Fairey Albacore
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| Albacore | |
|---|---|
 Fairey Albacore N4389, 827 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Victorious. Shot down during raid on Kirkenes, July 1941. Salvaged, rebuilt and now on display in the FAA Museum |
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| Type | Torpedo Bomber |
| Manufacturer | Fairey Aviation |
| Designed by | Marcelle Lobelle |
| Maiden flight | 1938 |
| Introduced | 1940 |
| Retired | 1944 |
| Primary users | Royal Navy Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force |
| Number built | 800 |
The Fairey Albacore was a British single-engine carrier-borne biplane torpedo bomber built by Fairey Aviation between 1939 and 1943 for the Fleet Air Arm and used during the Second World War. It had a three-man crew and was designed for spotting and reconnaissance as well as delivering bombs and torpedoes. The Albacore, popularly known as the "Applecore", was conceived as a replacement for the aging Fairey Swordfish, which had entered service in 1936. However, the Albacore served with the Swordfish and was retired before it, being replaced by the Fairey Barracuda and Grumman Avenger monoplane torpedo bombers.
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[edit] Design and development
The Albacore prototypes were built to meet Specification S.41/36 for a three-seat TSR (torpedo/spotter/reconnaissance) for the FAA to replace the Swordfish. While the Albacore had a more powerful engine than the Swordfish, and was more aerodynamically refined, being fitted with an enclosed canopy for the three man crew, it was still a biplane, and so offered little performance advantage over the Swordfish, being outperformed by its foreign contemporaries such as the TBD Devastator or the Nakajima B5N - although the biplane layout did confer certain advantages with regard to takeoff and landing speed and distance. The first of two prototypes flew on 12 December 1938 [1] and production of the first batch of 98 aircraft began in 1939. Early Albacores were fitted with the Bristol Taurus II engine and those built later received the more powerful Taurus XII.
A total of 800 Albacores were built [1].
[edit] Operational history
826 Naval Air Squadron was specially formed to operate the first Albacores in March, 1940 [2], being used for attacks against harbours and shipping in the English Channel, operating from shore bases, and for convoy escort for the rest of 1940. Carrier-based squadrons began operating the Albacore in 1941. Initially, the Albacore suffered from reliability problems with the Taurus engine, although these were later solved, so that the failure rate was no worse than the Pegasus that equipped the Swordfish [1]. It remained less popular than the Swordfish, however, as it was less agile, with the controls being too heavy for a pilot to take effective evasive action after dropping a torpedo [1].
Eventually there were 15 FAA squadrons equipped with the plane [2] which operated widely in the Mediterranean. Albacores participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and the fighting at El Alamein as well as supporting the landings at Sicily and Salerno. During the period September 1941 to end of June 1943 828 Sqn. FAA, RAF Hal Far, Malta, operated a squadron of Albacores under some of the most severe blitz conditions imaginable during the siege of Malta, mainly against Italian shipping and shore targets in Sicily.
In 1943 the Albacore was progressively replaced in Fleet Air Arm service by the Barracuda. The last FAA Albacore squadron, 841 Sqn. FAA, (which had been used for shore based attacks against shipping in the Channel for the whole of its career with the Albacore) [2], disbanded in late 1943.
The Royal Air Force deployed some Albacores. No. 36 Sqn. acquired them in December 1941 when in Java. The squadron was captured by the Japanese in March 1943. In 1943, No. 415 Sqn. was equipped with Albacores (presumably ex-FAA) before the Flight operating them was transferred and reformed as No. 119 Sqn. at RAF Manston in July 1944. The squadron deployed later to Belgian airfields. Albacores were disposed of in early 1945 in favour of Swordfish that the squadron kept until the end of the war in May. [3]
The Royal Canadian Air Force took over the Albacores and used them during the Normandy invasion, for a similar role until July 1944.
[edit] Operators
- Royal Canadian Air Force
- No. 415 Squadron RCAF
[edit] Surviving Aircraft
Only one Albacore is known to exist, it is displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. It was built using parts of Albacores N4389 and N4172, that were both recovered from crash sites.
[edit] Specifications (Albacore)
Data from The British Bomber since 1914[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: Three
- Length: 39 ft 10 in (12.14 m)
- Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
- Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
- Wing area: 623 ft² (57.9 m²)
- Empty weight: 7,250 lb (3,295 kg)
- Loaded weight: 10,460 lb (4,755 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 12,600 lb [2] (5,727 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol Taurus II 14-cylinder radial engine, 1,065 hp (794 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 140 knots (161 mph, 259 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 122 knots (140 mph, 225 km/h) (maximum cruise)
- Stall speed: 47 knots[4] (54 mph, 87 km/h) (flaps down)
- Range: 617 nm (710 mi, 1,143 km) (with torpedo)
- Service ceiling 20,700 ft (6,310 m)
- Climb to 6000 ft 8 min
Armament
- Guns:
- One fixed forward-firing 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine gun in starboard wing
- One or two Vickers K machine guns in rear cockpit.
- Bombs: 1 x 1,670 lb (760 kg) torpedo or 2,000 lb (900 kg) bombs
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Brown, Eric, CBE, DCS, AFC, RN.; Green William and Swanborough, Gordon. "Fairey Albacore." Wings of the Navy, Flying Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War Two. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1980, p. 60–69. ISBN 0-7106-0002-X.
- Harrison, W.A. Fairey Albacore (Warpaint Series No.52). Warpaint Books Ltd., 2004.
- Harrison, W.A. Fairey Swordfish and Albacore. Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, 2002. ISBN 1-86126-512-3.
- Jefford, Wing Commander C.G.,MBE,BA,RAF(retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
- Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber Since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
- Taylor, H.A, Fairey Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1974. ISBN 0-370-00065-X.
- Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 (Fourth Edition). London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
[edit] External links
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