Sea Venom/Aquilon | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Fighter-bomber |
National origin | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | de Havilland Aircraft Company SNCASE |
Primary users | Royal Navy |
History | |
First flight | 19 April 1951 |
Retired | 1970 |
Developed from | de Havilland Venom |
The de Havilland DH.112 Sea Venom is a British postwar carrier-capable jet aircraft developed from the de Havilland Venom. It served with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and with the Royal Australian Navy. The French Navy operated the Aquilon, developed from the Sea Venom FAW.20, built under licence by SNCASE (Sud-Est).
The Sea Venom was the navalised version of the Venom NF.2 two-seat night fighter, and was used as an all-weather interceptor by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The necessary modifications for use on the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers included folding wings, a tailhook (which retracted into a characteristic "lip" over the jetpipe) and strengthened, long-stroke undercarriage. The canopy was modified to allow ejection from underwater. The first prototype made its first flight in 1951, and began carrier trials that same year. A further two prototypes were built. [1] The first production Sea Venom took the designation FAW.20 (Fighter, All-Weather). It was powered by a single de Havilland Ghost 103 turbojet engine and its armament was the same as the RAF version. The next variant was the FAW.21, which included the modifications introduced in the Venom NF.2A and NF.3. Some of these modifications included the Ghost 104 engine, a clear-view canopy and American radar. The final Royal Navy variant was the FAW.22 powered by the Ghost 105 engine. A total of 39 of this type were built in 1957–58. Some were later fitted out with the de Havilland Firestreak air-to-air missile.
Seven FAW.21s were modified in 1958 for Electronic countermeasures (ECM) purposes, with the cannon replaced by the ECM equipment. These became the ECM.21. 831 Naval Air Squadron, the sole squadron to be equipped with it, was shore-based at RAF Watton from 1963 and disbanded in 1966. Converted FAW.22s were similarly known as the ECM.22.
A modernised Sea Venom project, the DH.116 with swept wings and upgraded radar was considered, but cancelled as the Royal Navy believed that any replacement needed two engines. The de Havilland Sea Vixen ultimately replaced the Sea Venom.
In 1956 Sea Venoms, alongside RAF Venoms, took part in the Suez War. They were from Nos. 809, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895 [2] Naval Air Squadrons based on the light fleet carrier HMS Albion and fleet carrier HMS Eagle. The Anglo-French invasion, codenamed Operation Musketeer, began on 31 October 1956 signalling the beginning of the Suez War. The Sea Venoms launched many sorties, bombing a variety of targets in Egypt in the process.
Sea Venoms also saw service during conflicts in the Middle East.
By 1959, the Sea Venom began to be replaced in Royal Navy service by the de Havilland Sea Vixen, an aircraft that also had the distinctive twin-boom tail. The Sea Venom would be withdrawn from frontline service soon afterwards. The type continued to fly with second line FAA units until the last were withdrawn in 1970.
Thirty-nine Sea Venom FAW.53s saw service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), replacing the Hawker Sea Fury. The Sea Venom entered service in 1956 and, during its service with the RAN, operated off the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. It was taken out of first-line service in 1967, replaced by the American McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk.
From 1957 to 1961, French Navy Aquilons took part in counter-insurgency operations in Algeria. [3] They were withdrawn from service in 1965.
SNCASE (Sud-Est) license-built 101 Sea Venom FAW.20 as the Aquilon for the French Navy.
Data fromDe Havilland's Sea Venom [30] [31]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
The de Havilland DH.103 Hornet, developed by de Havilland, was a fighter aircraft driven by two piston engines. It further exploited the wooden construction techniques that had been pioneered by the de Havilland Mosquito. Development of the Hornet had started during the Second World War as a private venture. The aircraft was to conduct long range fighter operations in the Pacific Theatre against the Empire of Japan but the war ended before the Hornet reached operational squadron status.
The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its outdated plywood construction.
The de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen is a British twin-engine, twin boom-tailed, two-seat, carrier-based fleet air-defence fighter flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm from the 1950s to the early 1970s. The Sea Vixen was designed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company during the late 1940s at its Hatfield aircraft factory in Hertfordshire, developed from the company's earlier first generation jet fighters. It was later called the Hawker Siddeley Sea Vixen after de Havilland was absorbed by the Hawker Siddeley Corporation in 1960.
The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered combat aircraft; it was initially referred to as the Vampire FB 8 prior to the adoption of the Venom name.
Royal Air Force Kai Tak or more commonly RAF Kai Tak is a former Royal Air Force station situated in Hong Kong, at Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon. It was established by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1927 and used for seaplanes. The RAF flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units.
The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, UK.
816 Squadron is a Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron that started out as a Royal Navy unit, 816 Naval Air Squadron.
The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships, and paintings and drawings related to naval aviation. It is located on RNAS Yeovilton airfield, and the museum has viewing areas where visitors can watch military aircraft take off and land. At the entrance to the museum are anchors from HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle, fleet carriers which served the Royal Navy until the 1970s. It is located 7 miles (11 km) north of Yeovil, and 40 miles (64 km) south of Bristol.
892 Naval Air Squadron was a carrier-based fighter squadron of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was formed in 1943, flying Grumman Martlets, and was the only operational Fleet Air Arm squadron to fly the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1.
809 Naval Air Squadron, nicknamed the Immortals, is a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the United Kingdom. It was first formed in 1941 and flew in the Soviet Union, the Mediterranean and the Far East during the Second World War. After active service during the Suez Crisis, 809 was disbanded in 1959. Reformed in 1963 to fly Blackburn Buccaneers, the squadron was disbanded briefly in 1965–66, and then again in 1978. A brief period during the Falklands War saw 809 reformed to bring Sea Harrier FRS.1 aircraft south to the UK task group and to fly from HMS Illustrious.
808 Naval Air Squadron is a ship-based helicopter squadron of the Royal Australian Navy.
The Australian Fleet Air Arm Museum, formerly known as Australia's Museum of Flight, is a military aerospace museum located at the naval air station HMAS Albatross, near Nowra, New South Wales. The museum was opened in 1990, although efforts to preserve artifacts related to Australia's naval aviation history began in 1974. The museum houses aircraft used throughout the history of the Fleet Air Arm, the naval aviation branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), along with other aircraft of relevance to Australia's aviation history, and memorabilia relating to Australian aircraft carriers. The museum includes 34 aircraft and helicopters in its collection. It is open to the public daily, except for major public holidays. The museum building is also home to Albatross Aero Club.
899 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the United Kingdom.
The Queensland Air Museum is a not-for-profit all-volunteer aviation museum located near the Caloundra Airport in Queensland, Australia. Its mission is to collect and preserve all aspects of aviation heritage with an emphasis on Australia and Queensland. The museum has the largest and most diverse collection of historic aircraft in Australia and it also has a large collection of aircraft engines, equipment, artefacts, photographs, uniforms and books.
890 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.
893 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.
894 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.
738 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA), which last disbanded during May 1970 at HMS Goldcrest, RNAS Brawdy. It initially formed as a Pilot Training Squadron formed at HMS Asbury, RNAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, in February 1943. The squadron moved to RNAS Lewiston, Maine, United States, at the end of July 1943 and also providing advanced carrier training to American-trained Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) pilots and it later provided complete Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance (TBR) aircrew for Grumman Avenger FAA squadrons. The squadron moved to RNAS Brunswick, Maine, in February 1945 and disbanded there in July 1945. 738 Naval Air Squadron was next active as part of the Naval Air Fighter School, between May 1950 and March 1954, providing newly qualified FAA pilots the operational techniques of air-to-air and air-to-ground firing. It had formed at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall, England, moving to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth in 1953. It reformed in April 1954 at HMS Fulmar and now the squadron’s role was to instruct United States trained pilots on the British method and was also responsible for converting the FAA piston-engined pilots onto jet aircraft. It became an Advanced Flying Training Squadron in June 1962 providing training for low-level navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training.
766 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was to have initially formed in 1939 at HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent, as a Seaplane School, however, it formed at HMS Landrail, RNAS Machrihannish, as a Night ALT Course, in 1942. It moved to HMS Nightjar, RNAS Inskip, in 1943, to become part of No. 1 Naval Operational Training Unit. By 1944, it was operating over 30 Swordfish aircraft, but, during the year, also acquired Firefly aircraft from 1772 NAS, and Sea Hurricane aircraft from 760 NAS. It moved to HMS Merganser, RNAS Rattray, early in 1946, but later that year, moved to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth, where it received Seafire aircraft, along with being Part 1 of the Operational Flying School. By late 1951, Sea Fury trainer aircraft were also added to its varied list of types operated. In 1953, the squadron moved to HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose, where it disbanded in 1954.