The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and first flown in 1933. It was operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and also served with the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). It was the first British squadron-service aircraft to incorporate a fully retractable main undercarriage, completely enclosed crew accommodation, and an all-metal fuselage in one airframe. Designed for use as a fleet spotter to be catapult launched from cruisers or battleships, the Walrus was later employed in a variety of other roles, most notably as a rescue aircraft for downed aircrew. It continued in service throughout the Second World War.
Although the aircraft typically flew with one pilot, there were positions for two. The left-hand position was the main one, with the instrument panel and a fixed seat, while the right-hand seat could be folded away to allow access to the nose gun-position via a crawl-way. An unusual feature was that the control column was not a fixed fitting in the usual way, but could be unplugged from either of two sockets at floor level. It became a habit for only one column to be in use; and when control was passed from the pilot to co-pilot or vice versa, the control column would simply be unplugged and handed over. Behind the cockpit, there was a small cabin with work stations for the navigator and radio operator.Armament usually consisted of two .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns, one in each of the open positions in the nose and rear fuselage; with provision for carrying bombs or depth charges mounted beneath the lower wings. Like other flying boats, the Walrus carried marine equipment for use on the water, including an anchor, towing and mooring cables, drogues and a boat-hook.
The first Seagull V, A2-1, was handed over to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1935, with the last, A2-24 delivered in 1937. The type served aboard HMA Ships Australia, Canberra, Sydney, Perth and Hobart. Walrus deliveries to the RAF started in 1936 when the first example to be deployed was assigned to the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy, on Achilles– one of the Leander-class light cruisers that carried one Walrus each. The Royal Navy Town-class cruisers carried two Walruses during the early part of the war and Walruses also equipped the York-class and County-class heavy cruisers. Some battleships, such as Warspite and Rodney carried Walruses, as did the monitor Terror and the seaplane tender Albatross.
By the start of World War II the Walrus was in widespread use. Although its principal intended use was gunnery spotting in naval actions, this only occurred twice: Walruses from Renown and Manchester were launched in the Battle of Cape Spartivento and a Walrus from Gloucester was used in the Battle of Cape Matapan. The main task of ship-based aircraft was patrolling for Axis submarines and surface-raiders, and by March 1941, Walruses were being deployed with Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) radars to assist in this. During the Norwegian Campaign and the East African Campaign, they also saw very limited use in bombing and strafing shore targets. In August 1940, a Walrus operating from Hobart bombed and machine-gunned an Italian headquarters at Zeila in Somalia.
By 1943, catapult-launched aircraft on cruisers and battleships were being phased out; their role at sea was taken over by much improved radar. Also, a hangar and catapult occupied a considerable amount of valuable space on a warship. However, Walruses continued to fly from Royal Navy carriers for air-sea rescue and general communications tasks. Their low landing speed meant they could make a carrier landing despite having no flaps or tail hook.
The Walrus was used in the air-sea rescue role in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The specialist RAF Air Sea Rescue Service squadrons flew a variety of aircraft, using Spitfires and Boulton Paul Defiants to patrol for downed aircrew, Avro Ansons to drop supplies and dinghies, and Walruses to pick up aircrew from the water. RAF air-sea rescue squadrons were deployed to cover the waters around the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Over a thousand aircrew were picked up during these operations, with 277 Squadron responsible for 598 of these.
Three examples survive in museums in addition to one that is privately owned.
Seagull V A2-4 is one of the original Australian aircraft, and now on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London. Built in 1934, it arrived in Australia in early 1936 where it was initially allocated to No. 101 Flight RAAF. Before the war, it had various duties, which included survey work and flying from HMAS Sydney. It served for most of the war with No. 9 Squadron RAAF in Australia. In 1946, it was sold to civilian owners and allocated the civil registration VH–ALB. During the 1950s and 60s, it was flown by several Australian private owners before being badly damaged in a take- off accident in 1970 at Taree, New South Wales. The vandalised, derelict wreck was subsequently acquired from its owner by the RAF Museum, in exchange for a Spitfire and a cash payment. In 1973, it was flown back to the United Kingdom by an RAF Short Belfast via the Pacific and the United States, although the aircraft had to be fumigated in Hawaii due to the discovery of Black widow spiders. Restoration immediately began after its arrival at the RAF Museum store at RAF Henlow and it has been on display at Hendon since 1979.
The Walrus displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton is a composite aircraft, constructed using the fuselage and engine of Walrus L2301. Built in 1939, this aircraft never flew in British military service. It was delivered to the Irish Air Corps, who flew it during World War II, when it carried the Irish designation N.18. During its delivery flight, on 3 March 1939, it suffered engine failure and later hull damage from ditching in the high seas. The aircraft was towed to the former launch strip for the Curtiss H-16s at the United States Naval Air Station, Ireland. On 9 January 1942 N.18 was stolen by four Irish nationals who intended to fly to France to join the Luftwaffe. However, they were intercepted by RAF Spitfires and escorted to RAF St Eval; the aircraft and its occupants were returned to Ireland. After the war, it was transferred to Aer Lingus and given the Irish civil registration EI-ACC. However, the Irish airline never flew it and instead sold it to Wing Commander Ronald Gustave Kellett in 1946 for £150.It was given the British civilian registration G-AIZG and flown until 1949 by members of No. 615 Squadron RAF for recreation. In 1963, it was recovered from a dump at Haddenham airfield (formerly RAF Thame) by members of the Historic Aircraft Preservation Society. They presented it to the Fleet Air Arm Museum who restored it between 1964 and 1966, it has been an exhibit at the Fleet Air Museum eve since.
Walrus HD874 is on display at the Royal Australian Air Force Museum. It was originally flown by the Fleet Air Arm, before being transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943. During the war, HD874 was flown by the RAAF’s No. 9 Squadron and No. 8 Communication Unit. Post-war, it was placed in storage until 1947, when it was issued to the RAAF’s Antarctic flight, for use on Heard Island. The Antarctic Flight only flew it once before it was badly damaged by a storm. It was recovered in 1980, and restored between 1993 and 2002.
Walrus W2718 (G-RNLI) was at one time part of the collection of Solent Sky, an air museum in Southampton. The museum began restoring the aircraft to flying condition. Later the project was sold to James Lyle and the restoration restarted in 2011 at Vintage Fabrics, Audley End, Essex.
New Tooling Announcement from Oxford Diecast & Latest Additions to the collection.
Hobbymaster and Century Wings Tomcat Arrivals !
Two Tomcats have landed at Sywell this week ! And they are already in limited supply in the U.K. Only 144 pieces of HA5201 have made it to the U.K. and it has already sold out at Hobbymaster and no more will be arriving ! Even fewer Century Wings CW00617 F-14D Tomcat have made the trip to the U.K. All Pre-Order models will be dispatched next week , but I have a few spare for those last minute orders. Please order early or be disappointed. Click on any of the images or links to go straight to the models.
Hobbymaster and Century Wings Tomcats New to Pre-Order !
Offers of the week
I have added quite a lot of New Sale Offers to the website today. I have included just a few of them below. Most of them are available in very limited quantities so be quick if any of them take your fancy ! Please click on the image or link on each aircraft below and it will take you straight to the model page. Alternatively please click on Offers of the Week link here to see them all.
Hobbymaster 1/48th scale HA7727 P-51D Mustang 413691 “Passion Wagon”, Capt. Charles E “Chuck” Weaver 362nd FS, 357th FG, 1944 RRP £72.00 Flying Tigers only £39.99
Website News
Flying Tigers has received large deliveries from Hobbymaster, Century Wings and Oxford Diecast all in the last couple of days ! We are busy completing your orders and will dispatch all your Pre-order models next week ! All those of you that have pre-ordered your models will receive them soon. If you haven’t pre-ordered and there are one or two models that you want… don’t hang about !
Once again thank you for taking time to read this week’s Newsletter.
Richard.
Flying Tigers.
