How did the spitefire get its name?

Answer 1

The British method for naming aircraft (it manufactured) in the 1930's-1940's was to use the first letter of the manufacturer's name as the first letter of the aircraft name. Such as Hawker Hurrican; Supermarine Spitfire; Bristol Blenheim, etc. The Spitfire was built at Supermarine Aviation Works, a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrongs. From wikipedia: The Air Ministry submitted a list of possible names to Vickers-Armstrongs for the new aircraft, now known as the Type 300. One of these was the improbable Shrew. The name Spitfire was suggested by Sir Robert MacLean, director of Vickers-Armstrongs at the time, who called his daughter Ann "a little spitfire." The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a particularly fiery, ferocious type of person.[18] The name had previously been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F.7/30 Type 224 design. Mitchell is reported to have said that it was "just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose",[19] possibly an oblique reference to the Type 224.