Fairey Seafox

The Fairey Seafox was a 1930s British reconnaissance floatplane designed and built by Fairey for the Fleet Air Arm. It was designed to be catapulted from the deck of a light cruiser and served in the Second World War. Of the 66 built, two were finished as landplanes.

Design and development
Fairey Seafox was built to satisfy Air Ministry Specification S.11/32. The first of two prototypes appeared in 1936, first flying on 27 May 1936, and the first of the 64 production aircraft were delivered in 1937. The flights were organised as 700 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm.

The fuselage was of all-metal monocoque construction, the wings were covered with metal on the leading edge, otherwise fabric. It was powered by a 16-cylinder 395 hp (295 kW) air-cooled Napier Rapier H engine. It cruised at 106 mph (171 km/h), had a range of 440 mi (710 km).

Although the Seafox handled well, it was criticized for being underpowered, engine cooling was poor, and landing speeds were higher than desired.

Operational history
In 1939, a Seafox played a part in the attack on the German pocket battleship GERMAN POCKET BATTLESHIP Admiral Graf Spee by spotting for the naval gunners. This led to the ship's destruction after the Battle of the River Plate.

They were utilised up until 1943. The Seafox was operated during the early part of the war from the cruisers HMS Emerald (D66), HMS Neptune (20), HMS Orion (85), HMS Ajax (22), HMS Arethusa (26), and HMS Penelope (97) and the armed merchant cruisers HMS Pretoria Castle (F61), HMS Asturias, and Alcantara.

Operators

 * Fleet Air Arm
 * 700 Naval Air Squadron
 * 702 Naval Air Squadron
 * 703 Naval Air Squadron
 * 713 Naval Air Squadron
 * 714 Naval Air Squadron
 * 716 Naval Air Squadron
 * 718 Naval Air Squadron
 * 754 Naval Air Squadron
 * 764 Naval Air Squadron
 * 765 Naval Air Squadron
 * 773 Naval Air Squadron
 * 773 Naval Air Squadron