The Fairey Fulmar was a British carrier-borne fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Fairey Aviation in the late 1930s. It was the first purpose-built carrier fighter for the Royal Navy, designed to replace the Fairey Swordfish biplane. The Fulmar was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin III 12-cylinder Vee engine, which gave it a maximum speed of 247mph and a range of 700 miles. It was armed with eight 0.303in machine guns, and it could also carry a single 250lb bomb. The Fulmar entered service with the Royal Navy in 1940, and saw extensive service during the early years of the Second World War in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Far East. However, the Fulmar was not without its flaws. It was slow and not very manoeuvrable and was soon outclassed by the more advanced German and Japanese fighters. As a result it was gradually replaced by the more capable Hawker Sea Hurricane and the Supermarine Seafire.