Fairey swordfish

[chuckfourth]

Hi
In the British OOB unit 320 and 321 seem to have incorrect weapon configurations.
Ie fairy swordfish was a ship bourne torpedo bomber which as far as I can find carried either a torpedo a mine or rockets.
For the two bombs it is -incorrectly- equipped with one is the same weight as a Mine it could carry and the other is close to the weight of its 18 inch torpedo but in the wrong weight units.
see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
Best Regards Chuck

[Mobhack]

You mean, apart from when it is carrying bombs, or depth charges?.

A few seconds google on "fairey swordfish bomb" and we get, amongst others: swordfish
and:
Link2
and this one:
Link 3
where we get:

This soon came to pass, when a floatplane version, flown by W.M.L. Brown off the HMS WARSPITE was used to spot for the guns of that ship, resulting in the destruction of seven German destroyers. (Brown dealt the finishing blow to one of these with a bomb from his aircraft). Shortly afterwards, the same pilot executed the first dive bombing attack by the Fleet Air Arm, resulting in the sinking of a U-boat.

It was actually U-64, and it was dive bombed, not depth-charged.

Swordfish flew some night interdiction missions in North Africa, which is probably why the OOB designer included them.


Andy

[chuckfourth]

Hi Mobhack
Would it be churlish of me to point out that none of the bomb configurations from your links match what you have in the game?
Best Regards Chuck.

[Mobhack]

chuckfourth said:
Hi Mobhack
Would it be churlish of me to point out that none of the bomb configurations from your links match what you have in the game?
Best Regards Chuck.

or, one 1,500 lb mine

Which is obviously the weapon the OOB designer seems to be representing here. Air dropped mines as HE weapons were sometimes used in WW2, by all sides.

Given the Swordfish is not a regular support plane, it would be useful in a scenario where it was doing a night raider type attack, delivering a "cookie" in support of, say, and LRDG attack, I suppose. But not really as a daylight attack aircraft, it would be dead meat.

It is there, and of a unit type that is only for human use, so you can use it if you want to, or ignore it if you do not.

Cheers
Andy

[chuckfourth]

Hi Mobhack
Here is some more info on the mine
from
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMBR_Mines.htm
At 1,500 lbs the mine is the A MARK I
"Originally designed to fit the same dropping gear as the 18 inch (45 cm) Mark XI torpedo. First used magnetic only triggering but later versions incorporated acoustic, acoustic-magnetic and magnetic-pressure triggering, although the last one was not used in service. Weight was about 1,500 lbs. (680 kg) with a 750 lbs. (340 kg) charge."
So we can see that using this mine as a bomb presents us with a problem, it doesnt have a contact trigger, so its not going to go off until a ship goes past.
Now you and I know that using such a mine as a bomb represents a flight of pure fantasy but what about the rest of your gaming community? they are going to think that sure its a real weapon, there it is in the OOBs after all. And of course its incorrect inclusion distorts play balance as well, the biggest bomb carried by British fighter bombers is 1000 lb, at 1500 lb this baby incorrectly allows a British player to hit his enemy much harder from the air than was really possible. So maybe it would be best to remove the swordfishes 1500lb and 750lb "bombs" (or should I say mine and torpedo) and give it its correct loadout (from your links) of three 500 lb bombs, or, two 550 lb and two 250 lb bombs?
Best Regards Chuck.

[PatG]

Find a book called "17 Seconds" in part it's about defusing German sea mines dropped over England as conventional light case bombs. I cannot speak to if the Swordfish did so but using sea mines as bombs was an established German tactic not a flight of fantasy as my parents can attest to having been on the receiving end.

[JohnHale]

Mobhack said:


Given the Swordfish is not a regular support plane, it would be useful in a scenario where it was doing a night raider type attack, delivering a "cookie" in support of, say, and LRDG attack, I suppose. But not really as a daylight attack aircraft, it would be dead meat.



Cheers
Andy

Andy,

The "Stringbag" certainly has a place in the OOB as an attack aircraft: during the Norwegian Campaign (fiasco?) and Dunkirk evacuation it was used so (as was the Blackburn Skua, btw.). They were also available for use in the Mediterranean.

Bomb load would be either two 250lb or two 500lb bombs.

By May 1943 the Swordfish could also be equipped with eight 60lb rockets. Several squadrons were formed in the RAF with transferred Swordfish, and flew nocturnal "Channel Stop" sorties in the run-up to D-Day and beyond.

The last ones left front-line service in May 1945. (Having out-lived their successor by about two years!)

http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ai.../Swordfish.htm