| Fairley Swordfish | |
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| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Speed | 207 km/h |
| Category | Torpedo plane/bomber |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Debut | Debut in FH mod |
| Used by | Great Britain Netherlands |
| Guns | 1x.303 Vickers K |
| Bombs | 3x 250kg Bombs or 2x Depth Charges or 1x 53cm Torpedo |
| Seat 2 | 1x.303 Lewis Gun |
| Historical Picture | |
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The Fairey Swordfish is a versatile biplane. It can be operated from aircraft carriers. It may be loaded with either bombs, depth charges, rockets or a torpedo. Rarely it can have both rockets and a torpedo, at first it will then fire both a rocket and the torpedo at the same time. On battleships like the HMS Lion it features floats and is launched from a catapult, though it has no payload.
It was a large, slow biplane with a low wing loading, ideal for actions off carrier decks. The structure was largely metal, covered with fabric. TFirst flown in 1934, this aircraft exceeded the governments demands, so an order was placed for the first 86 production examples in 1935. The first deliveries were made in the following year, further orders continuing well after the beginning of the war.
The versatility of the Swordfish was immortalised in its moniker, the Stringbag. The planes became famous for the attack on Taranto, where the battleship Littorio was sunk and two others were heavily damaged.
In May 1941, Swordfish planes from HMS Ark Royal crippled the Bismarck - a most impressive success for such an old-fashioned aircraft.
The three seater airplane could easily lift off a carrier deck with a standard 18 inch 1,610 lb. torpedo slung between the wheels under the fuselage. It's ungainly looks gave it the nickname "Stringbag", after a type of shopping bag used to carry all manner of things by old English ladies.
In spite of it's seeming lack of sophistication, the Swordfish proved to be excellent in its intended role. Although highly vulnerable to attack by fighter planes, it's low speed and stable stance made it easy to line up for a torpedo attack, coming in from abeam of a hostile vessel, while staying below the level the enemy ships could fire their guns. It's slow flying speed made landings much safer on carriers.....into the wind, the closing speed could be as little as 30 knots.
Because they were helpless against fighters, these airplanes were usually only operated far out at sea, where land based opposition could not reach. Swordfish based at Malta operated at night and were all but invulnerable to the opposition. Starting in 1940, squadrons of Swordfish stationed here had sunk more than a million and a half tons of enemy shipping....a record never to be equalled. Maintenance was a breeze on such a simple design.
Fairey Swordfish Floatplane[]
| Fairley Swordfish | |
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| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Speed | 207 km/h |
| Category | Floatplane |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Debut | Debut in FH mod |
| Used by | Great Britain USA |
| Guns | 1x.303 Vickers K |
| Special abilities | Catapult Launch |
| Seat 2 | 1x.303 Lewis Gun |
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The Swordfish I was built in a version with floats to be launched from a catapult onboard ships. These planes do not carry any payload and do not have the artillery spotting ability. HMS Prince of Wales (53) and HMS Lion have these planes.
Template:British Aircrafts
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