Hawker Hurricane variant
Hawker Hurricane Sea Hurricane Mk IA
A Hurricane Mk I modified by Hawker or General Aircraft to be catapult-launched from armed merchantmen (CAM ships), with no way to recover the aircraft aboard.
History
The Sea Hurricane Mk IA, informally known as the "Hurricat", was a Hurricane Mk I adapted to be catapult-launched from a catapult-armed merchantman (CAM ship). These cargo ships carried a catapult but no means to recover the aircraft: if it was out of range of a land base, the pilot had to bail out and be picked up by the ship itself. At least 60 aircraft were converted, mostly worn-out front-line airframes; one broke up during trials under catapult-launch stress. Hurricats flew eight operational sorties and shot down six enemy aircraft for the loss of one pilot; their first kill was a long-range Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, shot down on 2 August 1941.