De Havilland Sea Mosquito TR Mk.33, the de-navalized Sea Mosquito

[yoyolast 1,708]

Introduction

The De Havilland Sea Mosquito TR Mk.33 was a naval torpedo bomber version of the Mosquito aircraft and one of very few naval aircraft that had served in the Israeli Air Force. While it was modified when delivered to the Israelis to remove some of it's naval characteristics, it could still present a somewhat different armed Mosquito variant for the tech tree.

 

Disclaimer: There has been an argument brought up here in the forums in the past regarding this variant's primary armaments which appear to have been lacking in the examples with the fully fared nose in Israeli service like the one in the title image. To be clear, I am suggesting to add specifically the examples with the capped nose which are proven to have possessed primary armaments (a couple of pictures of them are found throughout the thread).

 

 - One of the Mosquito TR.33 examples just before delivery from the UK bearing a civil registration number.

 

Acquisition

During the early 50's the Israeli Air Force sought to bolster it's ranks with new airframes. Despite the Mosquito aircraft's lack of reliability and the lack of capability compared to the jet aircraft which were being acquired by Israel's enemies, the Israelis had no choice but to purchase more of them since jets could only be purchased in minimal numbers at the time. Unlike previous attempts to acquire Mosquito airframes the Israelis had actually turned to the UK to purchase more airframes this time thanks to improving relations between the two countries. A deal was struck with a British scrap dealer in June of 1954 to purchase 13 (some sources say 14) ex-Royal Navy Sea Mosquito TR Mk.33s and 7 Mosquito FB Mk.VIs. The deal was somewhat delayed due to difficulties in approving the sale, but eventually the British government approved and after being refurbished by Eagle Aviation Ltd in Blackbushe they were delivered to the Israelis with deliveries starting on the 31st of October 1954 and proceeding until August of 1955.

 

 - A capped nosed Israeli Mosquito TR Mk.33. Note the clear existence of the underbelly cannons as well as the bomb and rocket racks.

 

The Israeli modification

Prior to the delivery of the Sea Mosquitos to Israel the airframes were refurbished and modified by Eagle Aviation Ltd, mainly to remove the naval features which weren't needed in Israeli service. The major changes done to the airframes were as follows:

• Improved shielding of the systems and fuselage of the aircraft against the erosion and wear of the wooden structure.
• Removal of the arrestor hook from under the fuselage.
• fixing the wings permanently, removing their naval folding feature.
• installation of the larger aerodynamically fared nose (which appears to have been removed in some examples down the line as per the disclaimer I'm not suggesting the airframes with this feature).
• Removal of the torpedo bombing equipment, instead having a regular bomb bay akin to that of the FB Mk.VI variant Mosquitos.
• While there is no solid confirmation of this it is likely that the aircraft (at least those that later had the capped nose) lacked the ASH radar that is found in standard Sea Mosquito TR Mk.33s.

Some of the aircraft's unique features (compared to the FB.VI variant) were kept such as the stronger engines, 4 bladed propellers and the lack of 7.7mm Machineguns in the nose. In the Israeli Air Force itself it had also received the same modified loadout that was found on the FB Mk.VI variant in Israeli service, being able to carry a pair of 500 lbs bombs and four 5 inch rockets at the same time.

 

 - A capped nosed Israeli Mosquito TR Mk.33 during the 1956 Suez crisis carrying 500lbs bombs and 5 inch rockets.

 

Service  in the Air Force

All of Israel's Sea Mosquito TR Mk.33s were allocated to the 110th squadron where they served for their short but significant career. The most notable period in their service history was the 1956 Suez Crisis when they were actively used as strike aircraft along with the FB Mk.VI Mosquitos. There was unfortunately no clear distinction between FB Mk.VI and TR Mk.33 mosquitos' actions during the war, however these Mosquitos without a doubt were used effectively enough. In 1958 the Sea Mosquito TR Mk.33s were phased out of service along with the rest of the IAF's remaining Mosquitos.

 

 - Additional photo of an Israeli Mosquito TR Mk.33 in the 1956 war very clearly showing it's cannons.

 

Specifications

 

Type:  Naval fighter-bomber

 

Country of origin: UK

 

Wing span: 16.5 meters

 

Length: 12.88 meters

 

Height: 4.12 meters

 

Wing area: 42.2 m²

 

Powerplants:  2 Rolls-Royce Merlin 25 engines rated at 1,640 hp each

 

Max speed: 619 km/h

 

Max altitude: 9,000 meters

 

Range: 1,094 km

 

Weight: Empty - 9,629 kg, Fully loaded - 12,150 kg

 

Armaments: 4x20mm Hispano Mk.II cannons. Secondary loadouts include 250 and 500 lbs bombs as well as 5 inch rockets in various assortments.

 

 

Sources

Spoiler

Air War on the Edge by Bill Norton

The Air Force in Battle - 70 years of aerial superiority by Danny Shalom

Le Fana de l'Aviation N°493

Colors & Markings of the Israeli Air Force by Yoav Efrati

The Air Force aircraft from the Tiger Moth to the Sufa by Danny Shalom (specifications)

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by yoyolast
slight fix

[ItssLuBu 1,798]

Approved and open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,848]

+1 for sure, would really love to see this added to the Israeli tree.

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

The Israeli air tree could easily have rank 3 aircraft on it, which would include, potentially, up to three different Mosquito variants (this being one of them).

[CokeSpray 7,272]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.