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Fairey Barracuda

1943 COLD WAR WORLD WAR 2

The Story of Fairey Barracuda

The Royal Navy's Fleet Aviation (FAA) attempted to replace its aging WWII (1939-1945) series of Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers with several more modern designs - the Fairey "Albacore" and the Fairey "Barracuda" - but None of this can replicate the success and popularity of the swordfish in the 1930s. The Albacore is a serviceable aircraft, but with a range of less than 800, the crew still loves her sturdy Swordfish platform.

The Barracuda was limited by engine choices throughout its career, and was further delayed from service by wartime British production commitments. All of the above Fairey Aviation aircraft are designed around the role of torpedo delivery, with conventional bombing as secondary bombs.

Fairey Barracuda Appears on page 24/37 of the 1937 specification, which calls for the use of state-of-the-art fast monoplane bombers. Since the albacore was designed to succeed the swordfish, the barracuda was also developed to succeed the albacore, which by default served throughout the war years despite its age. The Barracuda will be powered by an under-development Rolls-Royce "Exe" engine (named after the River Exe), which promises the required performance. A long three-person cockpit sits under an equally long greenhouse-like canopy.

Window panes were installed on both sides of the hull for a better view of the surrounding terrain. The engine is mounted in the front of the fuselage, while the conventional fin is mounted in the rear of the fuselage - the level of the fin is set high on a single rudder fin. Wing main aircraft are straight, high-mounted appendages, unlike the bi-wing arrangement used by swordfish and albacore.

Wheeled trailing undercarriages are installed, only the main legs are retractable.

The fixed armament of the aircraft is 2 x 7.7mm Vickers K machine guns located in the rear cockpit position. Maximum bomb load is approximately 1,800 lbs or 1 x 1,620 lb torpedoes.

Development of the Rolls-Royce engine began in the 1930s for the new generation of FAA aircraft - the Barracuda was one of its first prime candidates. However, work on the powerplant ceased in August 1939 and all commitments officially ended the following year, so the Barracuda prototype was equipped with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 engine under 1,260 hp driving a three-bladed propeller unit.

The eventual abandonment of the Exe engine greatly delayed the Barracuda program and significantly lowered performance expectationsespecially since the Barracuda was designed with specific specialized equipment in mind, making it a natural large, heavy aircraft.

The first flight was not recorded until 7 December 1940, when Britain was fully involved in another world war in Europe. As expected, the aircraft underperformed due to its weight and engine installation, and testing ended up involving two prototypes (P1767 and P1770 - Fairey Company Model 100). This resulted in the initial 30 production models - the Barracuda Mk I - being primarily seen as field evaluations and trainers. By the time the Barracuda Mk II was a production model, the engine had been replaced by a 1,640-horsepower Rolls-Royce Merlin 32, which now drives a four-bladed propeller unit.

The Mk II eventually became the dominant form of production, with 1,688 built. The Barracuda Mk III arrived later and had an ASV III radar installed in the aft hull blisters for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions, 852 of the brand's completed. The Mk IV became the permanently discontinued Barracuda with a Rolls-Royce Griffon 1,850 hp engine. Its prototype first flew in November 1944, but the design was later abandoned in favor of the Fairey "Spearfish". The Barracuda Mk V was the last, with a 2,020 hp Rolls-Royce Griffon 37 engine and ASH radar (the latter mounted under the port wing).

Only 37 examples of this model were built.

Even after ordering them for mass production, UK factories were slow to supply Barracudas to the FAA front-line troops, as many of the resources were tied to meeting Royal Air Force (RAF) requirements. The first Mk I models entered service in January 1943 (via 827th Squadron) and operated over the North Atlantic, initially from the deck of HMS Illustrious near Norway (July 1943). During the Allied advance on Italy, the Barracuda was further caught up in the fighting during the Salerno landing (Operation Avalanche). The Barracuda was eventually deployed to combat operations in the Pacific during 1944 and remained one of the most prominent British aircraft in the region until the end of the war in September 1945. The Barracuda's greatest aerial glory came in April 1943, when she engaged the German battleship Tirpitz, which was hit directly by British bombers.

While the warship didn't sink outright, the damage was enough to take the mighty ship out of service for about two months.

Fairey Barracuda Large and relatively slow, rose to prominence in global conflicts. Like any other family of aircraft, the route suffered casualties, and accidental crashes were fairly common, although the latter was blamed for an ether leak in the hydraulic source that left the pilot unconscious in flight.

Nonetheless, the aircraft became a proven battlefield performer and made an important contribution to the British cause of World War II, helping to fully secure the eventual victory over the Axis powers.

Fairey, Blackburn, Boulton Paul and Westland were involved in the production of Barracuda. Both the Royal Canadian Navy and the Dutch Exiles issued this type in the war service. The French operated the Barracuda only a few years after the war (through the Luftwaffe branch).

The RAF also carries the model through the 567th, 618th, 667th, 679th and 691st Squadrons.