Blackburn Skua Country: UK Type: Dive bomber Manufacturer: Blackburn Service: 1938 - 1941 First Flight: 9 February 1937 Production: 192

The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm which combined the functions of dive-bomber and fighter. It was designed in the mid-1930s and saw service in the early part of the Second World War. It took its name from the seabird.

The Skua was the first monoplane in service with the Fleet Air Arms and was a radical departure for a service that was primarily equipped with open cockpit biplanes.

Skuas are credited with the first confirmed "kill" by British aircraft during the Second World War: a Dornier Do 18 flying boat was downed over the North Sea on 26 September 1939 by three Skuas of 803 Naval Air Squadron, flying from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. On 10 April 1940 16 Skuas of 800 and 803 NAS led by Lt. Cdr. William Lucy, flying from RNAS Hatston in Orkney Islands sank the German cruiser Königsberg in Bergen harbour during the German invasion of Norway. This was the first major warship ever sunk in war by air attack.

Though it fared reasonably well against Axis bombers over Norway and in the Mediterranean, the Skua suffered heavy losses when confronted with modern fighters and they were withdrawn from front-line service in 1941.

General characteristics