Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that produced, among the
others, a range of seaplanes and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter.
History Noel Pemberton Billing set up a company,
Pemberton-Billing Ltd, in 1913 to produce sea-going aircraft. Its
telegraphic address, used for sending telegrams and cables to the company,
was; Supermarine, Southampton. It produced a couple of prototypes using
quadruplane designs to shoot down zeppelins, the Supermarine P.B.29 and
the Supermarine Nighthawk. The aircraft were fitted with the recoilless Davis
gun and the Nighthawk had a separate powerplant to power a searchlight. Upon
election as an MP in 1916 Pemberton-Billing sold the company to
his factory manager and longtime associate Hubert Scott-Paine who renamed
the company Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd. The company became famous for its
successes in the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes, especially the three wins in
a row of 1927, 1929 and 1931. In 1928 Vickers-Armstrongs took over
Supermarine as Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd and in 1938 all
Vickers-Armstrongs aviation interests were reorganised to become
Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd, although Supermarine continued to design, build
and trade under its own name. The phrase Vickers Supermarine was applied to the
aircraft. The first Supermarine landplane design
to go into production was the famous and successful Spitfire. The earlier Hawker
Hurricane and the Spitfire were the mainstay of RAF Fighter Command fighter
aircraft which fought off the Luftwaffe bombing raids with fighter escorts
during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. While the Hurricane was
available in larger numbers and consequently played a larger role, the
new Spitfire caught the popular imagination and became the aircraft
associated with the battle. It went on to play a major part in the remainder of
the war, in a number of variants and marks, and it was the only allied
fighter aircraft to be in production through the entirety of World War Two.
Other planes from World War II include the Seafire. Supermarine also developed
the Spiteful and Seafang, the successors of the Spitfire and Seafire,
respectively, and the Walrus flying boat.
The Supermarine main works was in Woolston, Southampton which led to the
city being heavily bombed in 1940. This curtailed work on their first heavy
bomber design, the Supermarine B.12/36 which was replaced by the Short
Stirling. After the end of World War Two, the
Supermarine division built the Royal Navy's first jet fighter, the Attacker,
developed from the final Spitfire type. It served front line squadrons aboard
aircraft carriers and RNVR squadrons at shore bases. The Attacker was followed
by the more advanced Swift which served in the fighter and photo-reconnaissance
roles. The last of the Supermarine aircraft was the Scimitar.
In the shakeup of British aircraft manufacturing, Vickers-Armstrongs became
a part of the British Aircraft Corporation and the individual
manufacturing heritage names were lost. Northshore Marine Motor Yachts now
builds a range of motorboats under the Supermarine name in Chichester,
Portsmouth, England. The name is also used for Spitfire replicas made by an
Australian company in Cisco, Texas. Supermarine aircraft
Pemberton-Billing P.B.1 Pemberton-Billing P.B.9
Pemberton-Billing P.B.23 Pemberton-Billing P.B.25
Pemberton-Billing P.B.29 AD Flying Boat
AD Navyplane Supermarine Nighthawk – anti-Zeppelin
fighter aircraft Supermarine Baby – single-seat fighter
flying boat Supermarine Sea Lion I – Schneider race
flying boat Supermarine Sea Lion II and III
Supermarine Channel – civil version of the AD Flying Boat
Supermarine Scylla early Supermarine Sea Urchin early
Supermarine Commercial Amphibian Supermarine Sea King – single-seat
fighter flying boat Supermarine Seagull – amphibian Fleet
Spotter Supermarine Seal
Supermarine Sea Eagle – civil amphibian flying boat
Supermarine Scarab – military version of Sea Eagle
Supermarine Sheldrake Supermarine Swan – experimental
amphibian Supermarine Sparrow – two-seat
ultralight Supermarine Southampton – flying boat
Supermarine S.4 – Schneider Trophy race seaplane
Supermarine S.5 – Schneider Trophy race seaplane
Supermarine Nanok Supermarine Solent
Supermarine Seamew – twin-engined flying boat
Supermarine S.6 – Schneider Trophy race seaplane
Supermarine S.6B – Schneider Trophy race Supermarine Air Yacht – six-passenger
flying boat Supermarine Type 179
Supermarine Scapa – flying boat Supermarine Stranraer – general-purpose
flying boat Supermarine Walrus – amphibian fleet
spotter Supermarine Type 224 unsuccessful design
for a fighter aircraft to Air Ministry specification F.7/30
Supermarine Spitfire – single-seat fighter
Supermarine Seafire – single-seat carrier-based fighter version of the
Spitfire Supermarine Spitfire – Merlin engine
variants Supermarine Spitfire – two-stage Merlin
engine variants Supermarine Spitfire – two-stage Griffon
engine variants Supermarine Spitfire operational history
Supermarine Spitfire variants: specifications, performance and armament
List of Supermarine Spitfire operators List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires
Supermarine Sea Otter – flying boat Supermarine 322 also S.24/37 or "Dumbo"
Supermarine Spiteful – replacement for the Spitfire
Supermarine Seafang – development of Spiteful
Supermarine Attacker – jet fighter Supermarine Seagull ASR-1 – air-sea
rescue and reconnaissance Supermarine 510 – swept wing Attacker
prototype Supermarine 535 – Swift predecessor with
Nene engine Supermarine Swift – jet fighter
Supermarine 508 – V-tailed, twin engined straight winged fighter prototype
Supermarine 521 – Modified Attacker fuselage as basis for Handley Page HP.88
Supermarine 525 – immediate predecessor of Scimitar
Supermarine Scimitar – naval ground attack aircraft
Designs and submissions only Supermarine 318 – four engined heavy
bomber to B.12/36, abandoned after prototypes destroyed by German bombing
attack Supermarine Type 305 – design project
for a turret armed derivative of the Spitfire
Supermarine Type 324 – design project for a twin Merlin engined, tricycle
undercarriage fighter based on Spitfire wing and fuselage.
Supermarine 545 – supersonic version of Swift
Supermarine Type 553 – mach 2 research aircraft project
Supermarine Type 559 – submission for Operational Requirement F.155 for a high
altitude supersonic fighter Supermarine Type 571 – submission for
GOR.339 TSR.2 requirement See also
Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Supermarine Aircraft
References Bibliography
Andrews, C.F.; Morgan E.B.. Supermarine Aircraft since 1914, Second edition.
London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-800-3. Chorlton, Martyn. Supermarine: Company
Profile 1913–1963. Cudham, Kent: Kelsey Publishing Group. ISBN
978-1-907426-46-9. Shelton, John. Schneider Trophy to
Spitfire - The Design Career of R.J. Mitchell. Sparkford: Hayes Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-84425-530-6. External links
Spitfire Society article