Bristol Beaufort

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Beaufort

The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) was a British
twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and
developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim
light bomber. At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British
manufacturers.

The Australian government's Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) also
manufactured variants of the Beaufort. These are often known collectively as the
DAP Beaufort. More than 700 Australian-built Beauforts saw service with the
Royal Australian Air Force in the South West Pacific theatre, where they were
used until the end of the war.

Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers,
conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were removed from
active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared
obsolete in 1945. Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean;
Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped interdict Axis shipping
supplying Rommel's Deutsches Afrikakorps in North Africa.

Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used
as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on
operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical
failures than were lost to enemy fire. The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range
heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter, which proved to be very successful
and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.

The Beaufort came from Bristol's submission to meet Air Ministry Specifications
M.I5/35 and G.24/35 for a land-based, twin-engined torpedo-bomber and a general
reconnaissance aircraft. With a production order following under Specification
10/36, the Bristol Type 152 was given the name Beaufort after the Duke of
Beaufort, whose ancestral home was nearby in Gloucestershire. The competing
torpedo bomber entry from Blackburn was also ordered as the Blackburn Botha; in
an unprecedented step, both designs were ordered straight off the drawing board,
an indication of how urgently the RAF needed a new torpedo bomber. 320 Beauforts
were ordered. Initially, because of their commitment to the Blenheim, Bristol
were to build 78 at their Filton factory, with the other 242 being built by
Blackburn. These allocations would be changed later.

The results of high level bombing tests carried out at Boscombe Down at an
altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m) and an airspeed of 238 mph (383 km/h) showed
that the Beaufort was in the words of the test pilot: "An exceptionally poor
bombing platform, being subject to an excessive and continuous roll which made
determination of drift particularly difficult". After 1941, British Beauforts
were fitted with semi-circular plates on the trailing edges of the upper wing
behind the engine nacelles to smooth airflow and improve directional stability.

As Blenheim production took priority and engine overheating problems continued,
production was delayed; the bomber was first flown in October 1938 and should
have been available almost immediately, it was not until November 1939 that
production started in earnest. Several of the first production Beauforts were
engaged in working-up trials and final service entry began in January 1940 with
22 Squadron of RAF Coastal Command.


Role
Torpedo bomber

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Bristol Aeroplane Company

First flight
15 October 1938

Introduction
1939

Retired
1944

Primary users
Royal Australian Air Force
RAF Coastal Command
Fleet Air Arm

Number built
1,121 (+700 in Australia)

Developed from
Bristol Blenheim

Variants
Bristol Beaufighter

Although it did see some use as a torpedo bomber, including attacks on the
battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while in port in Brest, the Beaufort more
often used bombs in European service.

The first RAF torpedo attack of the war came on 11 September 1940, when five
aircraft of 22 Squadron attacked a convoy of three merchant ships off Ostend
(Oostende in Belgium). One torpedo hit a 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) ship. Four
days later, the first "Rover" was mounted; a Rover was an armed reconnaissance
mission carried out against enemy shipping by a small number of aircraft
operating independently. "Rovers" became a major part of Beaufort operations
over the next 18 months. Other more hazardous operations were to follow, with
one Beaufort pilot being awarded a posthumous VC.

The first Beaufort unit in the Mediterranean was 39 Squadron which reformed in
Egypt in January 1941. Initially equipped with Bristol Blenheims and Martin
Marylands, the unit started re-equipping with Beaufort Mk.Is the following
August. The first operation in which Beauforts took part was an attack on an
Italian convoy on 28 January 1942. The three Beauforts of 39 Squadron included
in a large strike force succeeded in crippling the 14,000 long tons (14,000 t)
merchant ship Victoria which was then sunk by Albacores.

During the first years of World War II, the Australian government found itself
unable to procure twin-engine bomber aircraft for home duties in Australia. It
was decided that the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) would
build Beauforts under licence, for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Specifications (Beaufort I)

General characteristics
Crew: 4
Length: 44 ft 2 in (13.46 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m)
Height: 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m)
Wing area: 503 ft² (46.73 m²)
Empty weight: 13,107 lb (5,945 kg)
Loaded weight: 21,230 lb (9,629 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Taurus II, III, VI, XII or XVI 14-Cylinder sleeve valve
radial engine, 1,130 hp (843 kW) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 271.5 mph (236 kn, 420 km/h) at 6,500 ft (1,981 m).
Cruise speed: 255 mph at 6,500 ft (221 kn, 410 km/h) at 6,500 ft (1,981 m)
Range: 1,600 mi (1,400 nmi, 2,600 km)
Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,030 m)
Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.096 m/s)
Wing loading: 42.2 lb/ft² (206 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.106 hp/lb (0.175 kW/kg)

Armament

Guns: 3 .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers GO machine guns (two in Bristol Mk IV dorsal
turret, one in port wing) or;
6 .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers GO machine guns (Two fixed in nose, two in turret,
one in port wing and one firing laterally from entry hatch.) Late production.
1 .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in rear-firing chin blister

Bombs: 1 1,605 lb (728 kg) 18 in Mk XII torpedo or.
2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs or mines.




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