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SKUA! - the Royal Navy's Dive Bomber
H/B(1) Pen & Sword, 2006
The story of the Royal Navy's only true dive-bomber. The Blackburn Skua was designed in the 1930's as a dive-bomber first-and-foremost, and a fighter as only a secondary option but historians ever since have reversed that fact. Here is the first true and detailed account of this remarkable aircraft, from drawing board to combat. The Skua was notable for many "firsts" in British naval aviation history- the first monoplane in the Fleet Air Arm; the first British aircraft to destroy a German aircraft in World War II; the first dive-bomber to sink a major naval vessel in World War II; the first aircraft to attack submarines in that conflict; and she notched up many other notable landmarks.
As well as sinking the German cruiser "Konigsberg" at Bergen, Norway; the Skua, although outclassed, took on the Luftwaffe; the Skua scored a hit on the German battle-cruiser "Scharnhorst" in the same conflict and also hit the Vichy-French battleship "Richelieu" at Dakar. They flew dangerous missions over the Belgian and French evacuation beaches and escorted convoys; in a previously ignored sortie the Skua dive-bombed and broke up a major German army assault on the Dunkirk perimeter and perhaps saved the B.E.F. Skua's led RAF Hurricane fighters to Malta from the flight-decks of Royal Navy carriers and helped save that island; Finally they ended their days as target tugs, but, although obsolete, had already achieved much.
With many original photographs and a host of eyewitness memoirs culled from former pilots and observers by the Author, this is the another forgotten and maligned aircraft finally give her true place in aeronautical history. R J Marchant writing in Aviation News said:- "Every once in a while a book surprises, and for me this is it." He added that it was "a truly original work" , that "Peter Smith writes with authority" and "has an infectious style" and that Skua! "is a terrific book". The Nautical Magazine called agreed stating it was "A very good book, I enjoyed reading and studying it, and thorougly recommend it." while The Aeroplane described it as "this excellent book" which gave the reader "a very clear account of this intriguing British aircraft." Aeromilitaria stated "This is a detailed history of the type, which does the Skua justice." Shipping Today summed up by stating that "The book is a fascinating account" and that "the author is to be congratualted on the story of how the Skua earned a special place in naval aviation." The Fleet Air Arm Officer's Association reviewer called the book, "a very fine piece of history" and added "this is both a fascinating read and a valuable book of reference. It should not be missed." Rob Jerrard said in Royal Navy and Maritime Book Review, that, "As with other books by this author, the story is told fully and is the definitive record...." The American Naval Aviation News said that this book is, "...full of wonderful descriptions and lost details". It concluded:- "Skua! is a fine account of a rather unusual aircraft by an acknowledged expert in the field."