The Supermarine Spitfire was a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was produced from 1938 to 1948 - before, during, and after World War II. The Spitfire was the only Allied fighter aircraft to fight in front line combat from the beginning of the conflict in September 1939 through to the end in August 1945, and it became the backbone of the RAF Fighter Command after the Battle of Britain, replacing the Hawker Hurricane. The plane was loved by its pilots due to its low attrition rate and its higher victory-to-loss ratio, and 20,351 were produced over the course of ten years. In 1961, Ireland's air corps retired the Spitfire, the last country to do so.