Blackburn Roc
{{infobox Aircraft
name = Blackburn Roc | type = Carrier Fighter, Turret Arrangement | manufacturer = Blackburn Aircraft Ltd. | image = Image:Blackburn_Roc.jpg | caption = | designer = | first flight = 23rd December 1938 | introduced = April 1939 | retired = 1943 | status = Retired | primary user = Fleet Air Arm | more users = | produced = | number built = 136 | unit cost = | variants with their own articles =
The Blackburn Roc was a British World War II-era Fleet Air Arm fighter aircraft designed by Blackburn Aircraft Ltd. It took its name from the mythical bird of the tales of the Arabian Nights, the Roc. First flying on 23 December 1938, the Roc's service life was brief as the aircraft's design was quickly rendered obsolete. The Roc was a "fighter" development of the Blackburn Skua dive bomber using the same turret fighter concept as the Boulton Paul Defiant in that its sole armament was four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in a powered dorsal turret. The reduced firepower (compared to land based fighters such as the Hawker Hurricane was offset by the ability to direct it in any direction. In practice the weight of the turret made the Roc slower than the Skua and so it was ironic that the Roc probably performed best as a dive bomber.
The Roc was designed to be fitted with floats and four float plane prototypes were built. The first crashed but modifications made the remaining three flyable, however the concept was not pursued.
While Blackburn designed the Roc, all 136 production aircraft were built by Boulton Paul. These served alongside Skuas in two land-based squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm between February 1940 and August 1941. During the British campaign in Norway a small contingent of Rocs travelled with 800 and 803 squadrons on board the HMS Ark Royal.
Finally the Roc was relegated to training and target-towing roles until by 1943 it was withdrawn from service.{{aircraft specification|
| plane or copter?=plane |
>crew=Two | length main=35 ft 7 in | length alt=10.85 m | span main=46 ft | span alt=14.02 m | height main=12 ft 1 in | height alt=3.68 m | area main=310 ft² | area alt= m² | empty weight main=lb | empty weight alt= kg | loaded weight main=8,800 lb | loaded weight alt=3,992 kg | max takeoff weight main=lb | max takeoff weight alt= kg | engine (prop)=Bristol Perseus XII | type of prop=radial engine | number of props=1 | power main=900 hp | power alt=671 kW | max speed main=196 mph | max speed alt=315 km/h | range main=610 miles | range alt=982 km | ceiling main=15,200 ft | ceiling alt=4,633 m | climb rate main=ft/min | climb rate alt=m/s | loading main=lb/ft² | loading alt= kg/m² | power/mass main= | power/mass alt= | armament=
*4x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in power operateddorsal turret
*8x 30 lb (13.6 kg) bombs{{aircontent|related= Blackburn Skua|similar aircraft=Boulton Paul Defiant|sequence=|lists=
*List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm
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