What did the Hurricane "Hurricat" achieve?

Short answer

There were eight combat launches from CAM ships, destroying eight German aircraft — three Fw 200 Condors, four He 111s and one Ju 88 — with one damaged and three driven off. The Hurricane was normally lost: the pilot parachuted or ditched near the convoy.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What did the Hurricane "Hurricat" achieve?

Hawker Hurricanes of No 1 Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at Wittering, Cambridgeshire, followed by a similar formation of Supermarine Spitfires of No 266 Squadron, during a flying display for aircraft factory workers, CH1561

A fighter launched from a merchantman

The Hawker Hurricane carried aboard CAM ships, nicknamed "Hurricat" or "Catafighter", was launched to attack Luftwaffe aircraft. The RAF formed the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit (MSFU) on 5 May 1941 at Speke, on the River Mersey, in Liverpool. The system was a stopgap solution until enough escort carriers were available. The Hurricane was normally lost, with the pilot either parachuting or ditching in the ocean near the convoy.

The target: the Fw 200

The Fw 200 could track convoys and direct U-boat attacks against them. Large and slow, the Fw 200 was a fairly vulnerable target.

The tally

Eight combat launches were made from CAM ships. They destroyed eight German aircraft — three Fw 200 Condors, four Heinkel He 111s and one Junkers Ju 88 — damaged another, and drove off three more. Twelve of the 35 CAM ships were sunk over 170 round trips. Once enough escort carriers were available, CAM ship sorties on North American and Russian Arctic convoys were suspended in August 1942. The last MSFU was disbanded on 7 September 1943.