The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter
aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries
throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front
line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s. It was produced in greater
numbers than any other British aircraft and was the only British fighter in
continuous production throughout the war.
The Spitfire was designed as 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
continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon
his colleague Joseph Smith became chief designer. Where speed was seen as
essential to carrying out the mission of home defence against enemy bombers,
the Spitfire's thin cross-section elliptical wing allowed it a higher top speed
than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane.
During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the
Spitfire was perceived by the public as the RAF fighter, though the more
numerous Hawker Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against
the Luftwaffe. The Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher
victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes.
After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became the backbone
of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific
and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire
served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance,
fighter-bomber, carrier-based fighter, and trainer. It was built in many
variants, using several wing configurations. Although the original airframe was
designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768
kW), it was adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and later
Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,035 hp