Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Two-seat carrier-borne all-weather fighter and strike-bomber

Power Plant:

One 4,850 lbst de Havilland Ghost 104 turbojet

Specifications:

Armament:

Four 20 mm Hispano cannon with 150 rounds per gun; eight 27.2 kg (60 lb) rockets

History:

Flight testing conducted in 1947 with a de Havilland Vampire powered by a Ghost engine in place of the Goblin led to design refinements by de Havilland. The aircraft’s wing was modified to increase the maximum permissible Mach number, thus producing the Venom. The slightly greater overall diameter of the Ghost engine did not necessitate any major alterations to the fuselage nacelle, and the new design became known as the DH.112 Venom.

The prototype Venom (VV162) was flown for the first time on 2 September 1949. The initial production model was the Venom FB.1, a version of which was built under licence for the Swiss Air Force as the FB.50. Progressive development led to the FB.4 with re-designed vertical tail surfaces and an ejector seat. At this time a two-seat variant was developed for naval service as a night fighter, and with the Royal Navy it became known as the FAW.20 with power-operated folding wings, catapult points, and an arrester hook housed in a fairing above and behind the jet pipe.

The first production FAW.20 was flown on 27 March 1953 and 50 examples were built. This model was also built for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as the NF.2 without the naval equipment, as the NF.51 for Sweden, and under licence in France for the French Navy. The first French machine, named the Aquilon, was flown on 25 March 1954. The Aquilon was powered by a Fiat-built Ghost 48 turbojet.

The next variants to appear were the Venom NF.3 and Sea Venom FAW.21 for the RAF and RN respectively. These featured power-operated ailerons and the improved Ghost 104 engine, American radar equipment, and power-jettisonable, clear-view, frameless cockpit canopies. Some 206 Sea Venoms were built.

An export variant of the FAW.21 was the FAW.53. On 23 July 1951 the Australian Minister for the Navy, William “Billy” McMahon, announced an order for Sea Venoms to replace the Hawker Sea Fury, the new aircraft to become the Fleet Air Arm’s new air defence fighter, and the Australian Navy’s first frontline jet aircraft. Initially it was expected to produce the Sea Venoms at Bankstown, NSW on the production line used for the Vampire but this idea was shelved and all aircraft were imported.

The Australian aircraft were built at the de Havilland facility at Christchurch aerodrome near Bournemouth in Hampshire and differed from the Royal Navy FAW.21 only in having the AI Mk 17 radar installed and in the avionics installed.

Some 39 aircraft were supplied to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), serving in the all-weather fighter role with naval squadrons VT805 and VT808, and with VC724 in the operational training role. Squadrons VT805 and VT808 were regularly based on board the aircraft carrier ‘HMAS Melbourne’, joining the land-based VC724 at ‘HMAS Albatross’ at Nowra, NSW, when the carrier was not at sea. The Sea Venom was retired from service in 1963 when it was replaced by the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk.

During service the Sea Venoms on board ‘HMAS Melbourne’ visited Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, The Philippines, New Guinea, New Zealand and the Far East. Sea Venoms obtained for the RAN were: WZ893 (c/n 12750) to WZ946 (c/n 12788). In 1964 the RAN adopted a new serial system for its aircraft, the Sea Venom taking the N4- designator in lieu of the British serial, and at least 11 were painted with the new serials, ie N4-897, etc. N4-943 was the last to fly in RAN service. Three (WZ930, WZ943 and WZ944) were converted to TT Mk 53 configuration, being used in the target-towing role.

Those lost in service included: WZ896 at Nowra on 10 December 1957; WZ909 which crashed at sea on 21 May 1959; WZ932 which crashed at Nowra on 3 December 1964; and WZ940 which crashed into Sydney Harbour after a mid-air collision with WZ893 on 2 October 1962.

A number of Sea Venoms have survived, and these have included: WZ937, WZ931, WZ895 and N4-935 held by the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Nowra. One WZ895 was at one stage being restored to airworthiness for the RAN Historic Flight as VH-NVV but this was not completed at the time the Historic Flight was disbanded. In early 2019 the Navy Historic Flight machine was conveyed to the Historical Aircraft Restgoration Society (HARS) at Albion Park, NSW where it has been restored for static display.

Sea Venom WZ901 is at the Moorabbin Aircraft Museum, VIC; WZ907 is at the Camden Museum of Aviation at Narellan, NSW; WZ898 and WZ910 are held by the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra; and others are in private collections. WZ946 was placed on a pole outside Chieftain Aviation, Bankstown for some years but was removed. WZ904/N4-901 is at the Sid Beck Museum at Mareeba, QLD, and WZ939 was the Classic Jets Fighter Museum in Adelaide, SA until that museum was closed down in 2016 and the aircraft was sold. A couple were exported to the USA where at one stage at least two were made airworthy, including WZ944.