Royal Navy torpedo-bombers vs Axis warships

1939–45

Matthew Willis, Jim Laurier

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781472852489
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781472852458
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

Drawing on rare, historical photography and specially commissioned artwork, Matthew Willis explores the heroic feats of the few Royal Navy's obsolescent biplanes that stood between the state-of-the-art Axis warships and their objectives.

Focusing on the technical specifications of both opponents, using original records, and detailed armament and cockpit views, this book explores the key attributes and drawbacks of the disadvantaged Royal Navy torpedo-bombers against the mighty Regia Marina and Kriegsmarine destroyers and raiders, covering a wide range of sea battles, from the more famous attacks such as the strike on the Bismarck, the tragic events of the Channel Dash or the clash with the Italian battle fleet at Taranto, to less covered sea battles such as the Battle of Matapan.

Despite their powerful weaponry and heavy armour protection, the Axis warships proved vulnerable to a skillfully and audaciously flown torpedo-bomber, thanks to innovative commanders exploiting every possible advantage. Including rare personal recollections from the airmen who flew the torpedo-bombers and historical accounts from the Axis warship crews, this book describes each and every facet of this dramatic duel.

COMBAT

NORWAY

Furious was the first carrier on station when German forces invaded Norway in April 1940, with Swordfish-equipped 816 and 818 NASs embarked. The following morning, Furious launched its Swordfish with torpedoes to attack Kriegsmarine destroyers in Trondheimsfjord after they had transported mountain troops to seize Trondheim. Aircraft from 816 NAS attacked Theodor Riedel, but it had been deliberately beached to provide gunfire support to the troops ashore, and the torpedoes all grounded in the sand. Swordfish from 818 NAS found another destroyer underway, although it was close enough inshore that high ground hampered the aircrafts’ approach. Nevertheless, crews claimed a possible hit, although this was unlikely.

The experience showed that a torpedo attack inshore was reliant on good intelligence of the locale. Thereafter, much effort went into reconnaissance and information gathering about the site of any potential attack. There were few further opportunities for torpedo attack during the Norwegian campaign, which ended ignominiously for the Allies in early June. Attrition had reduced the number of Swordfish in frontline use at that time to 75 – a serious matter, considering there would be no replacements for another six months. Glorious was sunk by the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the withdrawal, without launching a single Swordfish to hit back, leading to the loss of six 823 NAS aircraft. The other half of the squadron was ashore at Hatston, in the Orkneys.

Scharnhorst put into Trondheim with damage from the engagement. On 20 June temporary repairs allowed it to head south with six escorts to Kiel, where the warship was to be dry-docked. The vessels were spotted by an RAF Hudson off Sognefjordan the following day, and the Royal Navy quickly realised that the warships would soon be in range of Swordfish flying from Hatston . . . just. A handful of the torpedo-bombers were available from two under-strength squadrons – 823 NAS, which had lost half of its aircraft with the sinking of Glorious, and 821 NAS, disembarked from Ark Royal.

Armed with 250lb bombs, Swordfish of 821 NAS embarked in Ark Royal in late 1939 or early 1940 run their engines up prior to take off. This squadron took part in the hunt for Graf Spee in October 1939, followed by an unsuccessful strike on Scharnhorst in March 1941. The nearest aircraft is P4216/5A, which transferred to 818 NAS on board Furious in early 1940 and was lost during the Norwegian campaign. (Author’s Collection)

Many of the crews were inexperienced and badly in need of more training, especially in torpedo attack. Six aircraft were scraped together, three from each squadron, and sent out. In many respects, the crews involved displayed considerable skill – their navigation was perfect, intercepting the ships at the point of minimum distance, 240 miles from Hatston, avoiding a wasteful search.

Just after 1600 hrs on 21 June, the destroyer Steinbrinck reported six aircraft approaching at low level from the east. Scharnhorst and its escorts put up a fearsome anti-aircraft barrage, but the Swordfish pressed home their attack through the fire. Here, though, the lack of preparation in anti-ship missions told, and the aircrews failed to split up their attack runs or vary their direction of approach. All the torpedoes were dropped on the same side, allowing Scharnhorst to comb them easily. Two of the Swordfish were brought down by the ships’ anti-aircraft batteries, both from 823 NAS.

One of the returning aircraft had only seven gallons of fuel remaining, demonstrating how small margins were. Even so, with better preparation, the Swordfish might have found more success, but the previous few months had eroded the strength and skill of the Fleet Air Arm’s torpedo-bomber squadrons.

THE MEDITERRANEAN

Following Mussolini’s declaration of war on Britain and France on 10 June 1940, Ark Royal was sent to the Mediterranean to take up station in the western end with Force H at Gibraltar. Covering the eastern end was the old carrier Eagle, based at Alexandria. Pre-war planning assumed that the French Navy would take the lead in the western Mediterranean, but France was already on the brink of defeat.

The first successful attacks on major warships by Fleet Air Arm torpedo-bombers during World War II were, therefore, not against Axis vessels but French warships at Mers-el-Kébir, in French Algeria, and Dakar, in French West Africa, when their crews resisted Royal Navy demands that they disarm. Dunkerque was severely damaged by Ark Royal’s Swordfish on 6 July, and two days later the battleship Richelieu at Dakar suffered a similar fate at the hands of aircraft from HMS Hermes.

While this was taking place, the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria learned an Italian convoy had put into Tobruk, on the Libyan coast. Reconnaissance on 5 July revealed seven destroyers, six merchantmen and numerous smaller escort vessels in port. Eagle disembarked nine Swordfish ashore at Sidi Barrani, on the Egyptian coast, from where they set off, aiming to hit the ships in harbour at dusk.

Despite plenty of warning that an attack was coming from the earlier reconnaissance flights, the Swordfish arrived with complete surprise. Lt Cdr Nicholas Kennedy, the commanding officer of 813 NAS, attacked the destroyer Zeffiro at point-black range, his torpedo detonating the ship’s magazine and breaking its back. The destroyer Euro was also hit and had to be beached to stop it sinking. A merchantman was sunk and two more damaged.

The success of torpedo attacks against ships in port would set a pattern for the Fleet Air Arm for the rest of the year. Its Swordfish squadrons in the Mediterranean would spend much time and effort developing the requisite skills and tactics, culminating in the attack on Taranto in November. Before that though, the Swordfish would finally take part in a fleet engagement in open sea.

On 9 July, the Italian and British battle fleets were each supporting a convoy across the eastern Mediterranean. A British destroyer spotted two Regia Marina battleships and Eagle flew off several Swordfish to pinpoint the opposing fleet. The shortcomings of only having a single carrier, and a small one at that, hampered the Royal Navy as Eagle was unable to maintain a shadower on station and launch a strike at the same time. The Italian fleet changed course while the strike Swordfish were on their way, resulting in the aircraft failing to find the battleships. They did find another group of cruisers at 1330 hrs and attacked, without success.

The Navigatori-class warship Leone Pancaldo of 1929 was initially an ‘esploratore’ (flotilla leader/scout cruiser) before being re-rated as a destroyer in 1938, despite being considerably larger than most vessels of that type – it weighed 2,621 tons when fully loaded. Although the destroyer was sunk at anchor in Augusta harbour by Swordfish from Eagle on 9 July 1940, it was subsequently re-floated on 26 July 1941 and returned to service on 12 December 1942. Leone Pancaldo was sunk by Allied air attack for a second time on 30 April 1943. (Author’s Collection)

A second strike a few hours later located the battleships again, but the flight leader mistook the cruiser Bolzano for a battleship and all aircraft attacked it, again without success, despite the strike being described by the leader as ‘very well executed and pressed well home’. The Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, called off the action (later known as the Battle of Calabria) before a third strike could be flown off. Cunningham expressed disappointment in the Swordfish attacks, while accepting that the pilots had not had much opportunity for practice...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chronology
• Design and Development
• Technical Specifications
• The Strategic Situation
• The Combatants
• Combat
• Statistics and Analysis
• Aftermath
• Further Reading
• eCopyright