Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr. ) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies . Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, this naval rank is termed as a frigate captain .
171-696: The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter adapted for operation from aircraft carriers . It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane , a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurricane . The name Seafire was derived from the contraction of the full name of Sea Spitfire . A carrier-capable version of the Supermarine Spitfire had been proposed by
342-569: A Boeing B-29 Superfortress and a second aircraft lost when its arrestor hook failed to extend. The Seafire proved more vulnerable to the stresses of carrier operation with many aircraft suffering wrinkling of the rear fuselage brought about by heavy landings. Following the end of operations, when peacetime airworthiness rules were re-imposed, all but three of 800 Squadron's Seafires were declared unserviciable owing to wrinkling. The Royal Canadian Navy and French Aviation Navale obtained Seafires to operate from ex-Royal Navy aircraft carriers following
513-549: A Commander Ermen to fly a Spitfire I. After his first flight in R6718 , Ermen soon learned that Joseph Smith , Chief Designer at Supermarine, had been instructed to fit an "A-frame" arrestor hook on a Spitfire and that this had flown on 16 October; a drawing of this aircraft had been shown to the FAA on 27 October. After further discussions, Supermarine submitted a drawing of a Spitfire with folding wings and an arrestor hook. In this case,
684-567: A Spitfire F Mk.21 prototype by Cunliffe-Owen and featured a "sting" arrestor hook. Because this version was considered to be an "interim" type the wing, which was unchanged from that of the Spitfire Mk.21, was non-folding. The fuel capacity of this variant was 120 imp gal (550 L) in two main forward fuselage tanks: the lower tank carried 48 imp gal (220 L) while the upper tank carried 36 imp gal (160 L; 43 US gal), plus two fuel tanks built into
855-403: A platoon (platoon commander), or to the brigadier commanding a brigade (brigade commander). Other officers commanding units are usually referred to as the officer commanding (OC), commanding officer (CO), general officer commanding (GOC), or general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-C), depending on rank and position, although the term "commander" may be applied to them informally. In
1026-579: A wreath . Within the Metropolitan Police Service, the tips of the tipstaves are blue and not red, unlike other forces. Until the abolition of the rank of deputy commander in 1968, however, a commander wore the same badge of rank as a deputy assistant commissioner. In Australia, commander is a rank used by the Victorian, Tasmanian, Western Australian, South Australian, and Australian Federal police forces. The insignia consists of
1197-515: A 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) Rotol propeller. Designed in response to Specification N.4/43 this appeared to be a naval Spitfire F Mk.XII ; in reality the Mk.XV was an amalgamation of a strengthened Seafire III airframe and wings with the wing fuel tanks, retractable tailwheel, larger elevators and broad-chord "pointed" rudder of the Spitfire VIII. The engine cowling was different from that of
1368-516: A 30 imp gal (140 L) "slipper" fuel tank under the fuselage. In June 1942, the first deliveries of the Seafire took place to 807 Squadron . Another front line unit, 801 Squadron operated this version on board HMS Furious from October 1942 through to September 1944. The second semi-naval variant of the Seafire and the first to be built as such, was the Seafire F Mk.IIc which
1539-518: A 50 imp gal (230 L) drop tank could be carried under the fuselage. In April 1947, the Griffon 61s or 64s driving a five bladed Rotol propeller unit were replaced with Griffon 85s or 87s driving two three bladed Rotol contra-rotating propellers . All but the first few incorporated larger tail units from the Spiteful and Seafang . These two changes transformed the handling by eliminating
1710-465: A Type 72 homing beacon. In these and all subsequent Seafires the instruments were re-calibrated to read kn and nmi rather than mph and mi. The fixed armament was the same as that of the Spitfire Vb; two 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano Mk.II cannon with 60 rpg fed from a "drum" magazine and four .303 in (7.70 mm) Browning machine guns with 350 rpg. Provision was also made to carry
1881-579: A close match for them. After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane as the principal aircraft of RAF Fighter Command , and it was used in the European , Mediterranean , Pacific , and South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire operated in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, and trainer, and it continued to do so until
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#17327722127452052-634: A command or unit. Some large police departments and sheriff's offices in the US have a commander rank. Most commonly, this is the next rank above captain. Examples of this include the Chicago Police Department , Los Angeles Police Department , San Francisco Police Department , Portland Police Bureau and Rochester Police Department . In others, such as the Phoenix Police Department and Saint Paul Police Department ,
2223-568: A commander rank is the next rank above lieutenant, and is equivalent to captain. In the Northport, Florida's police department, however, commanders are below captains. A commander in the LAPD is equivalent to an inspector in other large US departments (such as the NYPD ); the LAPD rank was originally called inspector as well, but was changed in 1974 to commander. The Metropolitan Police Department of
2394-487: A considerable increase of performance compared to their Merlin-engined predecessors but had serious faults, mainly a result of the increased power of the new engine. The concomitant increase in torque meant the pilot had to continuously correct the flight of the aircraft to prevent the frame of the aircraft rotating in the other direction to that of the propeller. This was a considerable problem when attempting to take off and land from an aircraft carrier. The torque also affected
2565-436: A crown over three bath stars in a triangular formation, equivalent to a brigadier in the army. In all four forces, it is junior to the rank of assistant commissioner , and senior to the rank of chief superintendent , with the exception of Western Australia and Victoria where it is senior to the rank of superintendent . In New South Wales the position of commander is instated to officers (usually superintendents) in charge of
2736-434: A few aerobatic tests to determine how good or bad she was. The production test was usually quite a brisk affair; the initial circuit lasted less than 10 minutes and the main flight took between 20 and 30 minutes. Then, the aircraft received a final once-over by our ground mechanics, any faults were rectified, and the Spitfire was ready for collection. I loved the Spitfire in all of her many versions, but I have to admit that
2907-498: A jig and the eight horizontal tail formers were riveted to them. A combination of 14 longitudinal stringers and four main longerons attached to the frames helped form a light but rigid structure to which sheets of alclad stressed skinning were attached. The fuselage plating was 24, 20, and 18 gauge , decreasing in order of thickness towards the tail, while the fin structure was completed using short longerons from frames 20 to 23, before being covered in 22 gauge plating. The skin of
3078-483: A large penalty for their fuel injection. When the fuel is fed before the supercharger, as on the Merlin, it evaporates and cools the air by 25°C. This cooling enhances the performance of the supercharger, and increases the power of the engine, with a corresponding increase in aircraft speed, particularly at high altitude." However, the early Merlin engine's lack of fuel injection meant that Spitfires and Hurricanes, unlike
3249-507: A maximum rate of 320 per month, making CBAF the largest Spitfire factory in the UK and the largest and most successful plant of its type during the 1939–45 conflict. During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made concerted efforts to destroy the main manufacturing plants at Woolston and Itchen , near Southampton. The first bombing raid, which missed the factories, came on 23 August 1940. Over
3420-540: A meeting with Richard Fairey (of Fairey Aviation ), Fairey proposed that his company could design and build such an aircraft. The idea met with a negative response and the matter was dropped. As a result, the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), at that point still part of the Royal Air Force, was forced into having to order Blackburn Rocs and Gloster Sea Gladiators , both of which proved to be woefully inadequate in
3591-420: A minimum of three years at their present rank and after attaining 15 to 17 years of cumulative commissioned service, although this percentage may vary and be appreciably less for certain officer designators (i.e., primary "specialties") depending on defense budgets, force structure, and the needs of the service. For instance, as in various small colonial settlements (such as various Caribbean islands) commanding
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#17327722127453762-470: A new form of "sting" type arrestor hook was used; this version was attached to the reinforced rudder post at the rear of the fuselage and was housed in a fairing below the base of the shortened rudder. A vee-shaped guard forward of the tailwheel prevented arrestor wires getting tangled up with the tailwheel. 390 Seafire XVs were built by Cunliffe-Owen and Westland from late 1944. Six prototypes had been built by Supermarine. One problem which immediately surfaced
3933-589: A piecemeal basis. The British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air display on Saturday 27 June 1936. Although full-scale production was supposed to begin immediately, numerous problems could not be overcome for some time, and the first production Spitfire, K9787 , did not roll off the Woolston , Southampton assembly line until mid-1938. In February 1936, the director of Vickers-Armstrongs, Sir Robert MacLean guaranteed production of five aircraft
4104-853: A result, the handling of the aircraft suffered. Eventually most of these problems were resolved in Seafire 47 when the six-bladed contra-rotating propeller was adopted. During 1942 and into 1943, FAA squadrons progressively converted to the Seafire, eventually replacing the Sea Hurricane in front-line service. In the Fleet Air Arm, Spitfires and Seafires were used by a number of squadrons, the Spitfires used by training and land based squadrons. Twelve 800 series squadrons used Spitfires and Seafires (Numbers 801 NAS , 802 NAS , 808 NAS , 809 NAS , 879 NAS , 880 NAS , 884 NAS , 885 NAS , 886 NAS , 887 NAS , 897 NAS and 899 NAS ). Several units of
4275-465: A short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell , chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell developed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing (designed by Beverley Shenstone ) with innovative sunken rivets to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including
4446-446: A similar fashion to a leaf spring ; two of these booms were linked together by an alloy web, creating a lightweight and very strong main spar. The undercarriage legs were attached to pivot points built into the inner, rear section of the main spar, and retracted outwards and slightly backwards into wells in the non-load-carrying wing structure. The resultant narrow undercarriage track was considered an acceptable compromise as this reduced
4617-407: A title in certain circumstances, such as the commander of a squad of detectives, who would usually be of the rank of lieutenant, and in some police or sheriff's departments where commanders are ranks, officers or deputies of separate ranks are also referred to as commander by title. The Montreal police force, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal , uses the rank of commander (Commandant) . In
4788-419: A total of 2,360 Spitfires and Seafires, more than 10% of total production. Henshaw wrote about flight testing Spitfires: After a thorough preflight check, I would take off, and once at circuit height, I would trim the aircraft and try to get her to fly straight and level with hands off the stick ... Once the trim was satisfactory, I would take the Spitfire up in a full-throttle climb at 2,850 rpm to
4959-517: A total of 48 Spitfire Mk.Vb were converted by Air Training Service Ltd. at Hamble to become "hooked Spitfires". This was the Seafire Mk.Ib and would be the first of several Seafire variants to reach the Fleet Air Arm. This version of the Seafire was mainly used to allow the Royal Navy to gain experience in operating the Spitfire on aircraft carriers . The main structural change was made to
5130-563: A week, beginning 15 months after an order was placed. On 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft. Full-scale production of the Spitfire began at Supermarine's facility in Woolston, but the order clearly could not be completed in the 15 months promised. Supermarine was a small company, already busy building Walrus and Stranraer flying boats, and Vickers was busy building Wellington bombers. The initial solution
5301-409: A wing shape from an aircraft designed for an entirely different purpose." The elliptical wing was decided upon quite early on. Aerodynamically it was the best for our purpose because the induced drag caused in producing lift, was lowest when this shape was used: the ellipse was ... theoretically a perfection ... To reduce drag we wanted the lowest possible thickness-to-chord, consistent with
Supermarine Seafire - Misplaced Pages Continue
5472-467: Is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II . It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts. Around 70 remain airworthy , and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was designed as
5643-649: Is a naval rank in Scandinavia ( Kommandør in Danish and Norwegian, Kommendör in Swedish) equivalent to the Anglo-American naval rank of captain. The Scandinavian rank of commander is immediately above "commander-captain" ( Norwegian : Kommandørkaptein , Swedish : Kommendörkapten , Danish : Kommandørkaptajn ), which is equivalent to the Anglo-American naval rank of commander. In Denmark,
5814-487: Is a senior-grade officer rank, with the pay grade of O-5. Commander ranks above lieutenant commander (O-4) and below captain . (O-6). Commander is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Army , United States Air Force , United States Marine Corps , and United States Space Force . Notably, commander is the first rank at which the holder wears an embellished cap, whereas officers of
5985-534: Is above the rank of lieutenant commander , below the rank of captain , and is equivalent in rank to a lieutenant colonel in the army. A commander may command a frigate , destroyer , submarine , aviation squadron or shore installation, or may serve on a staff. Since the British Royal Air Force 's mid-rank officers' ranks are modelled on those of the Royal Navy , the term wing commander
6156-504: Is compromise, and an improvement at one end of the performance envelope is rarely achieved without a deterioration somewhere else. When the last Spitfire rolled out in February 1948, a total of 20,351 examples of all variants had been built, including two-seat trainers , with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. The Spitfire was the only British fighter aircraft to be in continuous production before, during, and after
6327-494: Is designated as mission commander. The commander is the captain of the ship, and makes all real-time critical decisions on behalf of the crew and in coordination with the Mission Control Center (MCC). The title of aircraft commander is used in civil aviation to refer to the pilot in command (commonly referred to as "captain", which is technically an airline rank and not related to the commander's role on board
6498-479: Is typically a lieutenant or captain , a squadron commander is typically a major or lieutenant colonel , a group commander is typically a colonel , a wing commander is typically a senior colonel or a brigadier general , a numbered air force commander is a major general or lieutenant general , and the commander of a major command is a general . In the United States Space Force ,
6669-517: Is used as a rank, and this is the equivalent of a lieutenant colonel in the army or a commander in the navy. The rank of wing commander is above that of squadron leader and below that of group captain . In the former Royal Naval Air Service , which was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force in 1918, the pilots held appointments as well as their normal ranks in the Royal Navy, and they wore insignia appropriate to
6840-424: The L Mk.IIc powered by a low altitude Merlin 32 specifically manufactured for naval use. This version of the Merlin used a "cropped" supercharger impellor to provide greater power at low altitudes than the standard engines; delivering 1,585 hp (1,182 kW) at 2,750 ft (840 m). Both engines drove a four bladed 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) diameter Rotol propeller. Because this version used
7011-639: The Admiralty in May 1938. Despite a pressing need to replace various obsolete types in the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), some opposed the idea, including as Winston Churchill , although these disputes were often a result of the overriding priority for land-based Spitfires instead. During 1941 and early 1942, the Admiralty again requested naval Spitfires, resulting in an initial batch of Seafire Mk.Ib fighters in late 1941, which were mainly used to gain experience operating
Supermarine Seafire - Misplaced Pages Continue
7182-526: The Blackburn F.3 and Westland F.7/30 and privately funded designs from Gloster. The 224 was an open-cockpit monoplane with bulky gull wings and a large, fixed, spatted undercarriage powered by the 600-horsepower (450 kW), evaporatively cooled Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. It made its first flight in February 1934. Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane
7353-658: The Fairey Firefly following the outbreak of the Korean War , HMS Triumph was diverted to operations to try to stem the North Korean offensive, Seafires were engaged in performing ground attack and combat air patrols from July until September 1950, when HMS Triumph was replaced by HMS Theseus , equipped with the newer Hawker Sea Furys . During operations off Korea, Seafires flew 360 operational sorties, losing one aircraft shot down by friendly fire from
7524-599: The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry commander is a rank equivalent to major . Commandeur as title of colonial office was the case on the island of Tobago in the Dutch colony of Nieuw Walcheren . The usage is similar/identical to the British Army , with the term "commander" having been applied to the colonel who was Commander, 2 Land Force Group, Linton Camp, and now to Commander, 1 Brigade . In
7695-702: The German battleship Tirpitz . In June 1944, multiple Seafire squadrons were used during the Normandy landings for the purpose of locating in-land targets for naval gunnery batteries to attack; during this operation, these aircraft had been placed under RAF control and were operated from shore bases, these were returned to FAA control in July 1944. In August 1944, Seafires were used to support Allied ground forces during Operation Dragoon in Southern France. During
7866-537: The Hawker Hurricane . Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer. Smith oversaw the Spitfire's development through many variants , from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined Mk 24, using several wing configurations and guns. The original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW). It
8037-572: The Incident Command System the incident commander is in charge of the response to an emergency. The title may pass from person to person as the incident develops. The title of commander is used in chivalric orders such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for a member senior to a knight . The title of knight commander is often used to denote an even higher rank. These conventions are also used by most of
8208-486: The NACA 2200 series , which had been adapted to create a thickness-to-chord ratio of 13% at the root, reducing to 9.4% at the tip. A dihedral of 6° was adopted to give increased lateral stability. A wing feature that contributed greatly to its success was an innovative spar boom design, made up of five square tubes that fitted into each other. As the wing thinned out along its span, the tubes were progressively cut away in
8379-610: The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve also flew Seafires postwar, including 1831, 1832 and 1833 squadrons. In November 1942, the first combat use of the Seafire occurred during Operation Torch , the Allied landings in North Africa , from the decks of several escort and fleet carriers; unusually, Seafires flew with American star markings during the operation, these were removed following their withdrawal from
8550-602: The Spanish Army , the Spanish Air Force and the marine infantry , the term commander is the literal translation of comandante , the Spanish equivalent of a Commonwealth major . The Guardia Civil shares the army ranks, and the officer commanding a house-garrison (usually an NCO or a lieutenant, depending on the size) is addressed as the comandante de puesto (post commander). In the United States Army ,
8721-480: The United States Air Force , the term "commander" (abbreviated "CC" in office symbols, i.e. "OG/CC" for "operations group commander") is applied officially to the commanding officer of an Air Force unit; hence, there are flight commanders, squadron commanders, group commanders, wing commanders, numbered air force commanders, and commanders of major commands . In rank, a flight commander
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#17327722127458892-597: The Viet Minh before being withdrawn from combat operations in January 1949. After returning to European waters, the Seafire units were re-equipped with Seafire XVs but these were quickly replaced by Grumman F6F Hellcats from 1950. The Irish Air Corps operated Seafires for a time after the war, despite having no naval air service nor aircraft carriers. The aircraft were operated from Baldonnel (Casement Aerodrome) with most of their naval equipment removed, but retaining
9063-412: The aerodrome , and the installation of the most modern machine tools then available began two months after work started on the site. Although Morris Motors, under Lord Nuffield (an expert in mass motor-vehicle construction), managed and equipped the factory, it was funded by the government. By the beginning of 1939, the factory's original estimated cost of £2,000,000 had more than doubled, and even as
9234-408: The angle of incidence decreasing from +2° at its root to -½° at its tip. This caused the wing roots to stall before the tips, reducing tip-stall that could otherwise have resulted in a wing drop, often leading to a spin. As the wing roots started to stall, the separating air stream started to buffet (vibrate) the aircraft, warning the pilot, allowing even relatively inexperienced pilots to fly it to
9405-477: The garrison was the crux of the top job, the military title Commandeur could be used instead of a civilian gubernatorial style, not unlike the Portuguese captain-major . In the British Army , the term "commander" is officially applied to the non-commissioned officer in charge of a section (section commander), vehicle (vehicle commander) or gun (gun commander), to the subaltern or captain commanding
9576-579: The shadow factory plan , to boost British aircraft production capacity under the leadership of Herbert Austin . He was given the task of building nine new factories, and to supplement the British car-manufacturing industry by either adding to overall capacity or increasing the potential for reorganisation to produce aircraft and their engines. In 1938, construction began on the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory (CBAF), next to
9747-650: The "C" wing the Hispano cannon were fed from a 120-round belt magazine, otherwise the armament was the same as that of the Ib; the FR also carried two F24 cameras . After trials of Rocket Assisted Take Off Gear ( RATOG - small solid-fuel rocket motors which could be attached to the fuselage or wings of aircraft to help shorten the take-off run) in February 1943, this equipment became a standard fitting available for all Seafires. However, many FAA pilots rarely used RATOG, in part as there
9918-424: The "first generation" Griffon-engine Seafires were to use RATOG at sea unless they were ranged forward of the first crash barrier on deck. The Seafire F Mk.XVII was a modified Mk.XV; the most important change was the reinforced main undercarriage which used longer oleos and a lower rebound ratio. This went some way towards taming the deck behaviour of the Mk.XV, reduced the propensity of the propeller tips "pecking"
10089-552: The 1950s. The Seafire was an aircraft carrier–based adaptation of the Spitfire, used in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 until the mid-1950s. In 1931, the Air Ministry released specification F7/30 , calling for a modern fighter capable of a flying speed of 250 mph (400 km/h) to replace the Gloster Gauntlet biplane. R. J. Mitchell designed the Supermarine Type 224 to fill this role in competition with
10260-456: The Air Ministry put forward a plan that its production be stopped after the initial order for 310, after which Supermarine would build Bristol Beaufighters . The managements of Supermarine and Vickers were able to convince the Air Ministry that production problems could be overcome, and a further order was placed for 200 Spitfires on 24 March 1938. The two orders covered the K, L, and N prefix serial numbers. The first production Spitfire came off
10431-597: The Bf 109E, were unable to simply nose down into a steep dive. This meant a Luftwaffe fighter could simply "bunt" into a high-power dive to escape an attack, leaving the Spitfire behind, as its fuel was forced out of the carburettor by negative "g" . RAF fighter pilots soon learned to "half-roll" their aircraft before diving to pursue their opponents. Commander Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example " platoon commander ", " brigade commander" and " squadron commander". In
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#173277221274510602-726: The Castle Bromwich plant to his ministry. Beaverbrook immediately sent in experienced management staff and workers from Supermarine, and gave control of the factory to Vickers-Armstrongs. Although resolving the problems took time, in June 1940, 10 Mk IIs were built; 23 rolled out in July, 37 in August, and 56 in September. By the time production ended at Castle Bromwich in June 1945, a total of 12,129 Spitfires (921 Mk IIs, 4,489 Mk Vs, 5,665 Mk IXs, and 1,054 Mk XVIs ) had been built, at
10773-571: The District of Columbia also uses the rank of commander, which is a grade above inspector and two grades above captain. In the Montgomery County, MD police department a commander is a captain assigned to command a police district. The insignia worn is commonly every insignia between major and major general, depending on the police or sheriff's department. Albuquerque Police Department commanders are captain equivalents, however, with
10944-524: The German and Italian land-based fighters they were occasionally required to operate against; thus, the need for more capable aircraft was readily apparent. As the Hawker Hurricane had quickly proven to be adaptable to carrier-based operations, there was considerable interest in navalising the Spitfire as well. The matter of a seaborne Spitfire was raised again in November 1939 when the Air Ministry allowed
11115-552: The Goshawk led to the adoption of a cooling system which used 100% glycol . The radiators were housed in a new radiator-duct designed by Fredrick Meredith of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, Hampshire . This used the cooling air to generate thrust , greatly reducing the net drag produced by the radiators. In turn, the leading-edge structure lost its function as a condenser, but it
11286-492: The Griffon 88, which used a Rolls-Royce fuel-injection system instead of the carburettor used on earlier Spitfires and Seafires. The Seafire 47 saw action with 800 Squadron on board HMS Triumph during the Malayan Emergency of 1949 and during the Korean War in 1950. However, in 1951 all Seafires were withdrawn from front-line service. In all 90 F Mk.47s and FR Mk.47s were built, all by Supermarine. VR971,
11457-726: The Hellcats and Corsairs of the Fleet) the Seafires were allocated the vital defensive duties of Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over the fleet. During May 1945, Seafires were used to cover the Allied landings at Rangoon for Operation Crimson . Seafires were thus heavily involved in countering the kamikaze attacks during the Okinawa landings and beyond. The Seafire was operational in the Pacific Fleet right up to VJ Day , being used off
11628-503: The Mk.XVII. Other features unique to the Mk.47s were spring-loaded elevator tabs, a large inertia weight in the elevator control system and beading on the trailing edges of the elevators. These changes improved longitudinal stability, especially when the aircraft was fully loaded. The modified windscreen proved to be unpopular with pilots because of continual problems with misting and the thicker, repositioned frames obstructed visibility during deck landings. In spite of recommendations to change
11799-402: The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine at £2,000, followed by the wings at £1,800 a pair, guns and undercarriage, both at £800 each, and the propeller at £350. In 1935, the Air Ministry approached Morris Motors Limited to ask how quickly their Cowley plant could be turned to aircraft production. In 1936, this informal request for major manufacturing facilities was replaced by a formal scheme, known as
11970-423: The Seafire provided air cover for the Allied invasion of Sicily , and again in September 1943 during the Allied invasion of Italy . During 1944, large numbers provided air support to ground forces during the Normandy landings and Operation Dragoon in southern France. During the latter half of 1944, Seafire joined the British Pacific Fleet , where it intercepted kamikaze attacks which had become common during
12141-427: The Seafires on landing. Many aircraft missed picking up the arrestor wires and flew into the crash barriers while others had their arrestor hooks pulled off the fuselage because they caught the wires at too high a speed. In spite of these problems, the Seafires (especially the L Mk.IIs and L Mk.IIIs, with their low altitude Merlin engines) patrolled over the carrier fleet as protection against low altitude attackers, while
12312-730: The Second World War. In the mid-1930s, aviation design teams worldwide began developing a new generation of fighter aircraft. The French Dewoitine D.520 and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 , for example, were designed to take advantage of new techniques of monocoque construction, and the availability of new, high-powered, liquid-cooled, in-line aero engines. They also had refinements such as retractable undercarriages, fully enclosed cockpits, and low-drag, all-metal wings. These advances had been introduced on civil airliners years before, but were slow to be adopted by
12483-556: The Southampton area. To this end, the British government requisitioned the likes of Vincent's Garage in Station Square, Reading , which later specialised in manufacturing Spitfire fuselages, and Anna Valley Motors, Salisbury , which was to become the sole producer of the wing leading-edge fuel tanks for photo-reconnaissance Spitfires. A purpose-built works, specialising in manufacturing fuselages and installing engines,
12654-492: The Spitfire XII series, being secured with a larger number of fasteners and lacking the acorn shaped blister behind the spinner. The final 30 Mk.XVs were built with the blown "teardrop" cockpit canopy and cut down rear fuselage introduced on the Spitfire Mk.XVI. On the first 50 aircraft manufactured by Cunliffe-Owen a heavier, strengthened A-frame arrestor hook was fitted to cope with the greater weight. On subsequent Mk.XVs
12825-482: The Spitfire captured the public's imagination as the main RAF fighter, in part because the Spitfire was generally a better fighter aircraft than the Hurricane. Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than Hurricanes, most likely due to the Spitfire's higher performance. During the battle, Spitfires generally engaged Luftwaffe fighters—mainly Messerschmitt Bf 109E –series aircraft, which were
12996-482: The Type 300. On 1 December 1934, the Air Ministry issued contract AM 361140/34, providing £10,000 for the construction of Mitchell's improved Type 300 design. In April 1935 Ralph Sorley spoke to Mitchell about the new specification F10/35 which called for armament of at least six and preferably eight guns while at the same time removing bomb carry requirement and reducing fuel capacity. Mitchell foresaw no problem adding
13167-559: The UK over the North Sea , and Germany did not have any single-engine fighters with the range to accompany them. To carry out the mission of home defence, the design was intended to allow the Spitfire to climb quickly to intercept enemy bombers. The Spitfire's airframe was complex. The streamlined, semi-monocoque , duralumin-skinned fuselage had a number of compound curves built up over a skeleton of 19 formers , also known as frames. These started from frame number one, immediately behind
13338-551: The aircraft's stall characteristics meant that it was difficult to land accurately on the carrier, resulting in many accidents. Other problems included the Spitfire's short range and endurance (acceptable for an interceptor but not for carrier operations), limited weapons load and that it was dangerous to ditching . The first Seafire variant to overcome many of these problems was the Mk.XVII with its new undercarriage design, reinforced structure and extra fuel tanks, although there were still some compromises and it entered service well after
13509-746: The aircraft). Within the British police , Commander is a chief officer rank in the two police forces responsible for law enforcement within London , the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police . In both forces, the rank is senior to chief superintendent ; in the Metropolitan Police it is junior to deputy assistant commissioner and in the City of London Police it is junior to assistant commissioner . In forces outside London,
13680-542: The altered aerodynamics, culminating in those of the Mk 22/24 series, which were 25% larger in area than those of the Mk I. As the Spitfire gained more power and was able to manoeuvre at higher speeds, the possibility that pilots would encounter aileron reversal increased, and the Supermarine design team set about redesigning the wings to counter this. The original wing design had a theoretical aileron reversal speed of 580 mph (500 kn; 930 km/h), which
13851-687: The appointment instead of the rank. A flight commander wore a star above a lieutenant's two rank stripes, squadron commander wore two stars above two rank stripes (less than eight years' seniority) or two-and-a-half rank stripes (over eight years seniority), and wing commander wore three rank stripes. The rank stripes had the usual Royal Navy curl, and they were surmounted by an eagle. In the United States Navy , United States Coast Guard , United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps , and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps , commander (abbreviated "CDR")
14022-423: The assembly line in mid-1938 and was flown by Jeffrey Quill on 15 May 1938, almost 24 months after the initial order. The final cost of the first 310 aircraft, after delays and increased programme costs, came to £1,870,242 or £1,533 more per aircraft than originally estimated. A production aircraft cost about £9,500. The most expensive components were the hand-fabricated and finished fuselage at roughly £2,500, then
14193-454: The bending loads on the main-spar during landing. Ahead of the spar, the thick-skinned leading edge of the wing formed a strong and rigid, D-shaped box, which took most of the wing loads. At the time the wing was designed, this D-shaped leading edge was intended to house steam condensers for the evaporative cooling system intended for the PV-XII. Constant problems with the evaporative system in
14364-413: The brass version of the captain's insignia. In some other police or sheriff's departments where the captains have brass insignias instead of silver, such as Florida's Lee County Sheriff's Department, commanders are above captains, and below majors, with the insignia being brass captain's bars with wreathes around. Northport's police commanders have the insignia of second lieutenants. Commander is also used as
14535-481: The circumstances in which they were subsequently used. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War , many of the aircraft operated by the FAA had been designed on the assumption that, Germany possessing no aircraft carriers, overall performance was to be of a secondary nature compared to the other duties required, such as observation and spotting, but, by 1941, these aircraft had become obsolete in comparison to
14706-424: The coast of Japan during the final months of the war. The Seafires' best day was 15 August 1945, shooting down eight attacking aircraft for one loss. During the campaign 887 NAS claimed 12 kills and 894 NAS claimed 10 kills (with two more claims earlier in 1944 over Norway ). The top scoring Seafire pilot of the war was Sub-Lieutenant R.H. Reynolds DSC of 894, who claimed 4.5 air victories in 1944–5. During
14877-402: The company in the Southampton area. Quill devised the standard testing procedures, which with variations for specific aircraft designs operated from 1938. Alex Henshaw , chief test pilot at Castle Bromwich from 1940, was placed in charge of testing all Spitfires built at that factory. He co-ordinated a team of 25 pilots and assessed all Spitfire developments. Between 1940 and 1946, Henshaw flew
15048-662: The continental orders of chivalry. The United Kingdom uses different classifications. In most of the British orders of knighthood, the grade of knight (or dame) commander is the lowest grade of knighthood, but is above the grade of companion (which does not carry a knighthood). In the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of the British Empire , the grade of commander is senior to the grade of lieutenant or officer, but junior to that of knight or dame commander. In
15219-458: The cut down rear fuselage and "teardrop" canopy. Again the wing had not been modified to fold. The electrical equipment was changed from a 12 volt system to 24 volts. The fuel system was modified over that of the Seafire 45 to incorporate an extra 32 imp gal (150 L) fuel tank in the rear fuselage, while the wings were plumbed to allow for a 22.5 imp gal (102 L) combat tank carried underneath each wing. In addition
15390-403: The deck during an arrested landing and the softer oleos stopped the aircraft from occasionally bouncing over the arrestor wires and into the crash barrier. Most production XVIIs had the cut down rear fuselage and teardrop canopy (the windscreen was modified to a rounded section, with narrow quarter windows, rather than the flat windscreen used on Spitfires) and an extra 33 gallon fuel tank fitted in
15561-418: The design was a compromise and suffered many losses through structural damage that was inflicted by heavy landings on carrier decks: a problem that continued even with the strengthening introduced by the Mk.II. The Seafire had a narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not well suited to deck operations. The many modifications had shifted the centre-of-gravity aft, making low-speed control difficult and
15732-405: The end of each main wing assembly. When the Spitfire took on a role as a high-altitude fighter (Marks VI and VII and some early Mk VIIIs), the standard wing tips were replaced by extended, "pointed" tips which increased the wingspan from 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) to 40 ft 2 in (12.24 m). The other wing-tip variation, used by several Spitfire variants, was the "clipped" wing;
15903-507: The end of the Second World War. Canada's Seafire Mk.XVs were flown from HMS Warrior and then HMCS Magnificent before being replaced by Sea Furies in 1948. France received 65 Seafire Mk.IIIs, 24 of these being deployed on the carrier Arromanches in 1948 when it sailed for Vietnam to fight in the First Indochina War , the Seafires operating from land bases and from Arromanches on ground attack missions against
16074-426: The equivalent rank standing of commanders. This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of commander, lieutenant colonel, or wing commander, the chaplain is a superior. To those officers ranked higher than commander, the chaplain is subordinate. Although this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are in divisions 1, 2 or 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, and they hold no command privilege. Commander
16245-513: The fabric covering of the ailerons "ballooned" at high speeds, adversely affecting the aerodynamics. Replacing the fabric covering with light alloy dramatically improved the ailerons at high speed. During the Battle of Britain, pilots found the Spitfire's ailerons were far too heavy at high speeds, severely restricting lateral manoeuvres such as rolls and high-speed turns, which were still a feature of air-to-air combat. The Spitfire had detachable wing tips which were secured by two mounting points at
16416-567: The final approach and for landing, and the pilot was to retract them before taxiing. The ellipse also served as the design basis for the Spitfire's fin and tailplane assembly, once again exploiting the shape's favourable aerodynamic characteristics. Both the elevators and rudder were shaped so that their centre of mass was shifted forward, reducing control-surface flutter. The longer noses and greater propeller-wash resulting from larger engines in later models necessitated increasingly larger vertical, and later, horizontal tail surfaces to compensate for
16587-476: The final years of the Pacific War. The Seafire continued to be used after the end of the war, but the FAA withdraw all its Merlin -powered Seafires and replaced them with Griffon -powered counterparts. The type saw further combat use during the Korean War , in which FAA Seafires performed hundreds of missions in the ground attack and combat air patrol roles against North Korean forces in 1950. The Seafire
16758-434: The first Spitfires were being built in June 1940, the factory was still incomplete, and suffering from personnel problems. The Spitfire's stressed-skin construction required precision engineering skills and techniques that were beyond the capabilities of the local labour force, and some time was required to retrain them. Difficulties arose with management, who ignored Supermarine's tooling and drawings in favour of their own, and
16929-477: The first four aircraft, with manually folded wings, the Mk.47 incorporated hydraulically powered wing folding, the outer wings folding upwards in one piece, without the folding wingtips of earlier marks. All Mk.47s adopted the Rotol contra-rotating propellers. The Mk.47 also featured a long supercharger air-duct, the intake of which started just behind the spinner and a modified curved windscreen, similar to that used on
17100-474: The focal points for these workshops: Southampton's Eastleigh Airport; Salisbury and the High Post and Chattis Hill aerodromes; Trowbridge and RAF Keevil ; and Reading's Henley and Aldermaston aerodromes. Completed Spitfires were delivered to the airfields on Commer " Queen Mary " low-loader trailers, there to be fully assembled, tested, then passed on to the RAF. An experimental factory at Newbury
17271-472: The folding wings needed to allow them to be used on board some Royal Navy carriers, some of which had small aircraft elevators unable to accommodate the full wingspan of the Seafires. The Seafire F Mk.III was the first true carrier adaptation of the Spitfire design. It was developed from the Seafire Mk.IIc, but incorporated manually folding wings allowing more of these aircraft to be spotted on deck or in
17442-578: The folding wings. During the 1950s, an unsuccessful attempt to recycle the Merlin engines was made, by replacing the ailing Bedford engine in a Churchill tank with an engine from a scrapped Seafire. On 19 June 1954, the last Spitfire in Irish service was withdrawn. Data from Supermarine aircraft since 1914, General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire
17613-428: The four main fuselage longerons to the rest of the airframe. Behind the bulkhead were five U-shaped half-frames which accommodated the fuel tanks and cockpit. The rear fuselage started at the 11th frame, to which the pilot's seat and (later) armour plating were attached, and ended at the 19th, which was mounted at a slight forward angle just forward of the fin. Each of these nine frames was oval, reducing in size towards
17784-477: The fuselage, wings, and tailplane was secured by dome-headed rivets, and in critical areas such as the wing forward of the main spar where an uninterrupted airflow was required, with flush rivets. From February 1943 flush riveting was used on the fuselage, affecting all Spitfire variants. In some areas, such as at the rear of the wing and the lower tailplane skins, the top was riveted and the bottom fixed by brass screws which tapped into strips of spruce bolted to
17955-520: The gap until the Fulmar's replacement (Specification N.5/40 – which would be the Fairey Firefly ) was able to enter service, it was decided to instead order a number of Grumman Wildcats from America to equip the FAA. These aircraft would enter service towards the end of 1940 as the Martlet . During late 1941 and early 1942, the Admiralty again assessed the Spitfire for possible conversion. In late 1941,
18126-497: The guns and welcomed the reduction which would reduce weight. A specification for an eight gun fighter, F5/34 had come from a recommendation by Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley of the Operational Requirements section at the Air Ministry. In the redesign the change was made from Vickers machine guns to .303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings) , and the fuel tankage dropped to 75 gallons from 94. On 5 March 1936,
18297-461: The hangars below. Supermarine devised a system of two straight chordwise folds; a break was introduced immediately outboard of the wheel-wells from which the wing hinged upwards and slightly angled towards the fuselage. A second hinge at each wingtip join allowed the tips to fold down (when the wings were folded the wingtips were folded outwards). This version used the more powerful Merlin 55 ( F Mk.III and FR Mk.III ) or Merlin 55M ( L Mk.III ), driving
18468-499: The immediate post-war service, the Fleet Air Arm quickly replaced its Merlin-powered Seafires with Griffon-powered counterparts. Accordingly, the service initially adopted the Seafire Mk.XV and Mk.17; from 1948, the FAA began accepting the definitive model of the Seafire, the Mk.47. In 1950, HMS Triumph started a tour of the Far East, embarking 800 Naval Air Squadron with Seafire 47s along with 827 Naval Air Squadron equipped with
18639-485: The last of the 22,000 aircraft built under the Spitfire/Seafire program, left the production line at Supermarine on 28 January 1949. The maximum level speed for this mark was: 451mph at 20,000ft or 433mph at 24,000ft, ceiling: 43,100ft, range: 405 miles plus 15 minutes combat. The Spitfire's original role, in which it proved formidable, was that of short-range land-based interceptor. As a carrier based fighter,
18810-646: The later marks, although they were faster than the earlier ones, were also much heavier, so did not handle so well. You did not have such positive control over them. One test of manoeuvrability was to throw her into a flick-roll and see how many times she rolled. With the Mark II or the Mark V one got two-and-a-half flick-rolls, but the Mark IX was heavier and you got only one-and-a-half. With the later and still heavier versions, one got even less. The essence of aircraft design
18981-755: The latter half of the war, the Seafire saw increasing service as part of Britain's contribution to the Far East Pacific campaigns, serving with No. 887 and 894 Squadrons, Fleet Air Arm , aboard HMS Indefatigable and joining the British Pacific Fleet late in 1944. As range quickly became a detrimental factor in Pacific operations, Seafires in this theatre were often fitted with additional fuel tanks previously used by Curtiss P-40 Warhawks . Due to their good high altitude performance and lack of ordnance-carrying capabilities (compared to
19152-572: The leading edges of the wings with capacities of 12.5 and 5.5 imp gal (57 and 25 L) respectively. The Seafire F Mk.45 entered service with 778 Squadron in November 1946 and a few were modified to FR Mk.45s in March 1947 by being fitted with two F24 cameras in the rear fuselage. Fifty F Mk.45s were built by the Castle Bromwich factory. The Seafire F Mk.46 and FR Mk.46 was a Spitfire F Mk.22 modified to naval standard and featured
19323-411: The lift of the right wing (the Griffon engines rotated anti-clockwise) which would lose lift and even stall at moderate speeds. The increased weight of the engine meant that the take-off had to be longer, which proved very dangerous from most British carriers. The increased weight of the engine further affected the centre of gravity that Mitchell had concentrated on so carefully in the original Spitfire. As
19494-571: The limits of its performance. This washout was first featured in the wing of the Type 224, and became a consistent feature in subsequent designs leading to the Spitfire. The complex wing design, especially the precision required to manufacture the vital spar and leading-edge structures, caused some major delays in the production of the Spitfire at first. The problems increased when the work was put out to subcontractors, most of whom had never dealt with metal-structured, high-speed aircraft. By June 1939, most of these problems had been resolved, and production
19665-758: The longer range fighters, such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat , took on a similar role further out and at higher altitudes. The Seafire II outperformed the A6M-5 Zero at low altitudes when the two types were tested against each other. Contemporary Allied aircraft which had been specifically designed for carrier use, such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat, were considerably larger and more robust. The more powerful Seafire III enjoyed better climb rates and acceleration than these other fighters. Late-war Seafire models equipped with Griffon engines enjoyed
19836-608: The lower rear fuselage which incorporated an A-frame style arrestor hook and strengthened lower longerons . It was soon discovered that the fuselage, especially around hatches, was too weak for carrier operations. In an attempt to alleviate this condition, reinforcing strips were riveted around hatch openings and along the main fuselage longerons. A further 118 Seafire Mk.Ibs incorporating the fuselage reinforcements were modified from Spitfire Vbs by Cunliffe-Owen at Eastleigh and Air Training Service. These aircraft were equipped with Naval HF radio equipment and IFF equipment as well as
20007-466: The lower ribs. The removable wing tips were made up of duralumin-skinned spruce formers. At first, the ailerons, elevators, and rudder were fabric-covered, but once combat experience showed that fabric-covered ailerons were impossible to use at high speeds a light alloy replaced the fabric, enhancing control throughout the speed range. In 1934, Mitchell and the design staff decided to use a semi-elliptical wing shape to solve two conflicting requirements;
20178-536: The main spar, preventing the wings from twisting. Mitchell has sometimes been accused of copying the wing shape of the Günter brothers -designed Heinkel He 70 , which first flew in 1932, but as Beverley Shenstone , the aerodynamicist on Mitchell's team, explained: "Our wing was much thinner and had quite a different section to that of the Heinkel. In any case, it would have been simply asking for trouble to have copied
20349-457: The military, who favoured the biplane's simplicity and manoeuvrability. Mitchell's design aims were to create a well-balanced, high-performance fighter aircraft capable of fully exploiting the power of the Merlin engine, while being relatively easy to fly. At the time, with France as an ally , and Germany thought to be the most likely future opponent, no enemy fighters were expected to appear over Great Britain. German bombers would have to fly to
20520-469: The much lighter Merlin engined Spitfires, meaning that the swing was often accompanied by a series of hops. As an interim measure it was recommended that pilots avoid using full power on take-off (+10 lb (4.5 kg) "boost" maximum was recommended). There were also problems involved with this swing being strongly accentuated in the event of an asymmetric firing of the RATOG equipment. In the event, none of
20691-496: The navy of the Dutch Republic , anyone who commanded a ship or a fleet without having an appropriate rank to do so could be called a Commandeur . This included ad hoc fleet commanders and acting captains ( Luitenant-Commandeur ). In the fleet of the Admiralty of Zeeland however, commandeur was a formal rank, the equivalent of Schout-bij-nacht (rear-admiral) in the other Dutch admiralties. The Dutch use of
20862-403: The necessary strength. But near the root the wing had to be thick enough to accommodate the retracted undercarriages and the guns ... Mitchell was an intensely practical man ... The ellipse was simply the shape that allowed us the thinnest possible wing with room inside to carry the necessary structure and the things we wanted to cram in. And it looked nice. The wing section used was from
21033-557: The new wing could give an increase in speed of 55 mph (48 kn; 89 km/h) over the Spitfire Mk 21. The new wing was initially fitted to a Spitfire Mk XIV. Later, a new fuselage was designed, with the new fighter becoming the Supermarine Spiteful . The Rolls Royce engine's designers deliberately chose a carburettor for the Merlin engine: Sir Stanley Hooker explained in his autobiography that "the Germans paid
21204-439: The next month, other raids were mounted, until, on 26 September 1940, both factories were destroyed, with 92 people killed and a large number injured. Most of the casualties were experienced aircraft-production workers. Fortunately for the future of the Spitfire, many of the production jigs and machine tools had already been relocated by 20 September, and steps were being taken to disperse production to small facilities throughout
21375-548: The other military services are entitled to embellishment of similar headgear at O-4 rank. Promotion to commander in the U.S. Navy is governed by United States Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) of 1980 or its companion Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act (ROPMA). DOPMA/ROPMA guidelines suggest that 70% of lieutenant commanders should be promoted to commander after serving
21546-523: The police, terms such as " borough commander" and " incident commander " are used. Commander is a rank used in navies , but is very rarely used as a rank in armies . In most armies, the term "commander" is used as a job title. For example, in the US Army , an officer with the rank of captain ( NATO rank code OF-2 ) may hold the title of " company commander ", whereas an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel ( NATO rank code OF-4 ) typically holds
21717-399: The propeller unit, to the tail unit attachment frame. The first four frames supported the glycol header tank and engine cowlings. Frame five, to which the engine bearers were secured, supported the weight of the engine and its accessories. This was a strengthened double frame which also incorporated the fireproof bulkhead, and in later versions of the Spitfire, the oil tank. This frame also tied
21888-485: The prototype ( K5054 ) , fitted with a fine-pitch propeller to give more power for takeoff, took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport). At the controls was Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers , chief test pilot for Vickers, who is quoted as saying, "don't touch anything" on landing. This eight-minute flight came four months after the maiden flight of the contemporary Hurricane. K5054
22059-514: The prototype for the RAF. He had been given orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing. Edwardes-Jones' report was positive; his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with an undercarriage position indicator. A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires, at a cost of £ 1,395,000. before the A&;AEE had issued any formal report. Interim reports were later issued on
22230-404: The radiator under the starboard wing was halved in size and the intercooler radiator housed alongside. Under the port wing, a new radiator fairing housed a square oil cooler alongside of the other half-radiator unit. The two radiator flaps were now operated automatically by a thermostat . Another wing feature was its washout . The trailing edge of the wing twisted slightly upward along its span,
22401-441: The rank equates to assistant chief constable which bears the same insignia. The Metropolitan Police introduced the rank in 1946, after the rank of deputy assistant commissioner was split in two, with senior DACs keeping that rank and title and junior DACs being regraded as commanders. The Metropolitan Police also used the rank of deputy commander , ranking just below that of commander, between 1946 and 1968. Officers in charge of
22572-457: The rank of commander due to the size, complexity, and high-profile nature of the borough. The Metropolitan Police Service announced that by summer 2018 the rank would be phased out, along with that of chief inspector . However, in August 2017 it was announced that the new Commissioner Cressida Dick had cancelled the plan to phase them out. The rank badge worn by a commander or an assistant chief constable consists of crossed tipstaves within
22743-402: The rank of commander exists as kommandørkaptajn (commander captain or commanding captain), which is senior to orlogskaptajn (captain) and kommandør (commander), which is senior to kommandørkaptajn . Kommandørkaptajn is officially translated into English as "Commander, Senior Grade", while orlogskaptajn is officially translated as '"Commander." A commander in the Royal Navy
22914-432: The rated altitude of one or both supercharger blowers. Then I would make a careful check of the power output from the engine, calibrated for height and temperature ... If all appeared satisfactory, I would then put her into a dive at full power and 3,000 rpm, and trim her to fly hands and feet off at 460 mph (740 km/h) IAS (Indicated Air Speed). Personally, I never cleared a Spitfire unless I had carried out
23085-437: The rear fuselage. The wings were reinforced, with a stronger mainspar necessitated by the new undercarriage, and they were able to carry heavier underwing loads than previous Seafire variants. 232 of this variant were built by Westland (212) and Cunliffe-Owen(20). The Seafire F Mk.45 and FR Mk.45 was the first to use a Griffon 60 series engine with a two-stage, two speed supercharger. The prototype TM379 had been modified from
23256-493: The same four-bladed propeller unit used by the IIc series; the Merlin 55M was another version of the Merlin for maximum performance at low altitude. Other modifications that were made on the Spitfire made their way to the Seafire as well including a slim Aero-Vee air filter and six-stack ejector type exhausts. The shorter barrelled, lightweight Hispano Mk.V cannon were introduced during production as were overload fuel tank fittings in
23427-488: The standard wing tips were replaced by wooden fairings which reduced the span by 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m). The wing tips used spruce formers for most of the internal structure with a light alloy skin attached using brass screws. The light alloy split flaps at the trailing edge of the wing were also pneumatically operated via a finger lever on the instrument panel. Only two positions were available; fully up or fully down (85°). Flaps were normally lowered only during
23598-439: The swing to starboard of previous Griffon engined variants. 200 of the Mk.46s were ordered but only 24 were built, all by Supermarine. The final version of the Seafire was the Seafire F Mk.47 and FR Mk.47 . There was no true prototype, instead the first production aircraft PS944 and PS945 served as trials aircraft. As the "definitive" carrier based Seafire, the Mk.47 incorporated several refinements over earlier variants. After
23769-430: The tail, and incorporated several lightening holes to reduce their weight as much as possible without weakening them. The U-shaped frame 20 was the last frame of the fuselage proper and the frame to which the tail unit was attached. Frames 21, 22 and 23 formed the fin; frame 22 incorporated the tailwheel opening and frame 23 was the rudder post. Before being attached to the main fuselage, the tail unit frames were held in
23940-468: The term "commander" is applied officially to the commanding officer of a Space Force unit; hence, there are squadron commanders, delta commanders, and commanders of field commands . In rank, a squadron commander is a lieutenant colonel , a delta commander is a colonel , and the commander of a field command is a major general or lieutenant general . In NASA spacecraft missions since the beginning of Project Gemini , one crew member on each spacecraft
24111-410: The term "commander" is officially applied to the commanding officer of army units; hence, there are company commanders , battalion commanders , brigade commanders , and so forth. At the highest levels of U.S. military command structure, "commander" also refers to what used to be called commander-in-chief , or CINC, until October 24, 2002, although the term CINC is still used in casual speech. In
24282-472: The term "master and commander" remained (unofficially) in common parlance for several years. The equivalent American rank master commandant remained in use until changed to commander in 1838. A corresponding rank in some navies is frigate captain . In the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4. Various functions of commanding officers were also styled commander . In
24453-612: The theatre. In July 1943, the Seafire was used to provide air cover for the Allied invasion of Sicily ; and reprised this role in September 1943 during the subsequent Allied invasion of Italy , being used to maintain continuous air cover of the beachheads , the type being almost entirely responsible for this task. During the latter operation, around half of the taskforce's Seafires were inoperable within four days, primarily due to landing accidents. During 1944, Seafires were used for air cover in support of several aerial bombing missions against
24624-452: The theoretical aileron reversal speed was increased to 825 mph (717 kn; 1,328 km/h). Alongside the redesigned wing, Supermarine also experimented with the original wing, raising the leading edge by 1 inch (25 mm), with the hope of improving pilot view and reducing drag. This wing was tested on a modified F Mk 21, also called the F Mk 23, (sometimes referred to as "Valiant" rather than "Spitfire"). The increase in performance
24795-826: The title as a rank lives on in the Royal Netherlands Navy , as the equivalent of commodore . In the Royal Netherlands Air Force , however, this rank is known by the English spelling of commodore which is the Dutch equivalent of the British air commodore . The rank of commander in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is identical in description to that of a commander in the British Royal Navy . RAN chaplains who are in divisions 1, 2 or 3 (of five divisions) have
24966-530: The title of " battalion commander". The title, originally "master and commander", originated in the 18th century to describe naval officers who commanded ships of war too large to be commanded by a lieutenant but too small to warrant the assignment of a post-captain and (before about 1770) a sailing master ; the commanding officer served as his own master. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns. The Royal Navy shortened "master and commander" to "commander" in 1794; however,
25137-556: The top speed was just 330 mph (528 km/h), little faster than Sydney Camm 's new Merlin-powered Hurricane. A new and better-shaped, two-bladed, wooden propeller allowed the Spitfire to reach 348 mph (557 km/h) in level flight in mid-May, when Summers flew K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE). Here, Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Edwardes-Jones took over
25308-436: The twelve geographical Basic Command Units are referred to as "BCU commander". However, the officers do not hold the rank of commander but instead hold the rank of chief superintendent. Prior to organisational change merging boroughs in to BCUs, officers in charge of policing each of the London's boroughs were given the title "borough commander". A previous exception to this was the borough commander of Westminster , who held
25479-435: The type. There were concerns over weak undercarriages , which had not been strengthened to naval standards, but performance was acceptable. From 1942 on, further Seafire models were ordered, including the first operationally-viable Seafire F Mk.III variant. This led to widespread use with the FAA. In November 1942, the first Seafire combat occurred during Operation Torch , the Allied landings in North Africa . In July 1943,
25650-432: The war was over. The low point of Seafire operations came during Operation Avalanche the invasion of Salerno in September 1943. Of the 106 Seafires available to the British escort carriers on 9 September only 39 were serviceable by the dawn of D-Day plus Two (11 September). Part of this was attributed to the flat, calm conditions present, which meant that there had not been enough headwind in order to adequately slow down
25821-461: The windscreen back to a standard Spitfire 24 unit, this was never done. Performance tests showed that the Mk.47 was slightly slower than the Mk.46 in maximum and climbing speeds, mainly due to the long supercharger air intake, which was less efficient than the shorter type fitted to earlier Seafires. The first fourteen aircraft were powered by the Griffon 87, but the rest of the 89 production aircraft (built by Supermarine at South Marston) were powered by
25992-405: The wing needed to be thin to avoid creating too much drag , but it had to be thick enough to house the retractable undercarriage, armament, and ammunition. An elliptical planform is the most efficient aerodynamic shape for an untwisted wing, leading to the lowest amount of induced drag . The ellipse was skewed so that the centre of pressure, which occurs at the quarter- chord position, aligned with
26163-555: The wings This Mark was built in larger numbers than any other Seafire variant; of the 1,220 manufactured Westland built 870 and Cunliffe Owen 350. In 1947 12 Mk.IIIs were stripped of their naval equipment by Supermarine and delivered to the Irish Air Corps . After the Mk.III series, the next Seafire variant to appear was the Seafire F Mk.XV , which was powered by a Griffon VI – single-stage supercharger, rated at 1,850 hp (1,380 kW) at 2,000 ft (610 m) driving
26334-479: The wings had been designed with a fold just outboard of the undercarriage bays; as such, the outer wings would have swivelled and folded backwards to face parallel with the fuselage. On 29 February 1940, the Admiralty requested that the Air Ministry formally sanction the production of 50 folding-wing Spitfires, the first of which was to be delivered in July that year. For various reasons, Winston Churchill , who
26505-454: The workforce continually threatened strikes or "slow downs" until their demands for higher wages were met. In spite of promises that the factory would be producing 60 per week starting in April, by May 1940, Castle Bromwich had not yet built its first Spitfire. On 17 May, Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook telephoned Lord Nuffield and manoeuvred him into handing over control of
26676-523: Was First Lord of the Admiralty , cancelled the order, writing to Lord Beaverbrook : "I regard it as of very great importance that the production of Fulmars should be kept going". At a time of considerable demand for land-based Spitfires, due to the Fall of France and the subsequent Battle of Britain , the diversion of resources to facilitate the development and manufacture of a naval variant would have naturally reduced Spitfire production. To partially cover
26847-481: Was accepted for service. The Type 224 was a big disappointment to Mitchell and his design team, who immediately embarked on a series of "cleaned-up" designs, using their experience with the Schneider Trophy seaplanes as a starting point. This led to the Type 300, with retractable undercarriage and a wingspan reduced by 6 ft (1.8 m). This design was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934, but
27018-469: Was based on the Spitfire Vc . The Vc had several refinements over the Spitfire Vb. Apart from the modifications included in the main batch of Seafire Ibs this version incorporated catapult spools , and a single slinging lug on either side of the fuselage, just behind the engine bulkhead. Three subtypes were produced, the F Mk.IIc and FR Mk.IIc (fighter reconnaissance), powered by a Merlin 46 , and
27189-466: Was built at Star Road, Caversham in Reading. The drawing office in which all Spitfire designs were drafted was moved to Hursley Park , near Winchester . This site also had an aircraft assembly hangar where many prototype and experimental Spitfires were assembled, but since it had no associated aerodrome, no Spitfires ever flew from Hursley. Four towns and their satellite airfields were chosen to be
27360-414: Was fitted with a new propeller, and Summers flew the aircraft on 10 March 1936; during this flight, the undercarriage was retracted for the first time. After the fourth flight, a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire was a very capable aircraft, but not perfect. The rudder was oversensitive, and
27531-526: Was later adapted to house integral fuel tanks of various sizes — a feature patented by Vickers-Supermarine in 1938. The airflow through the main radiator was controlled by pneumatic exit flaps. In early marks of the Spitfire (Mk I to Mk VI), the single flap was operated manually using a lever to the left of the pilot's seat. When the two-stage Merlin was introduced in the Spitfire Mk IX , the radiators were split to make room for an intercooler radiator;
27702-404: Was little need for it, and due to the risks posed by asymmetric ignition. The IIc model was the first of the Seafires to be deployed operationally in large numbers, Supermarine constructed 262 of this model and a further 110 being built by Westland , who also built 30 Seafire Mk.III (Hybrid) (Mk.IIIs without folding wings). Although developed for aircraft carrier use, this version still lacked
27873-551: Was minimal and this experiment was abandoned. Supermarine developed a new laminar-flow wing based on new aerofoil profiles developed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in the United States, with the objective of reducing drag and improving performance. These laminar-flow airfoils were the Supermarine 371-I used at the root and the 371-II used at the tip. Supermarine estimated that
28044-484: Was no longer held up by a lack of wings. All the main flight controls were originally metal structures with fabric covering. Designers and pilots felt that having ailerons which required a degree of effort to move at high speed would avoid unintended aileron reversal, throwing the aircraft around and potentially pulling the wings off. Air combat was also felt to take place at relatively low speeds and high-speed manoeuvring would be physically impossible. Flight tests showed
28215-422: Was not accepted. It then went through a series of changes, including the incorporation of an enclosed cockpit, oxygen-breathing apparatus, smaller and thinner wings, and the newly developed, more powerful Rolls-Royce PV XII V-12 engine , which was later named the "Merlin". In November 1934, Mitchell, with the backing of Supermarine's owner Vickers-Armstrong , started detailed design work on this refined version of
28386-451: Was somewhat lower than that of some contemporary fighters. The Royal Aircraft Establishment noted that, at 400 mph (350 kn; 640 km/h) indicated airspeed , roughly 65% of aileron effectiveness was lost due to wing twist. The new wing of the Spitfire F Mk 21 and its successors was designed to help alleviate this problem. Its stiffness was increased by 47%, and a new aileron design using piano hinges and geared trim tabs meant
28557-515: Was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlins, and in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW). As a result, the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life. During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the more numerous Hurricane flew more sorties resisting the Luftwaffe , but
28728-408: Was the poor deck behaviour of this mark, especially on take-off. At full power the slipstream of the propeller, which swung to the left (as opposed to the Merlin, which swung to the right), often forced the Seafire to swing to starboard, even with the rudder hard over on opposite lock. This sometimes led to a collision with the carrier's island. The undercarriage oleo legs were still the same of those of
28899-445: Was the subject of a Luftwaffe daylight raid, but the bombs missed their target and hit a nearby school. All production aircraft were flight tested before delivery. During the Second World War, Jeffrey Quill was Vickers Supermarine's chief test pilot, in charge of flight testing all aircraft types built by Vickers Supermarine. He oversaw a group of 10 to 12 pilots responsible for testing all developmental and production Spitfires built by
29070-419: Was to subcontract the work. Although outside contractors were supposed to be involved in manufacturing many important Spitfire components, especially the wings, Vickers-Armstrongs (the parent company) was reluctant to see the Spitfire being manufactured by outside concerns, and was slow to release the necessary blueprints and subcomponents. As a result of the delays in getting the Spitfire into full production,
29241-497: Was withdrawn from service during the 1950s. In FAA service, the type had been replaced by the Hawker Sea Fury , the last piston engine fighter to be used by the service, along with the first generation of jet-propelled naval fighters, such as the de Havilland Sea Vampire , Supermarine Attacker , and Hawker Sea Hawk . The Admiralty first showed an interest in the idea of a carrier-borne Spitfire in May 1938 when, during
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