Rather surprised you didn't mention the Swordfish's "secret feature" when it came to launching her torpedoes. Dr Alexander Clarke covered this at some length on his channel. The British rigged up a tension wire system, that attached to the nose of the torpedo, that helped to keep it level when dropped, until it hit the water. The British managed to keep this secret for quite some time. Dr Clarke even pointed out in period photographs, showing a Swordfish dropping a torpedo, how the photograph had been "edited" to hide the tension wire. It wasn't just wooden fins attached to the rear of the torpedo, but the tension wire as well, that enabled the successful attack on Taranto.
@@stewartfordyce No. That incident happened when the Pilot took a final 'Lucky Leak' on the wheel prior to take off to minimise discomfort later but inadvertently and unnoticed caught the wire whilst rebuttoning up.
My best undesrtanding was that the wire ensured that the torpedo would enter the water slightly 'nose up'. Thus reeducing the speed of weapon closer to it's nominal 40kn at the instant of full immersion while also giving the weapon a shallow track.
10:41 the frontal gun is what is called an "emotional support weapon". When you fly a cumbersome, slow bomber towards vessels bristeling with AAA, it subjectively feels better if you can shoot a little, too and it might even take a tiny chunk of folks focus and concentration on killing you, by inducing thoughprocesses on their own well beeing.
Fighter aircraft during WWII would sometimes attack their targets head-on rather than from the tail of the targeted aircraft. The frontal gun did at least allow the Swordfish to shoot back, and hopefully keep the attacker a bit further away than he would be otherwise. If there was no frontal gun, then any fighter pilot who wanted to kill a Swordfish could simply keep flying attacks from the front, with no way for the Swordfish to shoot back until after the fighter aircraft had finished shooting at the Swordfish and was then able to maneuver to evade the rear gun's bullets. If a fighter can fly absolutely straight at a defenseless target then the accuracy of its gunfire is improved considerably - it's a 'turkey shoot'. Sometimes an air defense platform is more effective at forcing an enemy to keep its distance than it is at actually killing the attacking aircraft. The US Army put M2 .50 caliber machine guns on top of M4 Sherman tanks for the same reason as the frontal gun on a Swordfish - it forces the enemy's aircraft to have a bit more respect for a target that can actually shoot back, even though both targets were far less maneuverable than a fighter aircraft, and few kills were scored by any of those guns on fighter aircraft.
In the 1930s, they may have considered it provided a useful degree of flexibility by enabling the aircraft to also carry out anti-piracy and imperial policing operations.
Actually the Swordfish had the advantage in being very slow. The Kriegsmarine anti aircraft systems I believe had an automatic system to track fast moving attackers. It meant they spent a lot of ammunition missing the Swordfish which resulted in lower casualties than there could have been.
My grandad was an airframe rigger in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Before they sent him overseas to work on Corsairs and Wildcats he had to complete his trade training at Garston near Liverpool. Part of the course was for the trainee riggers and fitters to strip a war weary Swordfish down to component parts then reassemble it rigged for flight. He had a soft spot for them despite loving the Corsair and so do I. Thanks.
Thanks for this! Just 2 months ago I mentioned the Swordfish in my mum's eulogy - because she swapped seats in one in mid air! During WW2 she was a technician in Malvern working on Radar. One dqy she was flying in a swordfish with a scientist who got excited when the set starting working well. So he told her to swap seats so she could see it. So they did. The funny thing about this story is that I only found out a few years ago. When I asked her why she never told me she said "I didn't think it was very interesting"!!!
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of an American Navy officer in WWII on exchange seeing a Swordfish for the first time. He said, "Where did you get THAT?!" To which was said, "Fairey's." "Figures," he said.
Poor old fleet air Arm had a strange collection of planes which in context of this story , well yes the yanks could laugh their planes were fast modern, sleek band new.. which I'm sure the British flyers found far better for their health
Roy this was all down to the RAF who weren’t interested in the Fleet Air Arm which they had control over until 1938. The FAA entered the war with the rubbish the crabs left them with.
This was fascinating. One of my neighbours is the son of Lieutenant Commander Stewart-Moore, a Swordfish pilot and commanding officer of 820 Squadron. "The Commander" as he was simply known was a legendary figure in these parts parts and highly respected. During the attack on the Bismark the Swordfish had to fly through a storm of anti-aircraft fire, with typical British understatement The Commander said " the run-in was alarming". Good to see the aircraft he flew.
A must read; "TO WAR IN A STRINGBAG" by Commander C.B. Lamb. He flew Swordfishes throughout the war including the raid on Taranto. An interesting note, he notes that the plane was called a String Bag, not because of all the exposed wires and things, but because it carried everything from bicycles to torpedoes to mines, rather like the string bags that little old ladies carried when they went to the shops.
Cool. I hadn’t seen him, but if I had drawn sketch of how I pictured him from voice and style, it would’ve looked like that man🙂. Although, in mind’s eye, he’d have on a tweed jacket with elbow patches & he would be using a pipe as a pointer. I am grateful for Drachinifel’s channel and, of course the amazing Bismarck!
One cool thing about the wing support wires is that they are solid with a knife edge profile for 'aerodynamics'. 😁 I love that. The Swordfish is an absolute legend for us Brits, it personifies the, admittedly clichéd, wartime spirit. It also embarrassed it's replacements the Albacore and Barracuda. Good old girl.
The Swordfish was well suited to operate from the small escort carriers, and being well out in the Atlantic, well away from any modern land based fighters. This is also why the Wildcat was still used on the escort carriers right to the end of the war. The Hellcat was just too large and fast to safely fly off the small escort carriers.
Guys flying these must be crazy brave. As somebody whose granddad was Polish paratrooper during WWII, and knew couple guys from that service and era, they were crazy brave, and they were "only" jumping from the airplane on a ground. These pilots flew in every possible weather, over freezing-cold sea, in slow, almost unarmed and unarmoured airplane, to deliver torpedo nice and low when every weapon is shooting at them. As my granddad said "We just never thought about that. We went over because it was necessary. Somebody must to do that". I have no doubt some of them were afraid but they went despite of that. I have nothing but respect for these guys.
Even the low, slow, Stringbags apparently needed some additional help at Taranto to stop their torpedoes from striking the harbour's bottom and destroying themselves after release. The torps were fitted with custom designed wooden "Sabots" to provide additional lift immediately after entering the water. So, really a "triplane" weapons system ?
It is a very interesting aircraft, I've read through some stories of them at RAF Bircham Newton In coastal command use, The Fleet Air Arm loaned some squadrons to Bircham Newton, for the active use in mine-laying operations of the coast of Denmark, Around Heligoland, in the Wadden sea area, Later around the Frisian islands, a lot of these took place during the fighting in Norway In 1940. according to reports and diary's that I've read in the museum, The minelaying operations were abysmal, I'm not sure what sort but it was a Magnetic mine they attached to the aircraft in the reports but all I know it was large and very un-aerodynamic, decreasing the aircrafts speed and stability, where the Navigator was suppose to sit they placed a Large Petrol tank which stuck up between the pilot and the aft cockpit The Navigator had to sit with his legs Underneath the massive petrol tank basically pinning him in, so if the plane was attacked and it was hit, he would be drowned in petrol and if it caught fire immediately cooked. A quote from a pilot who flew on such a mine laying mission said the aircraft was "Outrageously overloaded" and that "Carrying a mine which would leave nothing to pick up if it exploded and carrying a truck load of fuel to give it the thousand-mile range, it’s speed such that the worst anti-aircraft gunner or search light operator could hardly miss it. Its only protection against fighters was, the fact that it was too slow for them to stay with it and shoot at it" I think there's a dairy entry somewhere in the museum stating that one aircraft was so dangerously overloaded they had to remove all defensive weaponry and all ammunition from the aircraft to fit the mine and carry the extra fuel. Also being in an open cockpit cramped and extremely noisy they would hardly be able to communicate with each other for 10 hour stretches at a time, very long, very cold, very dangerous mine-laying operations those guys who went on them, Maximum respect it certainly took a lot of courage, and the swordfish carried them through it all!
I remember a story that the fuel tank would spray fuel through the breather tube at the top of the tank during take off. The RAF grounded the aircraft until they could work out a fix - the navy solution was to insert a cork into the end of the breather tube which had a string attached so that the navigator could pull it out when the aircraft had leveled out.
Great video as always. The adaptability of this aircraft has always fascinated me. Outlasting its replacement and being one of only a handful of aircraft flying in frontline service from the first day of the war in Europe to the last. In early 1945, no fewer than nine squadrons operated Swordfish in frontline ASW service.
This aircraft participated in the raid on Taranto which senior Japanese officials took inspiration for the torpedo depth since Pearl Harbor was very shallow in depth this was for the upcoming attack on the Pearl Harbor United States naval base in 1941. The Swordfish did had an influence Icon A5 a modern seaplane specially with the wings fold back with main difference being that wings on swordfish fold horizontally and parasol wings of the A5 fold vertically to save space on a specially designed trailer or a garage.
@@Drachinifel Come on, I like planes (and model airplanes), ships, esp. wooden ships, and in principle everything that moves - so why shouldn't you? And that is a carrier-based plane, a plane on board a plane that has a boat on board, how can it get better? Hmmm - there were huge lifeboats carried by bombers like the Avro Lancaster, maybe something worth covering?
Actually I think I'd pick the Beaufighter. During the Channel Dash the Swordfish really showed its age and vulnerability. The Swordfish did perform extremely valuable service in the Convoy Escort role flying off of the small carriers. Plus the two brilliant moments being the attack on the Italian Anchorage at Taranto. And crippling Bismarcks steering gear.
@@DarrylAdams Thats due to untrained guncrews, not the planes speed. During Operation Cerberus for example, the more experienced AA gunners of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had no problems shooting down allied aircraft, including Swordfishs.
Check out Navy Wings here: bit.ly/NWBrand_Join For the morse code, click 'read more' Morse code was *supposed* to be: '4 A' - the id of the plane. Sadly I messed up the letter, making a '_.' out of '._' so now it's '4 N' Yaaaay.....
In 1964 I was chatting with my boss and he revealed that, as a Swordfish navigator on a training flight, he had lost one year's seniority when he dropped his Very pistol through one of the removeable apertures in the cockpit bottom. I think he said there was a removeable bombsight. The pistol went through a Welsh farmer's roof, he complained to the Navy and my boss was traced through the serial number of the pistol. Lots of hazards in the "Stringbag"!!
My grandfather was a CPO on the Ark Royal in WW2 and I remember him talking about how he got to fly a couple of times in a swordfish as an observer. He said they were a brilliant aircraft, slow and robust which made them a good torpedo plane.
An excellent and very informative video. Lovely to see RNAS Yeovilton again. An iconic aircraft that was an anachronism even before it went into service. Loved by its crews, a steady, reliable workhorse. Known as the 'string bag' not because of all the wires holding it together, but after the popular shopping bag made like a net, which could adapt itself to carry just about anything. There are a lot of myths about this aircraft, some of them true. But it served well in most theatres of the war and outlived its successor. Thank you for doing this video, I have been waiting for it and it did not disappoint.
Excellent video . My father flew as a TAG in WW2 . He never really said much about it and to be honest I never really asked , but he was obviously very fond of the 'Stringbag' . He always said he flew backwards into war
Not just looking at one, but a flying one ... amazing. Thank you for bringing this look at this renowned aircraft. Edited edit: guess it was a previously hidden video, which explains why it showed up just now.
Shuttleworth Collection (Old Warden Airfield, Shuttleworth near Bedford, Bedfordshire) have a flying 'String Bag' (I thank my late Dad (exRAF) for knowing that moniker) too. In September it was getting some very thorough maintainence, but It should be back when the displays kick off in Spring '22. A few years back, my wife was chatting to one of its fitters (he was married to her mate, another Nurse who worked with her). She was intrigued and pestering him all about it (she's flown Gliders a few times & has better than half a clue). It kind of killed the conversation when finally she asked 'You're so lucky. Do you get to fly in it too checking things are OK etc'.. 'They don't have enough staff to get me strapped into that old thing if its going to leave the ground', was the somewhat laconic reply. A pause followed by, 'I'm lighter than you 'though. Could you...'. 'NO'.
I had the Airfix model of this when I was a kid. Then, to my great delight, I later I saw the real thing. Quite a day to remember. During the Battle of Narvik, which included HMS Warspite, a Swordfish was used as a dive bomber.
This makes History 'come alive'. Have you ever thought about approaching model kit makers to sponsor you. Can you imagine somebody building a kit of this, then having you giving a 'walk around' followed by a short piece about some of it's more significant actions?
This is what I love about this channel, it's not only the "hot-rod" fighters that get attention, but everything cool, interesting and facinating with wings! :D
I find the Swordfish a very interesting airplane. Although at first glance it appeared an outmoded aircraft it was very cleverly used . Thanks to the command of the Fleet air arm that valued with sense its potential and of course the bravery of the pilots proved to be a very useful plane. In the history of aviation there are some examples that show how a clever view could give an amazing result for an airplane which isn't specially 'advanced technically'
Well, of course it is known from the major successes it had, like the role in sinking the Bismarck. But this plane was often shot down and many crews died over the oceans. To me it was more used from desperation as from anything else. They didnt had other aircraft available for that sort of task, so they used that assett as best as they could. It makes the crews even more respectable, because they knew they were a sitting duck.
26.58..this is actually a differential hydraulic brake gauge. The upper needle indicates the hydraulic pressure available; the two lower indicate the hydraulic pressure to the port and stbd. wheels. As the pilot moves the foot pedals,( for the rudder), the pressure comes off and on as the case may be, making turning on the ground easy.
The Swordfish against the Bismark had onboard radar. The planes spotted the Bismarck on radar, came down near vertically in cloud then levelled over the sea not far from the ship. The Bismarck's crew never saw them coming, before they knew it they were dropping torpedoes at them and spraying the decks with machine-gun bullets. All the Swordfish planes got away unscathed. The Japanese fleet that raided Pearl Harbor turned west to raid Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. Admiral Cunningham assembled a fleet to chase and find the Japanese raiders as they were making their way back east. The British fleet had biplane Albacores. Not a brilliant plane at all, which the Zeros would have shot out of the sky. Like the Swordfish, the Albacore had onboard radar. The Japanese fleet had no radar of any sort in ships or planes. If the British fleet located the Japanese fleet, a surprise night attack by the Albacores would have crippled, or sunk, the Japanese carriers. Lucky escape by the Japanese. It was strange that the first onboard radar was used in operations by what even then were considered antiquated planes.
Yeah, both the Japanese and British flirted with disaster during the Indian Ocean raid. Either could smashed the other's fleet to pieces if circumstances had been tweaked. They came within a heartbeat of fighting the world's first carrier battle long before Coral Sea, and the Kido Butai was in serious danger of a major defeat. On the flip side, if they'd sunk some battleships and/or the fleet carriers, the Japanese would have had an even stronger position in the Pacific.
@@Cailus3542 It was night and day. If they engaged during the day, advantage to the Kido Butai. If by night, advantage to the Royal Navy. If Cunningham made contact, all he had to do was keep out of range during the day, then pounce at night with radar guide torpedo planes. Once hit the Japanese fleet would not be capable of a reply. Also, the Japanese fleet was critical on fuel, so could not turn west to chase the Royal Navy.
Thanks for this, this is one of my favorite aircraft of the war, and I'm astonished at how versatile the Swordfish was-- I have read many comments about how obsolete the platform was going in to WW2.. yet it seems like the designers were very creative and put some thought into every configuration the Swordfish could fly with.
Brilliant video. Love the Swordfish. Great looking plane with a great history behind it. I remember seeing my first one fly over head back in the late 1960's/70's when Goodwood airfield used to have a yearly air show. I was so taken by the sight of this vintage aeroplane with it's torpedo under it's belly. Absolutely Awesome!
Your channel is by far my favourite documentary videos of historic and military aircraft from many different countries. You always seem to have a lot of research into your subjects - you don’t appear to have recourse to notes while filming. I have visited the Navy air Arm Museum near Yeovil, there is a lot of very interesting display material, and some rather good active experiences such as the aircraft carrier. You would need a full day to explore the entire museum and yes, it is a working airfield.
Its such a paradox, the Fairy Swordfish. Its old, yet has some ingenuity its slow, but very deadly it's light, but carries a healthy mass Great video, thanks a lot!
One of my favorite bits of Swordfish trivia is that they spend time and effort to build fully enclosed cockpits for all of the planes to use in adverse conditions, as far as it is known, none of them were ever used ...
if you dont understand why a pilot would want forward armerment you haven't ever been in a fight. Its a feel good device, being able to punch back regardless of if it was hyper useful or not.
It doesn't look like much but this canvas and wood biplane sank more tonnage of Axis shipping than any other plane in the Allied arsenal, including the crippling of the Bismarck.
JUST AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!from México city I just bought a scale swordfish model kit and this is the third time I watch your incredible video congratulations
Criticism is important. The Good old plane was state of the art in 1938. And the finest and most reliable torpedo bomber of the war, also the best for night operations. Which is what the British expected the plane to need to do. Night operations against fortifications around harbours, long range recon and strikes, and the ability to repair and return aircraft back into service quickly. Ships with only 9 swordfish operational had an odd habit of finding three more ready for service in times of need. The RN had quite a habit of finding airframes on a global scale, maybe only one or two, but present and flyable. There were other airframes and engines offered for the Swordfish design proposal. However with weaker frames and less reliable engines, they were rejected for the needed task.
Well, "state of the art" might be pushing it, a bit. In 1938, the Hurricane was already flying, the Spitfire, the '109. The B-17...etc...The Stringbag was obsolete the day she came out. Still wound up being a very useful machine.
@@PoochAndBoo none of those were suited to carrying carrier torpedo weapons, night time operations, low speed maneuvering for landing and torpedo deployment in night raids on hostile harbours under the sights of hostile gunners. In it's intended role, a monoplane was actually deemed ineffective, and undesirable. Now a modern one with better flap technology and variable pitch prop might go faster and be more stable flying slow. But outside of the metal skin construction technology that we later perfected? This was easy to maintain and easy to repair battle damage. One advantage a hurricane had over the spitfire.
The TAG was also known as WopAG (Wireless Operator Air Gunner), which is what my father's role was on the Swordfish. Although he was enlisted too late to see action.
The swordfish was equipped with floats for use on large warships. It was widely used as a catapulted artillery spotter for a warship's main armament. (HMS Hood, HMS Warspite and HMS Malaya to name but a few) The aircraft was not designed to take off from the water, only to land on it for recovery.
In the 1990s I was in Luton and Dunstable hospital and a man in the opposite bed was an old guy whose name was Aubrey something. Anyway he was telling me he was involved with rocket developement during the war and after at Woomera. He said he told them the Swordfish would catch fire if they fired rockets without protecting the wing, but they wouldn't listen. I presumed they tried it. So I have no doubt that is why the metal was fitted to the wing. His conversations were so interesting, and I wished he had put his story into a book.
ALL torpedo bombers in the USN were also armed with at least 1 MG. You got to give the crew....hope. BTW, a torpedo bomber "releases" the torpedo, it does NOT "launch".
I was going to like the video at the end of it as I usually do but at "Indiana Jones yourself" I just couldn't help it and hit the button! Great video!
Amazing that an aircraft that has always looked to me that it was constructed from spare parts of a variety of others played such an important role. Antiquated in appearance perhaps a leftover from WW1 it went on to cripple the most fearsome of enemy ships. The bravery of those that flew her is beyond praise...
From the aircraft walk-around, it looks as the exhaust manifold is the leading edge circular ring of the engine? Looks that way as the exhaust outlet is welded to that leading edge. Lots of reasons for that gunner position. If they were attacking a sub, the aircraft would circle the sub, offering the gunner a target (think AC-130), or to shoot tracers as spotter rounds for his wingman as the wingman makes an attack. That auto-inflate life raft, that would make me feel a whole lot better. Nice job Chris!
Fascinating video of a remarkable old plane that proved to be practical for vital roles. I'll bet the convoy planes loved an enclosed cockpit. Renowned Beatles producer George Martin was a war veteran, flew in Swordfish planes doing coastal patrol. I wonder a bit at the rear firing machine gun. I'd like to know more about the types of rounds (bullets) gunners preferred. Flattening nose? Fragment on impact? Would the gunner aim for the windscreen of the oncoming attacker?
The Swordfish was more like a helicopter. It takes off near vertical from carriers. It was highly maneuverable. It had the highest ship kills of any plane in WW2. It outlived its successor, being made until 1944.
I met a fellow who flew a Swordfish in the Channel Dash squadron. Fortunately for him, he left that unit shortly before the Channel Dash. He said that of the 33 men in his flying class before the war, only 3 lived to see the end of the war (and curiously enough, all 3 had the same last name).
I sprayed that aircraft back in 95 for the battle of Taranto colours celebration when I was in the Navy base at Yeovilton. When you feel how paper thin it is with basically a bath tub to sit in , you can have nothing but admiration for the flyers in WW2. We spoke to some of the old crew who came to the airstation as part of the anniversary, some of the stories they told were unbelievable
I've always wondered how much extra lift a biplane provides over a monoplane for the same wing span and chord. I doubt it's double, there's probably some interference between the two wings, and of course there's all the extra drag from the extra wing and all the bracing struts and wires. But maybe this extra lift within the same span was more important for a carrier plane with limited storage space, especially for a heavy torpedo which needed more lift, and since torpedoes couldn't be released at high speed, they didn't think the drag mattered as much as for a fighter or dive bomber.
There may be some mathematical simulations showing that the middle wing of the Fokker Triplane didn't deliver any net lift, due to interference with the wing below and/or above. ....But I haven't taken time to look for that reference.
Grizwold - It was all about STOL with Swordfish. And as long as heading into wind could take off quick and not wait for carrier to turn into full wind and speed up.
@@MultiZirkon Seems you can calculate about 80% of the lift of a monoplane wing of the same dimensions, but the upper wing has less lift loss than the lower wing. There is a myriad of influences, of course, the farther the wings are apart (relevant is the factor in relation to the wing depth), the staggering of the wings, and so on. One nice thing I learned about the rigging wires: The wires that run from the lower fuselage up to the tops of the struts are the "lifting wires", while the wires that ran from the top of the cabane struts went down to the bottom of the outer struts are the "landing wires", for obvious reasons. Regarding the Fokker: In principle it is a 3 1/2-decker, the fairing of the landing gear axle has a cambered airfoil and considerable size.
Unless you are using your stringbag as a.dive bomber, or fighter, or level bomber, or torpedo bomber, or mine layer, or depth charger against submarines, or radar equipped anti shipping rocket launcher. And do all these things with a better success rate than any specially purpose designed axis aircraft.
Hi Chris. I see HMS Heron is as busy as ever. I worked in the Fleet Air Museum there in the late 90’s. The Stringbag - always an annoyance to our foes when used correctly. The UK equivalent of the Stuka? Brilliant show mate! We’ll done! 👍👍✌️
The FAA actually had a close equivalent to the Stuka in the Blackburn Skua. It was retired from service pretty early in the war, and there wasn't really another dedicated dive bomber afterwards, the Fairey Barracuda was intended to replace both the Albacore (Swordfish's replacement) and the Skua.
Know that it may not be your bailiwick, but would like to ask a question-had anyone investigated why GB and the Commonwealth forces in WWII didn’t adopt the Browning .50 fir their aircraft? What was the reason for continuing to use the .303 or trying to jam that Hispano cannon into the early Marks of their fighters? Keep up the good work! 🙏
The low takeoff and landing speed of the Sworfish was especially helpful on the smaller escort carriers. Swordfish, unlike most carrier aircraft of the time, didn't needcarriers to steam into the wind during aircraft takeoff.
Rather surprised you didn't mention the Swordfish's "secret feature" when it came to launching her torpedoes. Dr Alexander Clarke covered this at some length on his channel. The British rigged up a tension wire system, that attached to the nose of the torpedo, that helped to keep it level when dropped, until it hit the water. The British managed to keep this secret for quite some time. Dr Clarke even pointed out in period photographs, showing a Swordfish dropping a torpedo, how the photograph had been "edited" to hide the tension wire. It wasn't just wooden fins attached to the rear of the torpedo, but the tension wire as well, that enabled the successful attack on Taranto.
Very interesting, thanks.
Is that the first example of 'fly by wire'? 🙄
@@stewartfordyce No.
That incident happened when the Pilot took a final 'Lucky Leak' on the wheel prior to take off to minimise discomfort later but inadvertently and unnoticed caught the wire whilst rebuttoning up.
@@Farweasel LOL
My best undesrtanding was that the wire ensured that the torpedo would enter the water slightly 'nose up'. Thus reeducing the speed of weapon closer to it's nominal 40kn at the instant of full immersion while also giving the weapon a shallow track.
10:41 the frontal gun is what is called an "emotional support weapon". When you fly a cumbersome, slow bomber towards vessels bristeling with AAA, it subjectively feels better if you can shoot a little, too and it might even take a tiny chunk of folks focus and concentration on killing you, by inducing thoughprocesses on their own well beeing.
If you have tracers it can help with rocketing and sometimes glide bombing.
Fighter aircraft during WWII would sometimes attack their targets head-on rather than from the tail of the targeted aircraft. The frontal gun did at least allow the Swordfish to shoot back, and hopefully keep the attacker a bit further away than he would be otherwise. If there was no frontal gun, then any fighter pilot who wanted to kill a Swordfish could simply keep flying attacks from the front, with no way for the Swordfish to shoot back until after the fighter aircraft had finished shooting at the Swordfish and was then able to maneuver to evade the rear gun's bullets. If a fighter can fly absolutely straight at a defenseless target then the accuracy of its gunfire is improved considerably - it's a 'turkey shoot'.
Sometimes an air defense platform is more effective at forcing an enemy to keep its distance than it is at actually killing the attacking aircraft. The US Army put M2 .50 caliber machine guns on top of M4 Sherman tanks for the same reason as the frontal gun on a Swordfish - it forces the enemy's aircraft to have a bit more respect for a target that can actually shoot back, even though both targets were far less maneuverable than a fighter aircraft, and few kills were scored by any of those guns on fighter aircraft.
In the 1930s, they may have considered it provided a useful degree of flexibility by enabling the aircraft to also carry out anti-piracy and imperial policing operations.
@Alfred Wedmore Black, brown, white and yellow. Unfortunately, they never got around to shooting politically correct dimwits though.
Actually the Swordfish had the advantage in being very slow. The Kriegsmarine anti aircraft systems I believe had an automatic system to track fast moving attackers. It meant they spent a lot of ammunition missing the Swordfish which resulted in lower casualties than there could have been.
My grandad was an airframe rigger in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Before they sent him overseas to work on Corsairs and Wildcats he had to complete his trade training at Garston near Liverpool.
Part of the course was for the trainee riggers and fitters to strip a war weary Swordfish down to component parts then reassemble it rigged for flight.
He had a soft spot for them despite loving the Corsair and so do I.
Thanks.
Thanks for this! Just 2 months ago I mentioned the Swordfish in my mum's eulogy - because she swapped seats in one in mid air!
During WW2 she was a technician in Malvern working on Radar. One dqy she was flying in a swordfish with a scientist who got excited when the set starting working well. So he told her to swap seats so she could see it. So they did.
The funny thing about this story is that I only found out a few years ago. When I asked her why she never told me she said "I didn't think it was very interesting"!!!
Your Mum was a gem and I imagine, a real character. My regards to you for your loss.
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of an American Navy officer in WWII on exchange seeing a Swordfish for the first time. He said, "Where did you get THAT?!" To which was said, "Fairey's."
"Figures," he said.
thank you for an interesting share!
Poor old fleet air Arm had a strange collection of planes which in context of this story , well yes the yanks could laugh their planes were fast modern, sleek band new.. which I'm sure the British flyers found far better for their health
Great story. Thanks 👍
Roy this was all down to the RAF who weren’t interested in the Fleet Air Arm which they had control over until 1938. The FAA entered the war with the rubbish the crabs left them with.
Well done chaps, been looking forward to this one 👍
This was fascinating. One of my neighbours is the son of Lieutenant Commander Stewart-Moore, a Swordfish pilot and commanding officer of 820 Squadron. "The Commander" as he was simply known was a legendary figure in these parts parts and highly respected. During the attack on the Bismark the Swordfish had to fly through a storm of anti-aircraft fire, with typical British understatement The Commander said " the run-in was alarming". Good to see the aircraft he flew.
Wow, small world!
When the ´´Terror of 7 seas can shoot down some *biplane boi* ´´
A must read; "TO WAR IN A STRINGBAG" by Commander C.B. Lamb. He flew Swordfishes throughout the war including the raid on Taranto. An interesting note, he notes that the plane was called a String Bag, not because of all the exposed wires and things, but because it carried everything from bicycles to torpedoes to mines, rather like the string bags that little old ladies carried when they went to the shops.
Didn't know you had Drachinifel as part of your own personal ground crew. You lucky man
I knew that bearded person was familiar !
Cool. I hadn’t seen him, but if I had drawn sketch of how I pictured him from voice and style, it would’ve looked like that man🙂. Although, in mind’s eye, he’d have on a tweed jacket with elbow patches & he would be using a pipe as a pointer.
I am grateful for Drachinifel’s channel and, of course the amazing Bismarck!
One cool thing about the wing support wires is that they are solid with a knife edge profile for 'aerodynamics'. 😁 I love that. The Swordfish is an absolute legend for us Brits, it personifies the, admittedly clichéd, wartime spirit. It also embarrassed it's replacements the Albacore and Barracuda. Good old girl.
And notice the stick attached to those support wires. They are to prevent buzzing.
The Swordfish was well suited to operate from the small escort carriers, and being well out in the Atlantic, well away from any modern land based fighters.
This is also why the Wildcat was still used on the escort carriers right to the end of the war. The Hellcat was just too large and fast to safely fly off the small escort carriers.
Woah a Stringbag in flying condition. Very cool video Biz! Thanks!
Guys flying these must be crazy brave. As somebody whose granddad was Polish paratrooper during WWII, and knew couple guys from that service and era, they were crazy brave, and they were "only" jumping from the airplane on a ground. These pilots flew in every possible weather, over freezing-cold sea, in slow, almost unarmed and unarmoured airplane, to deliver torpedo nice and low when every weapon is shooting at them. As my granddad said "We just never thought about that. We went over because it was necessary. Somebody must to do that". I have no doubt some of them were afraid but they went despite of that. I have nothing but respect for these guys.
Even the low, slow, Stringbags apparently needed some additional help at Taranto to stop their torpedoes from striking the harbour's bottom and destroying themselves after release. The torps were fitted with custom designed wooden "Sabots" to provide additional lift immediately after entering the water. So, really a "triplane" weapons system ?
A modification the Japanese took note of.
It is a very interesting aircraft, I've read through some stories of them at RAF Bircham Newton In coastal command use, The Fleet Air Arm loaned some squadrons to Bircham Newton, for the active use in mine-laying operations of the coast of Denmark, Around Heligoland, in the Wadden sea area, Later around the Frisian islands, a lot of these took place during the fighting in Norway In 1940. according to reports and diary's that I've read in the museum, The minelaying operations were abysmal, I'm not sure what sort but it was a Magnetic mine they attached to the aircraft in the reports but all I know it was large and very un-aerodynamic, decreasing the aircrafts speed and stability, where the Navigator was suppose to sit they placed a Large Petrol tank which stuck up between the pilot and the aft cockpit The Navigator had to sit with his legs Underneath the massive petrol tank basically pinning him in, so if the plane was attacked and it was hit, he would be drowned in petrol and if it caught fire immediately cooked.
A quote from a pilot who flew on such a mine laying mission said the aircraft was "Outrageously overloaded" and that "Carrying a mine which would leave nothing to pick up if it exploded and carrying a truck load of fuel to give it the thousand-mile range, it’s speed such that the worst anti-aircraft gunner or search light operator could hardly miss it. Its only protection against fighters was, the fact that it was too slow for them to stay with it and shoot at it" I think there's a dairy entry somewhere in the museum stating that one aircraft was so dangerously overloaded they had to remove all defensive weaponry and all ammunition from the aircraft to fit the mine and carry the extra fuel.
Also being in an open cockpit cramped and extremely noisy they would hardly be able to communicate with each other for 10 hour stretches at a time, very long, very cold, very dangerous mine-laying operations those guys who went on them, Maximum respect it certainly took a lot of courage, and the swordfish carried them through it all!
Sounds so miserable and dangerous. Hope they had some success.
I remember a story that the fuel tank would spray fuel through the breather tube at the top of the tank during take off. The RAF grounded the aircraft until they could work out a fix - the navy solution was to insert a cork into the end of the breather tube which had a string attached so that the navigator could pull it out when the aircraft had leveled out.
@@timwalker5843 I've never heard that one but that is mad haha
You are great. When you and Drach work together it’s the best Anglo-German double-act since Albert and Victoria! 👍👍👍👍👍
Great video as always. The adaptability of this aircraft has always fascinated me. Outlasting its replacement and being one of only a handful of aircraft flying in frontline service from the first day of the war in Europe to the last. In early 1945, no fewer than nine squadrons operated Swordfish in frontline ASW service.
This aircraft participated in the raid on Taranto which senior Japanese officials took inspiration for the torpedo depth since Pearl Harbor was very shallow in depth this was for the upcoming attack on the Pearl Harbor United States naval base in 1941. The Swordfish did had an influence Icon A5 a modern seaplane specially with the wings fold back with main difference being that wings on swordfish fold horizontally and parasol wings of the A5 fold vertically to save space on a specially designed trailer or a garage.
18:24 Isn't it Drach's clone loading a torpedo there?
Lol
I admit nothing :D
@@Drachinifel Come on, I like planes (and model airplanes), ships, esp. wooden ships, and in principle everything that moves - so why shouldn't you?
And that is a carrier-based plane, a plane on board a plane that has a boat on board, how can it get better?
Hmmm - there were huge lifeboats carried by bombers like the Avro Lancaster, maybe something worth covering?
I was positive it was Drach in the thumbnail, but I guess not!
I remembered my older built one of these as a kitset when I was a lot younger and it got me hooked on building Ww2 and military aircraft ❤
I think we've all been waiting for this episode.
The swordfish is like your oldest friend.
You wonder why you still keep him around, but then he comes in clutch at all the right moments
The most underrated aircraft in WW2. Thanks for doing this. Impressed this is still a flyer
Actually I think I'd pick the Beaufighter. During the Channel Dash the Swordfish really showed its age and vulnerability. The Swordfish did perform extremely valuable service in the Convoy Escort role flying off of the small carriers. Plus the two brilliant moments being the attack on the Italian Anchorage at Taranto. And crippling Bismarcks steering gear.
I dont think its underrated since many knows about it
@@mpetersen6
The Swordfish was the wrong plane to attack the German ships in the Channel Dash.
@@johnburns4017 the Swordfish had one thing I love, it was so slow German AA could not track it properly...
@@DarrylAdams Thats due to untrained guncrews, not the planes speed. During Operation Cerberus for example, the more experienced AA gunners of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had no problems shooting down allied aircraft, including Swordfishs.
Check out Navy Wings here: bit.ly/NWBrand_Join
For the morse code, click 'read more'
Morse code was *supposed* to be: '4 A' - the id of the plane. Sadly I messed up the letter, making a '_.' out of '._' so now it's '4 N'
Yaaaay.....
As the result of this mistake, your biscuit ration will be misdirected to another aircraft, leaving you with no biscuits on board the swordfish.
@@toveychurchill6468 and obviously, the Irn Bru rations will be distributed over the both Alexander's.
In 1964 I was chatting with my boss and he revealed that, as a Swordfish navigator on a training flight, he had lost one year's seniority when he dropped his Very pistol through one of the removeable apertures in the cockpit bottom. I think he said there was a removeable bombsight. The pistol went through a Welsh farmer's roof, he complained to the Navy and my boss was traced through the serial number of the pistol. Lots of hazards in the "Stringbag"!!
My grandfather was a CPO on the Ark Royal in WW2 and I remember him talking about how he got to fly a couple of times in a swordfish as an observer. He said they were a brilliant aircraft, slow and robust which made them a good torpedo plane.
An excellent and very informative video. Lovely to see RNAS Yeovilton again. An iconic aircraft that was an anachronism even before it went into service.
Loved by its crews, a steady, reliable workhorse.
Known as the 'string bag' not because of all the wires holding it together, but after the popular shopping bag made like a net, which could adapt itself to carry just about anything.
There are a lot of myths about this aircraft, some of them true. But it served well in most theatres of the war and outlived its successor.
Thank you for doing this video, I have been waiting for it and it did not disappoint.
So nice to see a thoroughly researched dive into the peculiarities of this aircraft. Your efforts to be accurate and clear are much appreciated!
Currently reading John Moffat's book, so came to view this, thank you for the great insight into this historic machine. Subscribed.
I've been waiting for this one, yesss.
Excellent video . My father flew as a TAG in WW2 . He never really said much about it and to be honest I never really asked , but he was obviously very fond of the 'Stringbag' . He always said he flew backwards into war
Not just looking at one, but a flying one ... amazing. Thank you for bringing this look at this renowned aircraft.
Edited edit: guess it was a previously hidden video, which explains why it showed up just now.
On the Navy Wings yt channel there's a documentary about the restoration of that bird
Shuttleworth Collection (Old Warden Airfield, Shuttleworth near Bedford, Bedfordshire) have a flying 'String Bag' (I thank my late Dad (exRAF) for knowing that moniker) too.
In September it was getting some very thorough maintainence, but It should be back when the displays kick off in Spring '22.
A few years back, my wife was chatting to one of its fitters (he was married to her mate, another Nurse who worked with her).
She was intrigued and pestering him all about it (she's flown Gliders a few times & has better than half a clue).
It kind of killed the conversation when finally she asked 'You're so lucky. Do you get to fly in it too checking things are OK etc'..
'They don't have enough staff to get me strapped into that old thing if its going to leave the ground', was the somewhat laconic reply.
A pause followed by, 'I'm lighter than you 'though. Could you...'.
'NO'.
In the early 1970s I lived at Witham Friary, east of Yeovilton. This kite often flew over the village. A great favourite.
Biz goes to see a Swordfish.
Atlantic moment.
Excellent perspective on the “Stringbag”
I had the Airfix model of this when I was a kid. Then, to my great delight, I later I saw the real thing. Quite a day to remember.
During the Battle of Narvik, which included HMS Warspite, a Swordfish was used as a dive bomber.
Yes, Warspites spotter aircraft, sank U-64.
I have that kit in my stash. Also picked up the later model on floats. Really need to break them out and do a build.
@@RMJTOOLS An aircraft that definatelly has its place in history
This makes History 'come alive'. Have you ever thought about approaching model kit makers to sponsor you. Can you imagine somebody building a kit of this, then having you giving a 'walk around' followed by a short piece about some of it's more significant actions?
This is what I love about this channel, it's not only the "hot-rod" fighters that get attention, but everything cool, interesting and facinating with wings! :D
I find the Swordfish a very interesting airplane. Although at first glance it appeared an outmoded aircraft it was very cleverly used . Thanks to the command of the Fleet air arm that valued with sense its potential and of course the bravery of the pilots proved to be a very useful plane. In the history of aviation there are some examples that show how a clever view could give an amazing result for an airplane which isn't specially 'advanced technically'
Well, of course it is known from the major successes it had, like the role in sinking the Bismarck. But this plane was often shot down and many crews died over the oceans. To me it was more used from desperation as from anything else. They didnt had other aircraft available for that sort of task, so they used that assett as best as they could.
It makes the crews even more respectable, because they knew they were a sitting duck.
Superb video! Thanks for the detail shots as that will always come in handy during a model build.
Underrated TH-camr.
26.58..this is actually a differential hydraulic brake gauge. The upper needle indicates the hydraulic pressure available; the two lower indicate the hydraulic pressure to the port and stbd. wheels. As the pilot moves the foot pedals,( for the rudder), the pressure comes off and on as the case may be, making turning on the ground easy.
"By gut feeling you launch a fish and hopefully scoring a hit on a rudder or something else." Well said Christoph ;-)!
The Swordfish against the Bismark had onboard radar. The planes spotted the Bismarck on radar, came down near vertically in cloud then levelled over the sea not far from the ship. The Bismarck's crew never saw them coming, before they knew it they were dropping torpedoes at them and spraying the decks with machine-gun bullets. All the Swordfish planes got away unscathed.
The Japanese fleet that raided Pearl Harbor turned west to raid Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. Admiral Cunningham assembled a fleet to chase and find the Japanese raiders as they were making their way back east. The British fleet had biplane Albacores. Not a brilliant plane at all, which the Zeros would have shot out of the sky. Like the Swordfish, the Albacore had onboard radar. The Japanese fleet had no radar of any sort in ships or planes. If the British fleet located the Japanese fleet, a surprise night attack by the Albacores would have crippled, or sunk, the Japanese carriers. Lucky escape by the Japanese.
It was strange that the first onboard radar was used in operations by what even then were considered antiquated planes.
Yeah, both the Japanese and British flirted with disaster during the Indian Ocean raid. Either could smashed the other's fleet to pieces if circumstances had been tweaked. They came within a heartbeat of fighting the world's first carrier battle long before Coral Sea, and the Kido Butai was in serious danger of a major defeat. On the flip side, if they'd sunk some battleships and/or the fleet carriers, the Japanese would have had an even stronger position in the Pacific.
@@Cailus3542
It was night and day. If they engaged during the day, advantage to the Kido Butai. If by night, advantage to the Royal Navy. If Cunningham made contact, all he had to do was keep out of range during the day, then pounce at night with radar guide torpedo planes. Once hit the Japanese fleet would not be capable of a reply.
Also, the Japanese fleet was critical on fuel, so could not turn west to chase the Royal Navy.
Thank you, Chris - another excellent video that gives a true flavour of what the crews (air & ground) went through.
Thanks for this, this is one of my favorite aircraft of the war, and I'm astonished at how versatile the Swordfish was-- I have read many comments about how obsolete the platform was going in to WW2.. yet it seems like the designers were very creative and put some thought into every configuration the Swordfish could fly with.
Brilliant video. Love the Swordfish. Great looking plane with a great history behind it. I remember seeing my first one fly over head back in the late 1960's/70's when Goodwood airfield used to have a yearly air show. I was so taken by the sight of this vintage aeroplane with it's torpedo under it's belly. Absolutely Awesome!
Glad to see this aircraft show-cased. Great presentation. Thank you!
Your channel is by far my favourite documentary videos of historic and military aircraft from many different countries. You always seem to have a lot of research into your subjects - you don’t appear to have recourse to notes while filming. I have visited the Navy air Arm Museum near Yeovil, there is a lot of very interesting display material, and some rather good active experiences such as the aircraft carrier. You would need a full day to explore the entire museum and yes, it is a working airfield.
Small point.....It's navigator in the RAF, Observer in the FAA.
Finally someone having fun with decent banking angles!
(measured 45 degrees)
Thank you!! This is the first time I have seen one of these up close and personal. They look so fragile in the old films going up against a carrier.
Its such a paradox, the Fairy Swordfish.
Its old, yet has some ingenuity
its slow, but very deadly
it's light, but carries a healthy mass
Great video, thanks a lot!
One of my favorite bits of Swordfish trivia is that they spend time and effort to build fully enclosed cockpits for all of the planes to use in adverse conditions, as far as it is known, none of them were ever used ...
The 'Mark 4' was used for training in Canada and was fitted with glazing for the rear-cockpit.
if you dont understand why a pilot would want forward armerment you haven't ever been in a fight. Its a feel good device, being able to punch back regardless of if it was hyper useful or not.
Yeah, kinda happy I've never been in a WW2 dogfight 😉
It doesn't look like much but this canvas and wood biplane sank more tonnage of Axis shipping than any other plane in the Allied arsenal, including the crippling of the Bismarck.
Superb video. My great uncle flew one of these. It was fascinating to take a look at his "office" and learn more about the aircraft.
You da best ever Chris!!! The greatest historian of airplanes in the history of the earth!!!! The 🐐!!!!
JUST AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!from México city I just bought a scale swordfish model kit and this is the third time I watch your incredible video congratulations
Criticism is important.
The Good old plane was state of the art in 1938. And the finest and most reliable torpedo bomber of the war, also the best for night operations.
Which is what the British expected the plane to need to do. Night operations against fortifications around harbours, long range recon and strikes, and the ability to repair and return aircraft back into service quickly.
Ships with only 9 swordfish operational had an odd habit of finding three more ready for service in times of need.
The RN had quite a habit of finding airframes on a global scale, maybe only one or two, but present and flyable.
There were other airframes and engines offered for the Swordfish design proposal. However with weaker frames and less reliable engines, they were rejected for the needed task.
Well, "state of the art" might be pushing it, a bit. In 1938, the Hurricane was already flying, the Spitfire, the '109. The B-17...etc...The Stringbag was obsolete the day she came out. Still wound up being a very useful machine.
@@PoochAndBoo none of those were suited to carrying carrier torpedo weapons, night time operations, low speed maneuvering for landing and torpedo deployment in night raids on hostile harbours under the sights of hostile gunners.
In it's intended role, a monoplane was actually deemed ineffective, and undesirable.
Now a modern one with better flap technology and variable pitch prop might go faster and be more stable flying slow.
But outside of the metal skin construction technology that we later perfected? This was easy to maintain and easy to repair battle damage.
One advantage a hurricane had over the spitfire.
The TAG was also known as WopAG (Wireless Operator Air Gunner), which is what my father's role was on the Swordfish. Although he was enlisted too late to see action.
What a beautiful plane. Can't wait to build my Tamiya kit
Fascinating - I had no idea there were so many features on the old Stringbag!
The swordfish was equipped with floats for use on large warships. It was widely used as a catapulted artillery spotter for a warship's main armament. (HMS Hood, HMS Warspite and HMS Malaya to name but a few) The aircraft was not designed to take off from the water, only to land on it for recovery.
If you read "to war in a stringbag" you will see that mining enemy channels at night was the role they performed extraordinarily well.
Nice. Been looking forward to this one. Thanks Chris!
chris,s head is so full of information..well done mate loved this one and the sea fury was great to.keep up the good work...
In the 1990s I was in Luton and Dunstable hospital and a man in the opposite bed was an old guy whose name was Aubrey something. Anyway he was telling me he was involved with rocket developement during the war and after at Woomera. He said he told them the Swordfish would catch fire if they fired rockets without protecting the wing, but they wouldn't listen. I presumed they tried it. So I have no doubt that is why the metal was fitted to the wing. His conversations were so interesting, and I wished he had put his story into a book.
Loving the amount of detail and quality information you pack into these videos, mate. Please keep it up!
Brilliant piece of kit the old Stringbag.......love the work.....keep it up chap.
What a beautiful airframe, thank you for sharing.
ALL torpedo bombers in the USN were also armed with at least 1 MG. You got to give the crew....hope.
BTW, a torpedo bomber "releases" the torpedo, it does NOT "launch".
I am always surprised by how large an aircraft the Swordfish is
I love them. Thank you for this up close and personal look!
Check out the Firefly. It is massive.
This plane was the first model aeroplane that I really liked building and enjoyed looking at during my contemplative leisure time.
I was going to like the video at the end of it as I usually do but at "Indiana Jones yourself" I just couldn't help it and hit the button! Great video!
Best strategic/torpedo/dive bomber, and fighter of the war.
Dude. You kick ass. Your channel is great. Keep it up!
Thanks!
I think this is the first time I've actually seen what a 'catapult spool' looks like and where it is installed.
Good informative walkaround, well done. Swordfish crew in Mks I and II was the Driver (pilot), the Looker (Observer), and the poor bloody TAG. (8:- )}
Amazing that an aircraft that has always looked to me that it was constructed from spare parts of a variety of others played such an important role. Antiquated in appearance perhaps a leftover from WW1 it went on to cripple the most fearsome of enemy ships. The bravery of those that flew her is beyond praise...
From the aircraft walk-around, it looks as the exhaust manifold is the leading edge circular ring of the engine? Looks that way as the exhaust outlet is welded to that leading edge. Lots of reasons for that gunner position. If they were attacking a sub, the aircraft would circle the sub, offering the gunner a target (think AC-130), or to shoot tracers as spotter rounds for his wingman as the wingman makes an attack. That auto-inflate life raft, that would make me feel a whole lot better. Nice job Chris!
Fascinating video of a remarkable old plane that proved to be practical for vital roles. I'll bet the convoy planes loved an enclosed cockpit. Renowned Beatles producer George Martin was a war veteran, flew in Swordfish planes doing coastal patrol.
I wonder a bit at the rear firing machine gun. I'd like to know more about the types of rounds (bullets) gunners preferred. Flattening nose? Fragment on impact? Would the gunner aim for the windscreen of the oncoming attacker?
The Swordfish was more like a helicopter. It takes off near vertical from carriers.
It was highly maneuverable.
It had the highest ship kills of any plane in WW2.
It outlived its successor, being made until 1944.
How many ship kills claimed by swordfish?
@@anselmdanker9519
Not sure. Eric Brown mentions its record in one of his books.
@@johnburns4017 I believe the Swordfish was credited with a larger tonnage of ships sunk than any other type rather than number of ships.
I met a fellow who flew a Swordfish in the Channel Dash squadron. Fortunately for him, he left that unit shortly before the Channel Dash.
He said that of the 33 men in his flying class before the war, only 3 lived to see the end of the war (and curiously enough, all 3 had the same last name).
Great job! Real Swordfish history long overdue.
Man, how complicated it is to just start the engine. Thanks for this great video.
I sprayed that aircraft back in 95 for the battle of Taranto colours celebration when I was in the Navy base at Yeovilton. When you feel how paper thin it is with basically a bath tub to sit in , you can have nothing but admiration for the flyers in WW2. We spoke to some of the old crew who came to the airstation as part of the anniversary, some of the stories they told were unbelievable
Such a shame that the wartime generation are slowly fading into memory. But their history will live on.
What can you say. Just outstanding ! I didn't know about Navy Wings either, so that was a great intro as well
I've always wondered how much extra lift a biplane provides over a monoplane for the same wing span and chord. I doubt it's double, there's probably some interference between the two wings, and of course there's all the extra drag from the extra wing and all the bracing struts and wires. But maybe this extra lift within the same span was more important for a carrier plane with limited storage space, especially for a heavy torpedo which needed more lift, and since torpedoes couldn't be released at high speed, they didn't think the drag mattered as much as for a fighter or dive bomber.
There may be some mathematical simulations showing that the middle wing of the Fokker Triplane didn't deliver any net lift, due to interference with the wing below and/or above. ....But I haven't taken time to look for that reference.
@@MultiZirkon
I suppose main advantage was tight turning at low speeds. But yes, at higher speeds not so much.
Grizwold - It was all about STOL with Swordfish. And as long as heading into wind could take off quick and not wait for carrier to turn into full wind and speed up.
@@MultiZirkon Seems you can calculate about 80% of the lift of a monoplane wing of the same dimensions, but the upper wing has less lift loss than the lower wing.
There is a myriad of influences, of course, the farther the wings are apart (relevant is the factor in relation to the wing depth), the staggering of the wings, and so on.
One nice thing I learned about the rigging wires:
The wires that run from the lower fuselage up to the tops of the struts are the "lifting wires", while
the wires that ran from the top of the cabane struts went down to the bottom of the outer struts are the "landing wires", for obvious reasons.
Regarding the Fokker:
In principle it is a 3 1/2-decker, the fairing of the landing gear axle has a cambered airfoil and considerable size.
Unless you are using your stringbag as a.dive bomber, or fighter, or level bomber, or torpedo bomber, or mine layer, or depth charger against submarines, or radar equipped anti shipping rocket launcher.
And do all these things with a better success rate than any specially purpose designed axis aircraft.
Good video. I have been curious about the Swordfish ever since I learned about its role in sinking the Bismark.
Hi Chris. I see HMS Heron is as busy as ever.
I worked in the Fleet Air Museum there in the late 90’s.
The Stringbag - always an annoyance to our foes when used correctly. The UK equivalent of the Stuka? Brilliant show mate! We’ll done! 👍👍✌️
The FAA actually had a close equivalent to the Stuka in the Blackburn Skua. It was retired from service pretty early in the war, and there wasn't really another dedicated dive bomber afterwards, the Fairey Barracuda was intended to replace both the Albacore (Swordfish's replacement) and the Skua.
Wooooo - this is very cool! Thanks so much Chris :)
Greetings from Brazil!
I’m a fan of your show. Congratulations for the high quality video and info.
Nice to see, My Grandmother worked in a factory making Stringbags.
i am so excited to see you cover this one too....what a famous airplane
i was not disappointed well done! thanks Navy Wings
what a lovely stringbag, thanks.
Know that it may not be your bailiwick, but would like to ask a question-had anyone investigated why GB and the Commonwealth forces in WWII didn’t adopt the Browning .50 fir their aircraft? What was the reason for continuing to use the .303 or trying to jam that Hispano cannon into the early Marks of their fighters?
Keep up the good work! 🙏
This is an amazing episode that I could couldnt hit 'PLAY' fast enough on. Thank You.
Last time Bismarck and a Swordfish had a meeting it doesn't end up well.
Only viewers from the early days will get your comment.
The low takeoff and landing speed of the Sworfish was especially helpful on the smaller escort carriers. Swordfish, unlike most carrier aircraft of the time, didn't needcarriers to steam into the wind during aircraft takeoff.