Torpedo bomber
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A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings. Generally, they carried torpedoes designed for air launch, that were smaller and lighter than those used by submarines.
The torpedo bomber first appeared during the later years of World War I. As an airborne torpedo could weigh as much as 2000 pounds (or 907 kilograms, more than twice the bombload of a contemporary single-engined bomber), the aircraft carrying it needed to have a more powerful engine. Carrying torpedoes also required a long bomb-bay (or in any case a longer fuselage), which was why a special type of plane was needed for this role. However, a number of multi-engined, heavier aircraft have also been used in torpedo bomber role.
Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during WWII. During the war they were an important player in many famous battles, notably the British attack at Taranto and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They did particularly well in these attacks as the targets were stationary. In other battles, when the targets were ships able to maneuver at high speed and hence much harder to hit, torpedoes proved less effective, except in cases when the crews launching them were especially well trained (for an example, see Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse). Still, even a single torpedo hit on an enemy warship could cripple it decisively (as during the hunt for the Bismarck), so the torpedo bomber remained a very dangerous weapon. One crucial limitation of a torpedo bomber was that it had to fly a long, straight course at a constant altitutude towards the target ship before launching its torpedo, and hence was highly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. The torpedoes were also very sophisticated weapons and were prone to damage when landing on water, especially on a wave; they were normally aimed at the bottom of a wave, but needless to say, this was rather difficult. De Havilland Mosquito turned into a great anti-shipping plane without a torpedo; it could carry eight rockets and one model had a 57mm howitzer mounted under the chin, giving a single plane the broad-side of a cruiser. Torpedo bombers disappeared almost immediately at the end of the war, replaced by more generalized aircraft, and then missiles.
In a parallel development, some maritime strike aircraft and helicopters have been capable of launching guided torpedoes against submarines. However, the mode of operation of these aircraft is considerably different.
[edit] Some important torpedo bombers
- Douglas TBD Devastator
- Fairey Swordfish
- Fairey Barracuda
- Grumman TBF Avenger
- Nakajima B5N Kate
- Nakajima B6N Jill
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero
