Hawker Tempest II

Source: https://airpages.ru/eng/uk/temp2.shtml

The Tempest, originally known as the Typhoon II, was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to address the Typhoon's unexpected deterioration in performance at high altitude by replacing its wing with a thinner laminar flow design. Since it had diverged considerably from the Typhoon, it was renamed Tempest. The Tempest emerged as one of the most powerful fighters of World War II and at low altitude was the fastest single-engine propeller-driven aircraft of the war.

Upon entering service in 1944, the Tempest performed low-level interception, particularly against the V-1 flying bomb threat, and ground attack supporting major invasions like Operation Market Garden. Later, it successfully targeted the rail infrastructure in Germany and Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground, as well as countering similar attacks by German fighters. The Tempest was effective in the low-level interception role, including against newly developed jet-propelled aircraft like the Messerschmitt Me 262.

The further-developed Tempest II did not enter service until after the end of hostilities. It had several improvements, including being tropicalised for combat against Japan in South-East Asia as part of the Commonwealth Tiger Force.

At the end of 1945, there had been rumours that 30 Squadron, based at Bhopal, was to be disbanded. Thankfully, the rumours were untrue and instead, the Squadron was to convert to the Hawker Tempest II.

Disposal of the Thunderbolts took place in February 1946 with the first of 3 Tempests arriving in Bhopal in March. This aircraft proved very popular with all the men and was considered a distinct improvement on the Thunderbolt.

However, the problem with this aircraft was not with the machine itself, but rather the lack of spares and the lack of maintenance engineers. It got so bad that by 13 April all aircraft were grounded.

The main problem was the number of servicemen being repatriated back to the UK for release from the RAF. It is not clear why the supply chain for spares faltered, but there were a large number of Tempests being used in the UK and it is suspected they were given priority. Either way, the Squadrons strength increased to 15 Tempests by the end of April 1946. The time with the Tempest was quite short-lived because on 1 December 1946, without a fuss, all personnel were posted and the Squadron reduced to ‘number plate, basis only. The official disbandment date was in April 1947.