Supermarine Spitfire

1. Lead

The Supermarine Spitfire is the most famous British aircraft of the Second World War, and one of the most famous fighters in history. Designed by R. J. Mitchell and first flown in 1936, the Spitfire was a single-seat fighter with a distinctive elliptical wing, a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and a beauty that no other fighter of the war could match. It fought in the Battle of Britain in 1940, where it became a symbol of Britain’s resistance, and it served in every theatre of the war, from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Burma, from the skies over Malta to the Normandy landings. About 20,351 Spitfires were built, in more than twenty major versions, and the aircraft was developed continuously throughout the war, from the Merlin-powered Mk I of 1938 to the Griffon-powered Mk 24 of 1946, which had about twice the power and was considerably faster. The Spitfire remained in service after the war, in the air forces of many countries, into the 1950s, and it is still flying today, in the hands of the Royal Air Force’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and of private owners around the world. For many people, the Spitfire is not only an aircraft but the symbol of Britain in the Second World War.

2. Key Facts

Type	Single-seat fighter (later: fighter-bomber, reconnaissance)
Origin	United Kingdom
Designer	R. J. Mitchell, Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers-Armstrongs)
Manufacturer	Supermarine, plus Castle Bromwich and other shadow factories
First flight	5 March 1936 (prototype K5054)
Introduced	1938 (Mk I)
Produced	1938–1948; 20,351 built (plus 2,556 Seafires)
Crew	1 pilot
Length	9.1 m (Mk V)
Wingspan	11.2 m
Height	3.5 m
Empty weight	About 2,300 kg (Mk V)
Maximum take-off weight	About 3,000 kg (Mk V)
Engine	Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 V-12, 1,470 hp (Mk V); Rolls-Royce Griffon 65, 2,050 hp (Mk XIV)
Maximum speed	About 594 km/h (Mk V); about 720 km/h (Mk XIV, estimated)
Range	About 750 km (Mk V, internal); up to about 1,800 km with drop tanks (later versions)
Service ceiling	About 11,300 m (Mk V)
Armament (Mk Vb)	2 × 20 mm Hispano cannon, 4 × 7.7 mm (.303) Browning machine guns
Bomb load	Up to 250 kg (fighter-bomber versions)

3. Background and Development

The Schneider Trophy and R. J. Mitchell

The Spitfire was born of air racing. In the 1920s and early 1930s, R. J. Mitchell, the chief designer of the Supermarine Aviation Works at Southampton, designed a series of seaplanes for the Schneider Trophy, the international air race for seaplanes, and his S.6B won the trophy outright for Britain in 1931, at a speed of about 550 km/h. Mitchell’s experience with high-speed seaplanes — with their thin wings, their powerful engines and their streamlined fuselages — gave him the knowledge he needed to design a fighter, and in 1934, when the Air Ministry issued a specification for a new fighter, Mitchell answered with a design that was, in essence, a landplane version of his racing seaplanes. The prototype, K5054, first flew on 5 March 1936, flown by Captain Joseph “Mutt” Summers, who is said to have told Mitchell after the flight: “Don’t touch a thing.” The Air Ministry ordered the aircraft into production at once, and it was named Spitfire — a name that Mitchell reportedly disliked, but that became one of the most famous names in aviation.

The Elliptical Wing / Cánh elip

The Spitfire’s most distinctive feature was its elliptical wing, which was designed by Mitchell and by his aerodynamicist, Beverley Shenstone, to give the aircraft the lowest possible drag and the highest possible manoeuvrability. The elliptical planform — the wing’s shape, which tapered to a point at the tip — distributed the lift evenly along the wing, which reduced drag and which gave the Spitfire its superb turning ability, and it also gave the wing enough room for the eight .303 machine guns of the early versions and for the 20 mm cannon of the later versions. The elliptical wing was difficult and expensive to build, because its shape required complex tooling and because its thin section left little room for the landing gear and for the guns, but it was the key to the Spitfire’s performance, and it is the feature that makes the Spitfire instantly recognisable. The wing’s beauty was not an accident: Mitchell believed that a beautiful aircraft would fly well, and the Spitfire is often described as the most beautiful fighter ever built.

Production and the Shadow Factories

The Spitfire’s production was one of the great industrial achievements of the war. The Supermarine works at Southampton were bombed by the Germans in September 1940, and production was dispersed to shadow factories around Britain, above all to the Castle Bromwich factory near Birmingham, which was built specifically to produce Spitfires and which became the largest Spitfire factory in the world. The Castle Bromwich factory, which was managed by the car manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs, produced more than 12,000 Spitfires, more than half of all Spitfires built, and its workforce, which included many women, worked around the clock to meet the demand. The Spitfire’s production was also shared with the Seafire, the naval version of the Spitfire, which was built for the Fleet Air Arm, and with the Spiteful, the Spitfire’s intended successor, which was never produced in large numbers. The total production of 20,351 Spitfires, between 1938 and 1948, made the Spitfire the most-produced British aircraft of the war.

4. Design

The Merlin Engine

The Spitfire’s engine, the Rolls-Royce Merlin, was one of the great engines of the war, and it was the key to the Spitfire’s performance. The Merlin was a 27-litre, V-12, liquid-cooled engine, which produced about 1,030 horsepower in the Mk I and about 1,470 horsepower in the Mk V, and which was developed continuously throughout the war, until the final Merlin 61, with its two-stage supercharger, produced about 1,580 horsepower. The Merlin’s supercharger, which compressed the air entering the engine and which allowed the engine to produce its full power at high altitude, was the reason why the Spitfire could fight the Messerschmitt Bf 109 on equal terms at the altitudes of the Battle of Britain. The Merlin was also used in the Hawker Hurricane, in the Avro Lancaster bomber and in the North American P-51 Mustang, and it is often described as the engine that won the war. The later Spitfires, from the Mk XII onwards, were powered by the Rolls-Royce Griffon, a larger and more powerful engine, which produced up to 2,050 horsepower and which gave the Spitfire a top speed of about 720 km/h.

Armament

The Spitfire’s armament changed throughout its life, and it reflected the lessons of combat. The Mk I, which fought in the Battle of Britain, was armed with eight .303 Browning machine guns, four in each wing, which gave it a heavy weight of fire but which lacked the hitting power to destroy a bomber quickly. The Mk Vb, which was introduced in 1941, was armed with two 20 mm Hispano cannon and four .303 machine guns, which gave it the firepower to destroy a bomber and to fight a fighter on equal terms, and the cannon-armed Spitfire became the standard. The later Griffon-powered Spitfires were armed with two 20 mm cannon and two .50-calibre machine guns, and the fighter-bomber versions could carry bombs and rockets. The Spitfire’s armament was never as heavy as that of the American fighters, which carried six or eight .50-calibre machine guns, but its cannon gave it a hitting power that the machine-gun fighters lacked, and its pilots regarded it as sufficient for the tasks they were given.

Handling and the Pilot’s View

The Spitfire was known for its superb handling, and for the joy of flying it. Its controls were light and well harmonised, its turning ability was the best of any fighter of the war, and its stall was gentle and predictable. The Spitfire’s pilots, who included some of the most famous fighter pilots of the war — Douglas Bader, Johnnie Johnson, who scored 34 victories, and the aces of the Battle of Britain — regarded the Spitfire as the finest fighter they had ever flown, and many of them said that flying a Spitfire was like wearing a glove. The Spitfire’s only serious weakness was its narrow-track landing gear, which, like the Bf 109’s, made take-offs and landings dangerous, and its short range, which limited its ability to escort bombers deep into Germany. The Spitfire’s cockpit gave the pilot a good view to the front and to the sides, but a poor view to the rear, and its pilots learned to weave constantly, to look behind them, and to never fly straight and level for long. The Spitfire’s handling is the reason why it is still flown today, and why its pilots, more than eighty years after it first flew, still describe it as the finest fighter they have ever known.

5. Variants

The Merlin Spitfires

Variant	Years	Key features	Production
Mk I	1938–1940	Merlin II/III; 8 × .303 machine guns; Battle of Britain fighter	1,567
Mk II	1940–1941	Merlin XII; improved armour and equipment	920
Mk V	1941–1943	Merlin 45; cannon armament (Vb); most-produced early version	6,487
Mk VI	1941–1942	High-altitude version with pressurised cockpit	100
Mk IX	1942–1944	Merlin 61 with two-stage supercharger; answer to the Fw 190	5,665
Mk VII / VIII	1942–1944	High-altitude (VII) and improved (VIII) Merlin versions	About 2,000 (combined, approximate)
Mk XII	1942–1944	First Griffon-powered Spitfire; low-altitude fighter	100
Mk XIV	1943–1945	Griffon 65; 5-blade propeller; fastest wartime Spitfire	957
Mk XVI	1944–1945	Merlin-powered version of the Mk IX, built in the USA with Packard Merlin	1,054
Mk 24	1946–1948	Final version; Griffon 61; 80-gallon fuel tank; heaviest Spitfire	54

The Spitfire was produced in more than twenty major versions, and the table shows the most important of them. The Merlin Spitfires — the Mk I, II, V, IX and XVI — were the Spitfires of the Battle of Britain and of the middle years of the war, and they were powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin, which was developed from about 1,030 horsepower to about 1,580 horsepower. The Mk V, which was the most-produced early version, was the Spitfire that fought in North Africa, in Malta and in the Dieppe raid, and the Mk IX, which was introduced in 1942 to counter the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, was the Spitfire that restored the balance in the air over France. The Griffon Spitfires — the Mk XII, XIV and 24 — were powered by the larger Rolls-Royce Griffon, which produced up to 2,050 horsepower and which gave the Spitfire a top speed of about 720 km/h, and they were the fastest Spitfires of the war.

The Seafire and Photo-Reconnaissance Spitfires

The Spitfire was also developed into the Seafire, the naval version for the Fleet Air Arm, of which 2,556 were built, and into the photo-reconnaissance Spitfire, of which about 1,400 were built. The Seafire was a Spitfire with an arrester hook, with folding wings and with a strengthened airframe, and it served with the Fleet Air Arm in the Mediterranean, in the Atlantic and in the Far East, where it provided fighter cover for the British Pacific Fleet. The photo-reconnaissance Spitfires, which were unarmed and which carried cameras instead of guns, were among the most important aircraft of the war: they photographed the German defences in France before D-Day, they photographed the V-1 and V-2 sites, and they provided the intelligence that the Allies needed to plan their offensives. The photo-reconnaissance Spitfire’s speed and its high ceiling made it almost immune to interception, and its pilots flew some of the most dangerous missions of the war, alone and unarmed, over enemy territory.

6. Operational History

The Battle of Britain, 1940

The Spitfire’s most famous battle was the Battle of Britain, in the summer and autumn of 1940, when the Royal Air Force’s Fighter Command, under Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, defeated the Luftwaffe’s attempt to win air superiority over southern England. The Spitfire’s part in the battle is often exaggerated: there were 19 Spitfire squadrons in Fighter Command, against 33 Hurricane squadrons, and the Hurricane shot down more German aircraft than the Spitfire, because there were more Hurricanes and because the Hurricanes were assigned to attack the bombers, while the Spitfires were assigned to attack the fighters. But the Spitfire’s part was crucial: the Spitfire’s speed and its turning ability made it the equal of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and the Spitfire’s presence in the battle — and its image in the newspapers and in the newsreels — made it the symbol of Britain’s resistance. The Battle of Britain was the Spitfire’s finest hour, and it is the battle for which the aircraft is best remembered.

Malta, North Africa and the Mediterranean, 1941–1943

After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire served in the Mediterranean, where it defended the island of Malta, which was besieged by the Germans and Italians in 1941–42, and where the Spitfires, delivered by aircraft carrier in the “Club Runs”, fought the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica over the island. The Spitfire’s service at Malta was one of the great epics of the war: the island’s defenders, short of fuel, of ammunition and of aircraft, held out against overwhelming odds, and the Spitfire’s arrival, in March 1942, turned the tide of the air battle. The Spitfire also served in North Africa, where it fought in the desert war, and in the Mediterranean, where it provided air cover for the Allied landings in Sicily and in Italy. The Spitfire’s versatility — as a fighter, as a fighter-bomber and as a reconnaissance aircraft — made it the standard fighter of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean, and it served there from 1941 to the end of the war.

Normandy, the Far East and the End

The Spitfire’s last year of war was fought on two fronts: in Europe, where the Spitfire provided air cover for D-Day and fought in the skies over France and Germany, and in the Far East, where it fought the Japanese in Burma and defended India. The two sections below describe the Spitfire’s service in Normandy and in the advance into Germany, including its famous part in the defence against the V-1 flying bomb, and its service in the Far East, where its pilots flew some of the longest and most dangerous missions of the war.

D-Day was the largest amphibious operation in history, and the Spitfire’s part in it was to provide air cover for the landings and to fight the Luftwaffe over Normandy. The Spitfires flew thousands of sorties in June 1944, strafing German troops, bombing German positions and fighting the few German fighters that dared to appear, and their presence over the beaches was a reassurance to the soldiers below.

D-Day and the Advance into Germany

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Spitfires provided air cover for the Allied landings in Normandy, and they fought in the skies over France in the months that followed, strafing German troops, bombing German positions and fighting the Luftwaffe’s last fighters. The Spitfire’s Griffon-powered versions, above all the Mk XIV, were among the fastest fighters in the world, and they were used to intercept the V-1 flying bombs, which the Germans launched against London in 1944, and which the Spitfires, with their speed, could catch and shoot down. The Spitfire also served in the Far East, where it fought the Japanese in Burma and where it defended India against Japanese air attacks. The Spitfire’s last combat missions were flown in the final weeks of the war, in Europe and in the Far East, and the aircraft remained in service after the war, in the Royal Air Force and in the air forces of many countries, into the 1950s.

The V-1 Hunters

The Spitfire’s part in the defence against the V-1 flying bomb is one of its most famous roles. The V-1, which was a small, pilotless aircraft powered by a pulse-jet engine, flew at about 640 km/h, which was faster than most fighters, and only the fastest fighters — the Spitfire Mk XIV, the Hawker Tempest and the P-51 Mustang — could catch it. The Spitfire Mk XIVs, with their Griffon engines and their top speed of about 720 km/h, were assigned to the V-1 patrols, and their pilots shot down many V-1s, often by tipping the bomb’s wing with their own wing, which upset the bomb’s gyroscopes and sent it crashing to the ground. The V-1 campaign, in the summer of 1944, was a test of the Spitfire’s speed and of its pilots’ skill, and the Spitfire’s success against the V-1 is one reason why the aircraft is remembered as one of the great fighters of the war. The Spitfire’s last victories were against the V-1, and its last combat was in the defence of London.

7. Performance and Specifications

Specifications

Specification	Spitfire Mk Vb	Spitfire Mk XIV
Engine	Merlin 45, 1,470 hp	Griffon 65, 2,050 hp
Maximum speed	About 594 km/h	About 720 km/h
Range (internal)	About 750 km	About 750 km (internal; up to 1,800 km with drop tanks)
Service ceiling	About 11,300 m	About 13,000 m (estimated)
Rate of climb	About 17 m/s	About 22 m/s (estimated)
Armament	2 × 20 mm, 4 × 7.7 mm	2 × 20 mm, 2 × 12.7 mm
Empty weight	About 2,300 kg	About 2,900 kg (approximate)
Number built	6,487 (all Mk V)	957

The table compares the two most important Spitfires of the war — the Mk V, which was the Spitfire of the middle years, and the Mk XIV, which was the fastest wartime Spitfire — and it shows how the aircraft developed. The Mk XIV was faster by about 126 km/h, it climbed faster, it flew higher and it was more heavily armed, but it was also heavier and more difficult to fly, and its pilots needed more training to handle its power. The Spitfire’s development, from the Mk I to the Mk 24, was a continuous process of improvement, and it is the reason why the Spitfire remained competitive throughout the war, while other fighters, which were not developed, fell behind. The Spitfire’s performance was never the best in any single respect, but it was good in every respect, and it was the combination of speed, climb, turning ability and handling that made it the finest fighter of the war, in the judgement of many of its pilots.

Comparison with the Bf 109 and the Mustang

Compared with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Spitfire was roughly equal in 1940: the Bf 109 was faster in a dive and could out-climb the Spitfire, but the Spitfire could turn more tightly, and the two aircraft were evenly matched. Compared with the P-51 Mustang, which appeared in 1944, the Spitfire was inferior in range and in speed at high altitude, but it was superior in turning ability and in handling, and the Mustang’s pilots regarded the Spitfire as the finest dogfighter of the war. The Spitfire’s greatest strength was its turning ability, which was the best of any fighter of the war, and its greatest weakness was its short range, which limited its ability to escort bombers deep into Germany. The Spitfire’s story is therefore the story of a fighter that was supreme in the air over Britain and over France, but that could not follow the bombers to Berlin, and that needed the Mustang to complete the victory.

8. Operators

Britain and the Commonwealth

The Spitfire was used principally by Britain and by the Commonwealth countries — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India — whose pilots flew it in every theatre of the war. The Royal Air Force’s Spitfires were the aircraft of the Battle of Britain, of Malta, of North Africa and of Normandy, and the Commonwealth’s Spitfires fought alongside them, in the squadrons that were formed from the pilots of the Dominions. The Spitfire was also used by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, as the Seafire, and by the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which flew Spitfires in the Pacific and in Europe. The Spitfire’s service with the Commonwealth is one reason why it is so well known around the world, and why it is remembered as the fighter of the English-speaking world in the Second World War.

Other Users

The Spitfire was also used by many other countries, either during the war or after it. It was used by the Free French, by the Poles, by the Czechs and by the Norwegians, who flew it in the Royal Air Force’s squadrons, and by the Americans, who flew it in the Eighth Air Force before the P-51 Mustang was available. After the war, the Spitfire was used by the air forces of more than thirty countries, including France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Israel and Burma, and it remained in service into the 1950s. The Spitfire’s wide distribution is one reason why it is so well known today, and why restored Spitfires can be seen at airshows around the world. The Spitfire’s service with so many countries is a measure of its reputation: it was the fighter that every air force wanted, and that every pilot wanted to fly.

9. Legacy and Influence

The Symbol of Britain at War

The Spitfire’s legacy is above all its symbolism: it is the symbol of Britain in the Second World War, and its image — the elliptical wing, the Merlin engine, the sound of its engine in the sky — is fixed in the British imagination. The Spitfire’s part in the Battle of Britain made it a national icon, and Winston Churchill’s words — “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” — are associated with the Spitfire and with the pilots who flew it, even though Churchill was speaking of all of Fighter Command, not only of the Spitfire. The Spitfire’s fame has made it one of the most recognisable aircraft in the world, and its shape is used in advertisements, in films and in memorials, as a shorthand for Britain’s resistance in 1940. The Spitfire is therefore not only an aircraft but a cultural icon, and its story is told in Britain as the story of the country itself in the Second World War.

The Most Beautiful Fighter

The Spitfire is often described as the most beautiful fighter ever built, and its beauty is part of its legacy. The elliptical wing, the streamlined fuselage and the proportions of the aircraft make it a work of art as well as a weapon, and its designers, above all R. J. Mitchell, are remembered as artists as well as engineers. The Spitfire’s beauty is not an accident: Mitchell believed that a beautiful aircraft would fly well, and the Spitfire’s performance proved him right. The Spitfire’s legacy is therefore also an aesthetic legacy: it showed that a weapon could be beautiful, and that beauty and function could be the same thing. The Spitfire’s story is the story of a designer who died in 1937, before his aircraft had fought a battle, and whose aircraft became the most famous fighter in history. Mitchell did not live to see the Battle of Britain, but his aircraft won it, and his name is remembered with it.

10. Surviving Examples

Museums

About 60 Spitfires survive today in museums and in private collections, and many of them are in flying condition. The best-known museum examples include the Spitfire Mk I at the Imperial War Museum in London, which is displayed as one of the aircraft that fought in the Battle of Britain, and the Spitfire Mk V at the Royal Air Force Museum in London. Other Spitfires are held at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and at the museums of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The Spitfire’s survival rate is high for a wartime fighter, because so many were built and because the aircraft remained in service after the war, and the survivors are among the most popular exhibits in the museums that hold them. The Imperial War Museum’s Spitfire Mk I, which is displayed as one of the aircraft that fought in the Battle of Britain, is one of the museum’s most visited exhibits, and it is displayed with the story of the battle and with the names of the pilots who flew it.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

The most famous flying Spitfires are those of the Royal Air Force’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which is based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and which flies Spitfires, Hurricanes and a Lancaster bomber at airshows and at commemorations around Britain. The Memorial Flight’s Spitfires, which include a Mk II, a Mk V and a Mk XVI, are maintained by the Royal Air Force and flown by serving RAF pilots, and they are a living memorial to the pilots of the Battle of Britain. The sound of the Memorial Flight’s Spitfires, with their Merlin engines, is one of the most evocative sounds in Britain, and the sight of a Spitfire in the sky is, for many people, the sight of Britain itself. Other Spitfires are flown by private owners around the world, and the aircraft’s presence at airshows, in Britain and abroad, is a reminder of the Battle of Britain and of the men who flew it. For most people, the easiest way to see a Spitfire is at an airshow, or at the Imperial War Museum in London, where the aircraft is displayed as part of the story of Britain in the Second World War.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Supermarine Spitfire?
The Supermarine Spitfire was a British single-seat fighter of the Second World War, designed by R. J. Mitchell and first flown in 1936. About 20,351 were built, making it the most-produced British aircraft of the war.

Why is the Spitfire’s wing elliptical?
The elliptical wing was designed to give the Spitfire the lowest possible drag and the best possible turning ability, and to provide room for its guns. It also makes the Spitfire instantly recognisable.

How many Spitfires were built?
20,351 Spitfires were built between 1938 and 1948, in more than twenty major versions. A further 2,556 Seafires, the naval version, were also built.

Did the Spitfire win the Battle of Britain?
The Spitfire played a crucial part, but the Hurricane shot down more German aircraft, because there were more Hurricanes and because they were assigned to attack the bombers. The Battle of Britain was won by Fighter Command as a whole, not by the Spitfire alone.

What engine did the Spitfire use?
The Rolls-Royce Merlin in the early versions, and the Rolls-Royce Griffon in the later versions. The Merlin produced about 1,030 to 1,580 horsepower, and the Griffon up to 2,050 horsepower.

Where can I see a Spitfire today?
At the Imperial War Museum in London, the Royal Air Force Museum in London, and the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, among other museums. Spitfires of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight still fly at airshows around Britain.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Supermarine Spitfire” — production of 20,351, specifications, the Battle of Britain.
2. Imperial War Museum, “Supermarine Spitfire” — the Spitfire in the museum’s collection and the Battle of Britain.
3. Royal Air Force Museum, “Supermarine Spitfire Mk I” — the Mk I on display in London.
4. Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, “Spitfire” — the Memorial Flight’s Spitfires at RAF Coningsby.
5. Alfred Price, The Spitfire Story (Arms and Armour Press, 1982) — development, variants and operational history.
6. Dilip Sarkar, Spitfire! The Full Story of a Unique Fighter (Amberley Publishing, 2019) — the Battle of Britain, Malta and the later war.