#supermarine walrus aircraft

[writer-artist]

I was trying to explain the walrus and the fairy meme to my friend who does not use tumblr and this was her response:

Please picture that as a full size Supermarine Walrus aircraft and not a piddly one - I was attempting to edit and send this to the aforementioned friend before my train lost internet at Westminster. It’s far away, not small.

[usafphantom2]

Supermarine “Walrus”& pilot, Captain James Hara 290 Sqn. RAF, a liaison aircraft of the 57 fighter group of the USAF in Italy.

@ron_eisele via X

[theworldatwar]

A British Supermarine Walrus seaplane takes off from the deck of HMS Warspite as it heads out on a U-boat patrol just off the coast of the Seychelles - date unknown. A British aircraft carrier can be seen in the background

[captain-price-unofficially]

An elephant pulling a Supermarine Walrus aircraft into position at a Fleet Air Arm station in India, June 1944

[thisdayinworldwars]

The Supermarine Walrus!

Walrus landing on a British carrier after rescuing a pilot in the Indian Ocean

Developed in 1933 the Supermarine Walrus was a..

Amphibious Search-rescue, Anti submarine, Maritime patrol, Catapult-launched Scoutplane of the Royal Air Force and Navy!

She's capable of carrying a light bomb-load consisting of:

6x 100lb bombs or:

2x 250lb depthcharges or bombs.

Compared to other catapult-launched aircaft this is relatively heavy!

She also has 2 extremely fast firing Vickers ''K'' Machine guns capable of hitting up-to 1200 rounds per minute.

Mostly she was used from ships with a catapult to conduct reconnaissance and scout ahead of the fleet, however in 1943 most catapults were replaced by radar which is smaller and way more effective in the role.

Walrus being launched from a catapult on HMS Rodney, it was located on her turret!

Despite this, she was still in service on aircraft carriers to rescue downed pilots, due to her low landing and take-off speed she's carrier operable without even having a tail hook or flaps, her wings are also foldable!

She has a crew of 1 pilot and 2 gunners, altho there is a second position for a co-pilot. An interesting feature of this aircraft is that the control-stick is not fixed to the aircraft, meaning it can get removed and passed out between the two pilots in case it's necessary.

However, she also had a few flaws. Test-pilot Alex Henshaw reportedly said that it was "the noisiest, coldest and most uncomfortable" aircraft he had flown. She also only had a top speed of ~220 km/h

This month, 89 years and 12 days ago the first production aircraft of the Walrus took flight!

Definitions:

Depth-charge: Type of underwater bomb which could be dropped by ship or aircraft to attack submerged submarines

Catapult: Position on WWII-era ships from which amphibious aircraft could be launched using a catapult, after conducting the mission the aircraft would land next to the ship and be recovered by a crane

Tail hook: Most aircraft carriers have something called arresting wires spanned across the deck. A landing aircraft would deploy its hook and it would snag one of the wires slowing the aircraft down immediately!

[currinsrnznships]

HMNZS Leander (75) was a light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. 1944: HMNZS LEANDER leaves Calliope Dock, Auckland, after battle damage repairs – HMNZS LEANDER had been hit by a 24-inch Japanese ‘long lance’ torpedo during the night Battle of Kula Gulf in the southwest Pacific on July 13, 1943. She lost 28 men. She was the lead ship of the Leander class. The ship initially served as HMS Leander in the Royal Navy before her transfer to New Zealand in 1937. In 1945, the ship was returned to the Royal Navy as HMS Leander and was involved in the Corfu Channel incident. The ship was scrapped in 1950. History [edit] Leander was launched at Devonport on 24 September 1931. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Leander on 24 March 1933. Along with Achilles she served in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. In August 1937 Leander, on a journey from Europe to New Zealand, carried out an aerial survey of Henderson, Oeno and Ducie, and on each island a British flag was planted and an inscription was nailed up proclaiming: “This island belongs to H.B.M. King George VI.”[1] Italian ship Ramb I sinking after the engagement with Leander A catapult-launched Supermarine Walrus from Leander, ca. 1938, used as a fleet spotter In World War II, Leander served initially in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Commander Stephen Roskill, in later years the Royal Navy’s Official Historian, was posted as the ship’s executive officer in 1941. In the action on 27 February 1941, she sank the Italian armed merchantman Ramb I near the Maldives, rescuing 113 of her crew and taking slight damage. On 23 March 1941, Leander intercepted and captured the Vichy French merchant Charles L.D. in the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and Madagascar. On 14 April, Leander deployed for support of military operations in Persian Gulf and, on 18 April, joined the aircraft carrier Hermes and the light cruiser Emerald. On 22 April, Leander was released from support duties in the Persian Gulf and took part in search for German raider Pinguin south of the Maldives. In June 1941, Leander was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet and was active against the Vichy French during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign. After serving in the Mediterranean, Leander returned to the Pacific Ocean in September 1941. In 1941 the New Zealand Division became the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and she was commissioned as HMNZS Leander in September 1941. On 13 July 1943, Leander was with Rear Admiral Walden Lee Ainsworth‘s Task Group 36.1 of three light cruisers: Leander and the US ships Honolulu and St. Louis. The task group also included ten destroyers. At 01:00 the Allied ships established radar contact with the Japanese cruiser Jintsu, which was accompanied by five destroyers near Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. In the ensuing Battle of Kolombangara, Jintsu was sunk and all three Allied cruisers were hit by torpedoes and disabled. Leander was hit by a single torpedo just abaft ‘A’ boiler room. 26 crew from the boiler room and the No.1 4-inch gun mount immediately above were killed or posted missing.[2] The ship was so badly damaged that she took no further part in the war. She was first repaired in Auckland, then proceeded to a full refit in Boston.[3] She returned to the Royal Navy on 27 August 1945. In 1946 she was involved in the Corfu Channel Incident. She was scrapped in 1950. Legacy [edit] The superyacht Leander G, owned by Sir Donald Gosling, is named after HMS Leander, the first naval vessel on which he served.[4] In 2020, Fiji commissioned RFNS Savenaca, a patrol vessel named after Savenaca Naulumatua, a sailor from Fiji who died while serving aboard Leander during the Battle of Kolombangara.[5][6] See also [edit] Cruisers of the Royal New Zealand Navy Tags and categories: Cruiser -, Cruiser - HMNZS Leander (75) via WordPress https://ift.tt/2BgwVao March 11, 2025 at 03:51PM

[bigglesworld]

Supermarine Walrus. Aboard deck

[airmanisr]

Supermarine Walrus by Willard Womack Via Flickr: This was the primary air--sea rescue plane used by the RAF to pick up men from the English Channel.

[redarmyscreaming]

Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and first flown in 1933.

[bmachine-blog1]

Turkish Supermarine Walrus.

[hms-exeter]

American battleship USS Washington escorting a convoy to Russia alongside British warships. Above Washington, a Supermarine Walrus from HMS Duke of York is visible.  

May, 1942

Source

[fishstickmonkey]

Supermarine Walrus Mk I at Felixstowe.

IWM

[usafphantom2]

Supermarine “Walrus”& pilot, Captain James Hara 290 Sqn. RAF, a liaison aircraft of the 57 fighter group of the USAF in Italy.

@ron_eisele via X

[lex-for-lexington]

“British pilot rescued after Pacific action. June 1945, on board a carrier of the British Pacific Fleet operating against the Japanese. A British naval pilot who was shot down close inshore was rescued by a Supermarine Walrus amphibian aircraft which landed under the guns of Japanese coastal batteries, picked up the Avenger pilot and returned him to the deck of the carrier.”

(IWM: A 29813, A 29719)

[anyskin]

A 1933 Supermarine Walrus. The Walrus was a reliable general purpose amphibian aircraft.

[greatworldwar2]

• Battle of Hong Kong

The Battle of Hong Kong, also known as the Defence of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong garrison consisted of British, Indian and Canadian units besides Chinese soldiers and conscripts from both within and outside Hong Kong.

Britain first thought of Japan as a threat with the ending of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in the early 1920s, a threat that increased throughout the 1930s with the escalation of the Second Sino-Japanese War. On October 21st, 1938 the Japanese occupied Canton (Guangzhou) and Hong Kong was surrounded. By 1940, the British determined to reduce the Hong Kong Garrison to only a symbolic size. Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command argued that limited reinforcements could allow the garrison to delay a Japanese attack, gaining time elsewhere. In September 1941, they reversed their decision and argued that additional reinforcements would provide a military deterrent against the Japanese and reassure Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek that Britain was serious about defending the colony.

The British military in Hong Kong grossly underestimated the capabilities of the Japanese forces and downplayed assessments that the Japanese posed a serious threat as 'unpatriotic' and 'insubordinate'. The Japanese attack began shortly after 08:00 on December 8th, 1941 (Hong Kong Time), four hours after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Commanded by Major-General Christopher Maltby, British, Canadian, Indian, as well as the local Hong Kong Chinese Regiment, and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, resisted the Japanese attack by the Japanese 21st, 23rd and the 38th Regiments, but were outnumbered nearly four to one and lacked their opponents' recent combat experience.

The RAF station at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport (RAF Kai Tak) had only five aeroplanes: two Supermarine Walrus amphibious aircraft and three Vickers Vildebeest torpedo-reconnaissance bombers. Hong Kong also lacked adequate naval defences. Three destroyers were to withdraw to Singapore Naval Base. The Japanese bombed Kai Tak Airport on December 8th. Two of the three Vildebeest and the two Walruses were destroyed by 12 Japanese bombers. Two of the Royal Navy's three remaining destroyers were ordered to leave Hong Kong for Singapore. Only one destroyer, HMS Thracian, several gunboats and a flotilla of motor torpedo boats remained. The Japanese 38th Infantry Division under the command of Major General Takaishi Sakai quickly forded the Sham Chun River over temporary bridges.

Maltby organised the defence of the island, splitting it between an East Brigade and a West Brigade. On December 15th, the Japanese began systematic bombardment of the island's North Shore. Two demands for surrender were made on the 13th and 17th of December. When these were rejected, Japanese forces crossed the harbour on the evening of December 18th and landed on the island's north-east. They suffered only light casualties, although no effective command could be maintained until the dawn came. That night, approximately 20 Commonwealth gunners were executed at the Sai Wan Battery despite having surrendered.There was a further massacre of prisoners, this time of medical staff,in the Salesian Mission on Chai Wan Road. In both cases, a few men survived.

On the morning of December 19th, fierce fighting continued on Hong Kong Island but the Japanese annihilated the headquarters of West Brigade, A British counter-attack could not force them from the Wong Nai Chung Gap that secured the passage between the north coast at Causeway Bay and the secluded southern parts of the island. From December 20th, the island became split in two with the British Commonwealth forces still holding out around the Stanley peninsula and in the west of the island. By the afternoon of December 25th, 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and British colonial officials headed by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered in person at the Japanese headquarters on the third floor of the Peninsula Hong Kong Hotel. The garrison had held out for 17 days. This day is known in Hong Kong as "Black Christmas".

The Japanese had at least 1,895 men killed of an estimated 6,000 casualties. Allied casualties were 1,111 men killed, 1,167 missing and 1,362 wounded. Allied dead, including British, Canadian and Indian soldiers, were eventually interred at Sai Wan Military Cemetery and the Stanley Military Cemetery. At the end of February 1942, The Japanese government stated that numbers of prisoners of war in Hong Kong were: British 5,072, Canadian 1,689, Indian 3,829, others 357, a total of 10,947.