4928 x 3264 px | 41,7 x 27,6 cm | 16,4 x 10,9 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
16 luglio 2016
Ubicazione:
Farnborough, Hampshire, UK
Altre informazioni:
The Fairey Swordfish was a biplane torpedo bomber designed by the Fairey Aviation Company, used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was an outdated design by the start of the war in 1939, but remained in front-line service until V-E Day, outliving several types intended to replace it. It was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft; during its later years it was used as an anti-submarine and training craft. The Swordfish achieved some spectacular successes, notably in sinking one battleship and damaging two others of the Regia Marina (the Italian Navy) in the Battle of Taranto and the famous crippling of the Bismarck that contributed to her eventual demise. 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). Fairey informed the Air Ministry of their work on the Greek order (that country's interest eventually waned) and proposed its solution to the requirements for a spotter-reconnaissance plane, "spotter" referring to observing the fall of a warship's gunfire. Air Ministry Specification S.15/33 subsequently added the torpedo bomber role. The "Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance" prototype TSR II (the PV was the TSR I) first flew on 17 April 1934. It was a large biplane with a metal airframe covered in fabric, and utilized folding wings as a space-saving feature for aircraft carrier use. An order was placed in 1935 and the aircraft entered service in 1936 with the Fleet Air Arm. Swordfish Mk.I W5856 is part of the Royal Navy Historic Flight
