Swordfish Torpedo Bomber - Swordfish Biplane Helped Sink Germany's Most Advanced Warships - During World War II, the Fleet Air Arm of the British Royal Navy found itself with an aircraft that could only be described as "old" almost from the time it was introduced. While the British military would go on to develop one of the first jet aircraft - the Gloucester Meteor - decades earlier, the Fairy Swordfish came into service.
Archaic in appearance even when it first flew, the aircraft was still the Fleet Air Arm's main torpedo-bomber at the start of the war with thirteen Swordfish squadrons, twelve of which served on Royal Navy aircraft carriers. The last army at the front was not disbanded until 21 May 1945, two weeks after the end of the war in Europe. Development and success
Swordfish Torpedo Bomber
The fabric and telephone biplane was obsolete as it was developed as the R.S.R.II. It features fixed landing gear and an open cockpit that provides no protection from the elements. However, the aircraft was able to operate in weather conditions that stopped other aircraft of the time.
Fairey Swordfish Torpedo Plane :: By Sakhal At Military History
It has a top speed of 139 mph. "Go downhill," as Swordfish pilots used to joke. In fact, it was so slow that enemy fighters had trouble bringing down the Holmbering biplane because they overpowered it so quickly. The 690-hp Bristol Pegasus jet engine may have worked hard to stay on top, but it was very reliable. At the beginning of the war, the Swordfish did not have radio communications, and pilots had to rely on hand-held signaling devices.
It was successfully used in the world's first torpedo attack on a ship in the home port of Taranto, Italy in November 1940. A total of 21 Swordfish attacked Italian ships, disabling three battleships and damaging three other ships. Only two planes were shot down. In the short space of an hour, the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean had changed irreversibly. The attack was so successful that it was studied and copied by the Imperial Japanese Navy for its attack on Pearl Harbor the following year.
Swordfish also made the Fleet Air Arm's first U-boat kill of World War II when on April 13, 1940 an aircraft launched from HMS Warspite sank U-64, but the U-boat crew soon chose to stand against Moving. two planes. As a result, in 1942 the Swordfish's role in hunting German submarines diminished, but the aircraft continued to target Axis shipping in the Mediterranean and had more than a million tons sunk by the end of the war.
However, it was in May 1941 that the classic aircraft - often referred to as "Stringbag" - proved vital to the war effort as sixteen other swordfish destroyers helped pursue and attack the Bismarck, a modern German battleship. The battleship managed to elude her pursuers and the only ship close enough to have a chance of disabling her was HMS Ark Royal.
The Fairey Swordfish Torpedo Bomber
The swordfish departed an hour before sunset on May 26, 1941, headed for German territory. British pilot Lieutenant Commander John Moffat was able to see the Bismarck in his sights and released one of his aircraft's torpedoes. Either way, it hit the battleship close to the rudder, which was still on the port side. Bismarck was just one movement away from the endless circuit and he became a sitting duck. British naval vessels soon arrived and sank the pride of the navy.
The outdated aircraft remained operational throughout the war - and was updated with modern equipment, including radar and rockets. While approximately 2,391 swordfish were produced, only eleven are known to survive today. One of these, the late fighter Swordfish IV, is now on display at the Air Force Commemorative United States Airpower Heritage Museum in Dallas, Texas.
Photo # NH 85716 - British aircraft carrier Ark Royal with "Swordfish" aircraft on board, 1939. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1977.
Now the editor-in-chief of 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than fourteen magazines, newspapers and websites. He writes regularly about military equipment, and is the author of several books on military clothing, including The Military Hat Gallery, available on Amazon.com. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes.
A Fairey Swordfish Torpedo Bomber, On Floats, Carrying A Torpedo [1334 X 684]
Expert Biography: 1945 Senior Editor, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than fourteen magazines, newspapers and websites with more than 3,000 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He writes regularly on military hardware, firearms history, cyber security and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. From the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was used extensively by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It is also used by the Royal Air Force (RAF), and several overseas operators, including the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Royal Netherlands Navy. It was originally used as an anti-ship aircraft. During its later years, Swordfish was used primarily as an anti-submarine warfare and training platform. This type was at the forefront during World War II.
Despite being obsolete in 1939, the Swordfish achieved remarkable success during the war. Notable uses included sinking one battleship and damaging two of the Regia Marina (Italian Navy) during the Battle of Taranto, and the famous attack on the German battleship Bismarck, which contributed to her eventual demise. The Swordfish sank more tons of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft during the war.
The Swordfish remained in first place until VE Day, outliving some of the aircraft it was intended to replace.
In 1933, Fairey, who established a proven track record in seaplane design and construction, began development of a three-seat seaplane, intended for the twin roles of aerial reconnaissance and torpedo bomber.
Fairey Swordfish Mk.i
It received the internal designation of T.S.R. I, standing for Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance I, the proposed design adopted a biplane configuration and a single 645 hp Bristol Pegasus IIM radial engine as its powerplant. The company initially chose to pursue the development of the project as a private initiative while looking for customers and practical needs of this type.
Development of T.S.R. I was following Fairey's work on Air Ministry Specification S.9/30, where the company sometimes built a different but similar aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine instead, and using a different fin. and pin configuration.
Important contributions to the development of the T.S.R.I came from Failey's rough design work on a proposed aircraft for the Greek Naval Air Service, which requested a replacement for their Failey IIIF Mk.IIIB aircraft, and the M.1/30 and S 9/ 30 specifications, which were issued British Air Ministry.
Perry immediately informed the Ministry of Air about its Greek mission, whose interests had repeatedly disappeared, and proposed his solution to the needs of a spotter plane ("spotter" referring to the task of watching and directing the fall of the gun of the warship. .). In 1934, the Air Ministry issued the more advanced specification S.15/33, which officially added the role of the torpedo bomber.
Fairey Swordfish Mk 1 1/32 By Trumpeter
On March 21, 1933, the model T.S.R. I, F 1875, made its service flight from Great Western Aerodrome, Heathrow, piloted by Failey test pilot Chris Staniland.
F 1875 completed various flights, including several when rebuilt with an Armstrong Sideley Tiger radial engine, before being retrofitted with a Pegasus engine, used to investigate the slope of the plane and investigate the characteristics of the aircraft. On September 11, 1933, F 1875 was lost in a series of spinning tests, from which it was never found; The pilot survived the incident.
Before this, the prototype showed good performance, which contributed to the subsequent decision to proceed with the more advanced T.S.R II, which was developed specifically to comply with the newly published specification S.15/33.
Compared to the previous prototype, the K4190 was equipped with a more powerful model of the Pegasus gene, an additional bay in the rear fuselage to resist spin TDS, and the upper wing was swept back to follow the greater length of the fuselage; As well as other aerodynamic related tweaks to the rear of the aircraft. During the glider test programme, C4190 was transferred to Fairey's factory in Hamble-le-Rhys, Hampshire, where it received a twin float undercarriage in place of its first ground-only counterpart; On November 10, 1934, the first flight of K4190 in this new configuration was made.
Facts About The Fairey Swordfish
After successful water handling tests, K4190 carried out a series of aerial catapult and recovery tests on the battlecruiser HMS Repulse. K4190 was later returned to its wheeled undercarriage before a major test procedure was carried out by the Airplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath.
In 1935, following the successful completion of trials at Martlesham, the first pre-production order for three aircraft was placed by the Air Ministry; It was at this time that the T.S.R II got the name Swordfish.
All three pre-production aircraft were powered by the Pegasus IIIM3 gene, but adopted a three-bladed Fairy-Reed propeller instead of its two-bladed counterpart.
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