Turkish Spitfire MK1a Order 1940 - Serial Number Crunching

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On September 1939 Spitfire F.1a (L1066) arrrived in Turkey (this was a diverted from Polish order) and was serialled 2901

Turkey ordered 15 Mk1a Spitfires (as Type 341) in 1940 under contract C1060/40 for £12,000

However of this 15, only 2 were delivered (2902) (ex P9566 B-Class Serial N-22 which returned to RAF as HK854 in April 1942)
and 2903 (ex P9567 B-Class Serial N-23 which returned to RAF as HK856 in April 1942))

Of the other 13, 8 are known to have flown with B-Class Serials N-24 to N-31

Supermarine aircraft since 1914 - Page 382 list these as

N-22 Spitfire P9566 Turkey f/f 27.4.40
N-23 Spitfire P9567 Turkey f/f 29.4.40
N-24 Spitfire "P9547" Turkey f/f 1.5.40 "P9557"
N-25 Spitfire P9561 Turkey f/f 8.5.40
N-26 Spitfire P9558 Turkey f/f 3.5.40
N-27 Spitfire P9559 Turkey f/f 14.5.40
N-28 Spitfire P9560 Turkey f/f 14.4.40
N-29 Spitfire P9565 Turkey f/f 14.4.40
N-30 Spitfire P9556 Turkey f/f 15.4.40

However, I have a problem with at least of these and also what of the other 5 serials what are they (no B-Class Serial's applied)

If you tally this with the info on http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p009.html

Some of the info on this says 'Turkish conversion' so if we take

P9558 as an example FF 14-5-40 Turkish conversion then FF 21-6-40

So this 'Turkish conversion' took around 3 weeks

Explicit 'Turkish conversion' serials from airhistory.org.uk

P9558 Ia 693 EA MIII FF 14-5-40 Turkish conversion then FF 21-6-40 9MU 25-6-40 54S 1-9-40 engine failed aircraft abandoned nr Catterick 25-10-40
P9559 Ia 694 EA MIII FF 14-5-40 Turkish conversion then FF 20-6-40 9MU 20-6-40 54S 1-9-40 5OTU 3-2-41 FAAC 27-4-41 air collision with N3066 crashed Kimmel Park Bodelwydd An Flint dbf 2-11-41 SOC 15-11-41
P9560 Ia 701 EA MIII FF 15-5-40 Turkish conversion then FF 21-6-40 9MU 25-6-40 54S 1-9-40 dived into ground nr Bolton on Swale Kent P/O Sanders killed C3 7-9-40
P9561 Ia 684 EA MIII FF 8-5-40 Turkish conversion then FF 26-6-40 8MU 26-6-40 PRU 19-8-40 Cv PRIII Type C PRU Benson Missing from PR sortie to Ostend 16-2-41 FH101.20
P9562 Ia 675 EA MIII FF 3-5-40 Turkish conversion then FF 28-6-40 8MU 29-6-40 65S 18-8-40 FACB 13-1-41 AST CGS 13-3-41 DeH 16-4-42 new eng 52OTU 15-7-42 air collision with P7834 SOC 6-3-45

Of the above ONLY P9562 is missing from the B-Serials list in Supermarine aircraft since 1914

Additionally you will note 2 F/F (First Flight Dates) - So we are looking for another 3 Serials at least with
some F/F which don't look 'timeline correct'

for instance:

P9556 Ia 776 EA MIII FF 12-6-40 6MU 13-6-40 64S 16-8-40 force-landed Rotherfield Sussex into ditch 21-12-40 53OTU 30-8-41 ASTH 17-10-41 Cv Va M45 RNDA 4-9-42 Yeovilton store 10-9-42 880S Stretton 9-42 to 10-42 748S St.Merryn 2-43 to 5-43 RN 7-1-44 (after repair?) 761S Henstridge 3-44 to 4-45 Swung after landing u/c collapsed Cat X1 24-6-44 (S/L DC Drew) Taxied into Seafire NX927 at dispersal 2-8-44 Cat X1 (S/L R Taylor)
P9557 Ia 780 EA MIII FF 13-6-40 6MU 14-6-40 64S 16-8-40 FAAC 18-8-40 Scottish Aviation 57OTU 9-8-41 222MU 9-11-42 Algarab 11-3-43 Port Sudan 12-3-43 Middle East 31-3-43 SOC 27-7-44

The FF Date is 12th and 13th June 1940, but in you look at this "sandwich" P9555 was FF 31-5-40 and P9558 was FF 14-5-40

I would therfore suggest P9557 is more likely to be a Turkish conversion as well (most prob a typo for "P9547") above

The earlist "Turkish" Spitfire from airhistory.org.uk was P9550

I would also suggest P9547 is wrong as it is to 'early" the 15 Turkish Spitfires are beginning to look like

P9550 (1 aircraft)

P9553 to P9567 (14 aircraft)

The P9551 and P9552 in between were PRIII Prototypes

Of which only the last 2 of the order P9566 and P9567 ever made it to Turkey

So what were the 10 B-Class Serials ?

I would suggest they are contained within P9556 to P9567 (12 aircraft)

Best guesses are the 4 Known Turkish conversion's and the 2 known Deliveries (7 in total)

P9558 Turkish conversion also on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list
P9559 Turkish conversion also on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list
P9560 Turkish conversion also on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list
P9561 Turkish conversion also on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list

P9566 Known Delivery also on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list
P9567 Known Delivery also on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list

Plus P9557 (for "P9547") on Supermarine aircraft since 1914 list

and P9565 and P9556 from Supermarine List

leaving out P9563 and P9564 - which may have been awaiting conversion (or actually converted and flown but not under B Class condition) as there is quite a gap between FF date and delivery to 8 MU

P9563 Ia 671 EA MIII FF 2-5-40 8MU 4-7-40 64S 'SH-R' 19-8-40 crashed Hartington Sgt Lloyd safe C3 5-9-40 Scottish Aviation 53OTU 15-7-41 Cv Va M45 2-8-41 332S 'AH-O' 27-1-42 164S 10-5-42 Stalled off turn and dived into ground Skeabrae FACE 23-8-42 SOC 31-8-42
P9564 Ia 669 EA MIII FF 1-5-40 8MU 5-7-40 64S 19-8-40 FA crashed 4m N Leconfield C3 Sgt Laws safe 30-9-40 SOC 7-10-40 (originally for Turkey)

Paul

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13 years 5 months

Posts: 526

That is a lot of work there Paul !

Well done, an often forgotten part of Spitfire history.

Kind Regards Mike