Seafire LF Mk.III

This page is about the British fighter Seafire LF Mk.III. For the French Seafire, see Seafire LF Mk.III (France). For other versions, see Spitfire (Family).

Seafire LF Mk.III

Seafire LF Mk.III

Description

The Seafire LF Mk.III was a British WWII carrier-based fighter based on the Spitfire Mk Vc. It was the first version of the navalized Spitfire that featured manually folding wings, allowing for easier storage and accommodating of more fighters in the hangar bay and on the deck of an aircraft carrier. A more powerful engine was also installed, namely the Merlin 55 for the F MK III or Merlin 55M for L Mk III. A slim Aero-Vee air filter and six stack ejector type exhausts were fitted to the plane as well. The Mk III was the most produced variant of a Seafire with 1,220 built: 870 by Westland and 350 by Cunliffe Owen. In 1947, 12 Seafire Mk IIIs were stripped of naval equipment such as arresting hooks and handed over to the Irish Air Corps.

The Seafire was introduced in Update "Winged Lions". The Seafire shares main flight characteristics with its brother, the Spitfire Mk Vc, which it was developed from. It is armed with a pair of Hispano Mk.II 20 mm cannons with 120 rpg and four 7.7 mm Browning machine guns with 350 rpg all mounted in the wings. The climb rate and speed of the Mk III is subpar when compared to its contemporary enemies such as the Bf 109 G-6 or Fw-190 A-5. One of the few advantages sporting against these planes is the superb manoeuvrability of the Seafire coupled with great energy retention during manoeuvres. Effectively it could also be called a "jack of all trades, but master of none".

General info

Flight performance

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,963 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	561	541		17.2	17.8	14.6	14.6	340
Upgraded	627	592		15.7	16.2	26.9	19.5

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
		N/A	N/A	230	~10	~5

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 321	< 400	< 350	> 500

Survivability and armour

The Seafire LF Mk.III has little protection: your enemies' guns will nearly always hit something vital. The pilot is protected in the rear by a 7 mm steel plate covering the seat, but this is not enough to stop 12.7 mm and 20 mm AP rounds, the kind you will most commonly be facing. The pilot is protected from head-ons by a sloped 38 mm pane of bulletproof glass, and a small amount of armour and fuel tanks in the nose.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Seafire LF Mk.III is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, wing-mounted (120 rpg = 240 total)
• 4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (350 rpg = 1,400 total)

Usage in battles

The Seafire LF Mk.III should be played as a turnfighter with a good climb rate. Use the plane's good climb rate to get to around 4,000 m and attack low-flying or otherwise disadvantaged opponents. Attacking bombers is not recommended, as you have little ammunition and your offensive armament is not powerful enough to take out bombers before their defensive armament takes you out. Conserve your energy so you can stay manoeuvrable: it is recommended to build up speed in a straight line after reaching altitude.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• The engine doesn't overheat any faster than the engines of the other Spitfires

Cons:

• Poor mid and high altitude performance
• Slower than nearly all opponents
• Weak armament
• Outperformed by most other fighters at its tier

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Seafire LF Mk.III from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Spitfire (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.