080B - Inside the Fairey Swordfish

CLASS: Biplane Torpedo Bomber

YEAR OF DESIGN: 1934

CREW: 3

LENGTH: 35 feet 8 inches

WINGSPAN: 104 feet 6 inches

MAX AIRSPEED:  143 MPH with Torpedo

CEILING: 16,530 feet

TYPICAL ARMAMENT

1 x 7.7 mm Nose-Mounted Machine Gun

1 x 7.7 mm Rear-Mounted Machine Gun

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1 x 1,670-lb Torpedo

-=  OR =-

1,500-lb total wing-mounted bomb load

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Constructed before the single-wing era, the Fairey Swordfish was more of a novelty than an outright Carrier-based torpedo bomber. At the time of its design, most Aircraft Carriers were simply modified Cruisers and Battleships with large rectangular decks mounted atop a floating hull. Additionally, biplanes had barely evolved and the tires were made of soft rubber which provided bouncy landings and often catapulted pilot and crew across the deck or, more infamously, into the water. Still, the Fairey Swordfish was a stout but nimble flyer-bomber of the dreadnought era.

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As planes quickly evolved through the 30s and 40s, this year’s model became next year’s has-been. This was especially true for the biplanes as single-wing planes became as nimble as the acrobatic biplanes and naturally much lighter and faster.

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When the Swordfish and its counterparts (such as the Fairey Albacore) were too slow for practical use over Europe, they were shipped to the smaller Air Force Bases in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Compared to any o f the Japanese planes, the biplanes proved of little significance and only endangered the lives of the men who dared to jump into the cockpit.

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