Supermarine Seafang The Supermarine Seafang was a British Rolls - Royce Griffon - engined fighter aircraft designed by Supermarine to Air Ministry specification N . 5 / 45 . It was a further development of Supermarine ' s famous Spitfire and Spiteful aircraft , becoming " a Spitfire too far . " Design and development . The Seafang was essentially a Spiteful redesigned for Royal Navy carrier use , with the addition of an arrester hook , a contra - rotating propeller to eliminate engine torque effects , and power folding outer wing panels . Two prototype Type 396 Seafang Mark 32s were ordered on 12 March 1945 followed by an order for 150 Type 382 Seafang Mark 31s on 7 May 1945 . To expedite entry into service the interim Mark 31 was ordered which was a navalised Spiteful , basically a Spiteful with an arrestor hook . This would allow the Mark 32 to be developed , it would be the definitive naval variant , again with an arrestor hook but also folding outer wing panels and a contra - rotating propeller . The first Seafang flew in 1946 ; it was the first interim production Mark 31 " VG471 " . Although 150 of the interim variant were ordered , only nine were completed before the order was cancelled as the urgency of an interim type was removed due to the end of the war . The first prototype definitive Mark 32 " VB895 " was first flown in June 1946 . It was powered by a Griffon 89 engine rated at 2 , 350 hp ( 1 , 752 kW ) driving two three - bladed contra - rotating propellers . In August 1946 , " VB895 " was demonstrated to the Royal Netherlands Navy at Valkenburg . The same aircraft was flown by noted test pilot Mike Lithgow in May 1947 , during deck landing trials on . Compared to the Seafire F . 47 , its performance advantage was not deemed to be enough to disrupt series production of new navalised Meteor and Vampire jet fighters . Also , the Seafang ' s low - speed handling characteristics were not as good as hoped , and the contemporary Hawker Sea Fury was preferred as a fleet fighter . Seafang Mark 31 " VG474 " was used as a development aircraft for the Supermarine Attacker including the fitment of power - operated Ailerons and contra - rotating propellers . The Attacker was a jet - powered development of the Spiteful / Seafang design which used the Spiteful laminar - flow wing and landing gear . Drawing - board design . In 1943 , as the design of the Spiteful was developing , Supermarine presented a brochure to the Air Ministry describing a " High - Performance Aeroplane for the Royal Navy " , also known as the Supermarine 391 . This design was intended to be used as a carrier - borne fighter , with a secondary role as a strike aircraft , able to carry an 18 inch ( 45 . 7 cm ) Mark XV aerial torpedo . Bombs or rockets could also be carried and the fixed armament was four 20mm Hispano Vs . The 391 used the Spiteful / Seafang wing and undercarriage mated to a wide centre - section incorporating leading edge air intakes feeding the coolant radiators for a 3 , 550 hp , 24 cylinder 46 - H - 24 ( later known as the " Eagle " ) ; this engine drove contra - rotating , four - bladed propellers . The fuselage was longer with a redesigned fin and rudder unit . Specifications for the 391 include a wingspan of 43 ft 6 in ( 13 . 3 m ) , a fuselage length of 39 ft 9 in ( 12 . 1 m ) and a wing area of 335 ft² ( 31 . 2 m² ) . Maximum weights were 15 , 750 lb ( 7 , 144 kg ) as a fighter and 17 , 250 lb ( 7 , 825 kg ) when armed with a torpedo . The maximum speed was projected to be 546 mph ( 879 k / mh ) at 25 , 000 ft ( 7 , 620 m ) .