Did some reading last night on the Spit XII. Looks like it would be a more irritating Spit16 for the "I Hate The Spit16" crowd.
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http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spitfire-XII.html
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Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment
Boscombe Down
4 August 1943
Spitfire F Mk. XII D.P.845
(Griffon VI)
Climb and level speed performance
and position error correction with a Griffon VI engine
Summary
Climb Performance
Max. rate of climb in M.S. supercharger gear 4,960 ft/min.@ 1,900 ft.
Max. rate of climb in F.S. supercharger gear 4,300 ft/min.@ 10,200 ft.
Level Speed Performance
In M.S. supercharger gear 375 m.p.h. at 4,600 ft.
In F.S. supercharger gear 389 m.p.h. at 12,800 ft.
DP845 was the prototype for the Spit XII. The testing results you show there are for the Griffon VI which actually was used in the Seafire XV which was the RN version of the XII. The XII had the Griffon III and IV.
The XII was put into limited production to combat the hit and run 190s that were coming in at low level to bomb towns along the English coast. In essence it was a Spitfire V airframe that had a single stage Griffon III/IV as it's engine. They clipped the wings as it was purely a low level interceptor. 41 Squadron got the first XIIs in February 43 and 91 Squadron followed shortly afterwards. They essentially put an end to the low level 190 raids on May 25, 1943 when 91 intercepted a raid and shot down 5 190s near Hastings.
The XIIs then operated as a Wing from Tangmere from mid summer 43 until early 44. They were the highest scoring Spitfire Wing in the Fall of 43 and had their best day on October 20, 1943 when they shot down 9 for no loss. They were later credited with 10th kill that a pilot hadn't claimed as he hadn't shot it, but flown the badun into the ground. In this instance it wasn't over claiming as postwar checks showed their claims were accurate.
91 gave up their XIIs for XIVs in early 44. 41 Squadron flew the XII until September 44 when they transitioned to the XIV. They flew anti-Diver patrols in the summer of 44 against the V-1s and were good at it. They scored their last kills on September 3, 1944 when Terry Spencer in MB822 EB-B and Pat Coleman in MB858 EB-D shot down two 190s. Spencer's claim turned out to be high scoring LW Ace "Bully" Lang, who was killed.
Where the XVI was used in late 44-45 as a ground attack bird and didn't mix it up with the 109s and 190s, the XII was there in the middle of things in 1943 and were very effective against the 190s and 109s that tried to fight.
The normal tactics for the XII pilots was to troll below the German formations hoping to suck them down. They would then turn into them and take them on. The LW birds for a time stopped coming down
I spent a lot of time corresponding with Spit drivers from both 91 and 41 in the 1980's and met a lot of them. They were a great bunch of guys. Sadly most are gone now.
The Spit XII drivers of 41 squadron in 1985 at RAF Coltishall for a reunion. The young CorkyJr is the only non-Spit pilot in the photo.
DP845 as the first Griffon Spitfire. At this time the designation was Spitfire IV. No weapons fitted, regular tail.
DP845 in May 42 with a mockup for a 6 cannon installation.
As the prototype Spitfire XII now with 2 20mm and 4 303s and the pointed rudder.
Ain't she pretty! The last Spitfire XII built MB882 in October 43.
Later coded EB-B with 41 Squadron April 44.
