Fairey Barracuda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Barracuda

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber used
during the Second World War, the first of its type used by the Royal Navy's
Fleet Air Arm to be fabricated entirely from metal. It was introduced as a
replacement for the Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore biplanes. It is notable
for its role in attacking the German battleship Tirpitz, and known for its
ungainly appearance on the ground.

The Barracuda resulted from Air Ministry Specification S.24/37 issued in 1937
for a monoplane torpedo bomber to meet Operational Requirement OR.35. Of the six
submissions, the designs of Fairey Aviation and Supermarine (Type 322) were
selected and two prototypes of each ordered. The first Fairey prototype flew on
7 December 1940. The Supermarine Type 322 first flew in 1943 but with the
Barracuda already in production it did not progress further.

The Barracuda was a shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane with an oval, all-metal
fuselage. It had a retractable landing gear and non-retracting tailwheel. The
hydraulically-operated main landing gear struts were of an "L" shape and
retracted into a recess in the side of the fuselage, with the wheels held in the
wing. A flush arrestor hook was fitted ahead of the tail wheel. The crew of
three were in tandem under a continuous glazed canopy. The pilot had a sliding
canopy and the other two crew members' canopy was hinged. The two rear-crew had
alternate locations in the fuselage, with the navigator having bay windows below
the wings for downward visibility. The wings had large Fairey-Youngman flaps
that doubled as dive brakes. Originally fitted with a conventional tail, flight
tests suggested stability would be improved by mounting the stabiliser higher,
similar to a T-tail, which was implemented on the second prototype. For carrier
stowage, the wings folded back horizontally at the roots; the peculiar small
vertical protrusions on the upper wingtips held hooks that attached to the
horizontal stabilizers.

Pilots came to appreciate the powerful flaps / airbrakes; carrier landings were
simple due to the flaps and good visibility from the cockpit. Retracting the
airbrakes at high speeds, whilst simultaneously applying rudder caused a sudden
change in trim which could throw the aircraft into an inverted dive. This proved
fatal on at least five occasions during practice torpedo runs, but the problem
was identified, and appropriate pilot instructions issued, before the aircraft
entered carrier service.

During the earlier part of its service life, the Barracuda suffered a fairly
high rate of unexplained fatal crashes, often involving experienced pilots. In
1945 this was traced to small leaks developing in the hydraulic system. The most
common point for the leak was at the point of entry to the pilot's pressure
gauge and was situated such that the resulting spray went straight into the
pilot's face. The chosen hydraulic fluid contained ether and as the aircraft
rarely were equipped with oxygen masks (and few aircrew wore them below 10,000
ft/3,000 m anyway) the pilot quickly became unconscious leading to a crash. An
Admiralty order issued at the end of May 1945 required all examples of the type
to be fitted with oxygen as soon as possible, and for pilots to use the system
at all times.


Role
Torpedo bomber, dive bomber

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Fairey Aviation
Blackburn Aircraft
Boulton Paul
Westland Aircraft

First flight
7 December 1940

Introduction
10 January 1943

Primary user
Royal Navy

Produced
1941–1945

Number built
2,607

The first Barracudas entered service on 10 January 1943 with 827 Squadron and
were deployed in the North Atlantic. A total of 24 front-line squadrons were
eventually equipped with Barracudas. From 1944 onwards, the Mk IIs were
accompanied in service by radar-equipped, but otherwise similar, Mk IIIs, which
were used for anti-submarine work.

Barracudas were used as dive bombers and played a part in a major attack on the
German battleship Tirpitz. On 3 April 1944 (Operation Tungsten), 42 aircraft
from British carriers HMS Victorious and Furious scored 14 direct hits on
Tirpitz with 1,600 lb (730 kg) and 500 lb (230 kg) bombs at the cost of one
bomber. The attack disabled Tirpitz for over two months. However, the slow speed
of the Barracudas contributed to the failure of the Operation Mascot and
Operation Goodwood attacks on Tirpitz during July and August.

The Barracuda's primary problem in the Pacific was the need to fly over
Indonesian mountain ranges to strike at targets on the eastern side of Java,
which necessitated a high-altitude performance that the Barracuda's
low-altitude-rated Merlin 32 engine with single stage supercharger could not
provide. Additionally, carrying maximum underwing bomb loads caused extra drag
which further reduced performance over a Barracuda armed with a torpedo. However
the Light Fleet Carriers of the 11th ACS which joined the BPF in June 1945 were
all equipped with a single Barracuda and single Corsair squadron, so by VJ day
the BPF had five Avenger and four Barracuda squadrons embarked on its carriers.

The Barracuda continued in Fleet Air Arm service until the mid-1950s, by which
time they were all replaced by Avengers.

Specifications (Barracuda Mk II)

General characteristics
Crew: 3
Length: 39 ft 9 in (12.12 m)
Wingspan: 49 ft 2 in (14.99 m)
Height: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Wing area: 405 ft² (37.62 m²)
Empty weight: 9,350 lb (4,250 kg)
Loaded weight: 13,200 lb (6,000 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 14,100 lb (6,409 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 32 liquid-cooled V12 engine, 1,640 hp (1,225
kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 228 mph (198 kn, 367 km/h) at 1,750 ft (533 m)
Cruise speed: 195 mph (170 kn, 314 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
Range: 686 mi (597 nmi, 1,104 km) with 1,620 lb (736 kg) torpedo
Service ceiling: 16,600 ft (5,080 m)
Wing loading: 32.6 lb/ft² (159 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.12 hp/lb (0.20 kW/kg)
Climb to 5,000 ft (1,524 m): 6 min

Armament

Guns: 2 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns in rear cockpit
Bombs: 1× 1,620 lb (735 kg) aerial torpedo or 4× 450 lb (205 kg) depth charges
or 6× 250 lb (110 kg) bombs





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