Fairey Swordfish

in the We Have Ways podcast Aidan referenced a minute ago they were talking about how the destroyers are like the hyenas of the Serengeti just bit by bit taking out some prey and

yeah so that's yeah that happens later on so just to say then they're searching for the bismarck and we've got um the destroyers using radar we've got the um that yeah the the the boat planes um and i suppose we've got a couple of aircraft carriers with um swordfish um sort of uh flying around trying to find them and torpedoes sorry what a swordfish Swordfish are so you might actually think it's a throwback to the First World War because they look like biplanes.

But the the British sort of naval air arm had biplanes called very swordfish.

And you look at them and you might sneer or snigger because it looks like a throwback.

And then we get the klaxon going, Bismarck's klaxon.

Bismarck's klaxon will now run all the way, all through that extended battle sequence when we're on Bismarck, because that's what's providing the regular beat music stuff in the background.

When we're in the Swordfish scenes, it's the sound of the Swordfish's engines.

When we're on the other British battleships, it's the sound of their guns firing in a regular fashion.

It, it becomes a bungled operation.

There are air battles as British Royal Naval aircraft, including Fairey Swordfish, are trying to destroy these French shore positions.

It's a mess.

It is an absolute mess.

You get multiple British planes shot down in these dog fights.

And these are, you know, like, we're talking about Fairey Swordfish versus, uh, American imported Hawks, uh, I think H75 Hawks.

Not a big airplane guy.

It's been a while since I played War Thunder.

We've got three of them here today.

We've got the Swordfish.

Over here, we've got the Sea Fire, and further down at the end, we have the Bulldog.

Uh, all three of those are flying today.

Now, two of them, the Swordfish and the Bulldog, will fly in company with a Wildcat helicopter, which is over there.

Will do a formation fly-past, and then the aircraft will split into individual displays.

So I'll be in the backseat of this Swordfish.

Mark Jameson's actually flying it.

The other major combatants, the Norfolk, the Dorsetshire, the King George V, suffered no damage at all.

As the Bismarck slipped below the water, from above, one of the Swordfish biplanes that observed the final moments would estimate that there were around three hundred German sailors in the water.

Meanwhile, the Dorsetshire would complete the last act of the battle, sending out the signal, quote, "Most immediate.

Torpedoed Bismarck both sides before she sank.

Uh, and that's, uh ...

It'll be a formation display on the wing of the Swordfish, uh, just to, uh, thrill the crowds with our formation abilities.

Nice.

And you've got the good weather by the looks of things as well.

So what sort of dis- display are you gonna be doing, um?

Uh, purely formation for me today.

Uh, I can do aerobatics, but, uh, I think with the time allowed, I'll just do the formation on the Swordfish, and then gracefully peel away and let the Swordfish show off and thrill the crowds on its own for the last part.

How many times have you been ... uh, done this show now for you?

Never.

'Cause they, were they, what were they called? Swordfish.

Yeah, [laughs] the Swordfish.

The-

A biplane

Head on over to historyofthesecondworldwar.com slash members to find out more.

On the evening of May 26th, 1941, the Swordfish torpedo bombers from the HMS Ark Royal had succeeded in hitting the Bismarck with three torpedoes.

Two of these hits were relatively straightforward, hitting along the side in the areas of the ship that were generally designed to be hit by torpedoes, even if they didn't want to be.

The third was the problem, as it hit the stern of the ship and it was quickly determined that the rudders were disabled.

There was also damage caused by trying to avoid the torpedoes, mostly due to the previous damage that the ship had suffered.

After the actions against the Prince of Wales and the Swordfish from Victorious, several repairs had been done to try and take care of the flooding and damage that had been caused in those actions.

These were temporary repairs that did things like slow the intake of water, But they were far from permanent fixes, and they were really only good for reducing the impact of the problems.

Then, when the Ark Royal's swordfish attacked, the Bismarck was forced to go to maximum speed and undertake a series of violent maneuvers that caused those previous repairs to fail.