page_title: Bristol Beaufighter
section_title: Coastal Command
hierarchical_section_title: Bristol Beaufighter / Operational service / Coastal Command
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Coastal Command, 1939-1945. The crew of a Bristol Beaufighter Mark VIC (ITF) of No 144 Squadron RAF stand by the cockpit of their aircraft at a dispersal at Tain, Ross-shire. The Interim Torpedo Fighter, or "Torbeau" as this version was known, is armed with a Mark XII aerial torpedo. Note the aerial camera port in the nose.
context_page_description: The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter was a multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the UK. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. The Beaufighter proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, its large size allowing it to carry heavy armament and early airborne interception radar without major performance penalties.
  The Beaufighter was used in many roles; receiving the nicknames Rockbeau for its use as a rocket-armed ground attack aircraft and Torbeau as a torpedo bomber against Axis shipping, in which it replaced the Beaufort. In later operations, it served mainly as a maritime strike/ground attack aircraft, RAF Coastal Command having operated the largest number of Beaufighters amongst all other commands at one point. The Royal Australian Air Force also made extensive use of the type as an anti-shipping aircraft, such as during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
context_section_description: It was recognised that RAF Coastal Command required a long-range heavy fighter aircraft such as the Beaufighter and in early 1941, Bristol proceeded with the development of the Beaufighter Mk. IC long-range fighter. Based on the standard Mk I model, the initial batch of 97 Coastal Command Beaufighters were hastily manufactured, making it impossible to incorporate the intended additional wing fuel tanks on the production line and so 50-gallon tanks from the Vickers Wellington were temporarily installed on the floor between the cannon bays.
  In April/May 1941, this new variant of the Beaufighter entered squadron service in a detachment from 252 Squadron operating from Malta. This inaugural deployment with the squadron proved to be highly successful, leading to the type being retained in that theatre throughout the remainder of the war. In June 1941, the Beaufighter-equipped 272 Squadron based on Malta claimed the destruction of 49 enemy aircraft and the damaging of 42 more. The Beaufighter was reputedly very effective in the Mediterranean against Axis shipping, aircraft and ground targets; Coastal Command was, at one point, the majority user of the Beaufighter, replacing its inventory of obsolete Beaufort and Blenheim aircraft. To meet demand, both the Fairey and Weston production lines were, at times, only producing Coastal Command Beaufighters.
  In 1941, to intensify offensive air operations against Germany and deter the deployment of Luftwaffe forces onto the Eastern Front, Coastal Command Beaufighters began offensive operations over France and Belgium, attacking enemy shipping in European waters. In December 1941, Beaufighters participated in Operation Archery, providing suppressing fire while British Commandos landed on the occupied Norwegian island of Vågsøy. In 1942, long range patrols of the Bay of Biscay were routinely conducted by Beaufighters, intercepting aircraft such as the Ju-88 and Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor operating against Allied anti-submarine patrols. Beaufighters also cooperated with the British Eighth Army during action in the Western Desert Campaign, often in the form of ground strafing.
  In mid-1942, Coastal Command began to take delivery of the improved Beaufighter Mk. VIC. By the end of 1942, Mk VICs were being equipped with torpedo-carrying gear for the British 18 in (450 mm) or the US 22.5 in (572 mm) torpedo externally; observers were not happy about carrying the torpedo, as they were unable to use the escape hatch until after the torpedo had been dropped. In April 1943, the first successful torpedo attacks by Beaufighters was performed by 254 Squadron, sinking two merchant ships off Norway.
  The Hercules Mk XVII, developing 1,735 hp (1,294 kW) at 500 ft (150 m), was installed in the Mk VIC airframe to produce the TF Mk.X (torpedo fighter), commonly known as the "Torbeau". The Mk X became the main production mark of the Beaufighter. The strike variant of the Torbeau was called the Mk.XIC. Beaufighter TF Xs could make precision attacks on shipping at wave-top height with torpedoes or RP-3 (60 lb) rockets. Early models of the Mk X carried centimetric-wavelength ASV (air-to-surface vessel) radar with "herringbone" antennae on the nose and outer wings, but this was replaced in late 1943 by the centimetric AI Mark VIII radar housed in a "thimble-nose" radome, enabling all-weather and night attacks.
  The North Coates Strike Wing of Coastal Command, based at RAF North Coates on the Lincolnshire coast, developed tactics that combined large formations of Beaufighters, using cannons and rockets, to suppress flak, while the Torbeaus attacked at low level with torpedoes. These tactics were put into practice in mid-1943 and in ten months, 29,762 tons (84,226 m³) of shipping were sunk. Tactics were further refined, when shipping was moved from port during the night. The North Coates Strike Wing operated as the largest anti-shipping force of the Second World War, and accounted for over 150,000 tons (424,500 m³) of shipping and 117 vessels for a loss of 120 Beaufighters and 241 aircrew killed or missing. This was ha
caption: A Mark VIC loaded with an 
  18-inch Mark XII torpedo
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