The de Havilland DH.98 'Mosquito' was a fast, twin-engined aircraft with shoulder-mounted wings. The most-produced variant, designated the FB Mk VI (Fighter-bomber Mark 6), was powered by two Merlin Mk 23 or Mk 25 engines driving three-bladed de Havilland hydromatic propellers. The typical fixed armament for an FB Mk VI was four Browning .303 machine guns and four 20 mm Hispano cannon while the offensive load consisted of up to 2,000 pounds (910 kg) of bombs, or eight RP-3 unguided rockets. The Mosquito was one of the few operational front-line aircraft of the World War II era to be constructed almost entirely of wood and, as such, was nicknamed 'The Wooden Wonder'.
Development
In 1938 the de Havilland design team based the Mosquito on their plane, the DH-88 Comet, which had won the 1934 London to Melbourne air race. de Havilland's idea was simple to power the plane with two Rolls Royce Merlin engines so that its sole defence, other than the skill of the pilot, was sheer speed to keep it out of harms way. The structure of the Mosquito was to be entirely made out of wood with a stressed skin of thin laminated plywood over a balsa core. On 5 October 1939, with the Second World War a month old, the nucleus of a design team under the leadership of Eric Bishop, de Havilland's chief designer, moved to the security and secrecy of Salisbury Hall and started work on what was now known as the DH.98. Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the DH.98(Mosquito) was adapted to many other roles during the air war, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike aircraft, and fast photo-reconnaissance aircraft. With an eye to making the DH.98 more versatile, Bishop made provision for four 20 mm cannon which could be installed in the forward half of the bomb bay, immediately under the cockpit, and firing via blast tubes and troughs under the forward fuselage. Once the design of the DH.98 had started, de Havilland built several mock-ups, the most detailed of which was at Salisbury Hall, in the hangar where E0234 was being built. Initially, this mock-up was designed with the crew completely enclosed in the fuselage behind a completely transparent nose, but this was quickly altered to a more solid nose with a more conventional canopy. The first Mosquito flew in November 1940, and it went into production soon after. The Mks II, III ands IV could fly at 380 mph, faster than the Battle of Britain Spitfire and 50 mph faster than the Hawker Hurricane. The Mosquito also had an excellent operational range (1,800 miles) and ceiling (the Mk XV had a ceiling of 44,000 feet).
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Into Action
The first bomber version, the B.IV first flew in the following September and the first deliveries to No 105 Squadron at Swanton Morley followed in November 1941. Following its operational debut in a raid by four aircraft on Cologne on 31 May 1942, the Mosquito joined the Main Force but became famous for a number of set-piece attacks, and the first of these was a low-level attack on the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo on 25 September 1942. In May 1942, bomber versions were introduced. The increased power of the Merlin engines allowed the Mosquito to carry heavier and heavier bombs. Later versions of the Mosquito could fly at 415 mph with a 4000 lb bomb load. Such a speed made it very difficult for the Luftwaffe's fighters to attack it successfully. Only several Luftwaffe aircraft that would have had a chance against the Mosquito was the Me262 and the He-219 'Uhu'. Mosquitos were widely used by the RAF Pathfinder Force, marking targets for the main night-time strategic bombing force, as well as flying "nuisance raids" in which Mosquitos often dropped 4,000 lb "Cookies". Despite an initially high loss rate, the Mosquito ended the war with the lowest losses of any aircraft in RAF Bomber Command service. The Mosquito also proved a very capable night fighter. Some of the most successful RAF pilots flew the Mosquito. Bob Braham claimed around a third of his 29 kills in a Mosquito, flying mostly daytime operations, while on night fighters Wing Commander Branse Burbridge claimed 21 kills, and Wing Commander John Cunningham claimed 19 of his 20 victories at night on Mosquitos. Mosquitos of No. 100 Group RAF were responsible for the destruction of 257 German aircraft from December 1943 to April 1945. Mosquito fighters from all units accounted for 487 German aircraft during the war, the vast majority of which were night fighters.
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Variants
As many variants were produced, a way to distinguish what variant was used with the initial prefix of the role became the method to identify the variant. FB were Fighter Bombers, NF were Night Fighters, TR were Trainers, TT were Target Tugs and Torpedo Bombers were TR. Some Mosquitos which served with the Light Night Striking Force (LNSF), part of No 100 (Bomber Support) Group and Pathfinders were Canadian-built Mark 25s. Canada produced a large number of Mosquitos with a total of 1,133 to 1945 and were built by de Havilland Canada. Mosquitos were used operationally by the Royal Australian Air Force(RAAF) operating in Borneo and continued in service for several years after the war. However, the hot damp conditions in the South Pacific and places like Burma, caused problems with the glue used in the construction of the Mosquito. Several planes were lost when the planes literally broke up in flight.
Post War
After the War, a number of B35s were produced and entered service from late 1947 onwards, many with squadrons on the Continent. Production of the plane continued until 1947 and the final home-based bomber Mosquitos, some 1,690 of which had been built (from a total of 7,781 of all versions), serving with No 139 Squadron, were eventually replaced by Canberras in November 1953. The Mosquito continued serving the RAF as a reconnaissance plane until 1955.
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de Havilland DH.98 'Mosquito'
