See the de Havilland Sea Vampire, the experimental fighter that ushered aircraft carriers into the jet age

• The Sea Vampire made history as the first jet-powered aircraft to land on a carrier in 1945.

• The UK and US navies developed fighter jets to operate aboard aircraft carriers after World War II.

• The de Havilland Vampire was adapted for naval use, becoming the aptly named Sea Vampire.

When the British experimental jet fighter touched down on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ocean nearly eight decades ago, it wasn’t just a historic landing — it was a giant leap in naval aviation.

Aircraft carriers carrying propeller planes proved to be one of the most valuable sea-based assets in World War II. After the war ended, the two largest navies at the time — the UK Royal Navy and the US Navy — fast-tracked carrier testing for the jets revolutionizing air forces.

Some land-based fighter jets were redesigned to achieve that purpose — for the Royal Navy, it was the de Havilland Vampire, the second jet-powered aircraft to be produced and flown by Britain.

The Royal Navy modified the Vampire to make the aircraft’s design more fitted for sea trials, aptly naming the naval variant the de Havilland Sea Vampire.

On December 3, 1945, the Sea Vampire successfully landed and took off from the flight deck of the HMS Ocean, becoming the first jet aircraft in history to do so, greatly expanding the combat range and speed of the carrier squadrons.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier

The Royal Navy Colossus-class aircraft carrier HMS Ocean was commissioned just months before it was a part of the historic carrier landing.

Shortly after commissioning in August 1945 — the same month Japan surrendered after the US dropped two nuclear bombs — the ship was upgraded to conduct night fighter operations, equipped with improved radar and direction-finding equipment.

The light fleet carrier’s flight deck measured nearly 700 feet and accommodated more than three dozen aircraft. The Ocean was armed with close-in antiaircraft weaponry, including a Bofors 40 mm gun and a two-pounded naval gun known as the “pom-pom” due to the sound it makes when firing.

A renowned test pilot

The landmark landing could only be carried out by an aviator of equal renown. Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown was the chief naval test pilot for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, the UK’s leading flight research facility at the time.

As a highly experienced test pilot, Brown already had a number of broken records under his belt — he was the first to land a twin-engine aircraft on a carrier, the first to land a tricycle gear aircraft on a carrier, and the first to land a rotary-wing aircraft on a ship at sea.

The first take-off and landing on a carrier

The Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm developed three prototypes as part of their efforts to create a fighter jet that could operate aboard carriers, as well as new deck-landing techniques.

The flight trials for the Sea Vampire prototype took place off the south coast of England. The Sea Vampire trial planned to have the aircraft land on the Ocean’s flight deck at 95 mph, though strong gusts caused the plane to land faster than anticipated.

Due to the aircraft’s tail-down angle and the pitching of the carrier’s flight deck, the plane’s trailing edge wing flaps hit the deck, breaking their hinges upon landing.

Brown, however, was determined to pull off a perfect landing. He made several more takeoffs and landings on the Ocean, accomplishing the feat on the fourth try despite the initial damage to the Sea Vampire.

Carrier landings were considered some of the most challenging maneuvers at the time, so demonstrating that higher-speed fighter jets could safely land marked a turning point in naval aviation. The first successful jet-powered carrier landing catalyzed the innovation of carrier technology and design to better accommodate jet aircraft, including angled flight decks, steam-powered aircraft catapults, and more advanced arresting gear.

The advancements ushered in a new era, expanding and enhancing the capabilities of both the flattops and the aircraft they carried. Jet engines have greater thrust than propellers, allowing aircraft to fly much faster and at higher altitudes. These changes led to a strategic shift in naval warfare with a greater focus on air superiority at sea.

“The only thing we can say is, we took the bull by the horns, accepting the limitations in engine performance, to show jet propulsion was conceivable for naval operations,” Brown said in a 2015 interview published in the British aviation magazine Aeroplane Monthly.

Vampire variants

Following the successful fight landing and take-off, the FAA ultimately decided to use the Sea Vampire as a more cost-effective training aircraft rather than a first-line fighter.

In 1947, the mass-produced version of the Sea Vampire featured the model’s larger flaps and airbrakes and a modified arresting hook. The Navy ordered 30 Sea Vampires, but only 18 were actually delivered to the Royal Navy.

A few years after the 1945 carrier landing, the Sea Vampire went on to test the feasibility of landing a jet with wheels retracted on a flexible 150-foot “carpet” atop a carrier deck.

While the tests aboard the light carrier HMS Warrior were ultimately successful, wheelless aircraft couldn’t land on conventional airfields or runways without the shock-absorbing “carpet,” making the innovation more trouble than it was worth.

After pilots reported issues with the Sea Vampire’s slow takeoff without a catapult, the training jets were pulled in the late 1950s and scrapped by 1960.

Which came first?

While Brown’s landing and takeoff on the HMS Ocean is remembered as the first jet-powered aircraft carrier landing, some argue that the US Navy accomplished the feat a month earlier.

On November 6, 1945, US Navy Ensign J.A. West landed a Ryan FR-1 Fireball fighter jet, the Navy’s first jet-engine fighter aircraft, on the deck of the escort carrier USS Wake Island using jet power after the plane’s main piston engine malfunctioned.

The Fireball was a mixed-propulsion aircraft, meaning it was powered by both a piston and jet engine. Standard takeoffs and landings from carrier decks at the time were typically powered by the aircraft’s piston engines because early jet engines alone were not powerful or reliable enough for sustained flight.

While West was approaching the carrier deck, the American-made jet’s main piston engine failed, causing the plane’s propeller to spin out of control. In a last-ditch effort to safely land the Fireball, West switched to the Fireball’s turbojet engine and successfully landed on USS Wake Island using jet power alone.

Although West’s landing was ultimately successful — albeit unintentional — the credit for the first jet-powered carrier landing is more often given to Brown’s pure-jet Sea Vampire, as the Fireball was a hybrid aircraft.

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