Sydney Camm, an aircraft
designer working for the Hawker Company, began work on the Hawker
Hurricane in 1934. Like Reginald J. Mitchell, the designer of the
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I, Camm was inspired by the announcement
that the Air Ministry was looking for a new fighter plane.
The Hawker Hurricane
prototype made its first flight on 6th November, 1935. It reached
a maximum speed of more than 315 mph (506 km/h) at 16,500 ft (5,000
m). It was therefore the first fighter plane to break the 300 mph
barrier. Like the Supermarine Spitfire, the aircraft used the 1,030
hp Rolls Royce Merlin II and carried 8 machine-guns.
On 3rd June, the Royal
Air Force ordered 600 of these aircraft. The first of these came
off the production line in October 1937. It was all-metal in structure
and except for the metal nose was covered in fabric.
On the outbreak of the
Second World War there were 497 Hurricanes in service. The majority
of these were sent to France during Germany's Western Offensive
and large numbers were destroyed by the Luftwaffe .
By August 1940, a total
of 2309 Hawker Hurricanes had been delivered to the Royal Air Force
and they formed the backbone of Fighter Command. Statistics show
that Hurricanes destroyed more German aircraft than all other British
types combined during the early stages of the war.
At the beginning of the
Battle of Britain the RAF had 32 squadrons of Hurricanes and 19
squadrons equipped with Supermarine Spitfires. It was decided to
use the Hurricanes against the massive bomber formations of the
Luftwaffe whereas the Spitfires were mainly employed against German
fighters.
This Luftwaffe outnumbered
the RAF by four to one. However, the British had the advantage of
being closer to their airfields. German fighters could only stay
over England for about half an hour before flying back to their
home bases. The RAF also had the benefits of an effective early
warning radar system and the intelligence information provided by
Ultra.
Throughout the war Sydney
Camm made improvements to the Hurricane. This included the Hawker
Hurricane Mk. II in 1940 which had the more powerful 1,280 hp Rolls
Royce Merlin XX and the Hawker Hurricane Mk D which carried two
20 mm cannons which were extremely effective against tanks and were
used chiefly in the Desert War.
A total of 2,952 Hurricanes
was also delivered to the Soviet Union. Total production in Britain
was 12,708 and a further 1,451 were manufactured in Canada.
