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. Sixty-six were built, with two finished without floats and used as landplanes.

Design and development
The Fairey Seafox was built to satisfy Air Ministry Specification S.11/32 for a two-seat spotter-reconnaissance floatplane. 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 being 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), and had a range of 440 mi (710 km). The Seafox handled well but it was criticised 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 Battle of the River Plate against the German pocket battleship GERMAN CRUISER Admiral Graf Spee, by spotting for the naval gunners. Seafoxes 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), RMS Asturias and RMS Alcantara (1926). They remained in service until 1943.

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