page_title: Supermarine Seafire
section_title: Specifications (F Mk III)
hierarchical_section_title: Supermarine Seafire / Specifications (F Mk III)
caption_attribution_description: English: Silhouette of the Supermarine Seafire F17. The World's Fighting Planes (William Green and Gerald Pollinger, McDonald: London 1954) used 55 Crown Copyright silhouettes provided by the Controller of H.M. Stationery. An acknowledgements section on page 6 of the book identifies them by page. This image is one of those and since the publication date is pre-1957 is in the public domain.
context_page_description: The Supermarine Seafire was a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurricane. The name Seafire had been derived from the abbreviation of the longer name Sea Spitfire.
  The idea of adopting a navalised carrier-capable version of the Supermarine Spitfire had been mooted by the Admiralty as early as May 1938. Despite a pressing need to replace various types of obsolete aircraft that were still in operation with the Fleet Air Arm, some opposed the notion, such as Winston Churchill, although these disputes were often a result of an overriding priority being placed on maximising production of land-based Spitfires instead. During 1941 and early 1942, the concept was again pushed for by the Admiralty, culminating in an initial batch of Seafire Mk Ib fighters being provided in late 1941, which were mainly used for pilots to gain experience operating the type at sea.
context_section_description: Data from Supermarine aircraft since 1914, British Aircraft of World War II : Supermarine Seafire, The Virtual Aviation Museum : Supermarine Seafire Mk III
  General characteristics
  Crew: 1
  Length: 30 ft 2.5 in (9.208 m)
  Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
  Height: 11 ft 5.5 in (3.493 m) tail down with propeller blade vertical
  Wing area: 242 sq ft (22.5 m²)
  Airfoil: root: NACA 2213; tip: NACA 2209.4
  Empty weight: 5,317 lb (2,412 kg)
  Gross weight: 7,232 lb (3,280 kg)
  Fuel capacity: Internal fuel + provision for 30 imp gal (36 US gal; 136 l), 45 imp gal (54 US gal; 205 l) or 90 imp gal (108 US gal; 409 l) belly drop-tanks.
  Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 55 (or 45, 46 and 50) V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,585 hp (1,182 kW)
  Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed propeller
  Performance
  Maximum speed: 359 mph (578 km/h, 312 kn) at 36,000 ft (10,973 m)
  Cruise speed: 272 mph (438 km/h, 236 kn)
  Range: 465 mi (748 km, 404 nmi) at cruising speed
  Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
  Rate of climb: 3,250 ft/min (16.5 m/s)
  Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,096 m) in 8 minutes 6 seconds
  Armament
  Guns: 
  two 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano Mk II cannon
  four 0.303 in (7.70 mm) Browning machine guns in wings
  Rockets: 8 x 60 lb (27 kg) rockets
  Bombs: 2 x 250 lb (113 kg) bombs: one under each wing, or 1 x 500 lb (227 kg) bomb under fuselage
caption: Seafire F.46
exif: {}