Underwater stories: Supermarine Spitfire MK IX Trop

Not far from the Cape Kabala in the Bay of Kotor in an uncontrolled fall on March 7, 1944, a Supermarine Spitfire MK IX Trop crashed into the sea. Due to the impact on the sea surface, it disintegrated into several parts. Today, its remains lie scattered on the sandy seabed at a depth of 32 m. The position of this extremely unique locality in the Montenegrin submarine is on the waterway, which during the season does not allow its sufficient valorization through diving tourism.

 The Supermarine Spitfire aircraft was beeing developed since 1935 in Supermarine factories in Great Britain. The Rolls Royce Merlin C-PV-12 engine was installed in the K 5054 prototype, from which the Spitfire would later be developed. The first Spitfire was introduced in 1936 at the Royal Airforce (RAF) exhibition in Hendon. At the dawn of World War II, RAF units began to be supplied with the Mark I. In the first years of the war, the RAF kept Spitfire for the defense of Great Britain, and only in 1942 did the first planes fly to Malta, which was attacked by German bombers. The new reconnaissance model Spitfire IX, which took part in the attacks on Sicily, proved to be so successful that it evolved into several versions. As many as fourteen RAF groups used these aircrafts. They also joined the allied air forces such as the United States, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Norway,France and Yugoslavia.

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