Supermarine Sea Otter, British & Commonwealth Users, part two

This is a direct continuation of our previous post.
Due to cooling problems found in the Perseus engine, the engine was changed for production aircraft to the Bristol Mercury XXX which drove a three-bladed propeller.
Due to the end of the war, 300 of them were cancelled in July 1946. They served during the World War II both with the Royal Air Force, being the No.277 Squadron the first unit to operate it in November 1943, and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, where they entered service one year later, joining the 1700 Naval Air Squadron in November 1944. Other RAF units which were also equipped with the Sea Otter were the No.278, 279, 281, 282, 292 squadrons and No. 1350, 1351 and 1352 flights. During World War II, they saw service in Home Waters, the Far East, Australia and the Admiralty Islands.
After the World War II, the Sea Otter was kept in service until the early 1950s. They took part in the Korean War operating from Royal Navy's carriers performing the S&R role.
Its intended replacement, the Supermarine Seagull (which will have its own post), never went beyond the prototype stage and every Sea Otter of RAF and FAA was replaced mainly by helicopters like the Westland-Sikorsky Dragonfly in the very early 1950s, as they already proved to be better in the S&R role. The Sea Otter was one of the few (if not the only) biplane serving with UN forces during the Korean War.
Many Sea Otters were converted for civilian use after the World War II. The cabin was soundproofed and fitted with heating. Seating for four passengers was installed as well as a chemical toilet and a stowage for baggage. As they were intended to be used as bush airplanes in remote areas, versatility was emphasized. To allow cargo to be carried, the cabin floor was strengthened and fitted with lasing points and the passenger seats were made easy to remove.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Sea_Otter
2. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/military/sea_otter.htm
3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_supermarine_sea_otter.html
4. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189529

Supermarine Sea Otter, British & Commonwealth users, part one

The Supermarine Sea Otter was a British amphibious aircraft designed and manufactured by Supermarine. It was the last biplane flying boat to be designed by Supermarine. It was also the last biplane to enter service with both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.
The design was basically a follow up of the previous Supermarine Walrus. The only notable difference was the mounting of the engine. The Walrus had a rear-facing engine with a pusher propeller and the Sea Otter's engine faced forward with a tractor configuration.
During its design there was a considerable development of the power plant/propeller combination. Initially it was going to be named "Supermarine Stingray".
The original test aircraft was powered by a radial Bristol Perseus XI engine with a two bladed propeller, which turned to be underpowered, so the propeller was replaced by a three-bladed one and later with a four-bladed one, with the pair of blades set at an angle of 35º instead of the usual 90º. The prototype flew for the first time on 23rd September 1938, however it wasn't until 1942 when the Air Ministry put a production order.
The production versions were powered by a single 965hp Bristol Mercury radial piston engine, was armed with two defensive 0.303in (7.7mm) Vickers K guns mounted both in the nose and dorsal positions and had a bomb capacity of four 250lb bombs mounted under the wings.
A total of 292 machines were built in the two main variants, Mk.I (amphbious recon and communications aircraft) and Mk.II (dedicated S&R naval aircraft). Two-hundred fifty two Mk.I, with just two of them (both prototypes) built by Supermarine at Vickers-Armstrong in Woolston in 1938 and the remaining 250 of them manufactured by Saunders-Roe in East Cowes, from 1942 until 1944. The Mk.II variant was exclusively manufactured by Saunders-Roe from 1944 until 1945 and just 40 of them were manufactured.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Sea_Otter
2. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/52567/Supermarine-Sea-Otter-Mk-I
3. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/57191/Supermarine-Sea-Otter-Mk-II

Supermarine Sea Otter, Foreign Users

The Supermarine Sea Otter was a British amphibious aircraft designed and built by Supermarine. It was exported to various countries throughout the world:

• Denmark: After the World War 2, the Danish government bought seven Sea Otters to serve with the Royal Danish Air Force (being at the same time the last biplane and the first aircraft with a retractable undercarriage to serve with them) both in the patrol and flying school roles. When serving in the patrol role, it was, most probably, assigned to the 721 Eskadrille (721 Squadron) and served alongside the Consolidated Catalina PBY-6A.
  The Sea Otter had bad reputation among Danish pilots due to the position of the engine over the centre of gravity, which gave some very distinctive flying characteristics to the aircraft.
  The first exemplar was delivered to the Royal Danish Air Force in December 1946 and the last one in November 1947. As their radar was already outdated by those years, it was dismantled and they flew without any radar at all. An eighth one was bought to be used as a source for spare parts. In Danish hands, it served both in the patrol and school role until 3rd May 1952 when it was written off.
• Egypt: Apparently, the Royal Egyptian Air Force had some Sea Otters serving with their Air Force in the aftermath of the Second World War. Not very much is known about them, but they probably served during the First Arab-Israeli War (1948-1949) but saw no combat at all and were phased out as obsolete in the early 1950s. As we couldn't find any source about the Sea Otter in Egyptian hands, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• France: The French Navy received 17 Sea Otters, delivered in two lots. A first batch of 10 aircraft was purchased in 1947 from the British Royal Navy, which were assigned to the Escadrille 8S of the Aéronavale (French Navy's Air Arm) and were inmediately sent to operate in Indochina, based in Cat-Lai. Some hollow fuselages were also bought to serve as sources for spare parts.
  Some accidents struck two Sea Otters, numbered JN 122 and JN 127. They were sent to mainland France for repairs, but, thanks to the spare parts available, the JN 122 was repaired in Cat-Lai and renumbered as JN 1220.
  A second squadron, Escadrille 9S was formed thanks to a second delivery of seven aircraft in 1950 which were also sent to French Indochina.
  The last flight of a French Sea Otter took place on 21st March 1952, when the remaining 10 exemplars that were left in Indochina were written off the Aeronavale.
• Netherlands: The Dutch Naval Aviation Service bought at the beginning of the 1950s eight Sea Otters, three of them being of civilian origins and the rest being ex-Royal Air Force aicraft plus an unknown number of them in late 1950 for spare parts. As some of them were intended to serve aboard the HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) aircraft carrier, two of them were equipped with a rear hook for deck landing.
  All of them were assigned to the 320 Squadron which was based at the air base of Valkenburg. The last one was delivered in December 1950 and shortly later, in February 1951 the first one was withdrawn from active service due to its poor technical condition.
  In May 1951, with the formation of the S&R (search and rescue) flight, almost every Sea Otter from the 320 Squadron, was transferred there. The Sea Otters were also transferred to Squadron 5 (which was a training one) and some of them were also sent to the newly formed Squadron 8 which a mixed one composed also by B-25 Mitchells.
  During February 1953 the Sea Otters had to perform many S&R missions over the North Sea and shortly later, in August 1953 they were withdrawn from service as their role was overtook by helicopters.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Sea_Otter

2. http://aerophile.over-blog.com/article-le-supermarine-sea-otter-103994429.html (translated)

3. https://kw.jonkerweb.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=567:supermarine-sea-otter-asr-mk1-uk&catid=96&lang=en&limitstart=1&Itemid=558