Fairey Swordfish
Maritime patrol · Fairey Aviation · United Kingdom
| Typical crew | 3 |
|---|---|
| Engines | 1 × Bristol Pegasus |
| First flight | 1934 |
| Number built | 2,391 |
About
The Fairey Swordfish was a fabric-covered biplane torpedo bomber that looked obsolete the day it entered service, yet became one of the most effective and long-lived British aircraft of the war. Affectionately called the “Stringbag”, it flew from aircraft carriers and shore bases carrying a torpedo, bombs, mines or depth charges. Swordfish crippled the Italian fleet at Taranto in November 1940 and, in May 1941, jammed the steering of the battleship Bismarck with a torpedo hit, sealing her fate. Slow and rugged, it served right to the end of the war on anti-submarine patrol from small escort carriers. About 2,400 were built.
Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Fleet Air Arm Museum and Wikipedia — Fairey Swordfish. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.