Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter , often referred to as simply the Beau , was a British long - range heavy fighter derivative of the Bristol Aeroplane Company ' s earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design . The name Beaufighter is a portmanteau of " Beaufort " and " fighter " . Unlike the Beaufort , the Beaufighter had a long career and served in almost all theatres of war in the Second World War , first as a night fighter , then as a fighter bomber and eventually replacing the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber . A variant was built in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production ( DAP ) and was known in Australia as the DAP Beaufighter . Design and development . The idea of a fighter development of the Beaufort was suggested to the Air Ministry by Bristol . The suggestion coincided with the delays in the development and production of the Westland Whirlwind cannon - armed twin - engine fighter . Bristol made proposals of a fixed four cannon version and a turret fighter with twin cannons ; the former was preferred by the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff . As a torpedo bomber and " general reconnaissance " aircraft the Beaufort had moderate performance but for fighter - like performance Bristol suggested their new Hercules engines in place of the Beaufort ' s Taurus ( another Bristol engine ) . Since the " Beaufort Cannon Fighter " was a conversion of an existing design , development and production could be expected far more quickly than with a completely fresh design . Accordingly , the Air Ministry produced draft Specification F . 11 / 37 written around Bristol ' s suggestion for an " interim " aircraft pending proper introduction of the Whirlwind . Bristol started building a prototype by taking a part - built Beaufort out of the production line . This conversion would speed the process - Bristol had promised series production in early 1940 on the basis of an order being placed in February 1939 - and the Ministry ordered two prototypes from the line and two built from scratch . Although it had been expected that maximum re - use of Beaufort components would speed the process , the fuselage needed more work than expected and had to be completely redesigned . As such the first prototype flew for the first time on 17 July 1939 , a little more than eight months after the design had started , possibly due to the use of much of the Beaufort ' s design and parts . A production contract for 300 machines " off the drawing board " had already been placed two weeks before the prototype F . 17 / 39 even flew . The first prototype achieved 335 mph ( 539 km / h ) at 16 , 800 ft ( 5 , 120 m ) , the second prototype when laden with operational equipment was slower at 309 mph at 15 , 000 ft . Large orders were placed with the start of the Second World War but this meant an expected shortage of Hercules engines . In February 1940 , conversion of three aircraft to Merlins was ordered ; success with the design was expected to lead to production aircraft in 1941 . The engine installations were the same as those used outboard on the Avro Lancaster being matched to the Beaufighter wing through an extra section . The first Merlin powered aircraft flew in June 1940 . In general , the differences between the Beaufort and Beaufighter were minor . The wings , control surfaces , retractable landing gear and aft section of the fuselage were identical to those of the Beaufort , while the wing centre section was similar apart from certain fittings . The bomb bay was omitted , and four forward - firing 20 mm Hispano Mk III cannon s were mounted in the lower fuselage area . These were initially fed from 60 - round drums , requiring the radar operator to change the ammunition drums manually — an arduous and unpopular task , especially at night and while chasing a bomber . As a result , they were soon replaced by a belt - feed system . The cannons were supplemented by six . 303 in ( 7 . 7 mm ) Browning machinegun s in the wings ( four starboard , two port , the asymmetry caused by the port mounting of the landing light ) . This was one of the heavier , if not the heaviest , fighter armament of its time , exceeded only by the later marks of the American B - 25 gunship medium bomber with up to fourteen forward - aimed 0 . 5 in ( 12 . 7 mm ) machine guns . When Beaufighters were developed as fighter - torpedo bombers , they used their firepower ( often the machine guns were removed anyway ) to suppress flak fire and hit enemy ships , especially escort and small vessels . The areas for the rear gunner and bomb - aimer were removed , leaving only the pilot in a fighter - type cockpit . The navigator / radar operator sat to the rear under a small Perspex bubble where the Beaufort ' s dorsal turret had been . The Bristol Taurus engines of the Beaufort were not powerful enough for a fighter and were replaced by the more powerful Bristol Hercules . The extra power presented problems with vibration ; in the final design they were mounted on longer , more flexible struts , which extended from the front of the wings . This moved the centre of gravity ( CoG ) forward , an undesirable feature in aircraft design . It was moved back by shortening the nose , as no space was needed for a bomb aimer in a fighter . This put most of the fuselage behind the wing , and restored the CoG back where it should be . With the engine cowlings and propellers now further forward than the tip of the nose , the Beaufighter had a characteristically stubby appearance . Production of the Beaufort in Australia , and the highly successful use of British - made Beaufighters by the Royal Australian Air Force , led to Beaufighters being built by the Australian Department of Aircraft Production ( DAP ) from 1944 onwards . The DAP ' s variant was an attack / torpedo bomber known as the Mark 21 : design changes included Hercules VII or XVIII engines and some minor changes in armament . By the time British production lines shut down in September 1945 , 5 , 564 Beaufighters had been built in Britain , by Bristol and also by Fairey Aviation Company at Stockport and RAF Ringway ( 498 ) ; Ministry of Aircraft Production ( 3336 ) and Rootes at Speke ( 260 ) . When Australian production ceased in 1946 , 365 Mk . 21s had been built . Operational service . By fighter standards , the Beaufighter Mk . I was rather heavy and slow . It had an all - up weight of 16 , 000 lb ( 7 , 000 kg ) and a maximum speed of only 335 mph ( 540 km / h ) at 16 , 800 ft ( 5 , 000 m ) . Nevertheless , this was all that was available at the time , as further production of the otherwise excellent Westland Whirlwind had already been stopped due to problems with production of its Rolls - Royce Peregrine engines . The first Beaufighter was delivered to RAF Tangmere for trials with the Fighter Interception Unit on 12 August 1940 , and the first operational machines were received by 29 Squadron and 604 Squadron on 2 September . The Beaufighter came off the production line at almost exactly the same time as the first British Airborne Interception ( AI ) night fighter radar sets . With the four 20 mm cannon mounted in the lower fuselage , the nose could accommodate the radar antennas , and the general spaciousness of the fuselage enabled the AI equipment to be fitted easily . Even loaded to 20 , 000 lb ( 9 , 100 kg ) the aircraft was fast enough to catch German bombers . By early 1941 , it was an effective counter to " Luftwaffe " night raids . The various early models of the Beaufighter soon commenced service overseas , where its ruggedness and reliability soon made the aircraft popular with crews although it was heavy on the controls and not easy to fly , good landings being a particular challenge . A night - fighter Mk VIF was supplied to squadrons in March 1942 , equipped with AI Mark VIII radar . As the faster de Havilland Mosquito took over in the night fighter role in mid to late 1942 , the heavier Beaufighters made valuable contributions in other areas such as anti - shipping , ground attack and long - range interdiction in every major theatre of operations . In the Mediterranean , the USAAF ' s 414th , 415th , 416th and 417th Night Fighter Squadrons received 100 Beaufighters in the summer of 1943 , achieving their first victory in July 1943 . Through the summer the squadrons conducted both daytime convoy escort and ground - attack operations , but primarily flew defensive interception missions at night . Although the Northrop P - 61 Black Widow fighter began to arrive in December 1944 , USAAF Beaufighters continued to fly night operations in Italy and France until late in the war . By the autumn of 1943 , the Mosquito was available in enough numbers to replace the Beaufighter as the primary night fighter of the RAF . By the end of the war some seventy pilots serving with RAF units had become ace s while flying Beaufighters . At least one captured Beaufighter was operated by the German Luftwaffe – a photograph exists of the aircraft in flight , with German markings . Coastal Command . 1941 saw the development of the Beaufighter Mk . IC long - range heavy fighter . This new variant entered service in May 1941 with a detachment from No . 252 Squadron operating from Malta . The aircraft proved so effective in the Mediterranean against shipping , aircraft and ground targets that Coastal Command became the major user of the Beaufighter , replacing the now obsolete Beaufort and Blenheim . Coastal Command began to take delivery of the up - rated Mk . VIC in mid - 1942 . By the end of 1942 Mk VICs were being equipped with torpedo - carrying gear , enabling them to carry the British 18 in ( 450 mm ) or the US 22 . 5 in ( 572 mm ) torpedo externally . The first successful torpedo attacks by Beaufighters came in April 1943 , with No . 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 designated the Mk . XIC . Beaufighter TF Xs would make precision attacks on shipping at wave - top height with torpedoes or " 60lb " RP - 3 rockets . Early models of the Mk Xs carried centimetric - wavelength ASV ( air - to - surface vessel ) radar with " herringbone " antennae carried 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 which combined large formations of Beaufighters using cannon 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 a 10 - month period , 29 , 762 tons ( 27 , 000 tonnes ) of shipping were sunk . Tactics were further adapted when shipping was moved from port during the night . North Coates Strike Wing operated as the largest anti - shipping force of the Second World War , and accounted for over 150 , 000 tons ( 136 , 100 tonnes ) of shipping and 117 vessels for a loss of 120 Beaufighters and 241 aircrew killed or missing . This was half the total tonnage sunk by all strike wings between 1942 and 1945 . Pacific war . The Beaufighter arrived at squadrons in Asia and the Pacific in mid - 1942 . It has often been said — although it was originally a piece of RAF whimsy quickly taken up by a British journalist — that Japanese soldiers referred to the Beaufighter as " whispering death " , supposedly because attacking aircraft often were not heard ( or seen ) until too late . The Beaufighter ' s Hercules engines used sleeve valve s which lacked the noisy valve gear common to poppet valve engines . This was most apparent in a reduced noise level at the front of the engine . Southeast Asia . In the South - East Asian Theatre , the Beaufighter Mk VIF operated from India on night operations against Japanese lines of communication in Burma and Thailand . The high - speed , low - level attacks were very effective , despite often atrocious weather conditions , and makeshift repair and maintenance facilities . Southwest Pacific . Before DAP Beaufighters arrived at Royal Australian Air Force units in the South West Pacific theatre , the Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC was employed in anti - shipping missions . The most famous of these was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea , where they were used in the fire - suppression role in a mixed force with USAAF A - 20 Boston and B - 25 Mitchell bombers . No . 30 Squadron RAAF Beaufighters flew in at mast height to provide heavy suppressive fire for the waves of attacking bombers . The Japanese convoy , under the impression that they were under torpedo attack , made the fatal tactical error of turning their ships towards the Beaufighters , who inflicted maximum damage on the ships ' anti - aircraft guns , bridges and crews during strafing runs with their four 20 mm nose cannons and six wing - mounted . 303 in ( 7 . 7 mm ) machine guns . The Japanese ships were left exposed to mast - height bombing and skip bombing attacks by the US medium bomber s . Eight transports and four destroyers were sunk for the loss of five aircraft , including one Beaufighter . Postwar . From late 1944 , RAF Beaufighter units were engaged in the Greek Civil War , finally withdrawing in 1946 . The Beaufighter was also used by the air forces of Portugal , Turkey and the Dominican Republic . It was used briefly by the Israeli Air Force when some ex RAF examples were clandestinely purchased in 1948 . Many Mark 10 aircraft were converted to the target tug role postwar as the TT . 10 and served with several RAF support units until 1960 . The last flight of a Beaufighter in RAF service was by TT . 10 " RD761 " from RAF Seletar on 12 May 1960 . A Beaufighter appears in the 1958 film " Ice Cold in Alex " where it drops a message to the crew of the fleeing ambulance . Survivors . Additionally , a number of sunken aircraft are known to exist . In 2005 , the wreck of a Beaufighter ( probably a MK IC flown by Sgt Donald Frazie and navigator Sgt Sandery of No . 272 Squadron RAF ) was identified about half a mile off the north coast of Malta . The aircraft ditched in March 1943 after an engine failure occurred soon after takeoff and lies inverted on the sea bed in of water . Another Mediterranean wreck lies in of water near the Greek island of Paros . This is possibly Beaufighter TF X " LX998 " of 603 Squadron , which was shot down after destroying a German Arado Ar 196 during an anti - shipping mission in November 1943 , the Australian crew survived and were rescued by a British submarine . A MK VIC Beaufighter , serial A19 - 130 , lies in of water , just off the coast of Fergusson Island in the western Pacific . It was lost in almost identical circumstances to the Malta aircraft – it ditched in August 1943 after an engine failure soon after takeoff . The aircraft sank within seconds , but all three crew escaped and swam to shore . The wreck was located in 2000 . The Midland Air Museum , Coventry , England has a Beaufighter cockpit section on public display . Its identity is thought possibly to be " T5298 " .