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Fairey Swordfish Mk.1, W5856, G-BMGC, of 'Navy Wings' (Fly Navy Heritage Trust Ltd formerly the Royal Navy Historic Flight) displaying at the Duxford Battle of Britain Airshow 2023, initially together with the Fighter Collection's Hawker Nimrod Mk.1,S1581, G-BWWK. The Swordfish evolved from the prototype Fairey (Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance), designed by Marcel Lobelle and H.E. Chaplin of the Fairey Aviation Company Ltd. It first flew in 1934 and entered service with Squadron in 1936. 2391 were built, the first 692 by Fairey Aviation and the remainder under licence by Blackburn Aircraft Company at Sherburn-in-Elmet and Brough, Yorkshire. In service the Blackburn-built aircraft became unofficially known as “Blackfish“. Although it was already obsolete at the outbreak of WWII, it remained in operational service throughout the whole of the war and was the last British bi-plane to see combat service. It outlasted its intended replacement, the Albacore, which disappeared from front-line service in 1943. The Swordfish had superb handling qualities which made it uniquely suitable for deck flying operations and the problems of torpedo or dive bombing attacks. Pilots could pull a Swordfish off the deck and put it in a climbing turn at 55 knots. The aircraft manoeuvred vertically as easily as it would straight and level. Even when diving from 10,000ft, the ASI would not rise much beyond 200 knots. The controls were not frozen rigid by the slipstream and it was possible to hold the dive within 200ft of the water. Even its lack of speed could be turned to advantage. A steep turn at low level towards an attacker just before he came within range and the difference in speed and tight turning circle made it impossible for a fighter to bring its guns to bear for more than a few seconds. The approach to a carrier deck could be made at low speed, yet control response remained good. In addition to sinking more than 300,000 tons of German/Italian Axis shipping, Swordfish were responsible for the destruction of over 20 U-Boats. Operating from adapted merchant vessels, the Merchant Aircraft Carriers (MAC Ships), Swordfish were with the convoys, providing a deterrent to submarines and a boost to the merchant sailor's morale. Amongst their many battle honours, those which stand out above the rest are the Battle of the Atlantic, the attack on the Italian Fleet at Taranto in November 1940, the operation to seek, pursue and destroy the German Battleship Bismarck in May 1941, and the ill-fated operation against the German Battlecruisers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen as they made their famous 'Channel Dash' in February 1942. Above all, the Swordfish carved its name in the history books by its exploits in protecting convoys. From August 1942 they sailed on the Russian convoys. On one such convoy, Swordfish embarked in the escort carriers HMS Vindex and HMS Striker flew 1,000 hours on anti-submarine patrol in the space of 10 days, and in September 1944 Vindex's Swordfish sank four U-Boats in one voyage. Such feats were accomplished despite frequent appalling weather conditions, often at night and with additional arctic hazards of snow and ice on the decks. Of the Atlantic convoys, Winston Churchill said that “..the Battle of the Atlantic was the only one I feared losing..“, and the sheer magnitude of this battle can be appreciated by recognising that the Allies lost more than 4,600 ships, and that the Germans lost 785 submarines. It was the introduction of air power at sea which turned the tide in the Allies' favour, and the contribution made to this battle by Swordfish aircraft was very substantial. This aircraft, a “Blackfish“ built by Blackburn Aircraft, first flew on Trafalgar Day (21 October) 1941. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet for a year and was returned to Fairey's Stockport factory for refurbishment. Used for advanced flying training and trials, she was sent to Canada to be used in training and stored in reserve after the war's end. Passing through the hands of at least two civilian operators after disposal, she was purchased by Sir William Roberts and went to Scotland to join his Strathallan Collection. Bought by BAE Systems for presentation to the Swordfish Heritage Trust the partly-restored airframe went to BAE Brough for complete restoration to flying condition, completed in 1993 when she was presented to the RNHF and went back onto the Military Register. Following work by BAE at Brough to her wings, W5856 flew in 2015 after being grounded in 2003. Between 1992 – 2013 she was painted in the pre-WWII colours of 810 Naval Air Squadron embarked in HMS Ark Royal. W5856 now has the colours of 820 Naval Air Squadron of HMS Ark Royal, representing an aircraft used in the Bismarck action in May 1941. In September 1996 W5856 was adopted by the City of Leeds. Video and Audio content is Copyright © High Flight
