The Fairey 'Swordfish' was a torpedo bomber biplane designed by the Fairey Aviation Company and W.S. Hunt for use by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Initially, Swordfishes operated from the large fleet carriers. Later Swordfishes operated from escort carriers and 'MAC' (Merchant Aircraft Carrier) ships, and were very effective against U-boats. The nickname 'Stringbag' indicated the versatility of the Swordfish, which could carry an unlikely combination of loads from bombs to rockets to torpedoes much like the stringbags used by shoppers of the day that carried almost anything. Fairey followed the Swordfish with two more torpedo-bombers, the 'Albacore' and the 'Barracuda'. While neither achieved the prominence of the Swordfish, due to its versatility, the Swordfish outlived the Albacore in service. The Swordfish remained operational until the end of the war, gaining the distinction of being the last biplane to see active service.
Development
The Swordfish started out in 1933 as a private venture by Fairey Aviation Company Limited, in the form of the three-seat "Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance I (TSR.I)" aircraft, developed by a team under Marcel Lobelle, a Belgian who was Fairey's chief designer. The TSR.I was a biplane of frame-and-fabric construction, powered by a Bristol Pegasus IIM nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine with 475 kW (635 HP). 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)'. While the PV took on the designation of TSR I, the revised design became the TSR II (TSR standing for 'Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance' to reflect the types intended roles). The TSR II achieved first flight on April 17th, 1934 and was put into production as the 'Swordfish' the following year. 86 Swordfish Mk I systems were contracted in this initial production batch. Deliveries began in 1936 and the aircraft quickly became the standard Fleet Air Arm torpedo bomber, becoming the newest mount of No. 825 Squadron.
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In Service
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 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. From May 1940 onwards into the succeeding months, Swordfish squadrons were loaned to RAF Coastal Command and conducted mine-laying operations and convoy patrols in the English Channel and North Sea against German, Dutch, Begian and French ports. When Italy entered the war, the Royal Navy made plans to attack the Italian naval base at Taranto. Swordfish aircraft were instrumental in helping to change the balance of power in the Mediterranean in the Battle of Taranto ('Operation Judgment'), Italy, which led to the sinking or disabling three Italian battleships and a cruiser lying at anchor. At 10:00PM on November 11th, HMS Illustrious with her supporting units, HMS Berwick and HMS York and smaller units, now near the Greek island of Cephalonia, unleashed the first wave of Swordfish torpedo bombers against Taranto. An hour later, the Swordfish were at their targets with lead planes dropping targeting flares. The Italian battleship Conte di Cavour took a single direct hit from a torpedo while the Andrea Doria was unsuccessfully attacked. The Littorio was struck at her starboard bow and then again at her starboard stern. One torpedo hit the battleship Caio Duilio blowing a large hole in her hull and flooding both of her forward magazines. 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. After that, Swordfish flew anti-shipping sorties from Malta attacking Italian and German convoys heading Tunisia to resupply Rommel and the Afrika Korps.
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In May 1941, a Swordfish strike from HMS Ark Royal was vital in damaging the German battleship KGM 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 Bismarck unmaneuvrable allowing the Royal Navy's battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V as well as several heavy cruisers under Admiral Tovey's Force H to catch up to Bismarck in a little over twelve hours and sink her.
In February 1942 during the 'Channel Dash', an attack on the German battlecrusiers KGM Sharnhorst and KGM Gneisenau along with heavy crusier KGM Prinz Eugen, was made by six Swordfish being led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde which resulted in the loss of all aircraft with no damage to the ships. Lack of fighter cover was a contributing factor with only ten of eighty-four promised fighters were available. Thirteen of the eighteen Swordfish crew were killed with Esmonde, who had also led an attack on Bismarck, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. This highlighted the fact that the Swordfish had passed its use by date with a need for more modern topedo bombers to be introduced into the Royal Navy. After 1942 the Swordfish was replaced in its torpedo-bombing role by the Fairey Albacore, Fairey Barracuda and Grumman Avenger, and was employed in anti-submarine missions and was provided with a radar (Mk.III) and with air-surface rockets. However, even though the Fairey Albacore went into service early in the war, it proved little better than the Swordfish, which it was intended to replace.
By 1943, the Swordfish operated from 14 escort carriers and 18 MAC (Merchant Aircraft Carrier) ships. MAC ships were converted oil tankers or grain ships, with a flight deck but minimal maintenance facilities, and the aircraft were continuously exposed to the often Arctic weather conditions. For operations from small flight decks with heavy loads, rocket-assisted take-offs were necessary. 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, unlike most carrier-based aircraft, it did not require the carrier to be steaming into the wind. Swordfish-equipped units accounted for 14 U-boats destroyed.
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Retirement
The final Swordfish was delivered in August, 1944 and the last front-line Swordfish Fleet Air Arm unit was 836 squadron, which disbanded on 21 May 1945. However, the Swordfish continued in second-line training duties until Summer 1946. By the end of production in 1944, a total production was 2396 aircraft had been built, including 989 Mk.Is, 1080 Mk.IIs, and 327 Mk.IIIs.
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Fairey 'Swordfish'
