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Excellent read . . . unimaginable how devastating the sinking of the HMS Hood. Less than three minutes?
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Air Power |
By far the most succesful and famous biplane fighting aircraft of WWII. Its naval nickname was "Stringbag".
When British naval intelligence determined that a large number of Italian warships lay at anchor in Taranto harbor in November 1940, an attack was organized, to be carried out by 21 single-engine carrier-based Swordfish biplanes flying from HMS Illustrious made the first carrier strike. The operation was a huge success -- three battleships were severely damaged, a cruiser and two destroyers were hit, and two other vessels were sunk. In the space of one hour the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean had been altered forever.
The Japanese envoy in Italy took a great interest in this attack, studying its execution carefully. The Taranto raid, by proving the vulnerability of closely moored ships to aerial attack from aircraft carriers, showed the way to the future of air power. He was shortly recalled to Tokyo and was instrumental in planning the attack on Pearl Harbor against the Americans. This, of course, had an immense effect on world events and the course of the war.
Then in May 1941 a Swordfish strike was vital in damaging the German battleship Bismarck; After a long cat-and-mouse sea chase by the Royal Navy, it was two torpedo hits from Swordfish of 818 Squadron, operating off the carrier HMS ARK ROYAL, that finally succeeeded in damaging the steering and crippling the German ship. This allowed other fleet ships to catch and destroy her with gunfire and surface torpedoes.
Because they were helpless against fighters, these airplanes were usually only operated far out sea, where land based opposition could not reach. Swordfish based at Malta were 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 equaled. Maintenance was a breeze on such a simple design.
The unlikely cause of this destruction was one of the warplane legends of World War Two, the Fairey Swordfish Mk.1, first flown on 17 April 1934. It was a three-man torpedo-bomber and reconnaissance biplane with a basic structure of fabric-covered metal. The wings folded for storage on the crowded deck of an aircraft carrier. Armament included one forward-firing Vickers machine gun and one swiveling Vickers in the rear cockpit. Primary offensive power took the form of depth charges, mines, bombs or, especially, a torpedo.
Unfortunately, this outstanding plane was too slow to withstand the punishment of German anti-aircraft fire. Long, accurate approaches to the target made the Swordfish very vulnerable when delivering its torpedo. Thus came re-deployment in an anti-submarine warfare role, using depth charges and, later, rockets.
As with many wartime aircraft, Swordfish were produced by more than one manufacturer. Well over half (almost 1700) were built by the Blackburn company in Sherburn in Elmet, UK.
The Mk II model was introduced in 1943, and featured strengthened and metal-skinned lower wings to allow the firing of rockets from underneath. Later that year, the Mk III appeared, which featured a large ASV anti-submarine radar unit mounted between the landing gear legs which allowed detection of submarines up to 40 km away. For operation over the cold waters of Canada, the Swordfish Mk IV was fitted with an enclosed cabin.
When production ended in 1944, the Swordfish had had been introduced into a full range of duties for the fleet: Torpedo-bomber, minelayer, convoy escort, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft and training craft. Today, four Swordfish are airworthy -- two in Britain and two in Canada.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Fairey Aircraft Co. Ltd. and Blackburn Aircraft Co. Ltd
Primary Role: Torpedo Bomber
Crew: Three
Engine: One 750-hp Bristol Pegasus XXX 9-cylinder radial piston engine
Dimensions:
Weight: Empty 4,700 lbs., Max Takeoff 7,510 lbs.
Wing Span: 45ft. 6in.
Length: 35ft. 8in.
Height: 12ft. 4in.
Performance :
Cruising Speed: 104-129 mph
Maximum Speed: 138 mph
Ceiling: 10,700 ft.
Range: 1,030 miles
Armaments:
Two 7.7-mm (0.303-inch) Vickers machine guns (one forward-firing) and
another one in a Fairey High-Speed Mounting in rear cockpit);
one 1,600-pound torpedo, or 1,500 pounds of depth charges, bombs or mines; or up to eight rockets on underwing racks.
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Read to the very last line. LETTER FROM A FARM KID, NOW AT SAN DIEGO MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT
Dear Ma and Pa:
I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before maybe all of the places are filled.
I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m., but am getting so I like to sleep late.
Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.
Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water.
Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food. But tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you til noon, when you get fed again.
It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on "route" marches, which the Platoon Sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it is not my place to tell him different. A "route march" is about as far as to our mailbox at home.
Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks. The country is nice, but awful flat.
The Sergeant is like a schoolteacher. He nags some. The Capt. is like the school board. Majors and Colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.
This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move. And it ain't shooting at you, like the Higgett boys at home.
All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.
Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy.
It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake.
He joined up the same time as me. But I'm only 5'6" and 130 pounds and he's 6'8" and weighs near 300 pounds dry.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.
Your loving daughter,
Betty Sue
I thought the ladies would enjoy this!!!!
