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Fairey Albacore

1940 WORLD WAR 2

The Story of Fairey Albacore

As effective and popular as the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber in the Royal Navy's Fleet Aviation (FAA), its origins date back to the 1930s, when the design retained the biplane wing arrangement and open-air cockpit for three Crew use, and a fixed wheel chassis. Their prototype first flew in 1934 and entered service in 1936, with a healthy production of 2,391 aircraft thereafter.

To meet the Air Department's specifications on page 41/36, Fairey Aviation provided the FAA with a more modern form of the swordfish, the Fairey "Albacore". It was a solid aircraft, but never reached the level of popularity or production of the Swordfish, as only 800 (798) were built before the production line was discontinued - not much before the Swordfish.

Albacore is affectionately called "Applecore" by her crew.

The Bristol Taurus engine was chosen to provide more power than the Bristol Pegasus in Swordfish. One of the key physical changes to the design is the fully enclosed crew cockpit, which benefits the design in two respects - aerodynamic efficiency and crew operating conditions.

The biplane wing arrangement was retained, as was the fixed-wheel landing gear, although the main legs were fairly streamlined for added aerodynamic advantage. The plane will have a standard crew of three and will carry up to 2,000 pounds of ordnance in the form of conventionally dropped bombs, or more importantly - a torpedo weighing 1,670 pounds.

The Bristol Taurus II model is a 14-cylinder radial piston engine with an output of 1,065 hp. Combined with the revised airframe, the top speed is 160 mph and the cruise speed is closer to 140 mph. Range is 930 miles and service is capped at 20,700 feet.

The plane can reach 6,000 feet in about eight minutes. By comparison, the Swordfish can reach speeds of 143 miles per hour with a single torpedo load and has a range of 522 miles. Service is capped at 16,500 feet with a climb rate of 870 feet per minute.

The standard armament of the Albacore is a 1 x 7.7mm machine gun mounted on a fixed forward mount on the starboard wing. 1 or 2 7.7mm Vickers K machine guns can be placed in the rear cockpit to protect the more vulnerable rear of the aircraft from intercepting enemy fighters.

The rear weapon is optional and not included with some active duty albacores.

The maiden flight of the Albacore prototype took place on 12 December 1938 less than a year after Britain declared war on Germany (scheduled for September 1939). A second prototype followed, but the wheeled landing gear was replaced by pontoons used for seaplane torpedo bombers.

Ultimately, the wheeled version prevailed, and the design officially entered service with the FAA in 1940.

Albacore tuna raided Boulogne in September 1940. In March 1941, the albacore tuna was effectively used to severely damage the Italian warship Vittorio Veneto, and was later used as a light bomber over land to strike Axis targets in North Africa. Its performance limits this particular effort to night operations to reduce the risk of interception by enemy fighter jets. In addition to helping to lay the groundwork for the Second Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942), albacore tuna were used by British aircraft carrier decks throughout the Mediterranean (including the Sicilian/Italian landings), Arctic, Atlantic waters and coastal areas On the coast of India - basically anywhere a British aircraft carrier is needed, albacore is deployed.

Albacore tuna played a supporting role in flying the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) flag during the Allied invasion of Normandy along the northern coast of France in June 1944. In fact, the last albacore action was by the Canadians in 1944 when the British withdrew their stocks.

Finally, albacore tuna make up the main aircraft of no less than 45 FAA squadrons. The Royal Air Force (RAF) also operated it in two of their own squadrons (Nos. 36 and 119), while the Canadians managed albacore during the war through only one squadron, the 415th.