Flying Inside World War Two’s Famous Torpedo Bomber | Fairey Swordfish

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Dan Snow flies on a mission to explore one of the most daring and dangerous aerial attacks of World War II.
On 11th November 1940, 21 antiquated Swordfish aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. They were embarking on one of the most extraordinary raids of the Second World War, 'Operation Judgement', the assault on the Italian Fleet in the well-defended harbour at Taranto. It was a mission that would make history.
In this film, Dan Snow takes to the air in the only Swordfish still flying - the aircraft operated by the Navy Wings Heritage Flight. Riding in the back of this remarkable bi-plane, he explores the story of Taranto as torpedo bombers just like this braved a hail of fire to drive home the attack.
And back on the ground, Dan explores the archives of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, uncovering items from Taranto, including a battered 1940 diary that gives a vivid eyewitness account. Items like this, and a recorded interview with veteran Alfie Sutton, bring us face to face with the life and death events of November 1940 - and remind us what a very special aircraft the Swordfish was, one of history’s great survivors.
_____________________________
Do visit the websites of the organisations History Hit worked with to make this film.
Navy Wings
www.navywings.o...
The National Museum of the Royal Navy - Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton
www.nmrn.org.u...
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Опубликовано:

26 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 113

@richardwaring8613 Год назад

Raise a glass to Eugene Esmonde who won the VC posthumously flying his Swordfish during the Channel dash where this aircraft faced the likes of Focke-Wulf 190s. Bravery and duty at its highest!

@iangarrett741 Год назад

He’d just been to Buckingham Palace to get a gong for a similar attack a few days before. Incredible!

@woooster17 Год назад

The old Stringbag… brave brave fellows who flew this operationally

@seanbigay1042 Год назад

BTW, she wasn't called the Stringbag due to all the string tying her wings together/ She was called that because like the proverbial grocery bag, she was used for anything the top brass could think of, except maybe submarine duty.

@Cailus3542 Год назад

@@seanbigay1042They actually were used to hunt submarines, especially later in the war after they were replaced on the carriers.

@seanbigay1042 Год назад

@@Cailus3542 True, but what I had in mind was the Stringbag's being used AS a submarine!

@philhawley1219 Год назад

The surprise success of the Taranto raid is believed to have been the inspiration to convince the Japanese that an even bigger raid might just work at Pearl Harbour a year later.

@Trojan-n9t Год назад

It certainly helped convince them it was possible, if not giving them the idea in the first place. A Japanese Axis liaison officer was very interested in the results. I think they came up with a different solution for the torpedoes in shallow water, wooden fins as opposed to a retarding nose wire. Considering six times the carriers and about 12 times the aircraft were involved in the Pearl harbour attack, it goes to show the difference between night operations and having to wait until dawn to launch your aircraft.

@mogaman28 Год назад

@@Trojan-n9t the Japanese Navy were experts at managing massed air operations. The US Navy not so, at the beginning of the war at least.

@Trojan-n9t Год назад

@@mogaman28 Yes that's true, but wasn't talking about the USN. Just comparing how much damage a handful of aircraft and one aircraft carrier can do if you can conduct flight operations at night, compared to what 6 aircraft carriers and nearly 400 aircraft can do when you can't operate at night and have to wait until daylight to launch your aircraft. Just over twice as much damage using 12 times the number of aircraft.

@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 Год назад

@@Trojan-n9t Yes given that Pearl Harbour was launched against a neutral nation at peace, and Taranto was launched against a nation at war who should have been ready with their defences the statistical differences are huge. The Royal Navy managed to launch 3 waves of attacking aircraft of 12, 9, and 1 aircraft, one of which from the second wave suffered a failure and had to return, so 21 aircraft actually attacked. Those 21 aircraft sank 3 battleships, a ratio of one battleship per every 7 aircraft, damaged other ships and destroyed the fuel tank farm and other facilities. As a side affect of launching such a low level attack across a harbour in a deep bay, the horizontally fired Italian AA defence also demolished a large part of the town. In a rare case of a yellow on yellow friendly fire incident. The Japanese despite using 6 aircraft carriers only managed to launch 2 waves of strike aircraft, a total of 353 aircraft. These managed to sink 4 battleships, a ratio of one battleship for every 88.25 aircraft, damaged other facilities but failed to destroy the fuel tank farm.

@Theshropshireratter Год назад

I'm sure I read that the next day members from the Japanese consulate when to tarono asking about torpedo speeds and defence

@TimSymes Год назад

My great uncle, Lt Harry Slaughter was killed in the Taranto action, so this was very interesting viewing

@barrynash1676 Год назад

May he rest in peace.

@rileyuktv6426 Год назад

A a schoolboy I recall attending a fascinating presentation by Charles Lamb DSO DSC - and his book War In a Stringbag - a incredible and brave man. He signed my copy!

@samuelhowie4543 Год назад

I came to the comments to mention his book. 👍

@harbourdogNL 11 месяцев назад

As did I!@@samuelhowie4543

@rodneymarshall755 26 дней назад

@@samuelhowie4543 A copy of which I have in front of me right now, and what a fantastic read it is.

@robertbeermanjr.2158 Год назад

I sit here with the awestruck glee of a child and a grin on my face. What a Magnificent aircraft! I am fully aware of the spectacular success one of these planes marked up in history.

@harbourdogNL 11 месяцев назад

The first aircraft my Dad ever worked on was the Fairey Swordfish. He was training as an Air Artificer at RAF Halton when WW2 broke out, and was then transferred to the Fleet Air Arm. He told me they'd actually sew up tears in the fabric, or apply doped patches over them. Also told me they were sent to some remote bog in Scotland to disassemble one that had crashed. Wouldn't I love to go for a flight in this!! I heartily recommend a book written by one of the Taranto Raid pilots, it's called War in A Stringbag.

@kariannecrysler640 Год назад

Flying around with you was just what I needed today. Thank you for the taste of freedom 😉

@RetroGamesCollector Год назад

What a beautiful elegant old plane. Antiquated, but ready for a fight anyway. So jealous of Dan being able to fly in her.

@williamrobinson7435 Год назад

This is right up my alley. Like others, I had the 1/72 scale Airfix Stringbag, a remarkable marque indeed.. Those magnificent men (these days of course people) in their flying machines, they go up-iddley up-up, they go down-diddly own-own🎶.. Nice one Dan and team! ⭐👍

@vulpesvulpes5177 Год назад

A very excellent discussion of a little known element of naval aviation. Virtually all torpedo bombers were obsolete by 1944, yet the torpedo was the most reliable way to sink a ship. Most torpedo bombers were designed to deliver the torpedo. Not so much to survive the AA they would face. I once knew a PBY pilot that made several torpedo runs. It’s hard for us to understand. They did not expect to survive. Their motto was “you have to go out, you don’t have to come back”. Fatalism we simply can’t understand today. Fox out

@sharonkaczorowski8690 Год назад

My father flew TBM bombers in the Pacific for the US Navy. As a teenager he caught rattlesnakes for a scientist in San Antonio, Texas to pay for his flight training. The Blue Angels asked him to join but my mother had had enough of worrying about him. Amazing that Swordfish is still around.

@SennaAugustus Год назад

There was also a Swordfish floatplane launched from a battleship that earned the Fleet Air Arm's first submarine kill of WW2.

@Cailus3542 Год назад

Yup. It was launched from HMS Warspite during the Batle of Narvik.

@brianmilthorp6690 Год назад

My father was aboard a Danish freighter during the Allied attack on Dakar in September 1940. He witnessed Swordfish from HMS Hermes attacking the Vichy French Cruiser Richelieu. Later he shared time in the Vichy internment camp in Kouricoulu with some of the downed Swordfish aircrew.

@recoil53 Год назад

Fast battleship.

@Vincentorix Год назад

There is one on display in the Aviation Museum, CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada.

@harbourdogNL 11 месяцев назад

Is there??? I had no idea! The first years of my childhood were spent in Married Quarters at Shearwater. My Dad was ex-RN Fleet Air Arm, and worked on the Swordfish at the beginning of the war. After transferring to the RCN, he went on to be one of the designers of the Beartrap, the helicopter hauldown system used in the RCN. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5EZqthhTMfA.htmlsi=FXTZ1JwxqFksC7Eh

@seanbigay1042 Год назад

"Yes, this IS a World War II aircraft! Why won't you believe us?"

@TheovanTijn Год назад

This is one the couple of dozen contestants for my favourite plane, got the Tamiya kit with clear fuselage side in me stash.

@bigblue6917 Год назад

Made the Airfix kit when I was a kid then when I grew up I had the great pleasure of seeing one, this one, in real life. Much bigger than I imagined it to be.

@spankflaps1365 Год назад

The Swordfish attack missions to the Bismarck happened during a mega-storm. The decks of the carriers Illustrious and Ark Royal were pitching 20-30 degrees. The Swordfish is probably the only aircraft that could operate in such conditions, and they suffered no losses. In war they couldn’t wait for the weather to improve, because the Bismarck would have broken through to the Atlantic.

@timmycolpman Год назад

Thats why they were the Queen of Convoy Escort in the Atlantic

@SennaAugustus 8 месяцев назад

And pretty much the only plane capable of operating in the Arctic.

@Jay-ql4gp Год назад

I do love biplanes. Thank you so much! I'd love to go in one just once.

@geordiedog1749 Год назад

Italys declaration of war wasn’t a disaster - it was expected. The disaster was the capitulation of the French meaning the Andrew were on their own. All their plans had been in cooperation with the French Navy who’d do the main lifting in the Mediterranean.

@ogukuo97 Год назад

One of my favourite planes! A bit of an overachieveing underdog. :)

@mrmeowmeow710 Год назад

Outstanding video loved it from a history nut👍👍

@MusketeerTed Год назад

You can just feel the bravery needed to do this mission. A massive explosive uncovered beneath you and no cockpit, vulnerable to enemy fighters, even Italian ones!! 🫡

@tonnywildweasel8138 Год назад

Love the Stringbag! Thanks for the vid, appreciate it a lot 👍 Greetings from the Netherlands, T.

@jamesburrell677 4 месяца назад

One of the often overlooked heroes of WWII. Another was The Corvette a small ship which Churchill dubbed The Cheap Nasty.

@katherinecollins4685 Год назад

Fantastic documentary 👏

@geordiedog1749 Год назад

“What did you do at work today, darling?” “Oh I flew about in a Swordfish for a while.” Bastard:)

@54mgtf22 Год назад

Hey HH. Love your work 👍

@HistoryHit Год назад

Thanks! Appreciate the kind words!

@andrewince8824 Год назад

So good it replaced its replacement.

@timmycolpman Год назад

Love the Episode. However, I think you missed out a HUGE point.. This was the first-night action by a CV.. For the first time planes were taken off and landed in darkness for a live operation. Yanks like to claim this with the BIG E (USS Enterprise) but that was years later. PS this is special to me. My grandad was a Air gunner and Machaic on HMS Hermes. Flying Swordfish.. Funny thing. Dan is sitting I'm my Grandads position

@SennaAugustus 8 месяцев назад

British carriers could operate at night as early as 1928 with HMS Furious.

@peterrollinson-lorimer Год назад

Bravo to British engineering, they once again create an aircraft whose superpower was slowness.

@billybobkingston5604 Год назад

My first Airfix kit Christmas present as a kid, 54 and a half years old now

@michaelw2288 Год назад

Powerful, robust...let me see. We have just the craft for you. Now perhaps something to round off the evening. May I suggest a torpedo.

@jonboy9912 10 месяцев назад

It was so slow that the Bismarck's guns could not hit it!!!! Brave men only flew this!!!!

@adji3149 Год назад

My Father was a TAG during WW2 and flew in a Swordfish. He later transferred to the Grumman Avenger and was based on HMS Indefatigable in the Pacific

@brettcurtis5710 Год назад

And after it's success - one man in particular, in Japan, studied it closely - Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto - architect of Pearl Harbour!

@scottamori3188 Год назад

I cannot imagine flying a torpedo bomber into fire. Those pilots had brass ones.

@aanchaallllllll Год назад

0:40: ✈ The video is about the remarkable achievements of the Fairy Swordfish aircraft in World War II. 5:29: 🛩 The video discusses the versatility and capabilities of the Swordfish aircraft during World War II. 9:55: 🛩 The Royal Navy planned to use naval aviation to strike the heavily defended Italian Fleet in their safe harbor using torpedo-equipped planes. 13:41: 🚀 The HMS Illustrious used innovative tactics and aircraft to destroy the Italian Navy in a nighttime raid off the coast of Greece. 16:45: ✈ The air crew of the HMS Illustrious were both brave and mathematically skilled, using charts and calculators to navigate their way to Toronto. Recap by Tammy AI

@mikerayburn6493 11 месяцев назад

My late grandfather chief petty officer Richard Griffin served on illustrious during taranto.

@bobfromaccounting93 Год назад

What an absolute honor to fly up in one of those things!

@ilfarmboy Год назад

the swordfish carried an 18" torpedo which was strong enough to damaged the screw and rudder of the Bismarck

@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 Год назад

Was comparing the strike range of HMS Warspite and a Swordfish armed aircraft carrier all that clever. As the first German U Boat sunk by British aircraft was sunk by a Swordfish launched by HMS Warspite. OK no doubt the carrier version would have a greater range than the battleship launched floatplane version, but even so I think they picked the wrong battleship to compare. Also consider the mental stress on the U boat crew having to hang about waiting for the bomb to drop while being dive bombed by a Swordfish float plane, only a helicopter would be able to drag the agony out for longer.

@SennaAugustus Год назад

It's indeed funny seeing that Warspite was one of the best users of Swordfish. Not only she had the FAA's first submarine kill, her use of spotter planes was unparalleled, and she could therefore be considered one of the best aircraft carriers.

@Russia-bullies Год назад

Though,I’m a historical warplane fan,the UK’s WW2 fish was more impactful to the war than the Stringbag.

@rogerblu7769 10 месяцев назад

@seanh2390 Год назад

great video!

@timwodzynski7234 Год назад

Makes you proud to be British 🇬🇧🛩️

@chrisstrider Год назад

Deadly stealth bomber

@davidwhittworth1841 9 месяцев назад

Looking for the remainder of the film on HH, can't see it with obvious search terms. Can you link to it, please?

@snarnok Год назад

What is the function of the two curved vertical tubes on the top of the fuselage behind the engine?

@Theshropshireratter Год назад

Only one carrier was used in the attack instead of the 2 planed only can imagine the damage if the full force had been deployed

@crunchestsnack3218 Год назад

biplanes were mostly used during ww1 and lightly in ww2

@skepticalbadger Год назад

No shit.

@CAP198462 Год назад

Lovely views of the English countryside from a very nice plane. Would’ve liked some more details about the fish it dropped. Hollywood tells us the fish had to be dropped dangerously close to the target, but that’s not accurate. How far away did they drop their fish?

@marka5478 Год назад

The only decent airplane built by Fairey in WWII was the Firefly, IMHO.

@guidor.4161 Год назад

Did the swordfish carry the auxiliary fuel tank in the 2nd cockpit for this raid? If yes, the navigators would also have been exposed to fumes and even drenched in fuel as these tanks were notoriously leaky, apparently.

@Trojan-n9t Год назад

The greatest naval attack plane of WW2. (Disclaimer- just by the stats alone, I know, I know!)

@harbourdogNL 11 месяцев назад

5:05 It appears the video has been flopped here...

@curiousuranus810 Год назад

This is not an aircraft to be celebrated - calling it a string bag is not a term of endearment. When assets around the world, as important as those in Britain, had to be protected the RAF got the Spitfire and the Mosquito, and the FAA got this and the Blackburn Roc. The men who flew these 20s hasbeens were the real heros and frankly, anyone who went to war in one of these should have received a VC as a matter of course.

@Cailus3542 Год назад

It is an interesting exercise to consider how the war would've changed if the FAA had a proper monoplane torpedo bomber. The Swordfish did have certain advantages over the Avenger and Kate alongside the obvious disadvantages.

@curiousuranus810 Год назад

I hear what you're saying, but how many Swordfish crew, when presented with the Avenger, said: No, I'll stick with the string bag. @@Cailus3542

@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 Год назад

I think the obsoleteness of the Swordfish may be over stressed. As at the beginning of WW2 biplane fighters were still just about in operational existence, if outclassed by what was more or less the first generation of monoplane fighters. Given its niche operating environment flying from carriers out of the range of land based fighters, and against an enemy with no operational carriers of their own its downside of slow speed was not a huge disadvantage, especially as it allowed take off from carriers in bad weather. (Although I have read of Swordfish loaded down with a torpedo and cruising at an economical speed into a strong headwind, being overtaken on occasion by Italian destroyers advancing to the rear at high speed.) Could anything else have been launched from a carrier taking the sea green over the front end of the flight deck, in an Atlantic storm? The Swordfish was also equipped with air to sea search radar, which was almost Star Wars type tech. in the early 1940's. The old fashioned looking fabric construction also allowed explosive cannon shells to pass right through the aircraft and off into the distance which was useful when you were busy annoying a battleship full of rather angry and confused Germans. Who are somewhat miffed that you are attacking them from below their AA guns and at speeds so slow that they are off the end of their German high tech. super wizzo fire controls allowed range of speed inputs. So obsolete or the last of its kind filling a niche where monoplane technology had not yet quite equalled what could be done with a biplane.

@curiousuranus810 Год назад

Nicely argued but..... Just because an airframe was considered operational at the start of the war, doesn't mean it's a viable aircraft when it meats the enermy for the first time (the Fairy Battle and the Boulton Paul Defiant are prime examples). You mention the Swordfish 'could' be launched in an Atlantic storm, but that's more a case of 'should'. The maddness of war make ordinary men do remarkable things with pour quality equipment that's been forced on them, by civil servants that will never have to use that kit - the Swordfish being the exemplar. There were some outstanding things achieved using the Swordfish, but as soon as the Avenger became available the Swordfish was ditched because it was, and always had been, obsolete. @@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2

@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 Год назад

@@curiousuranus810 The Swordfish remained in service until the end of the war in Europe, by which time it had sunk more enemy tonnage than any other aircraft before or since, so hardly a quick ditching. The Avenger only lasted about a year longer. Its nick name of the String Bag was not a reference to the wires between the wings, but that like the pilots mothers sting shopping bag it could carry almost anything. Torpedoes, bombs, depth charges, mines, flares etc... Having carrying capabilities that modern aircraft lack. Flying your fancy pants jet from your carrier to a shore base? Try attaching your crews bicycles to the wings with string so they will be handily available when you land. :-) As I said it is horses for courses, no enemy fighters, and want to be able to do strikes in bad weather in an Atlantic winter use a Swordfish. (Taking off by starting your run as the bow digs into the sea to get the extra acceleration of a downhill runway, which then raises you up and throws you into the sky as the bow goes over the crest of the next wave may be a bit dicey but inexperienced crews were able to do it in a Swordfish and land back on when they returned. Could a US carrier have launched a strike using their modern monoplanes in those conditions?) Want to attack a Japanese carrier with a fighter defence on a summer day in the Pacific use a heavier faster plane like an Avenger.

@randyhavard6084 Год назад

I think there's an Avenger out there that would argue about the Swordfish being the most iconic torpedo bomber of WW3

@steveshoemaker6347 Год назад

All of this and waiting on part 2 somewhere ? = 👎

@jimmarshall807 Год назад

Bit disappointing that this was essentially an extended trailer for a paid channel, poor show

@bravo2zero796 9 месяцев назад

In a way , its the reason the USA joined the war

@avenaoat Год назад

WHY DID NOT THE AMERICAN LEARNT FROM TARANTO???????????????

@dougearnest7590 11 месяцев назад

There are two types of people: The ones who think things like this only happen elsewhere, and those who know they don't (also called conspiracy theorists).

@davedingbat9965 Год назад

Dan are you a woke person yes or no

@jaybay9595 Год назад

What a load of bullshit a ww2 fighter cockpit hahaha dont make me laugh its ww2 cockpit, the swordfish was made during ww1 not ww2 they had a surplus of swordfish biplanes so British airforce decided to use them during ww2.

@skepticalbadger Год назад

It was NOT made during WW1. You are clueless.

@nicadcock Год назад

would love to fly in a ww 2 plane for sure just 10 mins

@SaturnCanuck Год назад

Amazing. Highlight, the Townend Ring (my great Uncle's invention). Interestingly, the Swordfish outlived it's successor, the Albacore. What a plane On and we have one flying in Canada

@harbourdogNL 11 месяцев назад

Where is there a flying Swordfish in Canada?

@Ndqar 11 месяцев назад

@@harbourdogNLthe Shearwater aviation museum has one that was restored and flown and put on display. It does not fly regularly. It needs some fabric repairs at the moment.

@harbourdogNL 11 месяцев назад

I'll visit next time I'm there...my first years were spent as a kid in Married Quarters in Shearwater. Dad was a CPO in the Navy, and one of the guys who designed the haul down system for the Sea King helicopter. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5EZqthhTMfA.htmlsi=4coXwH6zJUIbQNMD I still have a lot of his papers.@@Ndqar

@ryanfreebody6881 Год назад

Many world firsts achieved by this aircraft. It had the most tonnage sunk, outlived its replacement, Battleship and Submarine hunter. Who would have thought the British that had metal deck aircraft carriers had their greatest naval weapon, which was an old stringbag. Spitfire, Lancaster, Mosquito, and the mighty swordfish were the 4 wonders of Britain.

@Trojan-n9t Год назад

The first point does seem to really hurt peoples feelings. Not the best plane of WW2 clearly, but the stats don't lie, the most successful naval aircraft of the war.

@Trojan-n9t Год назад

Further thought, it's probably the best example of how real world conflict is not like Top Trumps. The Swordfish wouldn't win in any category.

@SennaAugustus 8 месяцев назад

@@Trojan-n9t It's not easy to operationalise versatility, and that's the main strength. Carrying a ridiculous amount of equipment including radar for example, or being able to operate at night (1928 for HMS Furious vs 1944 for USS Independence) or in terrible weather such as the Atlantic or Arctic.