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The Spitfire came into being as a result of a new Air Ministry requirement for an interceptor fighter to respond to the growing threat of a modern Luftwaffe. The RAF interceptors of the day having a top speed of around 220mph, and a speed of 300 mph was considered vital to ensure interception of the new Luftwaffe aircraft under development.

R J Mitchell, Chief Designer at Supermarine had a reputation for designing high speed airplanes, having been the designer of the successful Schneider Trophy Seaplanes in the late 20's and early 30's. Mitchell's first attempt at a fighter was the Type 224 in 1933, driven by a Rolls Royce Goshawk steam cooled engine. This engine never realised its' full potential due to extreme unreliability of the steam cooling system. The 224 was both slow and underpowered, and was therefore never seriously considered as an interceptor by the Royal Air Force.

Mitchell then went back to the drawing board to design a better fighter using revolutionary techniques in airframe construction. He also had consultations with Henry Royce of Rolls Royce, who himself had ideas for a new V12 engine, which Rolls developed as a private venture, as the PV12, later called the Merlin. This powerful engine, of nearly 1000 hp in its' initial form, coupled with a state-of-the-art airframe promised much, and Mitchell worked on the design through the second half of 1935. The prototype at this stage, was simply called the F37/34, and first flew at Eastleigh airfield, near Southampton, on 5th March 1936. The chief test pilot of Vickers/Supermarine, Mutt Summers, took it up on its' first flight and allegedly said on landing "I don't want anything touched". Most people took this to mean that he believed the aircraft was perfect, although in reality he probably simply did not want any settings changed at that time. The aircraft however, even at that early stage, showed much promise as a fighter. Mitchell had calculated the top speed to be 350 mph, whereas trials showed its' top speed at 349 mph - Mitchell is said to have been satisfied with this!

Development went on during the rest of 1936 with Mitchell often turning up to watch his new creation fly, even though by this time he was very ill with cancer - which he succumbed to in June 1937 at the young age of 42. Subsequently, Joseph Smith became Chief Designer at Supermarine, and presided over the development of the prototype into a production airplane, by now called Spitfire, a name coined originally for the Type 224 by Sir Robert MacLean, MD of Vickers. It is said that prior to his death Mitchell expressed his dislike of the name, saying "It's just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose", and it was very nearly named the Shrew. Fortunately for posterity this view did not prevail.

Armament for the new fighter was originally set at four machine guns, set in the wings, but this was later increased to eight machine guns, to ensure a lethal weight of fire in a typical three second burst. The new type of construction employed in the Spitfire caused Supermarine numerous problems in mass production, especially the revolutionary new type of wing construction. Production of the rival Hurricane fighter was far greater due to its' simpler structure, and it was mid 1938 before the aircraft was starting to be produced in quantity for deliveries to the Royal Air Force. The second of the RAF's modern eight-gun monoplane fighters, the Spitfire, entered service with No 19 Squadron based at Duxford some nine months after the first Hurricanes had been delivered to No 111 Squadron at Northolt. Commanded by Squadron Leader Henry Cozens, No 19 began to exchange its Gauntlet biplanes for Mk I Spitfires when K9789 arrived on 4 August 1938.

At the time of the 1938 Munich Crisis, No 19 was the only squadron to possess any Spitfires at all. The second unit to receive Spitfires was No 66 Squadron, also at Duxford, which acquired K9802 on 31 October 1938. Thus, by the end of 1938, the RAF had two fully-equipped Spitfire squadrons with 100 per cent reserves. By the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, Spitfires equipped nine squadrons - Nos 19, 66 and 611 at Duxford, Nos 54, 65 and 74 at Hornchurch, No 72 at Church Fenton, Nos 41 and 609 at Catterick and No 602 at Abbotsinch. Additionally, No 603 Squadron was in the process of replacing its Gladiators at Turnhouse. A total of 306 Mk Is had been delivered of which 36 had been written off in training accidents.

The first 77 Mk Is had a two-bladed, fixed-pitch Watts propeller. Subsequent aircraft received three-bladed, two-position de Havilland or Rotol airscrews, with fine pitch for take-off and coarse pitch for cruising, and these were subsequently retro-fitted to the earlier aircraft. This improved take off and climb considerably, and even later on, these were converted in the field to constant-speed propellors, removing the need for the pilot to ensure that the prop was in the correct pitch for take off!

The Spitfire Mk.1 had a Roll-Royce Merlin 2 of 998hp, later a Merlin 3 of 953 hp, giving a top speed of around 350mph at 15000 ft.

Taller pilots found the headroom very restricitive and this led to the original flat cockpit canopy being replaced by the bulged version which was to become a feature of all future marks. Other improvements included the provision of an armour-plated windscreen and 6mm armour panels on the rear engine bulkhead and behind the pilot's seat. Heating for the guns was also installed after it was found that they froze at high altitude. The original armament of eight .303 Browning machine guns had been chosen because of calculations made by Sqn Ldr Ralph Sorley at the Air Ministry, that 8 guns would be needed to deliver a lethal weight of fire in a typical 3 second burst. The widespread fitting of armour plate, on both sides during the early part of the war led to the realization that a heavier weight of fire would be needed to ensure a kill. So, in June 1939, two 20mm Hispano cannon were fitted to Spitfire Mk.1 L1007 for trails. This carried the service designation Mk.1b. A limited number were produced, but proved unsuccessful as the Hispano had been designed to be mounted on top of a fighter's engine block which would be solid enough to absorb the recoil. The mountings in the Spitfire's wings were too flexible causing the guns to jam. Nevertheless, trials continued, pending a satisfactory solution to this mounting problem.

Many pilots found the new aircraft difficult to adapt to - those used to open cockpits, often found the closed canopy claustrophobic and left it fully open. Additionally, these pilots were unfamiliar with the retractable undercarriage, and numerous early accidents were caused by their forgetting to lower the Spitfire's wheels. The aircraft did have a warning klaxon but, as this tended to sound whenever vibration increased, it was often switched off - with embarrassing consequences! Taxying was a zig-zag process requiring the aircraft's tail to be swung from side to side so that the pilot could see ahead beyond the aeroplane's long nose. Combined with the narrow-track and somewhat fragile undercarriage, this made crosswind landings hazardous. Nevertheless, it was considered that the aircraft could be flown without risk by the average fully-trained fighter pilot. New pilots came to the Spitfire via Magister and Master trainers and a short spell at an Operational Training Unit (OTU). Experienced pilots converted to type directly on the squadrons.

Yet the Spitfire legend was in great danger of failing to take off at all. Initial production was so slow that the Air Ministry seriously considered cancelling the type in favour of using the production capacity at Supermarine for the manufacture of other aircraft such as the Beaufighter. The problem was caused by the Spitfire's advanced design, particularly the elliptical wing, which necessitated radical new production techniques to be introduced by inexperienced sub-contractors. The Air Ministry was calling for 12,000 fighters, including those from the next generation - the Tornado, Typhoon and Whirlwind. In the event, however, Supermarine was able to convince the Ministry that output would improve with practice and Lord Nuffield's experience of mass car production was turned to good account in the aircraft industry. This resulted, among other measures, in the building of the 'shadow' factory for Spitfire production at Castle Bromwich, in the West Midlands.

Before the outbreak of war, considerable interest in buying Spitfires or arranging licence production had been shown by many foreign countries, including Japan. In the event, only one example was flown to the French before war dictated that all future production would be earmarked for the RAF. Orders placed before September 1939 amounted to 1,160 to be built by Supermarine with a further 1,000 to be produced by the Nuffield organisation.