During the famous Battle of Britain, more than three-fifths of the RAF Fighter Command's squadrons used Hawker Hurricanes. This immortal partner of the Supermarine Spitfire destroyed the German bombers while the Spitfires engaged the Messerschmitt BF-109s. The Hurricane was the first combat aircraft capable of exceeding 300 mph, and it became the most versatile single-seat warplane to emerge from World War II. This plane was used in the Western Desert conflict as a fighter-bomber and a modified version, called the Sea Hurricane, became the first single-seat fighter to serve with the Fleet Air Arm.