The Supermarine Attacker was a carrier-based fighter in service with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the early Cold War period. It was the first British naval aircraft powered by a turbojet engine. Being a further development from the Supermarine Spiteful, which was a piston-engine airplane, the Attacker had straight wing and a conventional layout. Although it flew at subsonic speeds, it was a reliable and maneuverable aircraft, which was also used in the ground-attack role. It had a range of 1,000-km (600 miles), which was excellent for an early, carrier-borne jet fighter. However, it had a short career and it would be developed into the swept-wing Swift aircraft.
The prototype of the Supermarine Attacker first flew on July 27, 1946, taking off from Boscombe Down airbase. It was flown by the factory's test pilot Jeffrey Quill and was powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene jet engine, which was the first turbojet engine used to propel an aircraft in Great Britain. After a long, five-year period of flight tests, it would finally be introduced into service with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in August 1951. The 800 Naval Air Squadron was the first FAA's unit to receive the first batch of the Attacker FB.1 variant. The FB.2 version would also be manufactured, with a total of 182 production aircraft, plus the 3 prototypes, being built. Replaced by the Swift and the Scimitar, it was retired from service in 1955.
Technical Description
The Supermarine Attacker was a single-seat, single-engine monoplane of conventional design. Its semi-monocoque fuselage was of all-metal construction, using aluminum alloy for the stressed skin and it had a streamline shape. The airframe consisted of twenty four stringers and formers. The fuselage had a detachable nose, in which the gun camera was mounted. The Attacker was fitted with straight, cantilever, low wing, with both the leading and trailing edge tapering towards the tip. The wing was mounted with a slight dihedral angle. Its outer panel could be folded for storage convenience. Aside from the ailerons, the wing trailing edge featured split flaps. The cockpit had a bubble-type canopy. The aircraft was powered by one Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.101 turbojet engine, which could delivered 5,000 pounds of thrust.
Specifications
Type: carrier-borne fighter aircraft
Length: 11.43 m (37 feet, 3 inches)
Wing Span: 11.25 m (36 feet, 11 inches)
Wing Area: 21 m2 (226 square feet)
Height: 3 m (9 feet, 11 inches)
Power Plant: one 5,000-lb, Rolls-Royce Mk.101 turbojet engine.
Maximum Speed: 950 km/h (590 mph)
Range: 1,000 km/h (600 miles)
Rate of Climb: 32.2 m/s
Service Ceiling: 13,700 m (45,000 feet)
Crew: 1
Armament: four 20-mm Hispano No 3 Mk.5 cannons.
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| The Attacker flying over the North Sea off the coast of England. |
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| The aircraft on deck of aircraft carrier. |
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| Three Attackers on flight deck of HMS Eagle carrier. |
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| An Attacker FB.2 version on carrier flight deck around 1953. |