Hawker Typhoon

Fighter-bomber · Hawker Aircraft · United Kingdom

Hawker Typhoon
ⓘ licence & creditPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_(RAF)_Hawker_Typhoon_being_re-armed_in_July_1944_on_a_forward_airfield_in_France_during_Operation_Overlord.jpg
Typical crew1
Engines1 × Napier Sabre
First flight1940
Number built3,317

Photographs

Royal Air Force- 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1943-1945. Hawker Typhoon Mark IB, MN606, of No. 247 Squadron RAF, being overhauled by a Repair and Salvage Unit in a dispersal wrecked by the retreating Luftwaffe at B78/Eindhoven, Holland.
ⓘ licence & creditLea T (Plt Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hawker_Typhoon_-_Eindhoven_-_Royal_Air_Force-_2nd_Tactical_Air_Force,_1943-1945._CL1441.jpgView source & full licence →
"The end of a Foke –WULF 190, 10/14/1943. It’s minutes were numbered when this German Foke-Wulf 190 got inside the sights of a gunner aboard a Royal Air Force Fighter Command squadron’s Typhoon. This series of photos shows the split-second disintegration of the enemy plane as it blew up under a stream of fire from the Typhoon. In Photo #1 the gunner scores his first hit, on the plane tail. In subsequent photos, parts of the enemy fighter begin to fall, until, in one photo the Fouke-Wulf190 blows up completely."
ⓘ licence & creditUnknown authorUnknown author / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gun_camera_footage_of_a_Hawker_Typhoon_shooting_down_a_Focke-Wulf_Fw_190.jpgView source & full licence →
Groundcrew personnel from 438 Squadron RCAF working and relaxing at B78 Endhoven NL.
ⓘ licence & creditAuthor unknown. RCAF photographer. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eindhoven_October_1944_Typhoon_MN816_438_SQN.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Ground crew enjoying a game of cricket as others service a Hawker Typhoon Mark IB of No. 174 Squadron RAF outside a canvas hangar at B5/Le Fresne Camilly, Normandy.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (Flt Lt) Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cricket_at_B5-Le_Fresne_IWM_CL_407.jpgView source & full licence →
A rocket fired from a Typhoon of No 181 Squadron, Royal Air Force, on its way towards buildings at Carpiquet airfield during the battle for Normandy. The Canadian 3rd Division took Carpiquet to the west of Caen on 4 July.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer; Original uploader was Skinny87 at en.wikipedia / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombcarpiquet.jpgView source & full licence →
A Hawker Typhoon Mk IB of No. 486 Squadron RAF, 27 October 1943. Exhibiting its aggressive lines to advantage, Typhoon IB JP853/SA-K of No. 486 (NZ) Squadron RAF displays for the photographer during a visit to Tangmere, 27 October 1943. One of the Typhoon's problems, especially during its first months of service, was that it was frequently mistaken for the FW190. After various experiments the identification markings shown here, consisting of 12in black and 24in white bands, were adopted.
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hawker_Typhoon_Mk_IB_of_No._486_Squadron_RAF,_27_October_1943._CH11578.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Typhoon Mark IB, DN604 ‘PR-F’ “Mavis”, of No. 609 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Manston, Kent. The aircraft displays a score tally of 18 locomotives destroyed in ground attacks on the fuselage side.
ⓘ licence & creditMiller (Pilot Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:609_Squadron_RAF_Typhoon_Manston_IWM_CH_9822.jpgView source & full licence →
{{En|Six (RAF) Hawker Typhoons of 56 Sqn in formation}}
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:56_Sqn-1.jpgView source & full licence →
{{En-gb| (RAF) of Eric Haabjoern showing squadron scoreboard. Note that the aircraft has black and white invasion stripes painted on it.}}
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force (RAF) official / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:56_Sqn_score.jpgView source & full licence →
438 SQN RCAF Hawker Typhoons prep for take off
ⓘ licence & creditUnknown authorUnknown author / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:438_SQN_RCAF_Hawker_Typhoons_prep_for_take_off.jpgView source & full licence →
3 in, 60 pdr SAP, Rocket Projectiles being loaded onto the launch rails of an RAF Hawker Typhoon, circa 1944. A pair of 20mm cannon barrels are visible above the launch rails.
ⓘ licence & creditassumed British Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3_in_RP_60_pdr_Loading_On_Typhoon.jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Hawker_TyphoonJX-X_(15650912917).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Hawker_Typhoon_R9831,_EL-U_(15216077124).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Hawker_Typhoon_P5216_(15216625763).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Hawker_Typhoon_(15837610252).jpgView source & full licence →

About

The Hawker Typhoon began as a disappointment and ended as one of the most feared aircraft over the Normandy battlefield. Sydney Camm designed it as a powerful successor to the Hawker Hurricane, but its big Napier Sabre engine was troublesome and its early service in 1941 was dogged by structural and reliability problems that nearly saw it cancelled.

Its salvation came at low altitude. The Typhoon was the one RAF fighter that could catch the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 at the heights at which the Germans were making nuisance raids, and from there it grew into a devastating ground-attack machine. Armed with four 20 mm cannon and, from 1943, eight rockets, the “Tiffy” became the backbone of the Second Tactical Air Force’s strike squadrons. Crews earned fame as “train busters”, and after D-Day Typhoons hammered German armour and transport, most infamously in the Falaise pocket. Around 3,200 were built.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Hawker Typhoon — BAE Systems Heritage and Hawker Typhoon — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Engines