The Fairey Swordfish is a [[biplane]] used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during [[World War II|World War II]].

Its crew of three sat in open cockpits, surrounded by a multitude of bracing wires. Power was provided by a Bristol Pegasus radial engine. Slow and obsolete, the 1930s-era "Stringbag" nevertheless achieved some spectacular successes during its service life, which extended all the way to 1946. Most notably the sinking of the battleship [[Bismarck (battleship)|]], in which the German anti-air gunners were not trained to fight against slow-flying yet highly agile aircraft, resulting in overshooting and missing the plane entirely.

Armament included one .303 caliber (7.7mm) [[machine gun]] for the pilot and one for the radio operator/gunner. For attack duties, the Swordfish could carry one [[torpedo]] or [[mine_(weapon)|mine]], or eight [[rocket|rockets]] on the lower wing.

h4. See also

* [[Bismarck]]
* [[albacore (airplane)]]
* [[fairey barracuda]]
* [[List of Airplanes]]

h4. External links

* "Wikipedia: Fairey Swordfish":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
フェアリーソードフィッシュ フェアリー・ソードフィッシュ