Fairey Swordfish

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber biplane designed by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Originating in the 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was an outdated design by the start of the war in 1939, but remained in front-line service until VE Day, outliving several types intended to replace it. It was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft; during its later years it was used as an anti-submarine and training craft.

The Swordfish achieved some spectacular successes, notably the sinking of one and damaging two battleships of the Regia Marina (the Italian Navy) in the Battle of Taranto and the famous crippling of the Bismarck.

Design and development
The Swordfish was based on a Fairey design for the Greek Naval Air Service, who asked for a replacement of their Fairey IIIF Mk.IIIB aircraft, and on specifications M.1/30 and S.9/30, issued by the Air Ministry, the work having been initiated as a private venture (PV). The company informed the Air Ministry of their work on the Greek order (that country's interest eventually waned) and proposed its solution to the 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 17 April 1934. It was a large biplane with a metal airframe covered in fabric, and utilized folding wings as a space-saving feature for aircraft carrier use. An order was placed in 1935 and the aircraft entered service in 1936 with the Fleet Air Arm (then part of the RAF), replacing the Seal in the torpedo bomber role.

By 1939, the Fleet Air Arm (now under Royal Navy control) had thirteen squadrons equipped with the Swordfish Mark I. There were also three flights of Swordfish equipped with floats, for use off aircraft catapult-equipped warships. One from HMS Warspite (03) spotted fall of shot and radioed gunnery corrections back to the ship during the Second Battle of Narvik in 1940, and subsequently sank the U-boat U-64. The Swordfish pioneered the use of air to surface vessel radar (ASV), by carrier-borne aircraft to locate surface ships at night and through clouds.

Swordfish flew from merchant aircraft carriers ("MAC ships"), twenty civilian cargo or tanker 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. The others were manned by pilots and aircrew from 836 Naval Air Squadron, at one time the largest squadron, with 91 aircraft.

When production ended on 18 August 1944, almost 2,400 had been built, 692 by Fairey and 1,699 (sometimes called the "Blackfish") in Sherburn by the Blackburn Aircraft Company. The most numerous version was the Mark II, of which 1,080 were made.

Operational history
The primary weapon 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 ft (1,500 m) followed by a dive to torpedo release altitude of 18 ft (5.5 m). Maximum range of the early Mark XII torpedo was 1,500 yd (1400 m) at 40 knots (74 km/h) and 3,500 yd (3200 m) at 27 knots (50 km/h). The torpedo travelled 200 yd (180 m) forward from release to water impact, and required another 300 yd (270 m) to stabilise at preset depth and arm itself. Ideal release distance was 1,000 yd (900 m) from target if the Swordfish survived to that distance. Swordfish — flying from the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (1940) — made a very significant strike on 11 November 1940 against the Italian navy during the Battle of Taranto, Italy, sinking or disabling three Italian battleships and a cruiser lying at anchor. In the aftermath, Taranto was visited by the Japanese naval attache from Berlin, who later briefed the staff who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor. Swordfish also flew anti-shipping sorties from Malta.

In May 1941, a Swordfish strike from HMS Ark Royal (91) was vital in damaging the German battleship Bismarck, preventing it from escaping 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. At least some of the Swordfish flew so low that most of the Bismarck's flak weapons were unable to depress enough to hit them. The Swordfish aircraft scored two hits; one did little damage, but the other jammed Bismarck's rudders with 15° port helm on, making the warship unmanueverable; it sank after intense Royal Navy attack within 13 hours.



The problems with the aircraft were starkly demonstrated in February 1942 when during the Channel Dash an attack on German battleships by six Swordfish led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde resulted in the loss of all aircraft with no damage to the ships. Lack of fighter cover was a contributory factor; only ten of eighty-four promised fighters were available. Thirteen of the eighteen Swordfish crew were killed; Esmonde, who had also led an attack on Bismarck, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. The courage of the Swordfish crews was noted by the commanders on both sides: British Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay later wrote "In my opinion the gallant sortie of these six Swordfish aircraft constitutes one of the finest exhibitions of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty the war had ever witnessed", and German Vice Admiral Otto Ciliax remarked on "...the mothball attack of a handful of ancient planes, piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day".

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 (MAC) 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. Indeed, its takeoff and landing speeds were so low that it did not require the carrier to be steaming into the wind, unlike most carrier-based aircraft. On occasion, when the wind was right, Swordfish were flown from a carrier at anchor.

Swordfish-equipped units accounted for 14 U-boats destroyed. The Swordfish was to be replaced by the Albacore, also a biplane, but outlived its intended successor and was succeeded by the Fairey Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber.

The last of 2,392 Swordfish aircraft was delivered in August 1944. Operational sorties continued in to January 1945 with anti-shipping operations off Norway (FAA Squadrons 835 and 813), where the Swordfish's manoeuvrability was essential. 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 was nicknamed Stringbag not because of its biplane struts, spars, and braces, 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, common at the time and which could accommodate contents of any shape. Like the shopping bag, the crews felt that the Swordfish could carry anything.

Variants

 * Swordfish I
 * First production series.


 * Swordfish I
 * Version equipped with floats, for use from catapult-equipped warships.


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


 * Swordfish III
 * Version with added large centrimetric radar unit, introduced in 1943.


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

Operators
undefined Swordfish 4A was first to fall into Italian hands in the aftermath of the Battle of Taranto, in poor condition. Swordfish K8422 of HMS Eagle was shot down and captured during a raid on Maritza airfield, Rhodes on 4 September 1940. Evaluated at Guidonia Test Centre and kept serviceable until mid-1941 with spare parts coming from captured Swordfish K8422 (4H). Swordfish P4127 (coded 4F) of 820 squadron on HMS Ark Royal, involved in bombing raid on Cagliari, Sardinia. Hit by ground fire, it force-landed on the enemy airfield at Elmas on 2 August 1940. The crew were taken POW and the aircraft captured intact. Caproni repaired it locally and fitted it with an Alfa Romeo 125 engine. It was taken to the Stabilimento Costruzioni Aeronautiche in Guidonia on 27 February 1941. It was still listed as being there 6 April 1942. Swordfish W5843 of 813 squadron at North Front, Gibraltar, lost its bearings during an anti-submarine sweep and force landed between Ras el Farea and Pota Pescadores, in Spanish Morocco, on 30 April 1942. The crew were all interned. The final fate of the aircraft is not known.
 * Royal Australian Air Force
 * Three aircraft were used by No. 25 Squadron RAAF in 1942.
 * 🇨🇦 Canada:
 * Royal Canadian Air Force
 * Royal Canadian Navy
 * Royal Canadian Navy
 * Regia Aeronautica
 * Royal Netherlands Navy -
 * Dutch Naval Aviation Service in exile in the United Kingdom
 * No. 860 (Dutch) Squadron Fleet Air Arms
 * 🇪🇸 Spain :
 * 🇪🇸 Spain :

Swordfish P4073 of 700 squadron of HMS Malaya ran out of fuel whilst shadowing the German battleship Scharnhorst on 8 March 1942. Aircraft and crew were interned in Spain. The Swordfish was put on the strength of the Spanish airforce as HR6-1 on 6 December 1943 with 54 Escuadrilla, Puerto de le Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands. Retired March 1945 at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.


 * Royal Air Force
 * No. 8 Squadron RAF
 * No. 119 Squadron RAF
 * No. 202 Squadron RAF
 * No. 209 Squadron RAF
 * No. 273 Squadron RAF
 * No. 613 Squadron RAF
 * No. 3 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (No. 3 AACU), Malta and Gibraltar
 * No. 4 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (No. 4 AACU), Singapore
 * 9 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit
 * Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (prior to May 1939 part of RAF)
 * 700 Squadron
 * 705 Squadron (float-equipped aircraft from the battlecruisers Repulse and Renown)
 * 771 Squadron
 * 810 Squadron
 * 811 Squadron
 * 812 Squadron
 * 814 Squadron
 * 815 Squadron
 * 816 Squadron
 * 817 Squadron-transferred to South Africa in 1945
 * 818 Squadron
 * 819 Squadron
 * 820 Squadron
 * 821 Squadron
 * 822 Squadron
 * 823 Squadron
 * 824 Squadron
 * 825 Squadron
 * 836 Squadron
 * 838 Squadron
 * 838 Squadron

Surviving aircraft
This is an incomplete list.


 * Swordfish Mk.I W5856, Swordfish Mk.II LS326, Swordfish Mk.III NF389
 * These three aircraft form part of the Royal Navy Historic Flight; W5856 and LS326 are in flying condition; NF389 is being restored to airworthy condition by the Flight.


 * Swordfish Mk.II, "HS618"
 * Displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.


 * Swordfish Mk.II, "NS122"
 * This aircraft is at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Note that "NS122" is a fictitious identity.


 * Swordfish Mk.III, NF370
 * Displayed at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.


 * Swordfish Mk.III, construction number F/B 3527A
 * This aircraft is in flying condition and is registered as C-GEVS. It is operated by Vintage Wings of Canada, based in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada


 * Swordfish Mk.IV, HS469
 * Originally a Mk.II, but converted to a Mk.IV, this aircraft is on display at the Shearwater Aviation Museum. It was restored to airworthy condition and flew once, in 1992.


 * Swordfish HS491
 * This is part of the collection of the Malta Aviation Museum and is currently awaiting restoration.