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Blackburn B-24 Skua and B-25 Roc

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For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.

Type Description and Production Data

B.24/D.B.1 Skua B.25 Roc
Production Summary
B-24/D.B.1 Skua Variants
B-24/D.B.1 Skua Mk.I
Two seat all metal monoplane fighter/dive bomber to Specification O.27/34 to meet the requirements of OR.15. It was an all-metal (duralumin) low-wing, stressed-skin monoplane with wings that folded to the rear around an inclined hinge, just outboard of the undercarriage legs. The undercarriage itself was retractable, whilst the crew (pilot plus telegraphist - air gunner (TAG)) sat under a long glazed cockpit enclosure, with the rear gunner positioned in line with the wing trailing edge. Armament comprised of four fixed, forward-firing 0.303 in Browning machine guns in the wings and a single flexible, rearward-firing .303 in Vickers K machine gun in the rear cockpit. For the dive-bombing role, a 250 lb or 500 lb bomb was carried on a special swinging "trapeze" crutch under the fuselage, which enabled the bomb to clear the propeller arc on release. Four 40 lb bombs or eight 20 lb Cooper bombs could also be carried in racks under each wing. It had large Zap-type air brakes/flaps, which helped in dive bombing and landing on aircraft carriers at sea.Two main watertight compartments were also incorporated into the fuselage to provide buoyancy if the aircraft were to be forced down onto the sea. Fuel tanks with a combined capacity of 163 imperial gallons were fitted, made up of a 39-gallon tank in front of the cockpit and two side-by-side tanks of 62 gallons each between the pilot and gunner position. One 840 h.p. Bristol Mercury IX powerplant driving a 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller.
B-24/D.B.1A Skua Mk.II
As Mk.I but fitted with one 905 h.p. Bristol Perseus XII powerplant, produced to Specification 25/36.

B-24 Skua Mk.II Specification
Span Length Height Wing Area Empty Wt Max AUW Cruise Speed Maximum Speed Range Service Ceiling
46 ft 2 in 35 ft 7 in 12 ft 6 in 319 sq ft 5496 lb 8228 lb 187 mph/ 162 kn 225 mph/ 196 kn 760 mi 20200 ft
14.07 m 10.85 m 3.81 m 29.64 m2 2493 kg 3732 kg 301 km/h 362 km/h 1223 km 6157 m

Production Details
Serial Range C/n Type Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 2 aircraft ordered from The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co. Ltd, Brough, Yorkshire, to Contract 400778/35.
 K5178  6290/1  Mk.I  1      First flew 9 February 1937. Delivered June 1937.
 K5179  6290/2    1      First flew 4 May 1939. Retained by Blackburn under Contract 769429/38.
 190 aircraft ordered from The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co. Ltd, Brough, Yorkshire, to Contract 534298/36, Requisition 7/36. All delivered to the FAA between September 1938 and September
 1939 except as noted.
 L2867 - L2935  7371/1-7371/69  Mk.II  69      L2867, L2868, L2871 to AAEE
 L2936 - L2956  7375/1-7375/21    21      
 L2957 - L3006  7840/1-7840/50    50      For L2973 - L2986, see note 2.
 L3007 - L3056  7842/1-7842/50    50      
Total Production 192
B-25 Roc
Two seat turret fighter based on the Skua to Specification O.30/35 to meet the requirements of OR.28. It was armed with the Boulton Paul Type A power operated gun turret, with four .303 in Browning machine guns. It retained the wing-mounted dive brakes of the Skua, with bomb racks under each wing for two 250 lb bombs and eight practice bombs to be carried. The Roc differed from the Skua in having dihedral on the wings, doing away with the Skua's upturned wing-tips, and the underside of the fuselage aft of the wings was flat, compared with the Skuas complex curved structure in this area. Radio equipment was moved to the space between the pilot and gunner to maintain the balance of the aircraft with the heavy gun turret.
Production by Blackburn to Specification 26/36 was not proceded with, all production being undertaken by Boulton Paul Aircraft to Specification O.15/37. One 905 h.p. Bristol Perseus XII powerplant.
A few aircraft were converted to seaplanes to Specification 20/37, using a set of floats from a Blackburn Shark and the addition of an enlarged ventral fin.

B-25 Roc Specification
Span Length Height Wing Area Empty Wt Max AUW Cruise Speed Maximum Speed Range Service Ceiling
46 ft 7 in 35 ft 12 ft 1 in 310 sq ft 6121 lb 7950 lb 135 mph/ 117 kn 223 mph/ 194 kn 550 mi 18000 ft
14.2 m 10.67 m 3.68 m 28.8 m2 2776 kg 3606 kg 217 km/h 359 km/h 885 km 5486 m

Production Details
Serial Range C/n Batch
Qty		 Conv. Canc'd Notes
 136 aircraft ordered from The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co. Ltd, Brough, Yorkshire, to Contract 534401/36, and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd., Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, to
 Contract 632260/37, Requisition 46/36. Delivered between February 1939 and August 1940.
 L3057 - L3192    136      L3057, L3059, L3091 converted to seaplanes; L3060 scheduled for conversion.
 L3174 converted to seaplane target tug.
 33 aircraft ordered from The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co. Ltd, Brough, Yorkshire, for the Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat). Deliveries began on 9 March 1940, but only reached Dyce, Aberdeen.
 No aircraft reached Finland and all were absorbed into the above FAA order above.
 RO-118 - RO-150        (33)  
Total Production 136

Production Summary

All Aircraft By Type
Type Built New Conv Canc'd Total
 B.24 Skua Mk.I 2 2
 B.24 Skua Mk.II 190 190
 B.25 Roc 136 136
328 (0) 0

Notes

  1. Blackburn used a series of Works Order Numbers rather than Constructors Numbers to identify individual airframes, but referred to here as C/n's for consistency.
  2. L2973 - L2986 delivered new as target tugs for use by the Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit of the RAF. Delivered in June 1939. Most were transferred to the FAA in June 1940. L2972 to RAF for packing trials prior to the Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit in Malta, but crashed.

Production References

  1. Blackburn Aircraft Since 1909, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1968 and 1989)
  2. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000 - N9999, RAF Aircraft Register Series (Air-Britain Publications, 1993)
  3. Fleet Air Arm Aircraft, Units and Ships, 1920 to 1939, Ray Sturtivant with Dick Cronin (Air Britain Publications, 1998)
  4. Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939 to 1945, Ray Sturtivant with Mick Burrows (Air Britain Publications, 1995)
  5. https://dingeraviation.net//skuaroc/skualisting.htm
  6. RAF Air Historical Branch: Contract Delivery Cards (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC78-8-3)
  7. RAF Air Historical Branch: RAF Aircraft Movement Card (A.M. Form 78) (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC-77-15-85 and -86)
  8. Ministry of Aircraft Production Aeroplane Price Books (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records X005-2126)

Page Revision History

Revised at Version 2.1.0
  • Roc Contract details improved, associated note 3 deleted.
Revised at Version 2.0.0
  • Improved Type Description and added Specification details
  • Added Requisition Numbers.
  • Added notes 1 to 3.