A Fairey Swordfish is being restored to its former glory thanks to a 1 million Pound project conducted by BAE Systems at its Brough site East Yorkshire. When the restoration is complete in 2012, the Swordfish will be based at the Royal Navy Historic Flight at Yeovilton.
The Swordfish Mk1, a torpedo bomber first flown in 1934, was one of the last British bi-planes to have seen active service. The project commenced in 2009 as part of BAE Systems’ heritage programme marking the Royal Navy’s centenary year of naval aviation.
Work on the Swordfish includes repair of the tail plane, wings and surrounding support work to restore the aircraft to flying condition for the Royal Navy Historic Flight (RNHF). The RNHF, who own 3 Swordfish, was established at Yeovilton in 1972 to preserve the UK’s Naval aviation heritage, and to be a living memorial to all those who gave their lives in the Fleet Air Arm in the service of their country.
Andy Ayre, 1 of the 4-strong team of specialist engineers dedicated to the task said: “We’ve just completed one of our most complicated jobs – creating spars for the bottom wings and have already finished the Tailplane, Fin, Cabane Struts and Slats.”
The wings currently being worked on came from a different aircraft to the one being renovated. These wings belonged to a Mk 3 aircraft, which had aluminium skins on the lower surface, unlike the Mk 1. Consequently, creating the spares required a great deal of ingenuity and hard graft.
The Swordfish, or ‘stringbag’ as she was known, entered service in 1936. By all normal standards it was already obsolete at the outbreak of World War II, however it proved more than its worth by remaining in operational service throughout the whole war, and thereby gaining the distinction of being the last British bi-plane to see active service.
The Swordfish has a distinguished history of battle honours, including the attack on the Italian battle fleet at Taranto in November 1940, the operation to destroy the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941 (re-enacted with a Swordfish for the film ‘Sink the Bismarck’), and the ill-fated operation against German battle cruisers such as the Scharnhorst, as they made their famous ‘Channel Dash’ in February 1942. The action cost the lives of 15 men of the Fleet Air Arm but their outstanding bravery in pressing home the attack earned CO Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde the Victoria Cross.
But the Swordfish carved its name in history for one main reason; protecting the Atlantic convoys. It was the introduction of air power at sea which turned the tide in the Allies’ favour in convoy operations and the contribution made by Swordfish aircraft to this endeavour is legendary, accomplished under the most appalling weather conditions, often at night and with the arctic hazards of snow and ice on the decks.
The secret of the Swordfish lay in its handling qualities which made it uniquely suitable for deck flying operations enabling it to sink more than 300 000 tons of German and Italian shipping and destroy over 20 U-Boats. Operating from adapted merchant vessels, the Merchant Aircraft Carriers (MAC Ships), Swordfish aircraft offered vital air cover to convoys, causing the U boats to remain submerged and ineffective so that by 1944 no allied shipping was sunk in the North Atlantic at all.