Supermarine Spitfire
The elliptical silhouette that came to mean Britain itself.
The Spitfire is perhaps the most iconic Allied fighter of the war — an elegant, high-performance monoplane designed by R.J. Mitchell around the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Its elliptical wing, a marvel of aerodynamics, gave it a combination of speed, climb, and manoeuvrability that matched or exceeded almost any contemporary. It fought in every theatre the RAF touched.
01Entered squadron service in August 1938 with No. 19 Squadron at Duxford. Outnumbered by the more rugged Hurricane during the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire was nevertheless used to engage German fighter cover, allowing Hurricanes to fall on the bombers.
02Underwent continuous development — from the Merlin-engined Mk.I/II/V/IX to the far more powerful Griffon-engined marks — which kept it competitive against successive generations of German fighters including the Bf 109F/G/K and the formidable Fw 190.
03Variants served as high-altitude interceptors, photo-reconnaissance platforms (unarmed, polished, and extremely fast), carrier-borne Seafires for the Royal Navy, and fighter-bombers during the push into Europe. Production did not cease until 1948.
Theatres of operation
- ·Western Europe
- ·Mediterranean
- ·North Africa
- ·Pacific
- ·Burma
Principal operators
- ·RAF
- ·Fleet Air Arm
- ·USAAF
- ·Royal Australian Air Force
- ·Soviet VVS
Others in the same fight.
Hawker Hurricane
Mk.I — Mk.IV
Avro Lancaster
B.I / B.III / B.X
de Havilland Mosquito
Mk.I — Mk.41
Hawker Typhoon
Mk.IB