二次世界大戰資料庫 (WW2DB)

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWith a more efficient wing, a more aerodynamic nose, and a larger fuel tank, the design of these originally named Typhoon II fighters by Sidney Camm of Hawker Aviation was so welcomed by the British Air Ministry that specification F.10/41 was issued specifically to fit the design. They were renamed Tempest in Jan 1942, and the first Tempest prototype flew on 2 Sep 1942. The variation designated as Tempest V became the main production model, with the first one rolling off the production line on 21 Jun 1943. They were deployed to squadrons by Apr 1944, and by Jun 1944 they were already being regarded as an effective defensive weapon against German V-1 flying bombs; by the end of the war, they claimed 638 of the 1,846 flying bombs destroyed by aircraft. They were equally as effective against other targets; in Dec 1944, they claimed 52 German fighters and 89 locomotives at the loss of 20 Tempests. They also had a share of kills of German jets, leading to Luftwaffe pilot Hubert Lange's comment that the "Messerschmitt Me 262's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest — extremely fast at low altitudes, highly-maneuverable and heavily-armed."

Tempest Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Tempest V

Machinery	One Napier Sabre IIB liquid-cooled H-24 sleeve-value engine rated at 2,400hp
Armament	4x20mm Mark II Hispano cannons, 2x227kg or 454kg bombs, 8x75mm rockets
Crew	1
Span	12.49 m
Length	10.26 m
Height	4.90 m
Wing Area	28.00 m²
Weight, Empty	4,195 kg
Weight, Loaded	5,176 kg
Weight, Maximum	6,190 kg
Speed, Maximum	700 km/h
Rate of Climb	23.90 m/s
Service Ceiling	11,125 m
Range, Maximum	2,465 km

Photographs

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments