Aircraft of the ADF – Hawker Sea Fury

The Royal Navy, however, embraced the new fighter, and the first naval prototype (serialled SR661) flew on February 21 1945. The first 50 production aircraft (serialled from TF895) were designated the Sea Fury Mark X. As the Seafire Mark 47 was also entering naval service as a carrier fighter, the rugged airframe of the Sea Fury was modified to the fighter bomber role.

This resulted in the definitive Sea Fury variant, the FB.11, which externally differed slightly from the Mark X by the addition of weapon hardpoints. The first FB.11 was TF956, and deliveries commenced to the RN in May 1948. A total of 615 Sea Furies were to be built.

Having been selected for RAN service, the Sea Fury equipped No 805 Squadron, which formed at Eglinton, Northern Ireland, on August 28 1948. Australian pilots began their work-up flying before their FB.11s were available with loaned RN aircraft, mainly Mark X variants.

The 25 Australian FB.11 aircraft (serialled between VW622 to VW648) became available in the UK during February 1949. One of the aircraft ordered by the RAN, VW641, had crashed in January 1949 before acceptance by the RAN, and was replaced in the initial delivery batch by another machine, VW660.

HMAS Sydney had been commissioned in England on December 16 1948, and after work-up, sailed for Australia on April 4 1949. Embarked were the new aircraft of No 20 Carrier Air Group (20 CAG), which comprised 805 Squadron’s Sea Furies with the Fireflies of 816 Squadron. The Sydney arrived in Jervis Bay on May 25, unloading its 56 aircraft, which included 27 Fireflies and two Sea Otters, by the end of the month. The 25 Sea Furies were intended to equip 805 Squadron, and provide reserves, and a further two (TF925 and VW232) were delivered as instructional airframes. A further two aircraft were delivered during 1950 by merchant vessel, VX627 (on SS Sussex) and VX661 (on SS Centor), along with another two Fireflies.

Meanwhile the RAN’s second Sea Fury unit, No 808 Squadron, was formed at St Merryn, in Cornwall, on April 25 1950. HMAS Sydney returned to the UK during the second half of 1950 to embark the new 21 CAG, comprising 808 Squadron and 817 Squadron’s Fireflies, and the Air Group worked up over August and September. The aircraft were loaded at Glasgow in October 1950, and the Sydney arrived back at Jervis Bay on December 10. On board were a further 65 aircraft, including 32 more Sea Furies (serialled between VX707 and WE679) for Australia’s growing Fleet Air Arm.

In September 1951, HMAS Sydney relieved the light British carrier HMS Glory for a tour of duty off Korea. The carrier had the Sea Furies of 805 and 808 Sqns embarked, with 817 Sqn’s Fireflies. The carrier tour of duty comprised a cycle of nine days patrol of concentrated interdiction operations, followed by nine days to return to port at Sasebo in Japan to replenish, and then return on station.

Between September 1951 and January 1952, HMAS Sydney’s aircraft flew 43 days of operations, primarily on strikes against railways and bridges in Korea’s hilly terrain, delivering bombs and rockets. In the face of strong anti-aircraft defences, 805 and 808 Squadrons were to lose three pilots and eight Sea Furies in the course of operations.

Over October and November 1951, seven aircraft (serialled between WE791 and WF593) were delivered from RN stocks in Japan as attrition replacements for HMAS Sydney. A further 10 aircraft (serialled between WG627 and WH590) were taken onboard at the end of this deployment for delivery back to Australia.

Meanwhile, plans were progressing for the British carrier Vengeance to be loaned to Australia while the new HMAS Melbourne was being completed. HMAS Vengeance arrived in Sydney Harbour on March 11 1953 with a total of 33 new aircraft on board, including 10 more Sea Furies (serialled between WJ279 and WM490).

Australia’s third frontline Sea Fury unit, No 850 Squadron, formed at Nowra on January 12 1953, and operated briefly aboard HMAS Sydney off Korea after the end of the Korean War. 850 Squadron was disbanded on August 3 1954.

The final 11 Sea Furies (WZ642 to WZ652) were loaded in the Far East onto HMAS Sydney on May 27 1954, arriving at Jervis Bay for unloading, and delivery to Nowra on June 10 1954.

808 Squadron disbanded during October 1954, as on September 7 the Navy had announced flying from HMAS Vengeance would cease. The following June, the carrier returned to England, to be handed back to the RN on Oct 25 1955.

RAN Sea Furies were involved in an unusual incident over Sydney with a runaway Auster on August 30 1955. The Auster, VH-AET, had taken off from Bankstown pilotless, when its pilot had swung the prop, with throttle open, and the brakes had failed to hold, enabling the Auster to become airborne with no one at the controls. It gradually gained height and drifted towards the city, much to the consternation of Sydney’s residents.

As it headed eastwards off the coast, the RAAF attempted unsuccessfully to shoot it down, first with a Wirraway and then a Meteor. Finally, two 805 Squadron Sea Furies were despatched from Albatross. The pilots of VW645 (109/K) and WZ650 (107/K) were more fortunate, shooting VH-AET down into the sea off Broken Bay.

With the arrival of the Sea Venom, the Sea Fury was retired from frontline service on March 18 1958. To mark the occasion, 805 Squadron flew a farewell formation over Sydney Harbour.

For most of their RAN service, Sea Furies, like their Firefly contemporaries, carried the standard RN colour scheme of dark sea grey upper surfaces, with duck egg green sides and underneaths. Several aircraft were later stripped to an overall bare metal finish. The most spectacular colours were two of the last aircraft, WH588 (114/NW) and WH589 (115/NW), which were painted in overall oxford blue. This dark gloss blue, with white codes and serials, showed the beautiful lines of this thoroughbred fighter off to its best advantage.

The last Sea Fury flights by the RAN were made on October 30 1962, when Lt Cook (WH588) and LCdr Van Gelder (WH589) provided Albatross with an appropriate low-level “fly-by”. The last three RAN Sea Furies, WH587, WH588 and WH589, were sold on September 23 1963, with all ultimately ending up in the USA.

Sea Fury FB.11s that have been restored in England included TF956, the first production FB.11 of the Royal Navy’s Historic Flight at Yeovilton. Unfortunately this aircraft was lost during 1989 when, with an unsafe landing gear indication, the pilot was forced to bail out. Another restoration is VX653, which is on static display in the RAF Museum in Hendon.

Flying in Australia today is Guido Zuccoli’s VH-HFG, an ex-Iraqi Air Force Fury, marked as 308/K, which has been on the airshow circuit since 1983. The Australian Naval Aviation Museum (ANAM) at HMAS Albatross has VW623 under restoration, while VX730 (with components from VW232) and WG630 are with the Australian War Memorial reserve collection in Canberra. VW647 is on static display at the Camden Museum of Aviation.

Receipt dates

25 May 1949 date of arrival of HMAS Sydney at Jervis Bay with 805Sqn aircraft, aircraft unloaded to Albatross 31 May, aircraft having embarked in UK on 7 Apr 1949.

10 Dec 1950 date of arrival of HMAS Sydney at Jervis Bay with 808Sqn aircraft, having embarked in Aug 1950 for work-up, and departing UK on 17 Oct 1950.

Oct-Nov 1951 seven aircraft were transferred from RN stocks in Korea as attrition replacements.

7 Mar 1952 date of arrival in Jervis Bay of ten aircraft on HMAS Sydney, having been loaded on 2 Feb 1952 in Singapore from RNAS Sembawang, with aircraft being offloaded and delivered to Albatross.

11 Mar 1953 date of arrival of HMAS Vengeance in Sydney, ten aircraft then being taken by road to Nirimba between 14 and 17 Mar 1953, having been loaded in UK on 13 Jan 1953.

27 May 1954 date of transfer of twelve aircraft to HMAS Sydney in the Far East, the aircraft having been loaded in the UK in Apr 1954 for transfer to the RAN, with unload and delivery to Nowra on 10 June 1954.

Abbreviations

COL – collided with; CR – crashed; DAM – damaged; DBR – damaged beyond repair; SA – sold abroad; SOC – struck off charge; WFS – withdrawn from service.

Tail codes

K – HMAS Sydney; Q – HMAS Vengeance; JR – RNAS Eglinton; NW – HMAS Albatross (Nowra).

Several other Sea Furies also appeared on the Australian civil register. These were Iraqi Air Force Furies:

VH-HFA ‘253/K’, ex WJ231, Iraq 253, N40SF to N57JB VH-HFG ‘308/K’, ex WJ298, Iraq 303, N26SF VH-HFR ntu, became VH-ISS VH-HFX ‘115/NW’, ex Iraq 243, N28SF to UK VH-ISS ex Iraqi 249, N54SF, under restoration