These were used to great effect conducting close-air-support for Commonwealth troops and strikes on enemy and tactical positions. The former soon becoming the weapon of choice when it was realised the Fury’s bubble canopy gave the pilot an advantage in the dive-bombing role compared to the Firefly. As well as their air-to-air ability the Sea Fury could carry two 1000lb bombs or a collection of 60lb rockets. Perhaps most famous for 802 NAS’ Sub-Lt ‘Smoo’ Ellis shooting down a MiG-15 on 9 Aug there was also at least one other probable MiG kill by Lt ‘Toby’ Davis also of 802 NAS the following day. These would be maintained by aircraft from Ocean, Glory and the RAN’s Sydney for the rest of the conflict. Taking over from the Seafire FR47s onboard Triumph (not on this list because they were so damaged by carrier landings that the squadron AEO would only allow them to fly under wartime regulations, grounding them once the ship left Korean waters) the Sea Furies of HMS Thesus were the first to conduct patrols over the Korean Peninsula in 1950. Unlike the latter two however, the Sea Fury saw combat from the deck of a carrier. All three of which have broadly similar performance and weaponry. Hawker Sea FuryĪrriving just too late to see combat in WW2 the Sea Fury represents the final evolution of piston-engine fighters alongside the Bearcat and the Sea Hornet. In an attempt to address obvious criticism just outside the 10, and in no particular order, were the Corsair II – which only stayed in production a few years longer than the A-4 which it was supposed to replace the Super Étendard – couldn’t do anything a Sea Harrier couldn’t and needed a catapult to get airborne Grumman Panther – did get the first carrier jet-on-jet kill, but barely had the performance of a Sea Hawk despite getting the more powerful Tay derivative of the Nene jet engine. This Top 10 concentrates on combat aircraft in a vague attempt to keep to an actual ten for once, hence the absence of aircraft like the S-3 Viking, Gannet, and Vigilante. If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here. This site will pause operations if it does not hit its funding targets. Carriers and their aircraft would go on to see action in most of the events in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire. With the invasion of South Korea by the North in June of 1950 conventional forces experienced a sudden re-interest, Mutually Assured Destruction sort of working by preventing the two super-powers annihilating the planet. These would not fit on a ship, although the USN had some ‘interesting’ ideas involving P2V Neptunes and one-way missions. Initially it didn’t appear a promising time for carrier aviation, nuclear bombs were the future of warfare and at that time the only aircraft that could carry them were strategic bombers. The Cold War is generally considered to have lasted from 1947 with the declaration of the Truman Doctrine, to support free peoples resisting subjugation, to 1991 and the end of the Soviet Union. If you want a British Pacific Fleet roundel sticker he can now fix you up. Bing Chandler is a former Lynx Observer and current Wildcat Air Safety Officer.
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