The Fairey Swordfish is one of the most, if not the most famous biplanes to take part
in the Second World War. In an age of sleek monoplanes and the first stirrings of the
Jet era, it looked comically out of place, but this plucky little aircraft went on to
earn a great name for itself. The development of the Swordfish can be traced
back to the Fairey S.9/30 and the TSR 1. The S.9/30 was imaginatively named after the
air ministry specification for which it was built, this specification called for torpedo
bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Fairey submitted two designs to the air ministry
in October of 1930, of which one was produced. It was an unequal span biplane design, with
a fabric covered fuselage comprised of stainless-steel tubing and strips. It was powered by a liquid-cooled
Rolls-Royce Kestrel V12 that gave 525hp, this engine was to feature steam cooling based
on earlier experimental successes, with the condensers located on the upper-centre section
of the engine. Its armament consisted of a 7.7mm Vickers machine gun in the port coaming,
which was operated by the pilot, and a 7.7 mm Lewis gun on a Fairey high-speed mounting
for the rear gunner, and it could also carry various payloads under its lower wing. This
aircraft, given the serial S1706 flew for the first time on 22nd of February 1934, taking
off from the Great West Aerodrome. The prototype was initially tested as a landplane,
having a divided undercarriage fitted with low pressure tyres and a tailwheel, but after
these tests it was converted to a floatplane. In this configuration it featured a thirty-and-a-half
foot long central float and a pair of stabilising wing floats, taking off for the first time
in January 1935. Overall, its water handling characteristics were well received, but there
was criticism of some of its airborne handling. The feedback from pilots about controlling
their aircraft described it as heavy but positive at all but low speeds, however they had to
constantly apply corrective rudder due to the lack of a rudder-bias gear.
During this time, and indeed before, the other progenitor of the swordfish the TSR 1 was
also being worked on. Surprisingly, this new aircraft was completed nearly a year before
the S9/30 aircraft was flown for the first time. The reason for this was that the TSR
I, at the time designated F.1875, had originally been designed as a private venture for the
Greek Navy. It had been designed to meet a variety of requirements, but Greek interest
in the project had gradually diminished. Fairey then decided to approach the Air Ministry
with this design, proposing it as a solution for the need for a spotter-reconnaissance
aircraft. This plane first took to the skies on 21st of March 1933. At the time it was
powered by a fourteen-cylinder Siddley Panther radial engine that gave out 625hp. However,
in June this was swapped out for a 635hp nine-cylinder Bristol Pegasus radial engine, and it was
then that the aircraft was re-designated as the TSR I.
The S9/30 and the TSR I looked somewhat similar in appearance, the main difference being that
the TSR I had a radial engine and a spatted undercarriage. Unfortunately, the TSR I was
to be lost in an accident during its testing. Chris Staniland, the test pilot, was putting
the aircraft through a series of spinning tests. Initially the aircraft could not be
persuaded to spin, but on the second or third attempt it changed its mind and decided to
enter an incredibly nasty flat spin, keeping the nose almost on the horizon. After attempting
and failing to regain control, Staniland attempted to bail from the aircraft, however the lateral
motion merely threw him into the rear pilots seat. After this moment of arial leapfrogging
he was able to properly bail and safely got clear.
Before this unfortunate mishap, the Air Ministry had recently issued a new specification dubbed
S15/33, which was a combination of specifications S9/30 and M1/30, calling for the development
of a two-seat torpedo bomber and spotter aircraft. Though the TSR I had been lost in the accident,
the test results had been very promising, and so a second prototype was developed as
the TSR II, with this aircraft representing the birth of what was to become the Fairey
Swordfish. The TSR II had some minor external changes
compared to its predecessor. It had an additional bay in the fuselage which necessitated lengthening,
and it also had spin-recovery strakes ahead of the leading edges of the tailplane. The
upper wing now had a sweepback angle of 4 degrees to compensate for the lengthening
of the fuselage, the fuselage itself was similar to its original design with fabric covering
steel strips and struts. The TSR II was powered by more powerful version of the Bristol Pegasus
engine and performed its first flight on the 17th of April 1934, once again flown my Staniland.
Initial contract trials went on for two months, and then the prototype was flown to Martlesham
for further testing, then RAE Farnborough for catapult trials and then HMS Courageous
for deck-landing tests. After this the aircraft had its spatted landing gear replaced with
twin floats for water tests at Hamble, this began on the 10th November 1934. On the 1st
of January 1935 it went to Felixstowe, and then in February it crashed during tests at
the Torpedo Trials Unit at Gosport. The prototype was rebuilt after this, and the aircraft would
carry on as a development aircraft for the Air Ministry s Directorate of Technical Development.
As for the test reports themselves, the results were mostly favourable. The elevators and
ailerons were remarked as being light and effective at all speeds, and although the
rudder itself felt quite heavy it too was effective. There were some criticisms, however.
Some aspects of its stalling behaviour were less than desirable, especially when it came
to the rudder, and it had quite a slow spin recovery time. The aircraft also exhibited
some instability when diving with an aft centre of gravity. Post-examination adjustments were
made to the range of elevator movement, and subsequent testing and reports at Martlesham
deemed the aircraft to be acceptable. The production version of the TSR II was given
the name Swordfish by the Air Ministry, and an order was placed in Spring of 1935 for
three pre-production aircraft and a production batch of 86 Swordfish Mk1s.
In this new specification the Bristol engine now powered a three-blade metal propeller,
instead of the two blade propellers that were tried on the original prototypes. Power output
was still 690hp, but Its performance, of course, would vary depending on the aircraft s configuration.
The Swordfish had a maximum speed of 147mph at 5000 feet in its spotting configuration
or 143mph when loaded with a torpedo. Its range was 624 miles without the torpedo, or
522miles with it, and the flight endurance would either be 6.5 hours or 5.5 hours following
the same pattern. In terms of overall dimensions, the MK1 had a length of 35ft 8 inches, a wingspan
of 45 ft 6 inches and a maximum height of 12ft 4 inches.
The Mk1 had a forward firing 7.7mm Vickers gun that was operated by the pilot, and like
the prototype the gunner would operate another 7.7mm Vickers or Lewis gun that was on a Fairey
high-speed mounting. In terms of suspended armament, it could carry one 18-inch torpedo
or one 1500lb sea mine under the fuselage; alternatively, the Swordfish could carry up
to 1500lbs of bombs or depth charges on wing racks.
The Swordfish began to reach squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm in July 1936, with no.825
squadron of the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious taking delivery of the first units to replace
their existing compliment of Fairey Seals. By the outbreak of world war two, the Fleet
Air Arm had thirteen operational frontline Swordfish squadrons of those thirteen, twelve
were operating with five aircraft carriers. HMS Ark Royal had four squadrons, Courageous
two, Eagle two, Glorious two, and Furious two. In addition to this were floatplane variants
of the Swordfish that operated at sea with two catapult flight units.
Though serviceable, the floatplane variant of the Swordfish was slightly less favoured
amongst air crews, if only because of its water handling. They struggled to taxi well
in the water with windspeeds more than 20mph, and a 1936 report of the pre-production floatplane
tests commented that the aircraft took a long time to get on the step, and that during this
time the propeller picked up a lot of water. Aside from some general fleet protection and
convoy escort missions, the Sowrdfish would not see much in the way of active service
until the arrival of the Norwegian campaign. Despite this delayed start, the Swordfish
would go on to quickly rack up a number of great firsts for the Fleet Air Arm. On the
11th of April 1940, Swordfish from no.816 and 818 squadrons took off from HMS Furious
and embarked on the first co-ordinated torpedo attack to be launched from an aircraft carrier.
Rather embarrassingly their targets, a group of cruisers that were meant to be moored in
Trondheim weren t actually there, just a pair of destroyers. They carried out the attack
nonetheless and scored a hit on one of the destroyers, the rest of the strike being hampered
by the shallow water. A few days later on the 13th of April, a floatplane
Swordfish catapulted from HMS Warspite scored the Fleet Air Arms first U-Boat kill of the
war. The aircraft had been launched to provide spotting for the operations at Narvik. Piloted
by Pilot Officer F.C Rice and with Lt Commander W.M Brown as observer, the Swordfish provided
excellent spotting for Warspite and her entourage, helping them sink seven destroyers. Rice and
Brown then bombed one of the destroyers, which then either sunk or was later scuttled, before
spotting the U-64 sitting at anchor they scored at least one direct hit on the submarine with
sank it almost immediately. During the following fortnight around Narvik and the local waters,
the Swordfish would see continuous action, often in bad weather and under the threat
of colliding with Norway s aggressive coastal terrain.
That same month on the Home Front, the Swordfish began to be involved with minelaying operations
under RAF Costal Command, a task that they would become quite famous for. In the beginning
these operations were limited to 812 Squadron, but by the end of May four squadrons were
involved in this work, mine-laying by night and day, targeting German held-port waters,
and also bombing the ports themselves by day. Their targets were expanded to oil storage,
logistics depots and invasion barges after the fall of French, when a German invasion
of Britain seemed to only be a matter of when, not if . To facilitate this, the Swordfishes
had their specialist equipment replaced with additional fuel tanks.
Over in the Mediterranean, Swordfish would perform another British first upon Italy s
entry into the war. The first British air raid against Italy was made by Swordfish in
an operation that could have been described as comedy had the situation been less depressing.
Nine Swordfish from No.767 training Squadron, carrying appropriated and pre-fused French
bombs, flew from the south of France to raid Genoa on the 14th of June. Speaking of France,
the Swordfish would feature prominently during the controversial attack on Mers-el-Kebir.
Aircraft flying from HMS Ark Royal torpedoed and severely damage the battle-cruiser Dunkerque
in what became a practical demonstration that torpedo-bombers could strike accurately and
effectively against capital ships at harbour. This demonstration would be repeated with
much enthusiasm a few weeks later during the famous night attack at Taranto. Swordfish
flying from HMS Illustrious carried out the attack on November 11th 1940. Success was
dependent not only on surprise, but constant photographic reconnaissance of the target,
which lasted almost up to the last hours prior to the attack. The Swordfish achieved almost
complete surprise, attacking with a mix of bombs and torpedoes.
The result was one battleship sunk, two more heavily damaged, two cruisers heavily damaged,
two destroyers damaged, and two auxiliary vessels sunk.
Swordfish operating out of Malta would distinguish themselves in enemy commerce raiding. The
aircraft would be no match for enemy escort fighters, and so they timed their flights
so that they would arrive over the convoys by the cover of darkness. Despite no more
than 27 Swordfish operating out of Malta at any one time, they managed to sink on average
50,000 tons of shipping every month over a period of nine months.
The Swordfish featured in two of the wars more famous naval events, at least in terms
of the European war. In May 1941, Swordfish were involved in the attack on the German
battleship Bismarck. After being engaged by HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Hood, Bismarck
was attacked from Swordfish operating out of the carrier HMS Victorious. The weather
was not in their favour for the attack, with very poor visibility, but a single torpedo
hit was confirmed. A few days later the Swordfish had another go at the battleship and scored
at least two torpedo hits, damaging the battleships steering. Though they did not outright sink
the battleship, the contribution made by the Swordfish cannot be discounted.
The other Naval event on February 12th 1942, in what would become known as the channel
dash did not go quite so well for the Swordfish. Six aircraft from the re-building 825 Squadron,
their carrier Ark Royal having been sunk the previous November, were called upon as the
only available torpedo bombers to attack the German heavy cruisers that were racing through
the channel to their home waters. Led by Lt-Cdr Esmonde, The Swordfish were meant to have
fighter cover, but their escorts did not appear in the poor weather conditions of a 700 foot
cloudbase and 2000 yard visibility. They approached in two sub-flights of three aircraft, the
first went in under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was set upon by German fighters that tore
them to pieces. The second sub-flight was seen going in for the attack, but was never
heard from again. All surviving members of the attack would be decorated and Lt-Cdr Esmonde
was posthumously awarded the Victoria cross. This was the last time that Swordfish would
be used for torpedo attack. Improvements in anti-aircraft gunnery, and the complete performance
superiority of enemy fighters rendered them far too vulnerable and they were withdrawn
from this role. The Swordfish would continue to be used in the anti-submarine role as both
a hunter and a killer, with some being equipped with ASV radar and the others with depth charges.
The MkII swordfish arrived in 1943. It had a strengthened lower wing with a metal skin
under-side, this allowed it to be equipped with armour-piercing rockets on underwing
rails. In the same year the MkIII also arrived, which in addition to the modified lower wing,
was designed with built-in anti-shipping radar. From August 1942, Swordfish played an important
role in escorting the Russian convoys. On one of these convoys, Swordfish from the carriers
Striker and Vindex totalled over 1000 operational hours of submarine patrol in just 10 days.
By the spring of 1943 rockets were becoming regularly used, and he first success with
the new weapon was scored on the 23rd of May when a Swordfish from 819 Squadron, operating
from the escort carrier Archer, used rockets to sink U-752 800 miles west of Ireland. By
the end of the war, Swordfish were responsible for sinking 14 U-Boats.
The last operational Squadron equipped with Swordfish, no836, was disbanded on the 21st
of May 1945. Despite its antiquated looks and slow speed, the Fairey Swordfish had operated
successfully throughout the length of the war, even outliving aircraft that had been
designed to replace it. Several Swordfish survive to this day, but
only one of them is the famous MKI model. Luckily this sole survivor is also air-worthy,
and has been regularly flying since 2008.