Fairey Swordfish, part nine

The Fairey Swordfish saw also action in the Mediterranean front, as well as action in the Indian Ocean in secondary roles. On 14th June 1940 shortly after the Italian declaration of war, nine Swordfish of the 767 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) which were based in Hyeres, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (South-Eastern France), took off and conducted the first Allied raid on Italian soil of the war. Four days later, on the 18th, they were rebased to Bone, Algeria before splitting the squadron as the training elements went back to Britain and the operational portion was sent to RAF Hal Far, on Malta, where it was renamed as 830 NAS. On 30th June operations resumed as they conducted a night raid against oil tanks in Augusta, Sicily.
On 3rd July 1940 was one of the main weapons employed by the British to attack the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, close to Oran, in Algeria to prevent the ships from falling into German hands. Twelve Swordfish from 810 and 820 NAS were launched from the HMS Ark Royal (91) and conducted three sorties against the anchored fleet. In the ensuing torpedo attack the Battleship Dunkerque was crippled and many other ships were severely damaged, proving that capital ships could be seriously damaged while anchored in harbour. It was also the first time that the Royal Navy won a battle without using gunfire.
Shortly after Mers-el-Kébir, a detachment of three Swordfish was sent to support British troops in the Western Desert, responding this way, to a request for torpedo aircraft to destroy hostile naval units operating off the Libyan coast. On 22nd August the three Swordfish destroyed two u-boats, one destroyer and a supply ship present in the Gulf of Bomba, Libya, using just three torpedoes.
On 11th November, Swordfish flying from HMS Illustrious (87) achieved great success at the Raid in Taranto. The main force of the Italian Navy was based at the Italian port of Taranto, located at the South-Eastern tip of the Italian peninsula and, after the success of Mers-el-Kébir, the British admiralty sought another similar victory. The Royal Navy had conducted extensive preparations, with some plans dating back to even 1938, when the war between European powers seemed already unavoidable. Regular reconnaissance aerial missions were flown to gather intelligence about the position of capital ships and Swordfish' crews were trained to conduct nightly operations, because the night raid was seen as the only possible way of overcoming the defences of the well-protected harbour.
The raid on Taranto was originally scheduled for 21st October, however it was delayed to 11th November to allow key reinforcements to arrive and other tasks to be completed. The aerial attack started with a volley of flares dropped by Swordfish aircraft to illuminate the area where the raid would took place, after the which, a formation of Swordfish commenced bombing and torpedo runs. Given the presence of barrage ballons and torpedo nets the number of suitable torpedo-dropping positions was cut so many of the Swordfish were armed with bombs -instead of torpedoes- and conducted a synchronised attack upon the cruisers and destroyers instead. The just three torpedo-armed Swordfish inflicted serious damage on three of the Battleships (Conte di Cavour, Caio Duilio and Littorio) and two cruisers, two destroyers and other vessels were either sunk or damaged. The high manoeuvrability of the Swordfish helped the aircraft to evade the intense anti-aircraft fire and hit the Italian ships. This Battle showed that a single force of torpedo bombers could immobilise an entire fleet and were an effective mean of altering the balance of power. In fact, the Japanese air attaché to Berlin, Takeshi Naito, visited Taranto at the aftermath of the battle in order to, more than one year later, brief the Bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Later, on 28th March 1941 two Swordfish based on Crete contributed to the disabling of the Italian Heavy Cruiser Pola during the Battle of Cape Matapan. In May, six Swordfish based at Shaibah, near Basra, Iraq, took par in suppressing the revolt in the region widely known as the Anglo-Iraqi War as the aircraft conducted bombing missions on Iraqi barracks, fuel depots and bridges.
The Swordfish also flew a high number of anti-shipping missions in the Mediterranean, many of them from Malta. Guided by the aerial reconnaissance of other RAF units, Swordfish would time their attacks to arrive at enemy convoys in the dark to elude German fighters, which were restricted to daytime operations. While there were never more than 27 Swordfish stationed at the island at a time, the Swordfish managed to sink an average of 50.000 tons of enemy shipping per month during a nine-month period. During one record month, 98.000 tons were reported to have been sunk to the island's Swordfish strike force. The recorded lost of Swordfish were low, specially related to the high sortie rate of the aircraft and in light of the fact that many aircraft lacked many blind-flying equipment, making night-flying even more dangerous.
Close to the end of the war, there were still nine front-line squadrons that were equipped with the Swordfish. Overall they counted for 14 u-boats destroyed. The Swordfish was intended to be replaced by the Fairey Albacore, but it outlived its intended successor and was replaced by the Fairey Barracuda. Operational sorties of the Swordfish continued in January 1945 being the last active missions believed to be anti-shipping raids conducted off the Norwegian coast by 835 and 813 NAS, where Swordfish' manoeuvrability was essential. On 21st May 1945 the last operational squadron, 836 NAS, which had been tasked with providing resources for the MAC ships, was disbanded shortly after the end of the war in Europe.
In the summer of 1946 the last training squadron equipped with the type was disbanded, after which only some few aircraft were kept in service to perform sundry duties at few naval air stations.

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

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

Fairey Swordfish, part seven

During the Norwegian Campaign, the first combat usage of the Swordfish occurred. It was on 11th April 1940 when many Swordfish aircraft were launched from HMS Furious (47) to perform an attack on German vessels that were reported to be in anchor at the port of Trondheim. When the group arrived at Trondheim, they only found two destroyers there. In the ensuing attack only one hit was recorded as being attained, but, that attack holds the record of being the first torpedo-attack of the war to performed by a torpedo-carrying aircraft.
Later, on 13th April, a Swordfish launched from HMS Warspite (03) spotted fall of shot and radioed gunnery corrections back to the ship during the Second Battle of Narvik. The total number of German destroyers sunk or scuttled during that campaign was nine. One of them was damaged by a bomb dropped from a Swordfish belonging to the HMS Warspite, at the cost of zero losses in the British side. The German submarine U-64 was also spotted by a Swordfish, which performed a dive-bombing attack upon it, scoring a direct hit and quickly sinking the submarine, making it the first U-Boat sunk by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in the war.
After the Second Battle of Narvik, the Swordfish continually attacked targets in the surroundings for two weeks bombing either ships, land facilities or even enemy parked aircraft. During this time anti-submarine patrols and aerial reconnaissance missions were also flown in spite of the challenge that the challenging terrain and inhospitable weather imposed, which was made worse by its open cockpit.
For many Swordfish crews the Norwegian Campaign were their first active combat missions and often involved many other 'first time tasks' like night-landings upon aircraft carriers.

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

Fairey Swordfish, part six

In July 1936 the Swordfish entered formally in service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) which was, back then, part of the Royal Air Force (RAF).
The 825 Naval Air Squadron was the first one to receive the Swordfish that same month. The Swordfish began replacing both the Fairey Seal and the Blackburn Baffin in both spotter-reconnaissance and torpedo-bomber roles competing with the Blackburn Shark in that combined role. Initially it was the Shark which replaced the Seal in the spotter-reconnaissance roles and the Swordfish replaced the Baffin in torpedo-bomber role. Shortly after the Shark was quickly replaced by the Swordfish. For almost two years during the late 1930s the Swordfish was the sole torpedo-bomber aircraft serving with the FAA.
When the World War 2 started in September 1939, the FAA was transferred to Royal Navy control with a total of 13 operational squadrons equipped with the Swordfish Mk.I plus three flights of float-equipped ones for use off-catapult equipped warships. After the outbreak of the World War 2, a total of 26 FAA squadrons would be equipped with the Swordfish and more than 20 second-line squadrons would also operate it in the training role. During the early months of the war, the Swordfish' action was limited to uneventful fleet protection and convoy escort missions.

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 Acti

Fairey Swordfish, part five

The Fairey Swordfish was a medium sized biplane torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. It employed a metal airframe covered in fabric and featured folding wings to save space inside aircraft carriers and battleships. Once in service, it was nicknamed "The Stringbag" due to the enormous amount of stores and equipment that it could carry. Crews likened the aircraft to a housewife's string shopping bag, which was very usual at the time and could fit contents of any shape and that a Swordfish, like a stringbag, could carry anything.
Its main weapon was the aerial torpedo, but given its low speed and the need for a straight long approach, made it difficult to deliver against well-defended targets. Swordfish' torpedo doctrine recommended an approach at 5000ft (1500m) followed by a dive torpedo release altitude of 18ft (5.5m). The maximum range of British main aerial torpedo at the time, the Mark. XII, was 1500 yards (1400m) at 40 knots (46mph/74km/h) and 3500 yards (3200m) at 27 knots (31mph/50km/h). The torpedo travelled for 200ft (61m) forward from release to water impact, and required further 300 yards (270m) to stabilise at preset depth and arm itself. Ideal release distance was 1000 yards (910m) from target, given that the Swordfish could survive that distance.
The Swordfish was also able of operating as a dive bomber. Just before the war, in 1939, the Swordfish on board HMS Glorious aircraft carrier took part in a series of dive-bombing trials, during which 439 practice bombs were dropped at angles of 60 67 and 70 degrees against the target ship HMS Centurion. Tests against fixed targets showed an average error of 49 yards (45m) from a release height of 1300ft (400m) and a dive angle of 70 degrees. Tests against a manoeuvring target showed and error of 44 yards (40m) on average from a drop height of 1800ft (550m) and a dive angle of 60 degrees.
When more modern torpedo attacks were developed, the Swordfish was successfully relocated to the anti-submarine role, armed with either depth charges or eight "60lb rockets RP-3 rockets and usually it flew from the smaller escort carriers or even the merchant aircraft carriers (MACs), when equipped with the Rocket Assisted Take Off (RATO) system. Given its low stall speed and tough and sturdy design, it was excellent to operate from MAC ships in the harsh mid-Atlantic weather. In fact, its stall speed was so low that, unlike any other carrier-borne torpedo bomber, it did not require the carrier to be steaming into the wind. Sometime, when the wind was right, Swordfish were flown from a carrier at anchor.

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

Fairey Swordfish, part four

In early 1936 an initial production contract for 68 Swordfish was put on at Fairey's as the Swordfish Mk.I. They were manufactured at Fairey's factory in Hayes, West London and the first production batch was completed in early 1936. It entered service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in July 1936.
By early 1940 Fairey was still busy with Swordfish and Albacore's productions so the Admiralty proposed Blackburn Aircraft to build it under license.
In fact, according to production numbers, Fairey manufactured a total of 692 Swordfish Mk.I (the regular first production series with either floats or fixed landing gear) from 1936 until 1940 at Hayes and Blackburn manufactured 300 Mk.I from December 1940 until October 1941. Blackburn was also responsible for manufacturing the subsequent variants like the Mk.II (version with longer wings to fit rockets underneath) which was introduced in 1943 with 1080 machines newly build and/or converted from Mk.I during the period from October 1941 until February 1944 at Blackburn's factory in Sherburn-in-Elmet, in North Yorkshire.
The Mk.III variant (featuring a belly-mounted anti-submarine radar) was introduced also in 1943 but it wasn't produced until February 1944. Three hundred and twenty machines were either converted or built at Sherburn-in-Elmet and production ceased in August 1944 as new more modern types were already rolling out of the factories (namely the Fairey Barracuda and the Grumman Avenger).
During the war, efforts were made to decentralise production and employ the usage of shadow factories to minimise the damage caused by Luftwaffe's bombing raids. Major sub-assemblies were produced by four sub-contractors based in neighbouring Leeds and these were transported by land to Sherburn where they were assembled.
On 18th August 1944, the last Swordfish was manufactured with almost 2400 machines manufactured in every variant.

Sources:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
2. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/6593/Fairey-Swordfish-Mk-I
3. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/8642/Fairey-Swordfish-Mk-II
4. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/76663/Fairey-Swordfish-Mk-III
5. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 175 - Fairey Swordfish in Action

Fairey Swordfish, part three, origins

As Fairey was a company that had already proven its talent to design and construct naval aircraft, in 1933 they started the design of an entirely new three-seater aircraft intended for the reconnaissance and torpedo-bomber. The project received internally the designation of T.S.R.1 (Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance) with a biplane configuration and was to be powered by a single Bristol IIM radial engine which could yield 645hp of power. Fairey initially chose to keep the development as purely private while both customers and applicable requirements for the type were sought. The development of the T.S.R.1 was made in parallel to Fairey's activities regarding the Air Ministry Specification S.9/30, for which the company was, at one point, developing a separate but very similar aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine instead and employing also a different fin and rudder configuration.
A respectable amount of contributions for the T.S.R.1 came from Fairey's independent design work on a proposed aircraft for the Greek Naval Air Service which had requested a replacement for the Fairey IIIF and Fairey IIIB, and also came from specifications M.1/30 and S.9/30. Fairey soon informed the Air Ministry about their work for the Greeks, whose interest had eventually waned, and proposed its solution to requirements for a spotter-reconnaissance plane. In 1934, the Air Ministry issued the Specification S.15/33 which added the requirement of the torpedo bomber role.
On 21st March 1933 the first prototype took off to the skies from Great West Aerodrome, in Heathrow at the hands of Fairey's chief test pilot Chris Staniland. It performed various flights which were used to test aircraft's flight characteristics, before being re-engined with with an Armstrong-Siddeley Tiger radial engine and switching back to the Pegasus engine again. On 11th September 1933 the first prototype was lost when it entered in an uncontrollable series of spins that crashed the aircraft with the pilot, fortunately, surviving the accident. Before this, as the prototype had shown favourable handling and flying characteristics, it was decided to proceed with a second prototype (T.S.R.II) which had been designed to fully comply with the Specification S.15/33.
On 17th April 1934 the second prototype flew for the first time, piloted by Staniland. Unlike the previous model, it was equipped with the more advanced version of the Bristol Pegasus Engine, an additional bay within the rear fuselage to counter the spin tendencies and the upper wing was slightly swept back to cope with the increased length of the fuselage together with other aerodynamic-related tweaks to the rear of the aircraft. During the flight test programme T.S.R.II was sent to Fairey's factory in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, where it received a twin float undercarriage instead of its original wheeled one. It flew for the first time in this new floatplane configuration on 10th November 1934 and, after successful water-handling trials, it made a series of catapult launch and recovery tests on board HMS Repulse Battlecruiser. It was restored back to its original wheeled configuration before being handed over to the Royal Aircraft Establishment for an extensive evaluation process at RAF Martlesham Heath.
In 1935, after satisfactory tests were made at Martlesham, the Air Ministry placed a pre-production order for three aircraft. It was then when the T.S.R.II received the nickname of Swordfish. All three of them were powered by Bristol Pegasus IIIM3 engine, but adopoted a three-bladed propeller configuration instead of the two-bladed one employed by the previous two prototypes. On 31st December 1935, the first pre-production Swordfish made its maiden flight and on 19th February 1936, the second one. The third one was completed in floatplane configuration and underwent water-based service trials at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe, in Suffolk.

Sources:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
2. http://www.aviation-history.com/fairey/swordfish.html
3. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 12 - Fairey Swordfish
4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 1175 - Fairey Swordfish in Action

Fairey Swordfish, part two, Commonwealth & Royal Air Force users

As it could've been expected, the Fairey Swordfish was also used by some Commonwealth countries as well as the Royal Air Force. The users covered in this post are:

• Australia: The Royal Australian Air Force got six new Swordfish in 1942 in a rather unexpected way. On 17th March 1942 it was reported that a number of wooden crates had arrived at the Bullsbrook railway siding from Fremantle Port. It was assumed that they contained the expected Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk fighters that would replace the fighters of the No.77 Squadron RAAF as they were unloaded from an American cargo ship. When it was discovered that they contained Swordfish, it was decided to assemble them. They were operated mainly by No.14 and No.25 Squadrons RAAF as well as some independent HQ flights. 
• The three ones assigned to the No.25 Squadron were used in anti-submarine patrols around Rottnest Island and Gage Roads, off the port of Fremantle. Two more were assigned to the No.14 Squadron which used them in the liaison duty and they flew often between Pearce and Busselton where squadron's detachments were located. The remaining Australian Swordfish served with RAAF Pearce's Station Headquarters in communications flights. 
• Canada: The Swordfish was operated from the Naval Gunnery School at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and the Royal Navy Station at Dartmouth. In 1946 Fleet Requirement Unit 743 (RCN) was equipped with Swordfish which used them in general purpose duties. When they were finally written off, the Royal Canadian Navy's air arm reserve approved to ferry some of the veteran Swordfish to 11 Naval Reserve Divisions all across Canada for ground crew instructional purposes.
• Royal Air Force: Up to six RAF squadrons were equipped at one point with the Swordfish. Numbers 8, 119, 202, 209 and 613 Squadrons used the Swordfish, apart from two Anti-Aircraft Co-operation units (based in Gibraltar, Malta and Singapore) and one pilot advanced training unit. One of those squadrons, the No.119 was equipped with the Swordfish Mk.III very late in the war, in January 1945 to be more precise. They transitioned to the ASV-equipped variant because they had been rebased to Belgian coast in order to switch to midget submarines as their main targets, for which the ASV-radar proved to be very useful. They flew ASW patrols up to, literally VE-Day, on 8th May 1945 and the squadron was disbanded shortly later, on 25th May. 

Sources:

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish

2. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/swordfish.htm

3. http://silverhawkauthor.com/canadian-warplanes-1-the-biplane-era-fairey-swordfish_697.html

4. https://ingeniumcanada.org/aviation/collection-research/artifact-fairey-swordfish-ii.php

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._119_Squadron_RAF

Fairey Swordfish, part one, foreign users

The Fairey Swordfish is a British biplane torpedo bomber designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was nicknamed "The Stringbag" and was operated mainly by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force, but also by other operators. The first countries to be covered in this post are:

• Netherlands: Right since its inception in June 1943 at RNAS Donibristle, in Scotland, the No.860 (Dutch) Naval Air Squadron was equipped with Swordfishes. They performed torpedo-bomber reconnaissance duties until November when they were rebased to Maydown, in Northern Ireland, to be splitted in two flights of six aircraft each, to operate from merchant aircraft carriers MV Acavus and MV Gadila and later just from MV Macoma and Acavus from June 1944. They performed that role with the Swordfishes until June 1945 when the old-fashioned biplanes were replaced by the more advanced Fairey Barracudas.
• Italy: At least four Swordfishes were captured by the Italian Regia Aeronautica.
  One was captured just after the bombardment of Taranto, albeit in poor condition and was savaged.
  Another one, belonging to the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was shot down and captured during a raid on Maritza Airfield, in Rhodes, on 4th September 1940. It was sent to Italian mainland, repainted in Italian markings and sent to Guidonia (Italian's Regia Aeronautica test centre). It was kept in flying conditions until mid-1941 thanks to spare parts taken from another captured aircraft.
  The fourth one, took off from HMS Ark Royal (91) to bomb the city of Cagliari, in Sardinia, but was hit by ground anti-air fire. It force-landed on the Italian airfield at Elmas, in Sardinia too, on 2nd August 1940. The crew were taken prisoner and the aircraft was repaired by the Italian firm Caproni. It was refitted with an Alfa-Romeo 125 engine and was taken to Guidonia for testing on 27th February 1941. It seems that by 6th April 1942, it was still there, however it was most likely destroyed in one of the Allied air raids.
• Spain: At least two Swordfish ended in the hands of the Spanish Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force).
  The first one, belonging to the 813 Naval Air Squadron, was based in Gibraltar when, during an anti-submarine patrol, lost its sweep and force landed between Ras-el-Farea and Pota-Pescadores in Spanish Morocco on 30th April 1942. The crew were interned and the fate of the machine is unknown.
  The second one, a floatplane, belonged to a detachment of the 700 Naval Air Squadron, that was operating from the Battleship HMS Malaya (01) ran out of fuel while it was shadowing the German pocket Battleship Scharnhorst on 8th March 1941, close to the Canary Islands. Both aircraft and crew were interned by Spanish authorities and, as the aircraft was serviceable, it was put into use in the Spanish Air Force with a new registration and assigned to 54ª Escuadrilla (54th Flight) on 6th December 1943, which operated from Puerto de La Cruz, in the Island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. It was written-off in March 1945 at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, also in the aforementioned archipelago.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish#Operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/860_Naval_Air_Squadron

3. http://incidentessgm.blogspot.com/2013/11/fairey-swordfish.html (translated)