Skua (Hardback)
Imprint: Pen & Sword Aviation
Pages: 272
ISBN: 9781844154555
Published: 19th October 2006
Last Released: 1st August 2007
Review!
Video review by Dr Alexander Clarke
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| Other formats available - Buy the Hardback and get the eBook for free! | Price |
|---|---|
| Skua ePub (4.7 MB) Add to Basket | £6.99 |
The Blackburn Skua was the first monoplane to be designed and built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s. As a result of continued debate, it became a compromise between the Navy’s desire for a carrier-based dive-bomber and RAF’s preference for a fighter. Despite being the first to shoot down a Luftwaffe aircraft in World War II, early operations in Norway found the type woefully inadequate as a fighter. As a dive-bomber, the Royal Navy put the design to good use from the outset of WWII. It was involved with the hunt for the Graf Spee, sunk the major warship Konigsberg, suffered with great loss in an attack on the Scharnhorst, helped to keep the German advance at bay during the Dunkirk evacuation and attacked the French rogue battleship Richelieu in the Mediterranean. This book relates how the final design was created, how the dive-bombing technique was developed and perfected by naval pilots and traces the wartime operational career of the type with many first-hand accounts.
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Video review by Dr Alexander Clarke
The author has done a very good job in recounting the story of the Blackburn Skua. Two excellent photo plate sections and an annex containing drawings, provide able support for clear and easy to read text. There is a great deal of information. The author has close access o the FAA Museum archives and is connected with the Skua restoration.
Firetrench Reviews
The Blackburn Skua claimed several historical "firsts". It scored Britain's first confirmed German aircraft kill of World War II. It gained distinction as the Royal Navy's first monoplane. And it was the first all-metal aircraft in Royal Navy service. Yet it remains among the most maligned – and misunderstood – British warplanes of the conflict. Now renowned dive-bomber expert Peter C. Smith conclusively corrects the record in his superb study SKUA!.What a ripping read. Robustly recommended!
Cybermodeler
About Peter C Smith
PETER CHARLES HORSTEAD SMITH was born in Norfolk in 1940. After living in London, Kent and Cambridge he and his wife Pat settled in the small Bedfordshire village of Riseley in 1982 where they currently still reside. Peter is a Member of The Society of Authors, London, and has worked as both a book and a magazine editor but has been a full-time historian and author since 1968. Peter is best known for his eighty-six meticulously researched factual history books on aviation, military and naval topics.Details of all Peter's books are to be found at: www.dive-bombers.co.uk
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