Curtiss Hawk 75A/Mohawk. Part twelve. The Hawk in Portugal.

 

During World War 2, Portugal maintained neutrality, but with an eye put on whether Germany would respect it or not. 
Before 1939, thirty Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters were bought from Great Britain, after the British government refused the sale of fifteen Spitfire Mk. I, however, shortly later, in 1940 it was decided that the Portuguese Air Arm needed more modern fighters. Unfortunately, British fighters were not an option, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was in need of every fighter they could get, to defend British Isles during the Battle of Britain. 
However, as the German threat dissipated, the Portuguese government insisted on the supply of modern monoplane fighters. With the transfer of the Gladiator Flights to the Azores islands and the third fighter Flight not formed yet, the Portuguese mainland was left without fighter defence. 
The British Air Ministry, as an answer to the Portuguese requests, allowed the release of a number of Curtiss Mohawks, which were in RAF's reserves in the United Kingdom. 
Thanks to this 16 Mohawks were shipped to Portugal during the summer of 1941. Of the initial batch of 16, five were heavily damaged during the transport to Lisbon, requiring reparations before they could be employed. By January 1942 eleven aircraft were ready for flight after being assembled at Alverca and having their engines overhauled. They were based at Ota base, close to Lisbon, by April.
During the months of April and May, two accidents took place killing their pilots. 
Meanwhile, Captain Machado de Barros left Lajes, in the Azores, together with the Gladiator Flights and was tasked with the creation of Esquadrilha Expedicionária de Caça nº3  (EEC - Expeditionary Fighter Flight No.3), which was to include the Mohawks. The new flight would replace the Gladiators of EEC 1, which were based at Rabo de Peixe airfield, on Sao Miguel island, which soon would return to mainland Portugal.
However, one year later, the transfer to the Azores was not yet completed and, by June 1943 Mohawks were still based at Ota, with one more aircraft lost in July, and another one lost in October reducing their number to just seven operational aircraft.
It wasn't until 14th July 1944 that the first Mohawk Flight was officially commissioned at Rabo de Peixe airfield at Sao Miguel island, replacing EEC1 which was disbanded during the meantime.
The actual number of Mohawks that served in the Azores was revealed to be just seven and their service in the Azores wasn't bright. They suffered continuous fuel shortages preventing normal use of the aircraft and enough training for the pilots. 
After two more accidents taking place between December 1944 and August 1945, EEC 3 was disbanded as fighter aircraft on the Azores had became irrelevant with the end of the war in Europe. Mohawks were withdrawn from service at Sao Miguel, with not a single one returning to continental Portugal.
Overall the Mohawks were not well liked by Portuguese pilots as its fully electrical systems were prone to malfunction in adverse environments. Given that the Azores Archipelago is known for its difficult weather conditions, with high humidity, salty atmosphere, high rainfall and strong winds, the probability of failures was high. Another complaint was the unreliability of the engine, which caused most of the accidents and the placement of some instruments within the cockpit.

Sources:
1st AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 61 - Curtiss P-36 Hawk Part 1 (translated)
2nd Mushroom Model Magazine - White Series 9130 - Portuguese-Fighter-colours -1919-1956