Blackburn Skua
Type	Dive bomber
Manufacturer	Blackburn Aircraft
Maiden flight	1937-02-09
Introduced	November 1938
Retired	1941 (withdrawn from front line)
Primary user	Fleet Air Arm
Number built	192

The Blackburn Skua was a navaI combat aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm and combined the dual functions of dive-bomber and fighter. It took its name from the seabird Skua. Blackburn Skua dive-bomber / fighter. ... A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... Blackburn Beverley photographed in 1964. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1938: Events Imperial Airways inaugurates scheduled service from London to Montreal. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1941: Events Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... For other uses: see Skua (disambiguation). ...

Development and design

Built to Air Ministry specification O 27/34, it was a radical development for the Fleet Air Arm, being of all-metal construction and their first service monoplane. Its retractable undercarriage and enclosed cockpit were also new to a service that was primarily equipped still with open cockpit biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish. Performance for the fighter role was compromised by the aircraft's low speed and relative lack of power. But the aircraft's armament of four fixed wing machine-guns and a single rearward-firing weapon were certainly effective in situations where crews were able to close with the enemy. For the dive-bombing role, a single 250 or 500-lb bomb was carried on a special swinging crutch under the fuselage which enabled the bomb to clear the propeller arc on release. Four 40-lb bombs or eight 20-lb 'Cooper' bombs could also be carried in racks under each wing. It had large 'Zap' type airbrakes/flaps which helped both in dive bombing and landing on aircraft carriers at sea. This is a partial list of the British Air Ministry specifications for aircraft. ... A monoplane is an aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. ... Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II. Affectionately known as the Stringbag by its crews, it was outdated by 1939, but achieved some spectacular successes during the...

Service

Skuas are credited as the first British aircraft to shoot down an enemy aircraft in the Second World War: a Dornier Do 18 flying boat was downed over the North Sea on September 26, 1939 by three Skuas flying from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. On April 10, 1940 16 Skuas, led by LCDR William Lucy, flying from the Orkney Islands sank the German cruiser Königsberg in Bergen harbour during the German invasion of Norway. This was the first major warship ever to be sunk by dive bombing, indeed the first major warship ever sunk in war by air attack. Lucy later also became a fighter ace flying Skua. However, the two most experienced Skua squadrons, 800 NAS and 803 NAS were decimated during an attempt to bomb the battlecruiser Scharnhorst at Trondheim on June 13, 1940. Of fifteen aircraft on the raid, eight were shot down and the crews killed or taken prisoner. Among the latter were both squadron commanders, Captain R.T. Partridge (Royal Marines) and Lieutenant-Commander John Casson (Royal Navy). Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Categories: Stub | German airliners 1930-1939 | German patrol aircraft 1930-1939 | Seaplanes and flying boats | World War II German patrol aircraft ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... HMS Ark Royal (91), was the third ship of the Royal Navy to carry the name and the second to be an aircraft carrier. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Orkney Islands, usually called simply Orkney, are one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. ... Königsberg was a light cruiser of the K class in the German Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine. ... County Hordaland District Midhordland Municipality NO-1201 Administrative centre Bergen Mayor (2004) Herman Friele (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 215 465 km² 445 km² 0. ... Combatants Germany Denmark Norway Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ... Fighter Ace is an online multiplayer computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots. ... 800 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 by amalgamating Nos 402 and 404 (Fleet Fighter) Flights. ... Scharnhorst was a 31,500 tonne Gneisenau class battlecruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, named after the Prussian general and army reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst and to commemorate the World War I armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst. ... County District Municipality NO-1601 Administrative centre Trondheim Mayor (2003-) Rita Ottervik (AP) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 258 342 km² 322 km² 0. ... is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Though it fared reasonably well against Axis bombers over Norway and in the Mediterranean, the Skua suffered heavy losses when confronted with modern fighters, particularly the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and they were withdrawn from front-line service in 1941. The aircraft was largely replaced by another two-seater, the Fairey Fulmar which doubled the Skua's forward armament and also boasted a speed advantage. A number of aircraft were converted to target tugs following withdrawal from frontline service. Others were in fact completed as target tugs from the factory and used by the RAF and Fleet Air Arm in this role ('Fleet Requirements'). They were also used as advanced trainers for the Fleet Air Arm. The last Skua in service was struck off charge in March 1945. German Airfield, France, 1941 propaganda photo of the Luftwaffe, Bf 109 fighters on the tarmac The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1941: Events Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean. ... The Fulmar was a carrier-borne fighter aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm built by Fairey Aviation during 1940. ... A target tug is an aircraft which tows a drone or otherwise unmanned target, for the purposes of gun or missile target practice. ...

The Blackburn Roc was a very similar aircraft developed as a "turret fighter" (its armament was in a dorsaI turret) and the Roc was expected to serve alongside the Skua. Rocs were attached to Skua squadrons to protect the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow in earIy 1940, briefly from HMS Glorious and Ark Royal during the Norwegian campaign and aIso over the English Channel during Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk. The Blackburn Roc was a World War II-era Fleet Air Arm fighter aircraft named for the mythical bird. ... HMS Glorious was a warship of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Ark Royal (91), was the third ship of the Royal Navy to carry the name and the second to be an aircraft carrier. ... French troops rescued by a British merchant ship at Dunkirk British evacuation on Dunkirk beach Operation Dynamo (or Dunkirk Evacuation, the Miracle of Dunkirk or just Dunkirk) was the name given to the World War II mass evacuation of Allied soldiers from May 26 to June 4, 1940, during the...

Production

• Skua Mk I : 2 Prototypes.
• Skua Mk II : Two-seat fighter and dive bomber for the Royal Navy - 190 built by Blackburn at Brough Aerodrome

Brough Aerodrome (IATA: N/A, ICAO: EGNB) is located at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. ...

Operators and units

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm

• 755 Naval Air Squadron
• 757 Naval Air Squadron
• 758 Naval Air Squadron
• 759 Naval Air Squadron
• 760 Naval Air Squadron
• 767 Naval Air Squadron
• 769 Naval Air Squadron
• 770 Naval Air Squadron
• 771 Naval Air Squadron
• 772 Naval Air Squadron
• 774 Naval Air Squadron
• 776 Naval Air Squadron
• 778 Naval Air Squadron
• 779 Naval Air Squadron
• 780 Naval Air Squadron
• 782 Naval Air Squadron
• 787 Naval Air Squadron
• 788 Naval Air Squadron
• 789 Naval Air Squadron
• 791 Naval Air Squadron
• 792 Naval Air Squadron
• 794 Naval Air Squadron
• 797 Naval Air Squadron
• 800 Naval Air Squadron
• 801 Naval Air Squadron
• 803 Naval Air Squadron
• 806 Naval Air Squadron

771 Naval Air Squadron (motto: non nobis solum) was formed in 1939 at Lee-on-Solent as a Fleet Requirements Unit flying a variety of fixed wing aircraft. ... 800 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 by amalgamating Nos 402 and 404 (Fleet Fighter) Flights. ...

Royal Air Force

• RAF Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units

Specifications (Skua Mk. II)

Data from Fleet Air Arm Archive^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 35 ft 7 in (10.8 m)
• Wingspan: 46 ft 2 in (14.1 m)
• Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.3 m)
• Wing area: 312 ft² (29.0 m²)
• Empty weight: 5,490 lb (2,490 kg)
• Loaded weight: 8,228 lb (3,730 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Bristol Perseus XII radial engine, 905 hp (675 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 225 mph (195 knots, 360 km/h) at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
• Range: 800 mi (700 nm, 1,300 km)
• Service ceiling: 20,200 ft (6,150 m)
• Wing loading: 26.4 lb/ft² (128 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (180 W/kg)

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 4× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) forward-firing Browning machine guns
  • 1× rear-firing Lewis gun or Vickers K gun
• Bombs: 1× 500 lb (230 kg) semi-armour piercing bomb or 1× 250lb (115 kg) semi-armour piercing/ General Purpose bomb and 4× 40lb bombs or 8× 20 lb bombs

The distance AB is the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320. ... Bristol Perseus engine The Perseus was a nine cylinder one_row radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1932. ... The radial engine is an internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel. ... VNO of an aircraft is the V speed which refers to the velocity of normal operation. ... The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft. ... In aeronautics, the service ceiling is the maximum density altitude where the best rate of climb airspeed will produce a 100 feet per minute climb(twin engine) and 50 feet(single engine) at maximum weight while in a clean configuration with maximum continuous power. ... In aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing. ... Power-to-weight ratio is a measure commonly used when comparing various vehicles (or engines), including automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft. ... The Browning Model 1917 Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I, World War II, Korea, and to a limited amount in Vietnam; it was also used by some other countries too. ... The Lewis Gun is a pre-World War I era squad automatic weapon/machine gun of American design that was most widely used by the forces of the British Empire. ... 203. ...

References

• British Aircraft Directory

Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Fleet Air Arm archive
• Skua in Pictures

Related content

Related development

• Blackburn Roc

Comparable aircraft

• Fairey Fulmar

The Blackburn Roc was a World War II-era Fleet Air Arm fighter aircraft named for the mythical bird. ... The Fulmar was a carrier-borne fighter aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm built by Fairey Aviation during 1940. ...

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm
• List of bomber aircraft

This is a list of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. ... // 1914-1918 France Breguet 14 Germany Albatros C.III Rumpler Taube Gotha G AEG G.I AEG G.II AEG G.III AEG G.IV AEG G.V AEG N.I AEG R.I Italy Caproni Ca. ...