The Supermarine Spitfire was an iconic British single-seat fighter used primarily by the RAF and many Allied countries through the Second World War and into the 1950s.[1]
Produced by the Supermarine subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrongs, the Spitfire was designed by the company's Chief Designer R. J. Mitchell, who continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, the position of chief designer then filled by his colleague, Joseph Smith [2]. Its elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hawker Hurricane and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance, enhancing its overall streamlined features. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of the Second World War and subsequent years, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.
The Spitfire will always be compared to its adversary, the Messerschmitt Bf 109; both were among the best of their day.
Produced by the Supermarine subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrongs, the Spitfire was designed by the company's Chief Designer R. J. Mitchell, who continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, the position of chief designer then filled by his colleague, Joseph Smith [2]. Its elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hawker Hurricane and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance, enhancing its overall streamlined features. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of the Second World War and subsequent years, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.
The Spitfire will always be compared to its adversary, the Messerschmitt Bf 109; both were among the best of their day.
The British Supermarine Spitfire was one of the finest fighter aircraft of its time. Unlike its counterpart, the Hawker Hurricane, it appeared to have immense room for future improvement. This would lead to 24 marks of Spitfire being produced throughout the Second World War in continuing efforts to keep up with the Luftwaffe and Royal Air Force requirements.
In total, there were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub-variants within each mark. This article presents a brief history of the Spitfire through all its variants. It should be noted that the numbering of the variants does not necessarily imply a chronological order; for example, the Mk. IX was a stopgap measure brought into production before the marks VII and VIII to address the urgent needs of the air force which could not wait for the more ambitious designs of the preceding marks. It is sometimes difficult to identify the variant of an individual Spitfire as many aircraft were built as one variant and later modified to be like another variant.
There is an apparent discrepancy in Spitfire numbering schemes in that sometimes Roman numerals are used and sometimes Arabic numerals are used. This is due to changes in RAF numbering schemes. Up until the end of 1942, the RAF would always use Roman numerals for mark numbers. 1943 to 1948 was a transition period during which new aircraft entering service were given Arabic mark numbers but older aircraft retained their Roman numerals. From 1948 onwards, Arabic numerals were used exclusively. This article adopts the convention of using Roman numerals for the marks I through XVI and Arabic numerals for the marks 17 through 24.
