Fairey Swordfish Totally Explained

Everything about The Fairey Swordfish totally explained

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II. Affectionately known as the Stringbag by its crews, it was outdated by 1939, but achieved some spectacular successes during the war, notably the destruction of the Regia Marina (the Italian Navy) in the Battle of Taranto and the famous crippling of the Bismarck. It was operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft, however, during its later years it was also used as an anti-submarine and training craft. Designed in the 1930s, the Swordfish remained in frontline service through to the end of the war in Europe in 1945.

Design and development

The Swordfish was based on a Fairey Private Venture (PV) design; a proposed solution to the Air Ministry requirements for a Spotter-Reconnaissance plane - Spotter referring to observing the fall of a warship's gunfire. A subsequent Air Ministry specification S.15/33, added the torpedo bomber role. The "Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance" prototype TSR II (the PV was the TSR I) first flew on April 17, 1934. It was a large biplane with a metal frame covered in fabric, and featured folding wings for carrier use. An order was placed in 1935 and the aircraft entered service in 1936, replacing the Fairey Seal in the torpedo bomber role.
   By 1939 the Royal Navy had 13 squadrons equipped with the Swordfish Mark I. There were also three flights of Swordfish equipped with floats, for use off catapult-equipped warships. One such, from HMS Warspite spotted fall of shot (for example, radioed gunnery corrections back to the ship) during the Second Battle of Narvik and subsequently sank the U-boat U-64.
   Swordfish flew from merchant aircraft carriers ("MAC ships"), 20 civilian cargo ships modified to carry three or four aircraft each, on anti-submarine duties with convoys. Three of these ships were Dutch manned, flying Swordfish from 860 (Dutch) Naval Air Squadron.
   Almost 2,400 had been built, 692 by Fairey and 1,699 in Sherburn by the Blackburn Aircraft Company, which were sometimes dubbed the "Blackfish". The most numerous version was the Mark II, of which 1,080 were made.

Operational history

The primary weapon was the 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. However, Swordfish flying from HMS Illustrious made a very significant strike, on November 11, 1940, against the Italian navy during the Battle of Taranto, Italy, sinking or disabling three Italian battleships and a cruiser. The successful Taranto attack may have given inspiration or confidence to the Japanese who would later attack Pearl Harbor. Swordfish also flew anti-shipping sorties from Malta.
   In May 1941 a Swordfish strike from HMS Ark Royal was vital in damaging the German battleship Bismarck, preventing it from escaping back to France. The low speed of the attacking aircraft may have acted in their favour, as the planes were too slow for the fire-control predictors of the German gunners, whose shells exploded so far in front of the aircraft that the threat of shrapnel damage was greatly diminished. The Swordfish also flew sufficiently low that most of the Bismarck's flak was unable to hit them. The Swordfish aircraft scored two hits, one which did little damage but another which disabled the Bismarck's rudder, preventing it from maneuvering and thus sealing its fate. The Bismarck was destroyed less than 13 hours later.
   The problems with the aircraft were starkly demonstrated in February 1942 when a strike on German battlecruisers during the Channel Dash resulted in the loss of all attacking aircraft. With the development of new torpedo attack aircraft, 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 when equipped for rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO). Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal for operation from the MAC carriers in the often severe mid Atlantic weather. Swordfish-equipped units accounted for 14 U-boats destroyed. The Swordfish was meant to be replaced by the Fairey Albacore, also a biplane, but actually outlived its intended successor. It was, however, succeeded by the Fairey Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber.
   The last of 2,392 Swordfish aircraft was delivered in August 1944; the last operational squadron was disbanded on 21 May, 1945, after the fall of Germany; and the last training squadron was disbanded in the summer of 1946.

Origin of the Stringbag nickname

The Swordfish received the Stringbag nickname not because of its construction but because of the seemingly endless variety of stores and equipment that the aircraft was cleared to carry. Crews likened the aircraft to a housewife's string shopping bag which was common at the time and, which due to its having no fixed shape, could adjust to hold any shape or number of packages. Like the shopping bag, the crews thought the Swordfish could carry anything.

Variants

Swordfish I ť First production series.

;Swordfish I ť Version equipped with floats, for use off of catapult-equipped warships.

Swordfish II ť Version with metal lower wings to enable the mounting of rockets, introduced in 1943.

;Swordfish III ť Version with added a large centrimetric radar unit, introduced in 1943.

Swordfish IV ť Last serial built version (production ended in 1944) with an enclosed cabin for use by the RCAF

Operators

Specifications (Fairey Swordfish)

1x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun in engine cowling

1x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K machine gun in rear cockpit |bombs=1x 1,670 lb (760 kg) torpedo or 1,500 lb (700 kg) mine |rockets=8x 60 lb (27 kg) RP-3 rocket projectiles (Mk.II and later) }}Further Information

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