The first Supermarine Seagull was a converted Seal fitted with a more powerful Napier Lion II engine. Production began with six wooden Seagull Is for the Fleet Air Arm, these being deployed on board the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle from 1923 to 1925. They were subsequently transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force, which used them to continue aerial survey work started by a flight of Fairey IIIDs in 1924. Two more The Supermarine Seagull, first ordered by the Air Ministry in 1922, literally kept the company afloat until orders for other designs came along. batches of five and 13 aircraft were ordered for service with the Royal Navy. Two Supermarine Seagulls took part in the King's Cup Air Race of 1924, one being forced to make an emergency landing on the old racecourse at Blaydon-on-Tyne when the propeller shattered.