World War II Database

During the early days of WW2, the Hurricanes were the standard fighters of the British Royal Air Force. Although the design was finalized in 1934, many features of the aircraft were already outdated; however, the simple construction meant large numbers could be manufactured with relative ease. In Jun 1936 the Air Ministry enthusiastically ordered 600 Hurricanes (though only 497 were delivered by 1 Sep 1939 when Germany invaded Poland). By 7 Aug 1940, 2,309 were delivered. Especially after the delivery of the more modern and more maneuverable Spitfire fighters, Hurricanes took up the role of bomber interceptors that patrolled the skies over Britain during the German aerial invasion. They also served in other roles such as close ground support, tank buster, and convoy combat air patrol. In the latter role, 70 Hurricanes fought off Axis forces of a greater quantity during Operation Pedestal; even though carrier Eagle was lost, the convoy successfully delivered large amounts of supplies as well as 36 Hurricane fighters to the garrison at Malta.

During the war, Hurricanes also served in many of the British Commonwealth military forces such as New Zealand and South Africa. The Free French air force, based out of Britain, also operated some Hurricane aircraft. Many Hurricanes were also given, sold, or licensed to be built in other nations such as Russia, Yugoslavia, and Finland.

SPECIFICATIONS

Mk 1

Machinery	1 Rolls-Royce Merlin XX liquid-cooled V-12 rated at 1,280hp
Armament	8x7.7mm Browning machine guns
Span	9.99 m
Length	9.58 m
Height	3.96 m
Wing Area	24.00 m²
Weight, Empty	2,305 kg
Speed, Maximum	505 km/h
Service Ceiling	10,100 m
Range, Normal	965 km

Photographs

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
   19 Nov 2006 04:33:30 AM
   
   good
2. Hobilar says:
   23 Sep 2007 04:10:30 AM
   
   The Yugoslav Government ordered twenty-four Hurricane I from Hawker. The first batch of 12 being delivered from December 1938, the second twelve being shipped in February 1940. In addition the Yugoslav Government placed orders for forty Hurricanes to be built under license at the Rogozarski and Zmaj factories. A monthly delivery rate of eight machines was anticipated but by the time of the German invasion less than twenty Yugoslav built Hurricanes had been completed. On April 6, 1941 the Yugoslav Air Force possessed thirty-eight Hurricanes (18 with No.51 Squadron, 14 with No.33 Squadron and 6 with No.34 Squadron). These saw considerable action against the advancing German columns over Zagreb and Bosnia, before eventually being destroyed by their pilots to stop them falling into German hands.
3. a child which love military says:
   12 Apr 2009 06:55:39 AM
   
   Hurricanes served with several British Commonwealth squadrons in the Desert Air Force. They suffered heavy losses over North Africa after the arrival of Bf 109E and F-variants and were progressively replaced in the air superiority role from June 1941 by Curtiss Tomahawks/Kittyhawks. However, fighter-bomber variants ("Hurribombers") retained an edge in the ground attack role, due to their impressive armament of four 20 mm cannon and a 500 lb (230 kg) bombload.
   
   

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