SKUA! THE ROYAL NAVY'S DIVE-BOMBER
Written by Peter C. Smith
Published by Pen & Sword Aviation
in 2006
ISBN: 1844154556
SKUA! THE ROYAL NAVY'S DIVE-BOMBER
Written by Peter C. Smith.
Stock no. 1329502
1st.
2006.
Hardback.
Fine condition in a nearly fine dustwrapper.
The Blackburn Skua was the first monoplane to be designed and built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. As a result of continuous debate, it became a compromise between the Navy's desire for a carrier-based dive-bomber and the Air Ministry's preference for a hybrid able to perform in a limited fighter role, which proved incompatible in practice. As a dive-bomber, the Royal Navy put the design to good use from the outset of WWII. 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. Black boards, gilt title to spine. B/w photos. 271 pages (including index). ISBN: 1844154556. A super copy, looks unread. Dustwrapper is just lightly creased to top of spine.
Front cover
Contents
- 1. Forging the First-Strike Weapon
- 2. Building the Concept
- 3. The Saga of the Dive-bomb Sight
- 4. The Skua is Hatched
- 5. Afloat at Last
- 6. Into Battle
- 7. Killing the Konigsberg
- 8. Long Odds
- 9. Lambs to the Slaughter
- 10. The Last Ditch
- 11. North and South
- 12. Warmer Climes
- 13. Last Missions
- 14. Training, Tragedies and Targets
- Appendix 1. Skua 'Firsts'
- Appendix 2. Skua Combat Units - Commanding Officers
- Appendix 3. FAA Squadrons with Skua complement
- Appendix 4. Losses in Norway 1940
- Appendix 5. Diagrams
- Bibliography
- Index