Seafires on Carriers in WWII

It seems Task Force 57 had 10 carriers launching planes into combat, but only Implacable had 48 Seafires, and Indefatigable had 40 Seafires. The other carriers had Avengers, Fireflies, Corsairs, Barracudas, and Hellcats.

Therefore Seafires were indeed a rare commodity with probably 88 in action at any one time with 4 squadrons of pilots totalling about 140ish active on board the two carriers.

Seafire XV Pilot’s Notes

Hi. I’m Jim Cooper, and have restored PR503 to flying condition. Thought I’d introduce myself to you guys on this thread. It is indeed flying, having made its first post-restoration flight on July 1, 2010. It has about 10 hours now of flight time on the aircraft as of Airventure 2010. To dispel any rumors, the Seafire is at Oshkosh as I write this post, and will be on display for the duration of the airshow. Several magazines will be running articles on the Seafire, including Warbird Digest, Classic Wings, EAA Warbirds, Aeroplane, and possibly others. Paul Bowen photographed PR503 in flight and Warbird Digest should have some fantastic air to air’s

The Engine is a genuine Seafire XV engine, having its logs confirm that it was on SW809, and SW815, also on board HMCS Warrior while PR503 was aboard Warrior. We have a second engine at Mike Nixon’s Vintage V-12’s…which is also where this engine was overhauled. It runs like a top. Whether these have shackleton heads and covers, is up for debate, and a question for Mike…since both engines were pickled at the pier in Shearwater, and acquired by Canadian Warplane Heritage museum before they were destroyed…and were complete as far as I know.

We have three sets of propeller blades…though one is airworthy.

If you guys have any questions about it…I’ll check this thread on occasion, though I’m busy right now with the airshow…………….

Thanks for all of your interest.

Jim

My father flew Mk XV Seafires in 880 squadron off HMS Implacable in 1944/5. His last sortie in WWII on 9/8/45 ended up in him having to land PR294 on the USS Essex when running short of fuel.

I have his Air Ministry Provisional Pilot’s Notes for flying a Seafire XV published in April 1945 Air Publication 2280D-P.P.N. Let me know if they are of any use to you in flying your Seafire and I can e-mail them to you.

His Seafire was repaired and hung from the hangar ceiling of the USS Essex and taken back to Bremmerton. Quite what happened to it after that is a mystery. The port oleo and prop were damaged in the landing as US Navy planes were much heavier and the arrester wire was too taught. The deck commander of the USS Essex, Bill Christiansen, who is still alive at 90+, told me that they had turned the tension down to the lowest, but it was still too tense for the very light Seafire. I have several photos which I can publish if someone tells me how best to download photos onto this site.

I attended a USS Essex re-union in Johnson City Tennessee in 2006 to thank them for being there and helping my father in very troubled times.

13 of his 880 and 801 squadrons died in 3 months active service in 1945 on the HMS Implacable, mostly from flying accidents. Only 1 died from enemy action. Finding your carrier in the Pacific and landing a Seafire on an aircraft carrier in a 60′ swell is a very dangerous business.