RAF crashed Blackburn Shark MKIII??? or MKII????

[bananamafia]

Hi everyone, a friend has just donated these to me (after he couldn't sell them) as he knows i have a soft spot for photos!

however, I thought this was a MK2 shark, but then i noticed that it looks like it has (under tarpaulin) the glazed sliding canopy over the cockpit that was found only on the MKIII?
So maybe its a MKIII, but then didn't the mark III have a three-bladed propeller not two??

Very confused
could anyone put me out of my misery!

kind regards
Ed

[bananamafia]

sorry to bump, any ideas guys?

[Spitace41]

I can't help on the MK of the plane i'm afraid (in fact I just had to google what a Blackburn Shark was), but those are a couple of very nice photos. Even nicer to have been given them.

[Gunny Hartmann]

There are a few photos on google images which say they are a shark B6 reconnaissance model, it has a glazed cockpit and 2 bladed prop but i'm not sure if they have it right as other B6 photos show the aircraft with an open cockpit!...

[bananamafia]

thanks for looking, spitace! yes, i don't think many sharks were produced. not for the RAF anyway.
i wondered if it may have been a early MKIII or late MKII.
Im now doubting if it is a shark after all LOL

[bananamafia]

There are a few photos on google images which say they are a shark B6 reconnaissance model, it has a glazed cockpit and 2 bladed prop but i'm not sure if they have it right as other B6 photos show the aircraft with an open cockpit!...

Thanks gunny. Yes it's pretty darn confusing!
Every image I look at confuses me more!

[bananamafia]

There are a few photos on google images which say they are a shark B6 reconnaissance model, it has a glazed cockpit and 2 bladed prop but i'm not sure if they have it right as other B6 photos show the aircraft with an open cockpit!...

Gunny, after spending what seems like an eternity trying to learn more about the shark,

Obviously all MK's of the B6 shark, were developed for use as an all-round recon, observation and torpedo plane, hence why it seems to appear all over the place labeled as a b-6 recon, with no clear differentiating features.

Here is the best description of the differences i can find between the different MKs

T.9 Shark I
The first sixteen production aircraft were completed as the Shark I, powered by the 700hp Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IV engine. The Shark I entered service in May 1935, but was quickly replaced on the production lines by the more powerful Shark II.

T.9A Shark II
The T.9A Shark II was powered by either the 760hp Armstrong Siddeley Tiger VI or 840hp Bristol Pegasus IX, and had a slightly modified airframe, but was otherwise very similar to the Shark I. It entered service early in 1936.

T.9A Shark IIA
Six Shark IIAs were built during 1935-36 for the Portuguese government. They differed from the Shark II by using a version of the Tiger VI engine modified to run of 77 octane fuel in place of the 87 octane fuel used by the Fleet Air Arm. Three of the six were equipped to drop torpedoes and three to carry extra fuel tanks under the fuselage. The six Shark IIAs were used for coastal defence

T.9B Shark III
The Shark III differed from the earlier aircraft in having a glazed sliding canopy over the cockpit, and a three-bladed Rotol propeller. 95 Shark IIIs were produced for the Fleet Air Air, 2 for the RCAF and 17 under licence by Boeing Aircraft of Canada. The Shark III was ordered in January 1937, and the first aircraft were delivered only three months later, on 8 April 1937.
The Shark III had a very short front line career, being replaced in 1938 by the Fairey Swordfish.

As you can see this doesnt help in the slightest! as the shark in the images i have, has both a 2 bladed prop which should be only seen up to, and including the MKII and it also has the glazed sliding canopy, which should only be seen on the MKIII.

The image that is on the Wiki page, is labeled as a "Blackburn Shark Mk II", but as we can see has both the canopy and the three blade prop of a MKIII.


With only about 240 Sharks of all varients delivered to the Fleet Air Arm, i would have thought that it would be fairly easy to spot the difference!

Wiki does point out that "At least 22 Mk IIs and IIIs (all brought up to Mk III standard) were converted 1937/38 as target tugs and operated in this role and for training and communications until 1942" so could this be a possibility? a mkII converted to a MKIII for this roll?

It also seems like the shark out performed the newer swordfish in lots of ways, but was still replaced by the less advanced plane.