THE Fairey Swordfish

Antiquated, yet devastatingly effective

- BY CLIVE ROWLEY

Fairey Swordfish Mk 1 W5856, here in the markings of an 810 Squadron aircraft from HMS Ark Royal, is the oldest surviving airworthy Swordfish in the world. Built by Blackburn Aircraft at Sherburn-in-Elmet, it first flew on October 20, 1941, and served with the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet during WW II. This "Stringbag" is now operated by Navy Wings, a naval aviation charity in the UK. (Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.​com/theplanepicturecompany)

SEEMINGLY ALREADY OBSOLESCENT when the first one landed on an aircraft carrier, the Swordfish, or “Stringbag” as it was affectionately known, was incredibly versatile and achieved some spectacular successes during the war, outlasting some of the aircraft intended to replace it and defying all expectations.

Despite looking like an aircraft that should not have seen service during WW II, amazingly this ugly duckling biplane was responsible for sinking a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft during the war.

Swordfish design and development

The Fairey Aviation Company's design for the Swordfish began as a private venture to replace the earlier Fairey IIIF biplane aircraft. The British Air Ministry, which was responsible for supplying aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), issued a requirement for a carrier aircraft in 1930, specifying a biplane with an open cockpit. The specification was subsequently updated to add a torpedo-bomber capability.

Fairey's first prototype designed to meet the requirement was designated T.S.R.1 (Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance 1). The first machine was powered by a Bristol Pegasus II M nine-cylinder, air-cooled, supercharged, 635 hp radial engine with a displacement of 1,753 cubic inches. It first flew on March 21, 1933, but proved to be underpowered and to have unacceptable spinning characteristics.