Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber biplane designed by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War . Originating in the 1930s , the Swordfish , nicknamed " Stringbag " , was an outdated design by the start of the war in 1939 , but remained in front - line service until VE Day , outliving several types intended to replace it . It was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft ; during its later years it was used as an anti - submarine and training craft . The Swordfish achieved some spectacular successes , notably the sinking of one and damaging two battleships of the " Regia Marina " ( the Italian Navy ) in the Battle of Taranto and the famous crippling of the " Bismarck " . Design and development . The Swordfish was based on a Fairey design for the Greek Naval Air Service , who asked for a replacement of their Fairey IIIF Mk . IIIB aircraft , and on specifications M . 1 / 30 and S . 9 / 30 , issued by the Air Ministry , the work having been initiated as a private venture ( PV ) . The company informed the Air Ministry of their work on the Greek order ( that country ' s interest eventually waned ) and proposed its solution to the requirements for a spotter - reconnaissance plane , spotter referring to observing the fall of a warship ' s gunfire . A subsequent Air Ministry Specification S . 15 / 33 , added the torpedo bomber role . The " Torpedo - Spotter - Reconnaissance " prototype TSR II ( the PV was the TSR I ) first flew on 17 April 1934 . It was a large biplane with a metal airframe covered in fabric , and utilized folding wing s as a space - saving feature for aircraft carrier use . An order was placed in 1935 and the aircraft entered service in 1936 with the Fleet Air Arm ( then part of the RAF ) , replacing the Seal in the torpedo bomber role . By 1939 , the Fleet Air Arm ( now under Royal Navy control ) had thirteen squadrons equipped with the Swordfish Mark I . There were also three flights of Swordfish equipped with floats , for use off aircraft catapult - equipped warship s . One from spotted fall of shot and radioed gunnery corrections back to the ship during the Second Battle of Narvik in 1940 , and subsequently sank the U - boat " U - 64 " . The Swordfish pioneered the use of air to surface vessel radar ( ASV ) , by carrier - borne aircraft to locate surface ships at night and through clouds . Swordfish flew from merchant aircraft carrier s ( " MAC ships " ) , twenty civilian cargo or tanker ships modified to carry three or four aircraft each , on anti - submarine duties with convoys . Three of these ships were Dutch - manned , flying Swordfish from 860 ( Dutch ) Naval Air Squadron . The others were manned by pilots and aircrew from 836 Naval Air Squadron , at one time the largest squadron , with 91 aircraft . When production ended on 18 August 1944 , almost 2 , 400 had been built , 692 by Fairey and 1 , 699 ( sometimes called the " Blackfish " ) in Sherburn by the Blackburn Aircraft Company . The most numerous version was the Mark II , of which 1 , 080 were made . Operational history . The primary weapon was the aerial torpedo , but the low speed of the biplane and the need for a long straight approach made it difficult to deliver against well - defended targets . Swordfish torpedo doctrine called for an approach at 5 , 000 ft ( 1 , 500 m ) followed by a dive to torpedo release altitude of 18 ft ( 5 . 5 m ) . Maximum range of the early Mark XII torpedo was 1 , 500 yd ( 1400 m ) at 40 knots ( 74 km / h ) and 3 , 500 yd ( 3200 m ) at 27 knots ( 50 km / h ) . The torpedo travelled 200 yd ( 180 m ) forward from release to water impact , and required another 300 yd ( 270 m ) to stabilise at preset depth and arm itself . Ideal release distance was 1 , 000 yd ( 900 m ) from target if the Swordfish survived to that distance . Swordfish — flying from the British aircraft carrier — made a very significant strike on 11 November 1940 against the Italian navy during the Battle of Taranto , Italy , sinking or disabling three Italian battleships and a cruiser lying at anchor . In the aftermath , Taranto was visited by the Japanese naval attache from Berlin , who later briefed the staff who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor . Swordfish also flew anti - shipping sorties from Malta . In May 1941 , a Swordfish strike from was vital in damaging the German battleship " Bismarck " , preventing it from escaping to France . The low speed of the attacking aircraft may have acted in their favour , as the planes were too slow for the fire - control predictors of the German gunners , whose shells exploded so far in front of the aircraft that the threat of shrapnel damage was greatly diminished . At least some of the Swordfish flew so low that most of the " Bismarck " ' s flak weapons were unable to depress enough to hit them . The Swordfish aircraft scored two hits ; one did little damage , but the other jammed " Bismarck " s rudders with 15° port helm on , making the warship unmanueverable ; it sank after intense Royal Navy attack within 13 hours . The problems with the aircraft were starkly demonstrated in February 1942 when during the Channel Dash an attack on German battleship s by six Swordfish led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde resulted in the loss of all aircraft with no damage to the ships . Lack of fighter cover was a contributory factor ; only ten of eighty - four promised fighters were available . Thirteen of the eighteen Swordfish crew were killed ; Esmonde , who had also led an attack on " Bismarck " , was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously . The courage of the Swordfish crews was noted by the commanders on both sides : British Vice - Admiral Bertram Ramsay later wrote " In my opinion the gallant sortie of these six Swordfish aircraft constitutes one of the finest exhibitions of self - sacrifice and devotion to duty the war had ever witnessed " , and German Vice Admiral Otto Ciliax remarked on " . . . the mothball attack of a handful of ancient planes , piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day " . After more modern torpedo attack aircraft were developed , the Swordfish was soon redeployed successfully in an anti - submarine role , armed with depth charge s or eight " 60 lb " ( 27 kg ) RP - 3 rockets and flying from the smaller escort carriers , or even Merchant Aircraft Carriers ( MAC ) when equipped for rocket - assisted takeoff ( RATO ) . Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal for operation from the MAC carriers in the often severe mid Atlantic weather . Indeed , its takeoff and landing speeds were so low that it did not require the carrier to be steaming into the wind , unlike most carrier - based aircraft . On occasion , when the wind was right , Swordfish were flown from a carrier at anchor . Swordfish - equipped units accounted for 14 U - boats destroyed . The Swordfish was to be replaced by the Albacore , also a biplane , but outlived its intended successor and was succeeded by the Fairey Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber . The last of 2 , 392 Swordfish aircraft was delivered in August 1944 . Operational sorties continued in to January 1945 with anti - shipping operations off Norway ( FAA Squadrons 835 and 813 ) , where the Swordfish ' s manoeuvrability was essential . The last operational squadron was disbanded on 21 May 1945 , after the fall of Germany , and the last training squadron was disbanded in the summer of 1946 . Origin of the " Stringbag " nickname . The Swordfish was nicknamed " Stringbag " not because of its biplane struts , spars , and braces , but because of the seemingly endless variety of stores and equipment that the aircraft was cleared to carry . Crews likened the aircraft to a housewife ' s string shopping bag , common at the time and which could accommodate contents of any shape . Like the shopping bag , the crews felt that the Swordfish could carry anything . Swordfish 4A was first to fall into Italian hands in the aftermath of the Battle of Taranto , in poor condition . Operators . Swordfish K8422 of HMS " Eagle " was shot down and captured during a raid on Maritza airfield , Rhodes on 4 September 1940 . Evaluated at Guidonia Test Centre and kept serviceable until mid - 1941 with spare parts coming from captured Swordfish K8422 ( 4H ) . Swordfish P4127 ( coded 4F ) of 820 squadron on HMS Ark Royal , involved in bombing raid on Cagliari , Sardinia . Hit by ground fire , it force - landed on the enemy airfield at Elmas on 2 August 1940 . The crew were taken POW and the aircraft captured intact . Caproni repaired it locally and fitted it with an Alfa Romeo 125 engine . It was taken to the Stabilimento Costruzioni Aeronautiche in Guidonia on 27 February 1941 . It was still listed as being there 6 April 1942 . Swordfish W5843 of 813 squadron at North Front , Gibraltar , lost its bearings during an anti - submarine sweep and force landed between Ras el Farea and Pota Pescadores , in Spanish Morocco , on 30 April 1942 . The crew were all interned . The final fate of the aircraft is not known . Swordfish P4073 of 700 squadron of HMS Malaya ran out of fuel whilst shadowing the German battleship " Scharnhorst " on 8 March 1942 . Aircraft and crew were interned in Spain . The Swordfish was put on the strength of the Spanish airforce as HR6 - 1 on 6 December 1943 with 54 Escuadrilla , Puerto de le Cruz , Tenerife , Canary Islands . Retired March 1945 at Las Palmas , Gran Canaria . Surviving aircraft . " This is an incomplete list . "