This P-40 was built as a Tomahawk IIB for the RAF. She was purchased by the British Purchasing
Commission and did not fall under any Lend-Lease agreement and therefore did not receive a US
Army serial number. She was allocated the RAF serial AK255.

After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, many American-built aircraft were diverted to the
Russians, and AK255 was one of about 195 RAF Tomahawk IIBs to be shipped to the U.S.S.R. These Hawks were
to see action on the Leningrad and Moscow fronts, thus becoming among the first U.S.-built aircraft to be
used by the Russians in combat during the Second World War.

I currently have no information as to AK255's service history and fairly little as to her recovery in
1990. She is now part of the National Naval Aviation Museum's collection, although the airframe on display
is apparently a composite, the bulk of which is from AK255 with components from at least one other P-40.

I intend to research AK255's history in the future and will hopefully be able to provide more specific
details as to her service life, loss and recovery. If you have any information relevant to this P-40,
or any other Russian P-40s, or if you know someone who does, please contact the webmaster...

You can view the entry for AK255 in WRG's Warbird Registry HERE.

Daniel Causse photo - Larger Image


Daniel Causse photo - Larger Image

D. St-Sanvain photo - Larger Image


D. St-Sanvain photo - Larger Image


D. St-Sanvain photo - Larger Image

This image was found on a now defunct blog, and I did not record any info aside from the page url.
If you know who the photographer is, please contact me using the email link in the description above.


Larger Image

The following four photos were taken during AK255's restoration.


San Diego Air & Space Museum - Larger Image

San Diego Air & Space Museum - Larger Image

San Diego Air & Space Museum - Larger Image

San Diego Air & Space Museum - Larger Image

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