Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single - seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) . Although largely overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire , the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain , accounting for 60 % of the RAF ' s air victories in the battle , and served in all the major theatres of the Second World War . The 1930s design evolved through several versions and adaptations , resulting in a series of aircraft which acted as interceptor - fighters , fighter - bombers ( also called " Hurribombers " ) , and ground support aircraft . Further versions known as the Sea Hurricane had modifications which enabled operation from ships . Some were converted as catapult - launched convoy escorts , known as " Hurricats " . More than 14 , 000 Hurricanes were built by the end of 1944 ( including at least 800 converted to Sea Hurricanes and some 1 , 400 built in Canada by Canadian Car and Foundry ) . Design and development . Origins . At the time that the Hurricane was developed RAF Fighter Command consisted of just 13 squadrons , each equipped with either the Hawker Fury , Hawker Demon , or the Bristol Bulldog , all biplanes with fixed - pitch wooden propellers and non - retractable undercarriages . Sydney Camm ' s design to meet F . 7 / 30 , the Hawker P . V . 3 , was essentially a scaled - up version of the Fury and was not among the proposals submitted to the Air Ministry selected for building as a government sponsored prototype . After the rejection of the P . V . 3 Camm started work on a cantilever monoplane with a fixed undercarriage armed with four machine guns and powered by the Rolls - Royce Goshawk . Detail drawings were finished by January 1934 but failed to impress the Air Ministry enough for a prototype to be ordered . Camm ' s response was to further develop the design , introducing a retractable undercarriage and replacing the unsatisfactory Goshawk with a new Rolls - Royce design , the PV - 12 , later to become famous as the Merlin . In August 1934 , a one - tenth scale model was made and sent to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington . A series of wind tunnel tests confirmed the aerodynamic qualities of the design were in order , and in September Camm approached the Air Ministry again . This time the response was favourable , and a prototype of the " Interceptor Monoplane " was ordered . Shortly after this the Air Ministry issued Specification F . 5 / 34 which , drawing on the work of Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley , called for fighter aircraft to be armed with eight guns . However by this time , work had progressed too far to immediately modify the planned four - gun installation . By January 1935 , a wooden mock - up had been finished , and although a number of suggestions for detail changes were made construction of the prototype was approved , and a new specification ( F . 36 / 34 ) was written around the design . In July 1935 , this specification was amended to include installation of eight guns . Work on the airframe was completed at the end of August 1935 and the aircraft components were taken to Brooklands , where Hawkers had an assembly shed , and re - assembled on 23 October 1935 . Ground testing and taxi trials took place over the following two weeks , and on 6 November 1935 , the prototype took to the air for the first time at the hands of Hawker ' s chief test pilot , Flight Lieutenant ( later Group Captain ) George Bulman . Bulman was assisted by two other pilots in subsequent flight testing ; Philip Lucas flew some of the experimental test flights , while John Hindmarsh conducted the firm ' s production flight trials . RAF trials of the aircraft at Martlesham Heath began in February 1936 . Sammy Wroath , later to be the founding Commandant of the Empire Test Pilot School , was the RAF test pilot for the Hurricane : his report was favorable , stating " The aircraft is simple and easy to fly and has no apparent vices " and going on to praise its control response . The type name " Hurricane " proposed by Hawkers was approved by the Air Ministry on 26 June ; an informal christening ceremony was carried out the next month when King George VI paid a visit to Martlesham Heath . Further testing showed that the Hurricane had poor spin recovery characteristics , with all rudder authority being lost . Hawker ' s response was to request that spinning tests be waived , but the Air Ministry refused the request ; the situation was resolved by the Royal Aircraft Establishment , who established that the problem was caused by a breakdown of the airflow over the lower fuselage , and could be cured by the addition of a small ventral fairing and extension of the bottom of the rudder . This discovery came too late to be incorporated in the first production aircraft , but was introduced in the 61st built and all subsequent aircraft . Design . Though faster and more advanced than the RAF ' s current front line biplane fighters , the Hurricane ' s constructional design was already outdated when introduced . It used the traditional Hawker construction techniques , with a Warren truss box - girder primary fuselage structure with high - tensile steel longerons and duralumin cross - bracing using mechanically fastened rather than welded joints . Over this , wooden former s and stringer carried the doped linen covering . Initially , the wing structure consisted of two steel spars , and was also fabric - covered . An all - metal , stressed - skin wing of duraluminium ( a DERD specification similar to AA2024 ) was introduced in April 1939 and was used for all of the later marks . " The metal skinned wings allowed a diving speed that was 80 mph ( 130 km / h ) higher than the fabric - covered ones . They were very different in construction but were interchangeable with the fabric - covered wings ; one trials Hurricane , " L1877 " , was even flown with a fabric - covered port wing and metal - covered starboard wing . The great advantage of the metal - covered wings over the fabric ones was that the metal ones could carry far greater stress loads without needing so much structure beneath . " Several fabric - wing Hurricanes were still in service during the Battle of Britain , although a good number had had their wings replaced during servicing or after repair . Changing the wings only required three hours ' work per aircraft . The prototype and early production Hurricanes were fitted with a Watts two - bladed fixed - pitch wooden propeller . Since this was inefficient at low airspeeds , the aircraft required a long ground run to get airborne , causing concern at Fighter Command . Trials with a De Havilland variable pitch propeller reduced the take - off run from to . Deliveries of these began in April 1939 : this was later replaced by the hydraulically operated constant - speed Rotol propeller , which came into service in time for the Battle of Britain . One of Camm ' s priorities was to provide the pilot with good all - round visibility . To this end , the cockpit was mounted reasonably high in the fuselage , creating a distinctive " hump - backed " silhouette . Pilot access to the cockpit was aided by a retractable " stirrup " mounted below the trailing edge of the port wing . This was linked to a spring - loaded hinged flap which covered a handhold on the fuselage , just behind the cockpit . When the flap was shut , the footstep retracted into the fuselage . In addition , both wing roots were coated with strips of non - slip material . An advantage of the steel - tube structure was that cannon shells could pass right through the wood and fabric covering without exploding . Even if one of the steel tubes were damaged , the repair work required was relatively simple and could be done by groundcrew at the airfield . A damaged stressed skin structure , as used by the Spitfire , required more specialised equipment to repair . The old - fashioned structure also permitted the assembly of Hurricanes with relatively basic equipment under field conditions . Crated Hurricanes were assembled in West Africa and flown across the Sahara to the Middle East theatre and , to save space , some Royal Navy aircraft carriers carried their reserve Sea Hurricanes dismantled into their major assemblies , which were slung up on the hangar bulkheads and deckhead for reassembly when needed . In contrast , the contemporary Spitfire used all - metal monocoque construction and was thus both lighter and stronger , though less tolerant to bullet damage . With its ease of maintenance , widely - set landing gear and benign flying characteristics , the Hurricane remained in use in theatres of operations where reliability , easy handling and a stable gun platform were more important than performance , typically in roles like ground attack . One of the design requirements of the original specification was that both the Hurricane and the Spitfire were also to be used as a night fighter . The Hurricane proved to be a relatively simple aircraft to fly at night and was to be instrumental in shooting down several German aircraft during the nocturnal hours . From early 1941 , the Hurricane would also be used as an " intruder " aircraft , patrolling German airfields in France at night in an attempt to catch night bombers during takeoffs or landings . Production . The Hurricane was ordered into production in June 1936 , mainly due to its relatively simple construction and ease of manufacture . As war was looking increasingly likely , and time was of the essence in providing the RAF with an effective fighter aircraft , it was unclear if the more advanced Spitfire would enter production smoothly , while the Hurricane used well - understood manufacturing techniques . This was true for service squadrons as well , who were experienced in working on and repairing aircraft whose construction employed the same principles as the Hurricane , and the simplicity of its design enabled the improvisation of some remarkable repairs in squadron workshops . The Hurricane was also significantly cheaper than the Spitfire , requiring 10 , 300 man hours to produce rather than 15 , 200 for the Spitfire . The maiden flight of the first production aircraft , powered by a Merlin II engine , took place on 12 October 1937 . The first four aircraft to enter service with the RAF joined No . 111 Squadron RAF at RAF Northolt the following December . By the outbreak of the Second World War , nearly 500 Hurricanes had been produced , and had equipped 18 squadrons . During 1940 , Lord Beaverbrook , who was the Minister of Aircraft Production , established an organisation in which a number of manufacturers were seconded to repair and overhaul battle - damaged Hurricanes . The Civilian Repair Organisation also overhauled battle - weary aircraft , which were later sent to training units or to other air forces ; one of the factories involved was the Austin Aero Company ' s Cofton Hackett plant . Another was David Rosenfield Ltd , based at Barton aerodrome near Manchester . Some 14 , 000 Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes were produced . Most Hurricanes were built by Hawker ( which produced them until 1944 ) , with Hawker ' s sister company , the Gloster Aircraft Company , making 2 , 750 . The Austin Aero Company built 300 . Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William , Ontario , Canada , ( where the Chief Engineer , Elsie MacGill , became known as the " Queen of the Hurricanes " ) was responsible for production of 1 , 400 Hurricanes , known as the Mk X . In 1939 , production of 100 Hurricanes was initiated in Yugoslavia by Zmaj and Rogozarski . Of these , 20 were built by Zmaj by April 1941 . One of these was fitted with a DB 601 and test flown in 1941 . A contract for 80 Hurricanes was placed with Fairey ' s Belgian subsidiary Avions Fairey SA for the Belgian Air Force in 1938 , with the intention of arming these aircraft with four 13 . 2 mm machine guns . Three were built and two flown with this armament by the time of the " Blitzkrieg " in May 1940 , with at least 12 more built by Avions Fairey with the conventional eight rifle calibre machine gun armament . Operational history . The first 50 Hurricanes had reached squadrons by the middle of 1938 . At that time , production was slightly greater than the RAF ' s capacity to introduce the new aircraft and the government gave Hawkers the clearance to sell the excess to nations likely to oppose German expansion . As a result , there were some modest sales to other countries . Production was then increased with a plan to create a reserve of aircraft as well as re - equip existing squadrons and newly formed ones such as those of the Auxiliary Air Force . Expansion scheme E included a target of 500 fighters of all types by the start of 1938 . By the time of the Munich Crisis there were only two fully operational squadrons of the planned 12 with Hurricanes . By the time of the German invasion of Poland there were 18 operational Hurricane squadrons and three more converting . The Phoney War . The Hurricane had its baptism of fire on 21 October 1939 . That day , “ A ” Flight of 46 Squadron took off from North Coates satellite airfield , on the Lincolnshire coast , and was directed to intercept a formation of nine Heinkel He 115 B floatplanes from 1 / KüFlGr 906 , searching for ships to attack in the North Sea . The Heinkels had been already been attacked and damaged by two 72 Squadron Spitfires when six 46 Squadron Hurricanes intercepted the Heinkels , which were flying at sea level in an attempt to avoid fighter attacks . Nevertheless the Hurricanes , in rapid succession , shot down four of the enemy ( 46 Squadron claiming five and the Spitfire pilots two ) . In response to a request from the French government for 10 fighter squadrons to provide air support , Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding , Commander - in - Chief of RAF Fighter Command , insisted that this number would deplete British defences severely , and so initially only four squadrons of Hurricanes , 1 , 73 , 85 and 87 , were relocated to France , keeping Spitfires back for " Home " defence . The first to arrive was No . 73 Squadron on 10 September 1939 , followed shortly by the other three . A little later , 607 and 615 Squadrons joined them . After his first flight in October 1939 , Hurricane pilot Roland Beamont subsequently flew operationally with 87 Squadron , claiming three enemy aircraft during the French campaign , and delivered great praise of his aircraft ' s performance : On 30 October , Hurricanes saw action over France . That day , Pilot Officer P . W . O . “ Boy ” Mould of 1st Squadron , flying Hurricane L1842 , shot down a Dornier Do 17 P from 2 ( F ) / 123 . The German aircraft , sent to photograph Allied airfields close to the border , fell in flames about west of Toul . “ Boy ” Mould was the first RAF pilot to down an enemy aircraft on the continent in the Second World War . On 6 November 1939 , Pilot Officer P . V . Ayerst from 73° Squadron , was the first to clash with a Messerschmitt Bf 109 . After the dogfight , he came back with five holes in his fuselage . Flying Officer E . J . " Cobber " Kain , a New Zealander , was responsible for 73 Squadron ' s first victory on 8 November 1939 while stationed at Rouvres . He went on to become one of the RAF ' s first fighter aces of the war , being credited with 16 kills . On 22 December , the Hurricanes in France suffered their first losses . Three Hawker fighters , while trying to intercept an unidentified aircraft , between Metz and Thionville , were jumped by four Bf 109Es from III . / JG 53 , with the " Gruppenkommander " , Spanish Civil War ace Captain Werner Mölders in the lead . Mölders and " Leutnant " Hans von Hahn shot down the Hurricanes of Sergeant R . M . Perry and J . Winn for no losses . Battle of France . In May 1940 , Nos . 3 , 79 and 504 Squadrons reinforced the earlier units as Germany ' s " Blitzkrieg " gathered momentum . On 10 May , the first day of the Battle of France , Flight Lieutenant R . E . Lovett and Flying Officer " Fanny " Orton , from 73 Squadron , were the two first RAF pilots to engage combat with the invading German aircraft . They attacked one of the three Dornier Do 17 s from 4 . " Staffel " / KG 2 that were flying over their airfield at Rouvres - en - Woevre . The Dornier went away unscathed , while Orton was hit by defensive fire and had to force land . On the same day , the Hurricane squadrons claimed 42 German aircraft shot down during 208 sorties , although none of these were fighters , while seven Hurricanes were lost but no pilots were killed . On 12 May , several Hurricanes units were committed to escort bombers . That morning , five Fairey Battle volunteer crews , from No . 12 Squadron , took off from Amifontaine base to bomb Vroenhoven and Veldwezelt bridges on the Meuse , at Maastricht . The escort consisted of eight Hurricanes of No . 1 Squadron , with Squadron Leader P . J . H . " Bull " Halahan in the lead . When the formation approached Maastricht , it was bounced by 16 Bf 109Es from 2 . / JG 27 . Two Battles and two Hurricanes ( including Halahan ' s ) were shot down , two more Battles were brought down by flak and the fifth bomber was forced to crash land . The No . 1 Squadron pilots claimed four Messerschmitts and two Heinkel He 112 s , while the Luftwaffe actually lost only one Bf 109 . On 13 May 1940 , a further 32 Hurricanes arrived . All ten requested Hurricane squadrons were then operating from French soil and felt the full force of the Nazi offensive . The following day , Hurricanes suffered heavy losses : 27 being shot down , 22 by Messerschmitts with 15 pilots killed ( another died some days later ) including Squadron Leader J . B . Parnall , the first flight commander to die during the war , and the Australian ace Les Clisby . On the same day , No . 3 Squadron claimed 17 German aircraft shot down , Nos . 85 and 87 squadrons claimed four , and No . 607 nine . During the following three days ( 15 – 17 May ) , no fewer than 51 Hurricanes were lost , in combat or in accidents . By 17 May , the end of the first week of fighting , only three of the squadrons were near operational strength , but despite their heavy losses , the Hurricanes had managed to destroy nearly double the number of German aircraft . On 18 May 1940 , air combat continued from dawn to dusk where Hurricanes pilots claimed 57 German aircraft and 20 probables ( Luftwaffe records show 39 aircraft lost ) . The following day , Nos . 1 and 73 Squadrons claimed 11 German aircraft ( three by " Cobber " Kain and three by Paul Richey ) . But in these two days , Hurricanes suffered heavier losses , with 68 Hurricanes shot down or forced to crash land due to combat damage . Fifteen pilots were killed , eight were taken prisoner and 11 injured . Two thirds of the Hurricanes had been shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110 s . In the afternoon of 20 May 1940 , the Hurricane units based in Northern France were ordered to abandon their bases on the continent and return to Great Britain . On the same day , " Bull " Malahan requested the repatriation of the pilots serving in No . 1 Squadron . During the previous 10 days , the unit had been the most successful of the campaign ; it had claimed 63 victories for the loss of five pilots : two killed , one taken prisoner and two hospitalized . No . 1 Squadron was the only one awarded ten DFCs and three DFMs during the " Blitzkrieg " . On the evening of 21 May , the only Hurricanes still operative were those of the AASF that had been moved to the bases around Troyes . During the 11 days of fighting in France and over Dunkirk on 10 — 21 May 1940 , Hurricane pilots claimed 499 kills and 123 probables . Contemporary German records , examined postwar , attribute 299 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed and 65 seriously damaged by RAF fighters . When the last Hurricanes left France , on 21 June , of the 452 Hawker fighters engaged during the " Blitzkrieg " , only 66 came back to Great Britain with 178 abandoned at the airfields of Merville , Abbeville , Lille / Seclin and other bases . Operation Dynamo . During Operation Dynamo ( the evacuation from Dunkirk of British , French and Belgian troops cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk ) , the Hawker Hurricanes operated from British bases . Between 26 May and 3 June 1940 , the 14 Hurricane units involved were credited with 108 air victories . A total of 27 Hurricane pilots became aces during Operation Dynamo , led by Canadian Pilot Officer W . L . Willie McKnight ( 10 victories ) and Pilot Officer Percival Stanley Turner ( seven victories ) , who served in No . 242 Squadron , mostly formed with Canadian personnel . Losses were 22 pilots killed and three captured . On 27 May 1940 , in one of the final mass encounters of the " Blitzkrieg " , 13 Hurricanes from 501 Squadron intercepted 24 Heinkel He 111 s escorted by 20 Bf 110s and during the ensuing battle , 11 Heinkels were claimed as " kills " and others damaged , with little damage to the Hurricanes . On 7 June 1940 , Edgar James " Cobber " Kain , the first RAF ace of the war , got word that he was to return to England for " rest leave " at an Operational Training Unit . On leaving his airfield , he put on an impromptu aerobatic display and was killed when his Hurricane crashed after completing a loop and attempting some low altitude " flick " rolls . Initial engagements with the Luftwaffe had showed the Hurricane to be a tight - turning and steady platform but the Watts two - bladed propeller was clearly unsuitable . At least one pilot complained of how a Heinkel 111 was able to pull away from him in a chase , yet by this time the Heinkel was obsolescent . At the start of the war , the engine ran on standard 87 octane aviation spirit . From early 1940 , increasing quantities of 100 octane fuel imported from the U . S . became available . In February 1940 , Hurricanes with the Merlin II and III engines began to receive modifications to allow for an additional of supercharger boost for five minutes ( although there are accounts of its use for 30 minutes continuously ) . The extra supercharger boost , which increased engine output by nearly , gave the Hurricane an approximate increase in speed of to , under altitude and greatly increased the aircraft ' s climb rate . " Overboost " or " pulling the plug " , a form of war emergency power as it was called in later Second World War aircraft , was an important wartime modification that allowed the Hurricane to be more competitive against the Bf 109E and to increase its margin of superiority over the Bf 110C , especially at low altitude . With the + 12 lbf / in ( 83 kPa ) " emergency boost " , the Merlin III was able to generate 1 , 310 hp ( 977 kW ) at . Flt Lt Ian Gleed of 87 Squadron wrote about the effect of using the extra boost on the Hurricane while chasing a Bf 109 at low altitude on 19 May 1940 : Gleed ran out of ammunition before he could shoot the 109 down although he left it heavily damaged and flying at about 50 ft ( 15 . 2 m ) . Hurricanes equipped with Rotol constant - speed propellers were delivered to RAF squadrons in May 1940 , with deliveries continuing throughout the Battle of Britain ; the Rotol propeller transformed the Hurricane ' s performance from " disappointing " to one of " acceptable mediocrity " and modified aircraft were certainly much sought after among squadrons equipped with aircraft having the older de Havilland two - position propeller . Battle of Britain . At the end of June 1940 , following the fall of France , the majority of the RAF ' s 36 fighter squadrons were equipped with Hurricanes . The Battle of Britain officially lasted from 10 July until 31 October 1940 , but the heaviest fighting took place between 8 August and 21 September . Both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hurricane are renowned for their part in defending Britain against the Luftwaffe ; generally , the Spitfire would intercept the German fighters , leaving Hurricanes to concentrate on the bombers , but despite the undoubted abilities of the " thoroughbred " Spitfire , it was the " workhorse " Hurricane that scored the higher number of RAF victories during this period , accounting for 55 percent of the 2 , 739 German losses , according to Fighter Command , compared with 42 per cent by Spitfires . As a fighter , the Hurricane had some drawbacks . It was slower than both the Spitfire I and II and the Messerschmitt Bf 109E , and the thick wings compromised acceleration , but it could out - turn both of them . In spite of its performance deficiencies against the Bf 109 , the Hurricane was still capable of destroying the German fighter , especially at lower altitudes . The standard tactic of the 109s was to attempt to climb higher than the RAF fighters and " bounce " them in a dive ; the Hurricanes could evade such tactics by turning into the attack or going into a " corkscrew dive " , which the 109s , with their lower rate of roll , found hard to counter . If a 109 was caught in a dogfight , the Hurricane was just as capable of out - turning the 109 as the Spitfire . In a stern chase , the 109 could easily evade the Hurricane . In September 1940 , the more powerful Mk IIa series 1 Hurricanes started entering service , although only in small numbers . This version was capable of a maximum speed of . The Hurricane was a steady gun platform , and had demonstrated its ruggedness , as several were badly damaged , yet returned to base . But , whilst it was sturdy and stable , the Hurricane ' s construction made it dangerous in the event of the aircraft catching fire ; the wood frames and fabric covering of the rear fuselage meant that fire could spread through the rear fuselage structure quite easily . In addition , the gravity fuel tank in the forward fuselage sat right in front of the instrument panel , without any form of protection for the pilot . Many Hurricane pilots were seriously burned as a consequence of a jet of flame which could burn through the instrument panel . This became of such concern to Hugh Dowding that he had Hawker retrofit the fuselage tanks of the Hurricanes with a self - expanding rubber coating called Linatex . If the tank happened to be punctured by a bullet , the linatex coating would expand when soaked with petrol and seal it Some Hurricane pilots also felt that the fuel tanks in the wings , although they were protected with a layer of Linatex , were vulnerable from behind , and it was thought that these , not the fuselage tank , were the main fire risk . From 10 July to 11 August 1940 , RAF fighters fired at 114 German bombers and shot down 80 , a destruction ratio of 70 % . Against the Bf 109 , the RAF fighters attacked 70 and shot down 54 of these , a ratio of 77 % . Part of the success of the British fighters was possibly due to the use of the de Wilde incendiary round . As in the Spitfire , the Merlin engine suffered from negative - G cut - out , a problem not cured until the introduction of the Miss Shilling ' s orifice in early 1941 . The only Battle of Britain Victoria Cross , and the only one awarded to a member of Fighter Command during the war , was awarded to Flight Lieutenant Eric Nicolson of 249 Squadron as a result of an action on 16 August 1940 when his section of three Hurricanes was " bounced " from above by Bf 110 fighters . All three were hit simultaneously . Nicolson was badly wounded , and his Hurricane was damaged and engulfed in flames . While attempting to leave the cockpit , Nicolson noticed that one of the Bf 110s had overshot his aircraft . He returned to the cockpit , which by now was an inferno , engaged the enemy , and may have shot the Bf 110 down . Night fighters and Intruders . Following the Battle of Britain , the Hurricane continued to give service , and through the Blitz of 1941 , was the principal single - seat night fighter in Fighter Command . F / Lt . Richard Stevens claimed 14 Luftwaffe bombers flying Hurricanes in 1941 . 1942 saw the cannon - armed Mk IIc perform further afield in the night intruder role over occupied Europe . F / Lt . Karel Kuttelwascher of 1 Squadron proved the top scorer , with 15 Luftwaffe bombers claimed shot down . 1942 also saw the manufacture of twelve Hurricane II C ( NF ) night fighters equipped with pilot - operated Air Interception Mark VI radar . After a brief operational deployment with No . 245 and No . 247 Squadron RAF during which these aircraft proved too slow to serve effectively in Europe , these aircraft were sent to India to serve with No . 176 Squadron RAF in the defence of Calcutta . They were withdrawn from service at the end of December 1943 . North Africa . The Hurricane Mk II was hastily tropicalised following Italy ' s entry into the war in June 1940 . These aircraft were initially ferried through France by air to 80 Squadron in Egypt to replace Gladiators . The Hurricane claimed its first kill in the Mediterranean on 19 June 1940 , when F / O P . G . Wykeham - Barnes reported shooting down two Fiat CR . 42 s . Hurricanes served with several British Commonwealth squadrons in the Desert Air Force . They suffered heavy losses over North Africa after the arrival of Bf 109E and F - variants and were progressively replaced in the air superiority role from June 1941 by Curtiss Tomahawks / Kittyhawks . However , fighter - bomber variants ( " Hurribombers " ) retained an edge in the ground attack role , due to their impressive armament of four 20 mm ( . 79 in ) cannon and a bombload . From November 1941 , beginning in the Libyan desert , it had to face a new formidable opponent : the new Regia Aeronautica Macchi C . 202 " Folgore " . The Italian aircraft proved superior to the Hawker fighter . The C . 202 , thanks to its excellent agility and a new , more powerful inline engine license - built by Alfa Romeo , could outperform it in a dogfight . During and following the five - day El Alamein artillery barrage that commenced on the night of 23 October 1942 , six squadrons of Hurricanes , including the 40 mm cannon - armed Hurricane Mk . IID version , claimed to have destroyed 39 tanks , 212 lorries and armoured troop - carriers , 26 bowsers , 42 guns , 200 various other vehicles and four small fuel and ammunition dumps , flying 842 sorties with the loss of 11 pilots . Whilst performing in a ground support role , Hurricanes based at RAF Castel Benito , Tripoli , knocked out six tanks , 13 armoured vehicles , 10 lorries , five half - track s , a gun and trailer , and a wireless van on 10 March 1943 , with no losses to themselves . Defence of Malta . The Hurricane played a significant role in the defence of Malta . When Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 , Malta ' s air defence rested on Gloster Gladiator s which managed to hold out against vastly superior numbers of the Italian air force during the following 17 days . ( According to myth , after the first one was lost , the remaining three were named “ Faith , Hope and Charity ” ; in reality , there were at least six Gladiators . ) Four Hurricanes joined them at the end of June , and together they faced attacks throughout July from the 200 enemy aircraft based in Sicily , with the loss of one Gladiator and one Hurricane . Further reinforcements arrived on 2 August in the form of 12 more Hurricanes and two Blackburn Skua s . The increasing number of British aircraft on the island , at last , prompted the Italians to employ German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers to try to destroy the airfields . Finally , in an attempt to overcome the stiff resistance put up by these few aircraft , the Luftwaffe took up base on the Sicilian airfields , only to find that Malta was not an easy target . After numerous attacks on the island over the following months , and the arrival of an extra 23 Hurricanes at the end of April 1941 , and a further delivery a month later , the Luftwaffe left Sicily for the Russian Front in June that year . As Malta was situated on the increasingly important sea supply route for the North African campaign , the Luftwaffe returned with a vengeance for a second assault on the island at the beginning of 1942 . It wasn ' t until March , when the onslaught was at its height , that 15 Spitfires flew in off the carrier to join with the Hurricanes already stationed there and bolster the defence , but many of the new aircraft were lost on the ground and it was again the Hurricane that bore the brunt of the early fighting until further reinforcements arrived . Air defence in Russia . The Hawker Hurricane was the first Allied Lend - Lease aircraft to be delivered to the USSR with a total of 2 , 952 Hurricanes eventually delivered , becoming the most numerous British aircraft in Soviet service . Soviet pilots were disappointed by the Hawker fighter , regarding it as inferior to both German and Russian aircraft . Mk II Hurricanes played an important air defence role in 1941 , when the Soviet Union found itself under threat from the German Army approaching on a broad front stretching from Leningrad , Moscow , and to the oil fields in the south . Britain ' s decision to aid the Soviets meant sending supplies by sea to the far northern ports , and as the convoys would need to sail within range of enemy air attack from the Luftwaffe based in neighbouring Finland , it was decided to deliver a number of Hurricane Mk IIBs , flying with Nos . 81 and 134 Squadrons of No . 151 Wing RAF , to provide protection . Twenty - four were transported on the carrier " Argus " , arriving just off Murmansk on 28 August 1941 , and another 15 crated aircraft on board merchant vessels . In addition to their convoy protection duties , the aircraft also acted as escorts to Russian bombers . Enemy attention to the area declined in October , at which point the RAF pilots trained their Soviet counterparts to operate the Hurricanes themselves . By the end of the year , the RAF ' s role had ended , but the aircraft remained behind and became the first of thousands of Allied aircraft that were accepted by the Soviet Union . Although Soviet pilots were not universally enthusiastic about the Hurricane , Hero of the Soviet Union , Lt . Col Safanov " " . . . loved the Hurricane . . . " " and RAF Hurricane Mk IIB fighters operating from Soviet soil in defence of Murmansk , destroyed 15 Luftwaffe aircraft for only one loss in combat . In some Soviet war memoirs the Hurricane is described very unflatteringly . The " Soviet " Hurricane had quite a few drawbacks . First of all , it was 40 – 50 km / h ( 25 / 31 mph ) slower that its main opponent , the Bf 109E , at low and medium height , and had a slower rate of climb . The Messerschmitt could outdive the Hurricane because of the low wing loading of the British fighter . But the main source of complaints was the Hurricane ' s armament . Often the eight or 12 small - calibre machine guns did not damage the sturdy and heavily armoured German aircraft ; consequently , Soviet ground crews started to remove the Brownings . Retaining only four or six of the 12 machine guns , two 12 . 7 mm Berezin UB s or two or even four 20 mm ShVAK cannon s were substituted , but overall performance deteriorated . Burma , Ceylon , Singapore , and the Netherlands East Indies . Following the outbreak of the war with Japan , 51 Hurricane Mk IIBs were disassembled and sent in crates to Singapore ; these and the 24 pilots ( many of whom were veterans of the Battle of Britain ) who had been transferred to the theatre formed the nucleus of five squadrons . They arrived on 3 January 1942 , by which time the Allied fighter squadrons in Singapore , flying Brewster Buffalo s , had been overwhelmed during the Malayan campaign . The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force ' s fighter force , especially the Nakajima Ki - 43 , had been underestimated in its capability , numbers and the strategy of its commanders . Thanks to the efforts of the 151st Maintenance unit the 51 Hurricanes were assembled and ready for testing within 48 hours , and of these twenty - one were ready for operational service within three days . The Hurricanes were fitted with bulky ' Vokes ' dust filters under the nose and were armed with 12 , rather than eight , machine guns . The additional weight and drag made them slow to climb and unwieldy to manœuvre at altitude , although they were more effective bomber killers . The recently arrived pilots were formed into 232 Squadron . In addition , 488 ( NZ ) Squadron , a Buffalo squadron , converted to Hurricanes . On 18 January , the two squadrons formed the basis of 226 Group . 232 Squadron became operational on 22 January and suffered the first losses and victories for the Hurricane in Southeast Asia . Between 27 and 30 January , another 48 Hurricanes ( Mk IIA ) arrived with the aircraft carrier , from which they flew to airfields code - named P1 and P2 , near Palembang , Sumatra in the Netherlands East Indies . Because of inadequate early warning systems ( the first British radar stations became operational only towards the end of February ) , Japanese air raids were able to destroy 30 Hurricanes on the ground in Sumatra , most of them in one raid on 7 February . After Japanese landings in Singapore , on 10 February , the remnants of 232 and 488 Squadrons were withdrawn to Palembang . However , Japanese paratroopers began the invasion of Sumatra on 13 February . Hurricanes destroyed six Japanese transport ships on 14 February , but lost seven aircraft in the process . On 18 February , the remaining Allied aircraft and aircrews moved to Java . By this time , only 18 serviceable Hurricanes remained out of the original 99 . That same month 12 Hurricane Mk IIB Trops were supplied to the Dutch forces on Java . With dust filters removed and fuel and ammo load in wings halved , these were able to stay in a turn with the Oscars they fought . After Java was invaded , some of the New Zealand pilots were evacuated by sea to Australia . One aircraft which had not been assembled , was transferred to the RAAF , becoming the only Hurricane to see service in Australia , on training and other non - combat units . When a Japanese carrier task force under the command of Admiral Chūichi Nagumo made a sortie into the Indian Ocean in April 1942 , RAF Hurricanes based on Ceylon saw action against Nagumo ' s forces during attacks on Colombo on 5 April 1942 and on Trincomalee harbour on 9 April 1942 . On 5 April 1942 , Captain Mitsuo Fuchida of the Imperial Japanese Navy , who led the attack on Pearl Harbor , led a strike against Columbo with 53 Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers and 38 Aichi D3A dive bombers , escorted by 36 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters . They were opposed by 35 Hurricane I and IIBs of 30 and 258 Squadron s , together with six Fairey Fulmar s of 803 and 806 Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm . The Hurricanes mainly tried to shoot down the attacking bombers , but were engaged heavily by the escorting Zeros . A total of 21 Hurricanes were shot down ( although two of these were repairable ) , together with four Fulmars and six Swordfish of 788 Naval Air Squadron that had been surprised in flight by the raid . While the RAF claimed 18 Japanese aircraft destroyed , seven probably destroyed and nine damaged , with one aircraft claimed by a Fulmar and five by anti - aircraft fire . This compared with actual Japanese losses of one Zero and six D3As , with a further seven D3As , five B5Ns and three Zeros damaged . On 9 April 1942 , the Japanese task force sent 91 B5Ns escorted by 41 Zeros against Trincomalee port and the nearby China Bay airfield . A total of 16 Hurricanes opposed the raid , of which eight were lost with a further three damaged . They claimed eight Japanese aircraft destroyed with a further four probably destroyed and at least five damaged . Actual Japanese losses were three A6Ms and two B5Ns , with a further 10 B5Ns damaged . Epilogue . The battles over the Arakan in 1943 represented the last large - scale use of the Hurricane as a pure day fighter . But they were still used in the fighter - bomber role in Burma until the end of the war and they were occasionally caught up in air combat as well . For example , on 15 February 1944 , Flg Off Jagadish Chandra Verma of No 6 Sqdn of Indian Air Force shot down a Japanese Ki - 43 Oscar : it was the only IAF victory of the war . The Hurricane remained in service as a fighter - bomber over the Balkans and at home as well where it was used mainly for second - line tasks and occasionally flown by ace pilots . For example , in mid - 1944 , ace Sqdn Leader ' Jas ' Storrar flew No 1687 Hurricane to deliver priority mail to Allied armies in France during the Normandy invasion . Aircraft carrier operations . The Sea Hurricane became operational in mid - 1941 and scored its first kill while operating from on 31 July 1941 . During the next three years , Fleet Air Arm Sea Hurricanes were to feature prominently while operating from Royal Navy aircraft carriers . The Sea Hurricane scored an impressive kill - to - loss ratio , primarily while defending Malta convoys , and operating from escort carriers in the Atlantic Ocean . As an example , on 26 May 1944 , Royal Navy Sea Hurricane s operating from the escort carrier HMS " Nairana " claimed the destruction of three Ju 290 reconnaissance aircraft during the defence of a convoy . Hurricane aces . The top scoring Hurricane pilot was Squadron Leader Marmaduke " Pat " Pattle , DFC & Bar , with 35 Hawker fighter victories ( out of career 50 total , with two shared ) serving with No . 80 and 33 Squadrons . All of his Hurricane kills were achieved over Greece in 1941 . He was shot down and killed in the Battle of Athens . Wing Commander Frank Reginald Carey claimed 28 air victories while flying Hurricanes during 1939 – 43 , and Squadron Leader William " Cherry " Vale DFC and Bar , AFC totalled 20 kills ( of 30 ) in Greece and Syria with No . 80 Sqdn . Czech pilot F / Lt Karel M . Kuttelwascher achieved all of his 18 air victories with the Hurricane , most as an intruder night fighter with No . 1 Sqdn . Pilot Officer V . C . Woodward ( 33 and 213 Squadrons ) was another top - scoring ace with 14 ( out of 18 total , three of which are shared ) , while F / Lt Richard P . Stevens claimed all of his 14 . 5 enemy aircraft flying the Hurricane . Richard " Dickie " Cork was the leading Fleet Air Arm Sea Hurricane ace with nine destroyed , two shared , one probable , four damaged and seven destroyed on the ground . Czech pilot Josef František , flying with 303 Polish Squadron , shot down at least 17 enemy aircraft over southeast England during September – October 1940 . Operators . Due to its lightweight , yet robust , construction and ease of maintenance , the Hurricane had a long operational life in many theatres of war . It was also built by , or exported to , several countries outside of Britain and used by their air forces ; in this context , the Hurricane was unusual in that it was flown operationally by both the Allies and the Axis during the war . In some cases ( e . g . ; Portugal ) the Hurricane was pressed into service after being forced to land in a neutral country . In 1939 Latvia ordered 30 Hurricane fighters and paid for them . However due to the start of the Second World War in September 1939 Great Britain never transferred those fighters to Latvia . Survivors . Of more than 14 , 500 Hurricanes that were built , only 12 survive in airworthy condition worldwide , although other non - flying examples survive in various air museums . Two Canadian - built Hurricanes were acquired by aircraft collector Lynn Garrison for display in Calgary , Alberta . One of these made its way to the United Kingdom , where it now flies as G - HURI .