BLACKBURN SKUA Mk. II

Description

The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single-radial engine aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm which combined the functions of a dive bomber and fighter. It was designed in the mid-1930s and saw service in the early part of the Second World War. It took its name from the seabird. The first unit to get the Skua, was 800 Naval Air Squadron in late 1938 at Worth Down, by November the squadron had embarked on HMS Ark Royal and was followed in 1939 by 801 and 803 squadrons. With the start of the Second World War, Skuas were soon in action and on 14 September three were launched from Ark Royal, to go to the aid of the SS Fanad Head which had been attacked by a U-boat. When they arrived, the Fanad Head was being shelled by U-30 and all three dived to attack the submarine, which quickly dived to safety. Two of the Skuas were damaged by the blasts and had to ditch. U-30 returned to Germany with the crews of the two ditched Skuas, who became the first naval airmen to be prisoners of war in the conflict. Skuas were credited with the first confirmed "kill" by British aircraft during the Second World War: a Dornier Do 18 flying boat was shot down over the North Sea on 26 September 1939, by three Skuas of 803 Naval Air Squadron, flying from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. (Scale : 1/48e)