One Of Only Four Left In World
British auction house Bonhams will
sell one of the last four remaining Sea Hurricane airplanes in
existence. The 1941 Hawker Sea Hurricane XII will be offered for
sale without reserve at Bonhams' annual Goodwood Revival auction on
September 19, where it is expected to fetch between $55,000 -
$93,000.
Hawker Sea Hurricane XIIA, BW853, was rescued from Canada by AJD
Engineering in 1989 and shortly afterwards was bought by the
current owners, who intended to restore it but have not had the
opportunity to do so. Fully restored, the Hurricane would be worth
in excess of $3.7 million.
A restored Hurricane must be proved to be 100% genuine to be
CAA-registered. BW 853 is already recognized, and was registered as
G-BRKE some 20 years ago. It appears on all surviving Hurricane
listings with both serial numbers and its UK registration number.
Most importantly, it also still retains the original data plate --
another essential item to qualify it as totally genuine.
The Hurricane aircraft was designed to Air Ministry
Specification F 36/34, the prototype making its first flight on 6
November 1935. Put into production in 1936, the first production
Hurricane flew in October 1937.
Although it was no longer in production when the war ended, the
Hurricane was still in service as a first-line aircraft. It served
on a total of 17 battlefronts; as a fighter-bomber, a Rocket
Projectile (RP) fighter, a "tank buster," a catapult fighter and a
carrier fighter. In 1944-45, equipped with RPs, the Hurricane was
used with great effect against enemy shipping in the Adriatic, and
as a fighter-bomber it served with distinction in Burma.
The Sea Hurricane went into operation in the Mediterranean in
June 1942, distinguishing itself in the defence of Malta convoys,
in the summer of that year.
BW853 was part of Canadian Car & Foundry's fourth production
batch of Sea Hurricanes, comprising 79 aircraft. They were built in
1941 and the majority of this batch was shipped to Russia, but the
Royal Canadian Air Force retained a few aircraft in Canada, for
training pilots -- of which this aircraft was one.
The first record for BW853 shows that RCAF Eastern Air Command
took it on charge on December 17, 1941 when it was assigned to
118(F) Fighter Squadron at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, which looked
after various Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes, both Canadian and UK
built. The Commanding Officer was Squadron Leader Molson, who is
still alive today and now a senator -- part of the famous Molson
brewery family. He was a veteran that served in the Battle of
Britain with the Montreal RCAF auxiliary Squadron.
From there, BW 853 had a somewhat bumpy history as a trainer. In
the spring of 1942, BW853 was moved to 127 Fighter Squadron and was
on Command Strength at this time. The aircraft was damaged on July
24, 1942 at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, when a pilot on his first
Hurricane solo flight undershot the runway by 100 feet in poor
visibility. The undercarriage collapsed, with the aircraft sliding
on its belly, along the runway. The aircraft returned to the
factory, and was converted to a MK XII A at the same time.
BW853 later received minor damage with No. 1 Operation Training
Unit at Bagotville, Quebec, when RAF Pilot Officer M J Bailey hit a
tree on a low flying exercise. He was uninjured and the aircraft
was repaired on unit. This occurred on June 14, 1944.
On August 1, 1944, the plane flew
for its final time when Sergeant Brown was forced to make an
emergency landing in a field two miles south of St Gedion, one mile
east of range, while out on Air to Sleeve exercise, landing with
wheels up after apparent engine failure at 1830 hours. The aircraft
received significant enough damage for it to be returned to the
repair depot. Sergeant Brown was uninjured.
On August 11, the aircraft was allocated for repairs at No.9
depot but a decision to close the Operational Training Unit and
wind down further pilot training, almost a year before the end of
the war, was taken. So the repair card was altered to "write off"
as it was no longer necessary to maintain the level of Hurricanes
needed for pilot training.
BW853 was put into retirement on October 12, 1944, along with
three other Hurricanes. BW 862 and RCAF 5666 remained in Canada;
the first is now in storage at the Canadian Museum of Flight and
Transport, awaiting restoration. The second is in British Columbia,
and the third BW 881 has been restored.