Original art print of a Hawker Nimrod II carrier-based fighter biplane. The Hawker Nimrod was developed in the inter-war period for the Fleet Air Arm (then part of the Royal Air Force), as the naval 'cousin' to the land-based Hawker Fury, and entered service in 1932, aboard the aircraft carriers HMS Glorious and HMS Courageous. Two years later the Nimrod II was introduced, with a more powerful Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine and distinctive swept-wings. The Nimrod was phased out before the outbreak of the Second World War, replaced by the Gloster Sea Gladiator.
The Nimrod II depicted here, K3661, was decommissioned in 1939, and eventually resurfaced in a rubbish dump in Ashford in 1972. It was eventually restored - with some help from the Royal Danish Air Force, who donated original plans - and in 2006 made its first flight in decades. It is now part of the Historic Aircraft Collection.
During its service lifetime, Nimrod II K3661 was based on the Royal Navy's HMS Glorious, one of three Courageous-class aircraft carriers, which began life as battlecruisers in the First World War, before being converted into aircraft carriers in the 1920s. HMS Glorious entered service in 1930, and until 1939 was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. She did not survive the war; in 1940 she was attacked and sunk by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off of the coast of Norway.
This aviation illustration by Rob Wisdom is a high quality Giclée art print on cotton-rich fine art paper.
12x16" art print shown. Cropping and title position (if applicable) may differ slightly on 'A' size art prints.
