Cannons

Early Tempest's Mk. V (Serie I) and the Tempest Mk. II prototypes had the 20 mm Mk. II Hispano cannons (identical to those fitted in Typhoon). The barrels extended 8 inches beyond the wing leading edge and they were mounted with short barrell fairings.
Two cannons in each wing with 200 rounds per gun.

Tempest Mk. V Serie II's, production Mk. IIs and Mk. VIs were fitted with the new short-barrelled Hispano Mk. V cannons which were completely enclosed. (They were 12 in. shorter and 25 lbs lighter than Mk. II.)
Mk. V and VI had 200 rounds per gun, but Mk. II 162 inboard and 152 outboard.

Views showing the installation of the short barrelled Hispano cannons.

Rearming !

Weapon maintenance.

A note from a visitor:

Hi,
I am an ex-RAF armourer, joined in 1949, and was trained on both the Mark 2 and Mark 5 cannon. As quoted, one is shorter than the other, by 10inches I remember, not the 12 inches quoted, but then my memory is not that good from those early days.
Reason I am contacting you is to say that the method of mounting both guns was exactly the same. So in essence, the Series One Tempest could be fitted with the Mark 5 gun, and vice versa. It is not to be relied on as a recognition feature, rather the serial number would have to be consulted. In point of fact I KNOW I have seen a Spit with a long barrel gun in one wing, and a short barrel in the other. This was a photo, and as usual with these things, I can't remember where!!
Thanks again for a lovely site,
Cheers,
Derek Pennington

Thanks for the info Derek!/Christer

A Vickers 47 mm "P" gun was tested on a Tempest V (SN354) just after the war. The large cannons were faired into slim, streamlined pods and carried on the bombracks. The tests revealed that the weapon had potential, but no production was undertaken.

 Bombs and rockets

500/1000 lbs bombs were mounted on streamlined fairings under the wings.

Above is photos of a 500 lbs bomb and to the left a GP1000 lbs bomb. Photos were taken at RAF Museum, Hendon, England.

Tempest Mk. V was tested and cleared to carry 8 zero length 60 lb ground attack rockets. But it was never used operationally during the war. After the war, when used on Mk. IIs, the rockets were often mounted on zero length hooks. The rails spoiled the aerodynamics of the wing.

 Drop Tanks

Streamlined 45 gal. drop tanks were introduced with the Serie II Mk. V's. They increased the range from 740 miles to 1530 miles.

For ferrying and long range patrols (mostly Mk. II and Mk. VI) two 90 gal. tanks were used.

A more conventional cylindrical 45 gal. drop tank was sometimes used. This drop tank could also be used as a napalm bomb.

How the drop tank was fitted.