Fairey Swordfish

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

The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber designed by the Fairey Aviation
Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag",
was operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy, in addition to having been
equipped by the Royal Air Force (RAF) alongside multiple overseas operators,
including the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Royal Netherlands Navy. It
was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft. During its later
years, the Swordfish became increasingly used as an anti-submarine and training
platform. The type was in frontline service throughout the Second World War, but
it was already considered obsolete at the outbreak of the conflict in 1939.

Nonetheless, the Swordfish achieved some spectacular successes during the war.
Notable events included sinking one battleship and damaging two others of the
Regia Marina (the Italian Navy) during the Battle of Taranto, and the famous
attack on the Bismarck, which contributed to her eventual demise. By the end of
the war, the Swordfish held the distinction of having caused the destruction of
a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft. The Swordfish
remained in front-line service until V-E Day, having outlived multiple aircraft
that had been intended to replace it in service.

In 1933, Fairey, having established a proven track record in the design and
construction of naval aircraft, commenced development upon an entirely new
three-seat naval aircraft intended for the twin roles of aerial reconnaissance
and torpedo bomber. Receiving 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 chose initially to pursue development of the project as
a self-financed private venture while both customers and applicable requirements
for the type were sought. Development of the T.S.R. I was in parallel to
Fairey's activities upon Air Ministry Specification S.9/30, for which the
company was at one point developing a separate but broadly similar aircraft,
powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine instead as well as employing a differing
fin and rudder configuration.

In early 1936, an initial production contract for 68 Swordfish aircraft was
received, as the Swordfish I. Manufactured at Fairey's factory in Hayes, West
London, the first production aircraft was completed in early 1936 and the type
entered service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in July 1936. By early 1940, Fairey
was busy with the Swordfish and other types such as the new Fairey Albacore
torpedo bomber. The Admiralty approached Blackburn Aircraft with a proposal that
manufacturing activity for the Swordfish be transferred to the company, who
immediately set about establishing a brand new fabrication and assembly facility
in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. Less than a year later, the first
Blackburn-built Swordfish conducted its first flight. During 1941, the Sherburn
factory assumed primary responsibility for the fuselage, along with final
assembly and testing of finished aircraft.

Efforts were made to disperse production and to employ the use of shadow
factories to minimise the damage caused by Luftwaffe bombing raids. Major
sub-assemblies for the Swordfish were produced by four subcontractors based in
neighbouring Leeds, these were transported by land to Sherburn for final
assembly. Initial deliveries from Sherburn were completed to the Swordfish I
standard; from 1943 onwards, the improved Swordfish II and Swordfish III marks
came into production and superseded the original model. The Swordfish II carried
ASV Mk. II radar and featured metal undersurfaces to the lower wings to allow
the carriage of 3-inch rockets, later-built models also adopted the more
powerful Pegasus XXX engine. The Swordfish III was fitted with centimetric ASV
Mk.XI radar between the undercarriage legs, deleting the ability to carry
torpedoes and retained the Pegasus XXX powerplant.

On 18 August 1944, production of the Swordfish was terminated; the last aircraft
to be delivered, a Swordfish III, was delivered that day. Almost 2,400 aircraft
had been built, 692 having been constructed by Fairey and a further 1,699 by
Blackburn at their Sherburn facility. The most numerous version of the Swordfish
was the Mark II, of which 1,080 were completed.

The Fairey Swordfish was a medium-sized biplane torpedo bomber and
reconnaissance aircraft. The Swordfish employed a metal airframe covered in
fabric. It utilized folding wings as a space-saving measure, which was useful
onboard aircraft carriers and battleships. In service, it received the nickname
Stringbag; this was not due to its biplane struts, spars, and braces, but a
reference to the seemingly endless variety of stores and equipment that the type
was cleared to carry. Crews likened the aircraft to a housewife's string
shopping bag, common at the time and which could accommodate contents of any
shape, and that a Swordfish, like the shopping bag, could carry anything.

The primary weapon of the Swordfish was the aerial torpedo, but the low speed of
the biplane and the need for a long straight approach made it difficult to
deliver against well-defended targets. Swordfish torpedo doctrine called for an
approach at 5,000 feet (1,500 m) followed by a dive to torpedo release altitude
of 18 feet (5.5 m). Maximum range of the early Mark XII torpedo was 1,500 yards
(1,400 m) at 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) and 3,500 yards (3,200 m) at 27 knots
(50 km/h; 31 mph). The torpedo travelled 200 feet (61 m) forward from release to
water impact, and required another 300 yards (270 m) to stabilise at preset
depth and arm itself. Ideal release distance was 1,000 yards (910 m) from target
if the Swordfish survived to that distance.

The Swordfish was also capable of operating as a dive-bomber. During 1939,
Swordfish on board HMS Glorious participated in a series of dive-bombing trials,
during which 439 practice bombs were dropped at dive angles of 60, 67 and 70
degrees, against the target ship HMS Centurion. Tests against a stationary
target showed an average error of 49 yd (45 m) from a release height of 1,300 ft
(400 m) and a dive angle of 70 degrees; tests against a manoeuvring target
showed an average error of 44 yd (40 m) from a drop height of 1,800 ft (550 m)
and a dive angle of 60 degrees.

After more modern torpedo attack aircraft were developed, the Swordfish was soon
redeployed successfully in an anti-submarine role, armed with depth charges or
eight "60 lb" (27 kg) RP-3 rockets and flying from the smaller escort carriers,
or even merchant aircraft carriers (MACs) when equipped for rocket-assisted
takeoff (RATO). Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal
for operation from the MACs in the often severe mid-Atlantic weather. Indeed,
its takeoff and landing speeds were so low that, unlike most carrier-based
aircraft, it did not require the carrier to be steaming into the wind. On
occasion, when the wind was right, Swordfish were flown from a carrier at
anchor.

Role
Torpedo-bomber

Manufacturer
Fairey Aviation

First flight
17 April 1934

Introduction
1936

Retired
21 May 1945

Primary users
Royal Navy
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Netherlands Navy

Produced
1936–1944

Number built
2,391 (692 by Fairey and 1,699 by Blackburn)

n July 1936, the Swordfish formally entered service with the Fleet Air Arm
(FAA), which was then part of the RAF; 825 Naval Air Squadron became the first
squadrons to receive the type that month. The Swordfish began replacing both the
Fairey Seal in the spotter-reconnaissance role and the Blackburn Baffin in the
torpedo bomber role in competition with the Blackburn Shark in the combined
role. Initially, the Shark replaced the Seal in the spotter-reconnaissance
squadrons and the Swordfish replaced the Baffin in torpedo squadron, after which
the Shark was quickly replaced by the Swordfish. For nearly two years during the
late 1930s, the Swordfish was the sole torpedo bomber aircraft equipping the
FAA.

By the eve of war in September 1939, the FAA, which had been transferred to
Royal Navy control, had a total of 13 operational squadrons equipped with the
Swordfish I. There were also three flights of Swordfish equipped with floats,
for use off catapult-equipped warships. Following the outbreak of the Second
World War, a total of 26 FAA Squadrons would be equipped with the Swordfish.
More than 20 second-line squadrons also operated the Swordfish for a wide regime
of training and pilot tuition purposes.[16] During the early months of the
conflict, the activities of the Swordfish were limited to mostly uneventful
fleet protection and convoy escort missions.

By 1945, there was a total of nine front line squadrons equipped with the
Swordfish. Overall, Swordfish-equipped units accounted for 14 U-boats destroyed.
The Swordfish was intended to be replaced by the Fairey Albacore, also a
biplane, but it outlived its intended successor, and was succeeded by the Fairey
Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber. Operational sorties of the Swordfish
continued into January 1945; the last active missions are believed to have been
anti-shipping operations conducted off the coast of Norway by FAA Squadrons 835
and 813, where the Swordfish's manoeuvrability was essential. On 21 May 1945,
the last operational squadron, 836 Naval Air Squadron, which had last been
engaged in providing resources for the MAC ships, was disbanded shortly
following the fall of Germany and the end of the Second World War in Europe.[35]
In the summer of 1946, the last training squadron equipped with the type was
disbanded, after which only a few examples remained in service to perform sundry
duties at a few naval air stations.

Specifications (Swordfish I)

General characteristics
Crew: Three (pilot, observer, and radio operator/rear gunner; observer's
position frequently replaced with auxiliary fuel tank)
Length: 35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)
Wingspan: 45 ft 6 in[48] (13.87 m)
Height: 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
Wing area: 607 ft² (56.4 m²)
Empty weight: 4,195 lb (1,900 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,580 lb[49] (3,450 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Pegasus IIIM.3 radial engine, 690 hp (510 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 143 mph with torpedo at 7,580 lb (230 km/h, 124 knots) at 5,000
ft (1,450 m)
Range: 522 mi (840 km, 455 nmi) normal fuel, carrying torpedo[50]
Endurance: 5.5 hr
Service ceiling: 16,500 ft at 7,580 lb[49] (5,030 m)
Rate of climb: 870 ft/min (4.42 m/s) at sea level at 7,580 lb. (690 ft/min (3.5
m/s) at 5000 ft (1,524 m) at 7,580 lb)

Armament

Guns: 1 × fixed, forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun in upper
right fuselage, breech in cockpit, firing over engine cowling
1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K machine gun in rear cockpit

Rockets: 8 × "60 lb" RP-3 rocket projectiles (Mk.II and later)
Bombs: 1 × 1,670 lb (760 kg) torpedo or 1,500 lb (700 kg) mine under fuselage or
1,500 lb total of bombs under fuselage and wings.



*