In the 1930s, the leadership of the Air Forces of many countries adhered to the concept of creating a universal multipurpose biplane suitable for reconnaissance, bombing, and also use as an attack aircraft (in the USSR, such an aircraft was the R-5, created at the Polikarpov Design Bureau).
In the early 1930s, in the UK at Fairy Aviation Company, under the leadership of engineer Marcel Lobelle, work began on the creation of a similar aircraft, which was originally oriented towards export orders. After the British Air Ministry issued specifications for a deck-based reconnaissance spotter, the project was finalized.
In addition to reconnaissance and bombing, one of the main tasks of the projected biplane was to be the ability to deliver torpedo strikes and the possibility of carrier-based aircraft, which was reflected in the designation: TSR II (Torpedo, Strike, Reconnaisanse - torpedo, strike, reconnaissance).
The aircraft was a biplane with a metal load-bearing frame covered with linen sheathing, with the exception of some light alloy panels in the front of the fuselage. The aircraft had a non-retractable wheel landing gear with a tail wheel (which could be replaced by floats), a traditional strut-rocking tail unit and a power plant in the form of a 9-cylinder radial engine Bristol Pegasus IIIM with a capacity of 690 hp, later it was upgraded to 750 h.p.
The maximum speed of the aircraft was 222 km / h.
Cruising speed: 207 km / h.
Practical range: 1700 km.
Service ceiling: 3260 m.
The crew was located in two open cabins: the pilot in the front and two more crew members in the back. To save space when based on an aircraft carrier, the wings were folded. Crew armor and oxygen equipment were missing. In the tail section of the fuselage, a short-wave radio station and (in a wheeled version) a folding hook for an aerofinisher were mounted.
Tests of the aircraft at the factory airfield began in April 1934. In 1935, the TSRII was tested at the experimental base of the Navy in Gosport with installed small arms and torpedo weapons.
The aircraft could carry a combat load with a total weight of up to 730 kg on the hardpoints. A 457 mm air torpedo, a sea mine weighing 680 kg, or an outboard gas tank with a capacity of 318 liters was tilted on the main ventral unit. The underwing units allowed the use of various types of weapons: high-explosive bombs weighing 250 and 500 pounds, depth, lighting and incendiary bombs, and on the Mk. II and Mk. III modifications - rockets. Small arms consisted of a course synchronous machine gun of a rifle caliber "Vickers K" with belt feed, mounted on the starboard side of the fuselage, and the same machine gun, but with a disk magazine, on the gunner's turret.
Like all British naval aircraft, the Swordfish was equipped with an inflatable liferaft with a supply of survival equipment. The raft was housed in a special container at the root of the upper left console. When the plane fell into the water, the container opened automatically.
The aircraft was adopted by the naval aviation - FAA (Fleet Air Arm). It was named "Swordfish" (English Swordfish - "swordfish"). The first serial "Suordfish" began to enter combat units in the spring of 1936.
A percale-covered biplane with a fixed landing gear and an open cockpit was fundamentally no different from earlier deck-based aircraft of a similar purpose. Sharp-tongued naval pilots gave the car an ironic nickname "Stringbag" - "string bag".
By and large, the aircraft was already outdated by the time it was launched into mass production, but it was the only carrier-based torpedo bomber in service with the British Navy at the time of the outbreak of World War II. Before the outbreak of hostilities, 692 aircraft were built. 12 Swordfish squadrons were based on the aircraft carriers Ark Royal, Corajes, Eagle, Glories and Furis. The float planes of another were assigned to battleships and cruisers.
Already on April 5, 1940, the Suordfish from the Fyuris aircraft carrier launched the first torpedo attack in World War II on German destroyers in the Trondheim Bay in Norway. One torpedo hit the target, but did not explode. Soon the crew of the float "Suordfish" from the battleship "Worspite" distinguished himself - on April 13, 1940, near Narvik, he sank the submarine U-64 - the first German submarine destroyed by naval aviation. During the battles in Norway, the Suordfish were also used over land as light bombers against the advancing German motorized columns, where they were very vulnerable to German small-caliber anti-aircraft guns. Two Swordfish squadrons were lost along with the aircraft carrier Glories, which was sunk by the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the evacuation of the Narvik bridgehead.
The aircraft carrier "Glories" is a former "British light battle cruiser" rebuilt after the First World War.
After Italy entered the war on the German side, 24 torpedo bombers were deployed to the island of Malta, which became the main British stronghold in the Mediterranean. For nine months, they staged a real terror for the Italian convoys, sinking up to 15 ships and barges a month. "Suordfish" also bombed objects in Sicily, were involved in escorting convoys. In the same area, aircraft operated from the aircraft carriers "Ark Royal" and "Eagle". After the surrender of France, the Suordfish from the Arc Royal on 4 July 1940 struck Mers el-Kebir, inflicting heavy damage on the French battleship Dunkirk, and from the Hermes on 7 July they damaged the battleship Richelieu in Dakar.
On August 22, 1940, in the harbor of Sidi Barrani, a flight under the command of Captain Patch managed to destroy four ships with three torpedoes. Two submarines and a transport loaded with ammunition were blown up. An explosion on board shattered not only the ship itself, but also the destroyer moored to it.
In August 1940, the new aircraft carrier Illastris, with 36 Swordfish on deck, joined the British Mediterranean forces. On November 11, the crews of these vehicles attacked the main forces of the Italian fleet concentrated in the harbor of the port of Taranto. There were concentrated 5 battleships, 5 heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers. To prevent torpedo attacks, the bay was blocked by anti-torpedo nets. The Italians did not take into account that changes were made to the design of the British torpedoes, allowing them to dive to a depth of 10, 5 meters and pass under anti-torpedo barriers.
Aircraft carrier Illastris
The operation was carefully planned, each pilot knew his target in advance. In total, 24 Swordfish were lifted from the deck of the Illastris. Some of the vehicles carried lighting and conventional bombs. First, "chandeliers" were hung over the port water area, after which two aircraft bombed the fuel storage. In the light of the fire and lighting bombs, torpedo bombers rushed into the attack. Torpedoes hit three battleships, two cruisers and two destroyers. The success of the operation was facilitated by the fact that anti-aircraft artillery opened fire with a great delay, and it was fired stupidly, the British lost only two torpedo bombers. After that night, Italy lost its superiority in large warships in the Mediterranean.
In the winter of 1940-1941, the "Battle of the Atlantic" began, during which Germany, using the actions of "wolf packs" of submarines and surface raiders, tried to strangle Britain in the blockade.
On May 18, 1941, the battleship Bismarck, the most powerful warship that had ever sailed under the German flag, went on its first campaign to intercept British convoys together with the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen. Already on May 24, the Bismarck sunk the British heavy cruiser Hood. But the battleship itself was damaged in an artillery duel with the British.
Battleship "Bismarck"
The British gathered all available forces to intercept the Bismarck in the north Atlantic, preventing the numerous convoys crossing the ocean. Following the German raider were the British cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk and the battleship Prince of Wales. A squadron consisting of the battleship King George V, the battle cruiser Ripals and the aircraft carrier Victories moved from the northeast. From the east came the battleship Rodney, the cruisers London, Edinburgh, Dorsetshire and several fleets of destroyers. The battleships Rammiles and Rivend were advancing from the west. From the south, a squadron was moving as part of the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", the battle cruiser "Rhinaun" and the cruiser "Sheffield".
Leaving all their convoys and transport routes unprotected, the British pulled their ships into a huge ring in the northeast Atlantic, hoping for a huge superiority in forces. After May 26, 1941, the German battleship was discovered from aboard the flying reconnaissance boat "Catalina", torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", located 130 kilometers from the battleship "Bismarck", played a decisive role in its destruction.
On the afternoon of May 26, the Suordfish take off in severe weather conditions, it rains continuously, large waves overwhelm the take-off deck, the pitching roll of the aircraft carrier reaches 30 degrees. Visibility does not exceed hundreds of meters. In such a situation, ten aircraft still take off and head for the enemy. But the first on their battle course is the English cruiser Sheffield, mistaken in the conditions of disgusting visibility for the battleship Bismarck. Fortunately for the British, not a single torpedo hits the target.
Torpedo bombers "Suordfish" in flight over the aircraft carrier "Arc Royal"
Despite the worsening weather, the British command decides to repeat the raid in the evening, 15 crews take off from the swinging deck of the aircraft carrier and head for the Bismarck. Some of them got lost in the rain and low clouds, but the rest managed to reach the target.
The anti-aircraft artillery of the battleship Bismarck meets the low-speed biplanes with powerful fire. The air above the ship is surrounded by a dense ring of ruptures. Breaking through it, the British attack at different courses and at different heights. Their persistence brings success. One torpedo hit the central part of the hull and did not do much harm to the Bismarck, but the other turned out to be fatal. The explosion damaged the propellers and jammed the rudder, after which the giant ship lost control and was doomed.
Members of the Swordfish crews who took part in the attack on the Bismarck
The Germans and Italians drew certain conclusions from what had happened, abandoning risky raids on the high seas and began to pay more attention to the air defense of coastal waters with the involvement of fighters. Against the Messerschmitts, Suordfish was absolutely defenseless.
On the morning of February 12, 1942, 6 Suordfish Squadron 825 tried to attack the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the English Channel during Operation Cerberus. The purpose of the operation was to redeploy the ships of the "Brest group" to the ports of Germany.
In the suicidal attack, all 6 aircraft under the command of Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmond were shot down by German cover fighters, failing to break through to the German battleships. This was the last significant episode of the Suordfish's use as a torpedo bomber. They were then replaced on the decks of aircraft carriers by the faster and better equipped Fae Barracuda.
British carrier-based torpedo bomber and dive bomber Fairey Barracuda
However, in fairness it should be said that the Suordfish survived on the decks of aircraft carriers the biplane torpedo biplane Fairey Albacore created to replace it.
British carrier-based torpedo bomber Fairey Albacore
To stay in the ranks, he had to change specialization, this seemingly hopelessly outdated biplane turned out to be ideal as a submarine hunter. By the beginning of the "Battle of the Atlantic" it became clear that the most effective means of fighting German submarines was aviation. To protect British convoys, they began to include so-called "escort aircraft carriers" - small aircraft carriers, usually converted from transport ships, tankers or light cruisers, with several anti-submarine aircraft on deck. For such an aircraft, high speed and strong defensive weapons were not important.
British escort aircraft carrier "Chaser"
The first anti-submarine "Suordfish" were armed with high-explosive and depth charges. Later, in the summer of 1942, they began to mount launchers for 5-inch (127-mm) rockets, 4-5 pieces under each lower wing. In this case, part of the linen skin on the wing was replaced with metal panels. This is how the anti-submarine modification of the Mk. II appeared.
Swordfish Mk. II.
A modification of the 127-mm 25-lb AP rocket Mk. II missile was developed specifically to engage the hull of shallow enemy submarines. An armor-piercing steel blank containing no explosives was used as a warhead on the rocket. With their help, it was possible to confidently hit enemy submarines located at a depth of 10 meters, i.e. under the snorkel or at periscope depth. Although the hit of a single missile in the hull of the boat, as a rule, did not lead to its destruction, but, having received damage, the submarine was deprived of the opportunity to submerge and was doomed. On May 23, 1943, the first German submarine U-752 was sunk by a salvo of armor-piercing missiles from the Suordfish biplane in the North Atlantic.
At the beginning of 1943, a new version of the vehicle, the Mk. III, with universal missile and bomb armament and an airborne radar, was put into production. These aircraft were used mainly to search for and destroy submarines that float to the surface at night to recharge batteries. A plastic radio-transparent radar for the radar antenna was located on the Mk. III between the main landing gear, and the radar itself was in the cockpit, instead of the third crew member.
"Swordfish" Mk. III
The Suordfish often flew combat missions in pairs: the Mk. II carried weapons, and the Mk. III with a radar aimed it at the target, thus dividing responsibilities. Most of the escort aircraft carriers accompanying the Anglo-American convoys, including those that went with cargoes of military aid to the USSR, were equipped with the Suordfish Mk. II and Mk. III. These low-speed biplanes have proven to be very effective anti-submarine weapons. Thus, the PQ-18 convoy included the Avenger aircraft carrier with 12 Sea Hurricanes and 3 Suordfish on board. One of them on August 14, 1942, together with the destroyer Onslow, sank the submarine U-589. The Suordfish, guarding the RA-57 convoy on the way to Murmansk, destroyed the German submarines U-366, U-973 and U-472. There were many such examples.
This was largely due to the excellent takeoff and landing qualities, which allowed the Sordfish to take off from small flight decks without turning the ship towards the wind. In case of favorable wind, the Sordfish could take off even from a ship at anchor. These open cockpit biplanes were able to operate in difficult weather conditions when flights of other more modern aircraft were impossible.
After the opening of the Second Front, anti-submarine patrol "Suordfish" began to operate from airfields in Belgium and Norway. Some of them were used for air mining of German sea routes and ports.
The escort service "Suordfish" was carried almost until the last days of the war - the last contact with an enemy submarine was recorded on April 20, 1945. In total, units armed with Sordfish destroyed 14 submarines. It is worth noting the high courage of the crews flying these outdated single-engine biplanes. Engine damage or failure over the freezing waters of the North Atlantic, as a rule, led to rapid death from hypothermia. Despite this, the British pilots performed their duty with honor.
The aircraft was produced from 1936 to 1944, in total, about 2400 units were built. Several examples of cars have survived to this day, taking pride of place in aviation museums in England, Canada and New Zealand. Some of them are in flight condition.
