In September 1935 the British Air Ministry issued the specification M.15/35 for a three-seat twin-engine reconnaissance/torpedo bomber. Two submissions were accepted for this specification: the Blackburn Botha and the Bristol Type 152 (later known as the Bristol Beaufort). Both were powered by the same Bristol Perseus radial engine rated at 850hp. The specification was later revised in 1936 and modified to a four-seat reconnaissance and torpedo-bomber aircraft. That required an increase of weight so an increase of power was needed, so Bristol managed to get their candidate to be powered by the Bristol Taurus engine, rated at 1130hp but the Botha couldn't so they sticked to the Bristol Perseus X which was just slightly better than the original one as it was rated at 880hp.
Four-hundred and forty-two Bothas were ordered in 1936 together with many other Beauforts. The Botha flew for the first time on 28th December 1938.
When accepted into service it showed many performance problems as it had poor lateral stability and it's backwards visibility was virtually nonexistent due to the location of the aicraft engines. That, made the aircraft unsuitable for the General Reconnaissance role and, although it passed successfully torpedo and mine-dropping trials, its poor performance, led to the decision in April 1940 of issuing it to just four general reconnaissance squadrons equipped with the Avro Anson, rather than the torpedo bomber squadrons previously planned.
The Botha entered service first in June 1940 with the No.608 Squadron, that was the only one to use the Botha operationally escorting convoys in August of that year. They were armed with three 100lb (50Kg) anti-submarine bombs and two 250lb (110Kg) general-purpose bombs.
It proved to be seriously underpowered and unstable and the type suffered many fatal crashes in 1940. Botha tried to improve both airframe and engines but it was decided to withdraw the aircraft from the active service as the Air Staff had decided to use it as a bomber trainer and target tug, which leaded to the designation of Botha TT Mk.I.
It was retired from active service definitley in September 1944 with a total of 580 of them built. It served as the main trainer for some RAF units but also for the Polish Air Force in exile as it was their main trainer.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Botha
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_blackburn_botha.html
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