Gloster „Sea Gladiator“ – the British fighter

The deck version of the "Gladiator", the "Sea Gladiator", was built in mid-1938. It differed from the Royal Air Force modification by having a set of reinforced underwings, some equipment changes and the addition of deck catapult towing hooks and a landing hook. Several British aircraft carriers were armed with these planes from February 1939. In 1940 a batch of fighters without deck equipment was sold to Finland. In 1939 the first "Sea Gladiator' squadron was welcomed on board by the aircraft carrier HMS "Courageous". Later, the aircraft carrier HMS "Glorious" was armed with them. After the start of World War II, these fighters were used for patrol flights on the coast of the Indian Ocean. In the spring of 1940 the "Sea Gladiator" participated in the Norwegian campaign both from aircraft carriers and from land airfields. Fighter launching from land airfields covered the naval base at Scapa Flow in Scotland from German attacks. Since the summer, these fighters have started flying in the Mediterranean Sea. They flew from the aircraft carriers HMS "Eagle" and HMS "Illustrious". From March 1942, "Sea Gladiator" was based in Alexandria, Egypt. As fighters, these planes were used only in secondary areas of combat operations until the end of 1942. Officially removed from RAF armament in 1945.

A complex, well designed and richly detailed model for intermediate to advanced modelers, depicting "Sea Gladiator" Mk.II N5519 "Charity", Malta, 1940. A Navy lieutenant F. Burges fought there in this plane. By the way, after a little work with computer coloring programs, this "Sea Gladiator" model can be reworked into the "Gladiator" Mk.I fighters, used by the Lithuanian Air Force.