmed it, not read fully yet). Some good original photos as well as a nice model (note the red spinner!)
http://hsfeatures.com/maltabluesse_1.htm

I have added a couple of other interesting Malta Spitfire photos I found in my search too.

Photo 1
249 Squadron Spitfires over Malta, from this page
http://www.constable.ca/kennedy.htm

Photo 2
Re-arming a Spitfire in Malta, from this page
http://news.mod.uk/news/press/news_headline_story.asp?newsItem_id=1926

Dave – there’s bound to be a few pics floating around of Malta Spits, and I think a few of them were marked “U-“. BR12- shouldn’t be hard to pin down, but I can’t say for sure.