Fairey Swordfish, part eight

During early 1940 Swordfish from 812 Naval Air Squadron, assigned to the RAF Coastal Command performed an aerial attack campaign against continental enemy-hold ports along the English Channel. They were routinely sent to deploy naval mines, task which proved to be hard due to the limitations of the aircraft and the precision navigation skill required. In order to achieve the range needed to reach some naval facilities, additional fuel tanks were installed in the crew area and the third crew member was left behind. In many of these missions the Swordfish were escorted by fighters which also conducted counter-attacks on enemy air bases.
The intensity of the Coastal Command's Swordfish operations was radically increased after the German Invasion of the Low Countries, as they were expanded with four additional Swordfish-equipped squadrons. They were sent to attack strategically important targets off the coasts of Netherlands and Belgium on daylight raids, during which they were subjected to heavy anti-aircraft fire and Luftwaffe fighter interception. Night-time raids were also conducted attacking various types of installations like oil installations, power stations and aerodromes. After the fall of France, Swordfish raids were focused on ports that were seen as useful for a potential invasion of the United Kingdom, which typically meant spotting for naval bombardments on such port facilities as well as conducting security patrols.
In February 1942 the flaws of the Swordfish were demonstrated during a German naval fleet action known as the Channel Dash, when six Swordfish lead by Lt.Cdr. Eugene Esmonde took off from Manston to intercept Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau when they were traversing the English Channel towards Germany. When the Swordfish formation arrived and attack procedure was started, they were intercepted by 15 Messerschmitt Bf.109 resulting in the loss of all the Swordfish without inflicting any damage at all on the ships. Esmonde, who had taken part on the attack on the Bismarck the previous year, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.
The courage of the Swordfish crew was noted on both sides as both German and British commanders wrote favourably about their bravery. As a result of the Channel Dash, the Swordfish was quickly relegated from the torpedo-bomber role and was more often tasked with anti-submarine duties instead where, armed with depth charges and rockets, it soon proved to be a capable submarine-killer.
In that role, it pioneered the usage of air-to-surface vessel (ASV) radar, being the first carrier-borne aircraft to be equipped with it. This, allowed the Swordfish to effectively locate surface ships at night and through clouds. In October 1941 the Swordfish was already flying operational missions with the ASV radar. On 21st December 1941 a Swordfish based in Gibraltar sank an U-Boat. It was the first kill of such type achieved by an aircraft during nighttime. On 23rd May 1943 a rocket-equipped Swordfish attacked and destroyed German submarine U-752 off the coast of Ireland making it the first kill achieved with that weapon.
The Swordfish also saw action during the battle of the Atlantic. In May 1941 it got involved in the pursuit and sinking of the Battleship Bismarck. On 24th May nine Swordfish from the HMS Victorious (R38) made a late night sortie on the Bismarck under bad weather. Thanks to the ASV radar the flight were able to locate and attack the ship resulting in a single torpedo hit that caused minor damage. Later, on 26th May, HMS Ark Royal (91) launched two Swordfish strikes against the Bismarck. The first one failed to locate the ship, while the second manage to strike to hits which jammed the ships' rudders at 12º port helm on position. This attack made the Bismarck unmaneouvrable and unable to escape to port in France. She sank 13 hours later after Royal Navy intense bombardment. The low speed of the attacking aircraft played in their favour as they were too slow for fire control predictors of the Bismarck, whose shells exploded so far in front of the aircraft that the shrapnel damage was greatly diminished. At least one of the Swordfish flew so low on the sea that some of the Bismarck's flak battery couldn't depress enough to aim them.
Throughout 1942 the Swordfish was progressively transferred from Royal Navy's fleet carriers as the Fairey Albacore and the Fairey Barracuda became available. In the submarine hunter role, the Swordfish made significant contributions to both the Battle of the Atlantic, protecting convoys and  in support of the Arctic Convoys between Britain and Russia. In addition to attacking enemy submarines, the Swordfish could also guide destroyers onto their positions to coordinate attacks against u-boats. On one convoy, Swordfish on board escort carrier HMS Striker (D12) and HMS Vindex (D15) flew over 1000 hours performing anti-submarine patrols over a 10-day period.
One of the most innovative implementations of the Swordfish was its usage in combination with the Merchant Aircraft Carriers (MAC) which were 20 civilian cargo or tanker ships modified to carry three or four aircraft each on anti-submarine duties on convoys. Three of these ships were Dutch manned, which we already covered in a previous post and the others were manned by pilots and crew of the 836 Naval Air Squadron which was, at one time, the largest Swordfish operator, being equipped with 91 aircraft.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
2. http://www.aviation-history.com/fairey/swordfish.html
3. https://www.navywings.org.uk/aircraft/twin-aircraft/swordfish/
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 175 - Fairey Swordfish in Action