British auction house Bonhams will sell one of the last four remaining Sea Hurricane airplanes in existence. The 1941 Hawker Sea Hurricane XII will be offered for sale without reserve at Bonhams’ annual Goodwood Revival auction on 19 September, where it is expected to fetch between $55,000 to $93,000.

Hawker Sea Hurricane XIIA, BW853, was rescued from Canada by AJD Engineering in 1989 and shortly afterwards was bought by the current owners, who intended to restore it but have not had the opportunity to do so. Fully restored, the Hurricane would be worth in excess of $3.7 million.

A restored Hurricane must be proved to be 100 per cent genuine to be CAA-registered. BW 853 is already recognised, and was registered as G-BRKE some 20 years ago. It appears on all surviving Hurricane listings with both serial numbers and its UK registration number. Most importantly, it also still retains the original data plate – another essential item to qualify it as totally genuine.

The Hurricane aircraft was designed to Air Ministry Specification F 36/34, with the prototype making its first flight on 6 November 1935. Put into production in 1936, the first production Hurricane flew in October 1937.

Although it was no longer in production when the war ended, the Hurricane was still in service as a first-line aircraft. It served on a total of 17 battlefronts as a fighter-bomber, a Rocket Projectile (RP) fighter, a “tank buster”, a catapult fighter and a carrier fighter. In 1944-1945, equipped with RPs, the Hurricane was used with great effect against enemy shipping in the Adriatic, and as a fighter-bomber it served with distinction in Burma.

The Sea Hurricane went into operation in the Mediterranean in June 1942, distinguishing itself in the defence of Malta convoys, in the summer of that year.