The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined
torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...
designed by the
Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier
Blenheim light bomber
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
The earliest light bombers were intended to dro ...
. At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers.
The Australian government's
Department of Aircraft Production
Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World ...
(DAP) also manufactured variants of the Beaufort. These are often known collectively as the DAP Beaufort.
More than 700 Australian-built Beauforts saw service with the
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
in the
South West Pacific theatre
The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory of ...
, where they were used until the end of the war.
Beauforts first saw service with
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
and then the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942,
[Robertson 1976, p. 30.] when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945. Beauforts also saw considerable action in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
helped interdict Axis shipping supplying
Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
's
''Deutsches Afrikakorps'' in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
.
Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire. The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the
Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
, which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.
[Barnes 1988, p. 290.]
Design and development
Origins
The Beaufort came from Bristol's submission to meet
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
Specifications M.I5/35 and G.24/35 for a land-based, twin-engined torpedo-bomber and a general reconnaissance aircraft. With a production order following under Specification 10/36, the Bristol Type 152 was given the name ''Beaufort'' after the
Duke of Beaufort, whose ancestral home was nearby in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
.
[Robertson 1976, p. 4.] The competing torpedo bomber entry from Blackburn was also ordered as the
Blackburn Botha
The Blackburn B.26 Botha was a four-seat reconnaissance and torpedo bomber. It was produced by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft at its factories at Brough and Dumbarton.
The Botha was developed during the mid 1930s in response t ...
; in an unprecedented step, both designs were ordered straight off the drawing board, an indication of how urgently the RAF needed a new torpedo bomber.
320 Beauforts were ordered. Initially, because of their commitment to the Blenheim, Bristol were to build 78 at their
Filton
Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
factory, with the other 242 being built by Blackburn. These allocations would be changed later.
Although the design looked similar to the Blenheim, it was somewhat larger, with an 18 in (46 cm) increase in wingspan. The
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
was longer in the nose and taller to accommodate a fourth crew member and the aircraft was considerably heavier. The larger bomb-bay was designed to house a
semi-recessed torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
or an increased bomb load. Due to the increased weight the
Bristol Mercury engines on the Blenheim were to be replaced by more powerful,
sleeve valve
The sleeve valve is a type of valve mechanism for piston engines, distinct from the usual poppet valve. Sleeve valve engines saw use in a number of pre-World War II luxury cars and in the United States in the Willys-Knight car and light truck. ...
,
Bristol Perseus
The Bristol Perseus was a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1932. It was the first production sleeve valve aero engine.
Design and development
In late 192 ...
motors. It was soon determined that even with the Perseus, the Beaufort would be slower than the Blenheim and so a switch was made to the larger
Bristol Taurus
The Taurus is a British 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine, produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1936. The Taurus was developed by adding cylinders to the existing single-row Aquila design and transforming it into a twin ...
engine, another sleeve valve design.
For these engines, chief designer
Roy Fedden
Sir Alfred Hubert Roy Fedden MBE, FRAeS (6 June 1885 – 21 November 1973) was an engineer who designed most of Bristol Engine Company's successful piston aircraft engine designs.
Early life
Fedden was born in the Bristol area to fairly weal ...
developed special low-drag
NACA cowling
The NACA cowling is a type of aerodynamic fairing used to streamline radial engines installed on airplanes. It was developed by Fred Weick of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1927. It was a major advance in aerodynamic ...
s, which exhausted air through vertical slots flanking the
nacelles under the wings. Air flow was controlled by adjustable flaps.
![Beauproto1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Beauproto1.jpg)
The basic structure, although similar to the Blenheim, introduced refinements such as the use of high-strength light
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...
s and
extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex c ...
s in place of high-tensile
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
plates and angles; as a result the structure was lighter than that of the Blenheim.
[Barnes 1988, p. 284.] The wing centre section was inserted into the centre fuselage and the nacelle structure was an integral part of the ribs, to which the main
undercarriage was attached. Transport joints were used on the fuselage and wings: this allowed sub-contractors to manufacture the Beaufort in easily transportable sections and was to be important when Australian production got under way.
The
Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
main undercarriage units were similar to but larger than those of the Blenheim and used hydraulic retraction, with a cartridge operated emergency lowering system.
The first prototype rolled out of Filton in mid-1938. Problems immediately arose with the Taurus engines continually overheating during ground testing. New, more conventional engine cowlings, with circumferential cooling gills, had to be designed and installed, delaying the first flight, which took place on 15 October 1938. As flight testing progressed, it was found that the large apron-type undercarriage doors, similar to those on the Blenheim, were causing the aircraft to yaw on landing. These doors were taken off for subsequent flights. On the second prototype and all production aircraft, more conventional split doors, which left a small part of the tyres exposed when retracted, were used.
The results of high level bombing tests carried out at Boscombe Down at an altitude of and an airspeed of showed that the Beaufort was in the words of the test pilot: "An exceptionally poor bombing platform, being subject to an excessive and continuous roll, which made determination of drift particularly difficult".
[Robertson 1976, p. 8.] After 1941, British Beauforts were fitted with semi-circular plates on the trailing edges of the upper wing behind the engine nacelles to smooth airflow and improve directional stability.
As Blenheim production took priority and engine overheating problems continued, production was delayed; the bomber was first flown in October 1938 and should have been available almost immediately, it was not until November 1939 that production started in earnest. Several of the first production Beauforts were engaged in working-up trials and final service entry began in January 1940 with
22 Squadron of
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
.
British Beauforts
![BeaufortIIa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/BeaufortIIa.jpg)
A total of 1,013 Taurus powered Mark Is were produced and a number of changes were introduced into the line. The original curved
perspex
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
bomb aimers' nose panels were replaced by flat, non-distorting panels from the 10th production aircraft. Successive Marks of the Bristol Taurus engine were installed: starting with the Taurus III, the more reliable Taurus IIs were used whenever possible. Initially Beauforts with the Taurus II engines were designated Beaufort Mk.II, while those with other Taurus Marks continued to be Beaufort Mk.Is. Finally all Taurus-engined Beauforts became Mk.Is with the introduction of the Pratt & Whitney Twin-Wasp-powered Beaufort Mk.II. The Taurus Mk.IIs were modified to Mk.IIa, which later became the Taurus Mk.VI. All of these versions produced . The final marks of Taurus engines used were the more powerful XII and XVIs. The Taurus engines drove
de Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
Type DH5/19
constant speed propeller
In aeronautics, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller (airscrew) with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. A controllable-pitch propeller is one where the pitch is controlled manually by the ...
s.
[Robertson 1976, p. 79.]
As Beaufort units entered service, it was found that the defensive armament was inadequate and extra
Vickers GO machine guns were fitted; two on a gimbal mounting in the forward nose and single guns on pivots on either beam. A remotely controlled
Browning machine gun Browning machine guns are a family of machine gun designs by John Browning, a prolific weapon designer.
These include:
*M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun, based on a design dating to 1889, was the first successful gas-operated machine gun to ent ...
was fitted, firing to the rear under the nose. Housed in a clear blown transparency, it was found to be of little use and most operational units soon discarded them.
[Barnes 1988, p. 285.]
Fairey-Youngman
pneumatic dive brakes were fitted to the wing trailing edges of several Beaufort IIs. After adverse reports from pilots these were locked shut. It was found that the curved alloy extensions on the trailing edges improved the flight characteristics and similar panels were fitted on all later production Beauforts.
When it became apparent that the Taurus engines had problems, planning commenced to re-engine the aircraft with
Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin-Wasp radials, which were of similar diameter and slightly lighter, driving
Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...
bracket-type
variable-pitch propellers. There was no guaranteed supply of the Twin Wasp and production reverted to the Taurus-engined Mark Is after 165 Beaufort Mark IIs had been built, starting with ''AW244'', which first flew in September 1941. Performance with the Twin-Wasps was marginally improved: maximum speed went up from and the
service ceiling
With respect to aircraft performance, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions, as determined by its flight envelope.
Service ceiling
Service ceiling is where the rate of climb drops below a pres ...
increased from . Normal range was reduced from .
Other modifications introduced on the Mk II used on late Mk Is included replacing the elongated
direction finding
Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stati ...
antenna with a
loop aerial enclosed in a clear, tear-drop fairing on the top of the cabin. ASV Mk III was added with
yagi antenna Yagi may refer to:
Places
* Yagi, Kyoto, in Japan
* Yagi (Kashihara), in Nara Prefecture, Japan
* Yagi-nishiguchi Station, in Kashihara, Nara, Japan
* Kami-Yagi Station, a JR-West Kabe Line station located in 3-chōme, Yagi, Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima ...
e under the nose and wings and a Bristol B1.Mk.V turret with two Browning machine guns was fitted. The final British-built version of the Beaufort was the Pratt & Whitney-powered T.Mk.II, with 250 produced from August 1943. In this version, the turret was removed and faired over. The last ever Beaufort was a T.Mk.II, which left the Bristol
Banwell
Banwell is a village and civil parish on the River Banwell in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England. Its population was 2,919 according to the 2011 census.
History
Banwell Camp, east of the village, is a univallate hillfort which ...
factory on 25 November 1944.
[Robertson 1976, p. 56.]
Australian-built Beauforts
![Ringed with menace (AWM ARTV09061)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Ringed_with_menace_%28AWM_ARTV09061%29.jpg)
As the design for the Beaufort began to mature, the Australian Government invited a British Air Mission to discuss the defence needs of Australia and Singapore. It was also a step towards expanding the Australian aircraft industry. The Beaufort was chosen as the best General Reconnaissance (G.R.) aircraft available and on 1 July 1939, orders were placed for 180 airframes and spares, with the specially formed Beaufort Division of the Commonwealth
Department of Aircraft Production
Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World ...
(DAP).
The Australian Beauforts were to be built at the established DAP plant in
Fishermans Bend
Fishermans Bend (formerly Fishermen's Bend) is a precinct within the City of Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne. It is located on the south of the Yarra River in the suburb of Port Melbourne and opposite Coode Island, close to the Melbourne ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and a new factory at
Mascot, New South Wales
Mascot is a suburb in the Inner-South of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mascot is located 7 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is one of the administrative centres of the Bayside Council. A small pa ...
; to speed up the process drawings, jigs and tools and complete parts for six airframes were supplied by Bristol. The bulk of Australian-built Beauforts used locally available materials.
One of the decisive factors in choosing the Beaufort was the ability to produce it in sections. Because of this, railway workshops were key
subcontractor
A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract.
Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...
s:
*
Chullora Railway Workshops
Chullora Railway Workshops were a major workshops for the repair and heavy maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock for the New South Wales Government Railways.
It was built on site at Chullora over 485 acres adjoining the main Sydney marshal ...
NSW: Front fuselage, undercarriage, stern frames, nacelles.
*
Newport Workshops
The Newport Railway Workshops is a facility in the Melbourne suburb of Newport, Australia, that builds, maintains and refurbishes railway rollingstock. It is located between the Williamstown and Werribee railway lines.
History
Plans for a wo ...
Victoria: Rear fuselage,
empennage
The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third e ...
.
*
Islington Railway Workshops
The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.[South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...]
: Mainplanes, centre-section.
Taurus engines, aircraft components and the associated equipment were shipped out to be joined in October 1939, by the eighth production Beaufort ''L4448''. With the outbreak of war, the possibility that supplies of the Taurus engines could be disrupted or halted was considered, even before the British government placed an embargo on exporting war materials with the
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...
on
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the Netherlands and Belgium in May 1940. It was proposed that a change of powerplant could be made to the
Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp
The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It displaces and its bore and stroke are both . The design traces its history to 1929 experiments at Pratt & Whitney on twin-row designs. Production began ...
, which was already in use on
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and prim ...
s.
Orders for the engine were placed and a factory was set up at
Lidcombe
Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north ...
and run by
General Motors Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last three ...
. The locally built engines were coded S3C4-G, while those imported from America were coded S1C3-4.
[Robertson 1976, p. 64.] Three-bladed
Curtiss-Electric propellers were fitted to Beaufort Mks V, VI, VIII and IX while Beaufort Mks VA and VIII used
Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...
propellers.
In early 1941, ''L4448'' was converted as a trials aircraft and the combination was considered a success. The first Australian-assembled Beaufort ''A9-1'' flew on 5 May 1941 with the first Australian-built aircraft ''A9-7'' coming off the production line in August.
[Robertson 1976, p. 58.] In total 700 Australian Beauforts were manufactured in six series (see variants).
A distinguishing feature of Australian Beauforts was a larger fin, which was used from the Mk VI on. Armament varied from British aircraft: British or American torpedoes were able to be carried and the final 140 Mk VIII were fitted with a locally manufactured Mk VE turret with .50 cal machine guns. A distinctive diamond-shaped DF aerial was fitted on the cabin roof, replacing the loop antenna. Other Australian improvements included fully enclosed landing gear and
Browning M2
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...
machine guns in the wings. Some were also fitted with ASV radar aerial arrays on either side of the rear fuselage.
The Mk.XI was a transport conversion, stripped of armament, operational equipment and armour and rebuilt with a redesigned centre fuselage. Maximum speed was and a payload of could be carried. Production of the Australian Beaufort ended in August 1944 when production switched to the Beaufighter.
Operational history
Europe
![Beaufort colour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Beaufort_colour.jpg)
Although it did see some use as a torpedo bomber, including attacks on the
battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s and while in port in
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
, the Beaufort more often used bombs in European service.
In early 1940,
22 Squadron equipped with
Vildebeests, began to receive Beauforts. The Beaufort was a much faster, heavier aircraft than the biplane and the crews needed a great deal of training in torpedo-dropping, using new techniques required by the Beaufort.
[Barker 1957, pp. 33–34.] The lighter, slower Vildebeest was able to dive then flatten out before launching the torpedo; Beauforts carried too much speed after diving so it needed a longer, level approach to the torpedo drop.
Because of this, and because of a shortage of torpedoes, the squadron's first operations consisted of laying
magnetic mines
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...
("Gardening" in RAF parlance) and dropping conventional bombs. As an alternative to the torpedo, the Beaufort could carry a bomb using a purpose built carrier. On one of its first bombing sorties, on 7 May 1940, a Beaufort dropped the first British bomb, at a German
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
anchored off
Norderney
Norderney ( nds, Nördernee) is one of the seven populated East Frisian Islands off the North Sea coast of Germany.
The island is , having a total area of about and is therefore Germany's ninth-largest island. Norderney's population amounts ...
.
The first Beaufort operation took place on the night of 15/16 April, when nine Beauforts laid mines in the Schillig Roads (north of
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
). One Beaufort failed to return.
A second unit,
42 Squadron began to re-equip with Beauforts, starting in April. The Beaufort still had teething problems and after some Beauforts were lost in mysterious circumstances, a Court of Enquiry in June 1940 concluded that the Taurus engines were still unreliable and both operational squadrons were grounded until the engines could be modified.
The first RAF torpedo attack of the war came on 11 September 1940, when five aircraft of 22 Squadron attacked a convoy of three merchant ships off
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
(Oostende in Belgium). One torpedo hit a ship. Four days later, the first "Rover" was mounted; a Rover was an armed reconnaissance mission carried out against enemy shipping by a small number of aircraft operating independently. "Rovers" became a major part of Beaufort operations over the next 18 months. Other more hazardous operations were to follow, with one Beaufort pilot being awarded a posthumous
VC.
The only other UK based units to be equipped and fly operationally with the Beaufort,
86 Squadron and
217 Squadron, were operational by the middle of 1941. Beauforts also equipped some
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
Article XV squadrons
Article XV squadrons were Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand air force squadrons formed from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (1939) during World War II.
These units complemented another feature of the BCATP, under whi ...
serving within the RAF but because of supply shortages, were replaced by other aircraft types before the units flew operationally.
Torpedo dropping
A successful torpedo drop required that the approach run to the target needed to be straight and at a speed and height where the torpedo would enter the water smoothly: too high or too low and the torpedo could "porpoise" (skip through the water), dive or even break up. Height over the water had to be judged without the benefit of a radio
altimeter
An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth under water. The m ...
and misjudgement was easy, especially in calm conditions.
[Barker 1957, p. 75.] For the Beauforts using the
18-inch (450-mm) Mk XII aerial torpedo
An aerial torpedo (also known as an airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo) is a torpedo launched from a torpedo bomber aircraft into the water, after which the weapon propels itself to the target.
First used in World War I, air-dropped torped ...
, the average drop-height was and the average range of release was .
[Robertson 1976, p. 14.] During the run-in, the aircraft was vulnerable to defensive
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
fire and it took courage to fly through it with no chance of evasive manoeuvres. The Beaufort's optimum torpedo dropping speed was a great deal higher than that of the Vildebeests it replaced, and it took practice to judge the range and speed of the target ship. A ship the size and speed of ''Scharnhorst'' would look huge, filling the windscreen at well over and it was easy to underestimate the range. In action, torpedoes were often released too far away from the target, although there was one recorded instance of a torpedo being released too close. For safety reasons, torpedo
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Explosiv ...
s had a set distance (usually about from the release point before they were armed. It also took some distance for the torpedo to settle to its running depth.
Once the torpedo had been dropped, if there was room, a sharp turn away from the enemy was possible: more often than not the aircraft had to fly around or over the ship, usually at full-throttle and below mast height. A sharp pull-up could be fatal as it exposed a large area of the aircraft to anti-aircraft guns.
Attacks on capital ships
![Bristol Beaufort](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Bristol_Beaufort.jpg)
Some of the Beaufort's actions were attacks on warships of the German ''
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
''. The first attack was on 21 June 1940, when nine Beauforts of 42 Squadron attacked the off the Norwegian coast. No torpedoes were available at
RAF Wick
Wick most often refers to:
* Capillary action ("wicking")
** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp
** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts
Wick or WICK may also refer to:
Places and placenames ...
and a
dive bombing
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughou ...
attack was carried out using two bombs. The Beauforts encountered
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
s protecting the battleship and only four returned; shortly after, Beauforts were grounded for modifications to their Taurus engines.
In early April 1941, after an air raid on
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
by
Bomber Command
Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
, the had to move out of dry-dock because of an un-exploded bomb. Photo reconnaissance revealed that the ship was in the inner harbour. An estimated 1,000
flak
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
guns of all calibres protected the base and adding complication to the danger was the realisation that ''Gneisenau'' was only about from a harbour
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
, requiring extremely accurate torpedo drops. The aircraft would be forced into a steep banking turn during the escape to avoid rising ground surrounding the harbour. In spite of these dangers
22 Squadron, based at
RAF St Eval
Royal Air Force St. Eval or RAF St. Eval was a Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command, southwest of Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south wes ...
, was ordered to make a torpedo attack, timed to take place just after dawn on 6 April 1941. It was planned to attack the torpedo nets thought to be protecting the ship, using three Beauforts armed with bombs; another three Beauforts would then attack the ship with torpedoes. Following heavy rain that had drenched the airfield, the bomb-carrying aircraft became bogged down. Because of a sea mist, the other three Beauforts arrived at Brest independently; one, flown by
F/O Kenneth Campbell, managed to penetrate the harbour and torpedo ''Gneisenau'' but was shot down immediately afterwards. Campbell was awarded the
VC and his Observer,
Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
J. P. Scott of Canada, the
Distinguished Flying Medal
The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional va ...
. The other two crew members were Sgts R. W. Hillman and W. Mallis; all were lost.
On the night of 12/13 June 1941, 13 Beauforts of 42 Squadron, based at
RAF Leuchars
Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspac ...
and a detachment of five Beauforts of 22 Squadron from Wick, were sent out to find the cruiser and an escort of four
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s, which had been sighted near Norway. At midnight, a signal from a Blenheim of
114 Squadron confirmed the position of the ships but most of the Beauforts failed to find them. One 42 Squadron aircraft piloted by
Flight Sergeant Ray Loviett (who had become separated from the main force) took ''Lützow'' by surprise (the Beaufort had been mistaken for a
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...
, known by the ships to be on patrol in the area) and without a defensive shot being fired, Loviett's torpedo hit her on the port side. One Beaufort found ''Lūtzow'' limping back to port and attacked but was shot down by a
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
; ''Lützow'' was under repair for six months.
During the famous
Operation Cerberus
The Channel Dash (german: Unternehmen Zerberus, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the Second World War. (Cerberus), a three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades. A (German Navy) squadron compris ...
, the "Channel Dash" by ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' and the
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...
, which took place from 12 February 1942, three Beaufort units, with 33 serviceable aircraft were available: 22 Squadron was under orders to move to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. 42 Squadron, based at Leuchars in Scotland, was supposed to move to
Manston but had been delayed by snow. Only 86 and 217 squadrons were in position to attack the German ships. Of the 33 Beauforts, 28 eventually set out to attack the German ships: 13 failed to find them, three were shot down and on one the torpedo failed to release. Only 11 Beauforts sighted the battleships and launched torpedoes, none of which struck a target. One of the conclusions reached by a later Court of Inquiry was that a faster, longer-ranged torpedo bomber than the Beaufort was needed. Bristol was already working on a torpedo-carrying conversion of the
Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
(a development of the Beaufort airframe) and were later to develop the
Brigand
Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded usa ...
.
The final major operation to feature Beauforts before they were moved to other theatres was an attack on the heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen''. A report reached Coastal Command on 16 May 1942 that this ship, escorted by two destroyers, was off
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
steaming south-west at high speed. A strike force was formed with 12 Beauforts of 42 Squadron, six Blenheims of
404 (RCAF) Squadron and four flak-suppression Beaufighters, two each from
235 Squadron and
248 Squadron. ''Prinz Eugen'' was sighted with four destroyers. The Beaufighters went first, raking the ships with cannon fire as the Blenheims made dummy torpedo runs. Some Bf 109s (more than likely from
I./JG 5) appeared and the Blenheims attempted to fend them off as the Beauforts started their attack. Three Beauforts were shot down by defensive fire from the ships before they could launch their torpedoes and the nine torpedoes that were launched failed to hit the target. One Beaufort, already damaged by anti-aircraft fire, was then attacked by three Bf 109s: in spite of further heavy damage, the pilot made a successful crash-landing back at base. In the meantime, another strike force of 15 Beauforts from 86 Squadron was sent too far north by a reporting error. They too were attacked by Bf 109s: four Beauforts were shot down (in return the crews claimed to have shot down five fighters) and of the 11 Beauforts remaining, seven were forced to jettison their torpedoes.
In spite of its failure, this operation set the pattern for Coastal Command operations: Beaufighters were used for the first time for ''flak''-suppression and escort and there had been diversionary tactics used to try to reduce attention on the attacking torpedo aircraft. It also marked the end of Beaufort operations from Britain.
The remaining Beaufort squadrons now started moving east:
* 42 Squadron left Scotland in June 1942 bound for
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
but operated in North Africa until December.
* 86 Squadron moved to the Mediterranean in July and the unit was reduced to cadre: In October it was re-equipped with
Consolidated Liberator Mk.IIIs. One ex-86 Squadron Beaufort flight, along with one from 217 Squadron, joined up with a flight from
39 Squadron on
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, later becoming a part of a reconstituted 39 Squadron.
* The 217 Squadron ground echelon left for Ceylon in May 1942, while the Beauforts flew out via Malta. In August, 217 Squadron, minus a Beaufort flight, moved on to Ceylon to be re-equipped with Hudsons. 22 Squadron at various times operated Beauforts out of
Vavuniya
Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municip ...
and
Ratmalana
Ratmalana is a suburb in Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is inside the administration boundary of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. Ratmalana is situated 14.6 km south of Colombo city centre. Ratmalana Airport locat ...
, Ceylon.
Mediterranean and Malta
The first Beaufort unit in the Mediterranean was
39 Squadron, which reformed in Egypt in January 1941. Initially equipped with Bristol Blenheims and
Martin Maryland
The Martin Model 167 Maryland was an American medium bomber that first flew in 1939. It saw action in World War II with France and the United Kingdom.
Design and development
In response to a December 1937 United States Army Air Corps requiremen ...
s, the unit started re-equipping with Beaufort Mk.Is the following August. The first operation in which Beauforts took part was an attack on an Italian convoy on 28 January 1942. The three Beauforts of 39 Squadron included in a large strike force succeeded in crippling the merchant ship ''Victoria'', which was then sunk by
Albacores.
In another operation, during the early hours of 15 June 1942, nine Beauforts of 217 Squadron, which had just flown in from England, took off from
RAF Luqa
Royal Air Force Luqa was a Royal Air Force station located on the island of Malta, now developed into the Malta International Airport.
It hosted aircraft of Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during the Second World War. Particularly during ...
,
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
to intercept ships of the ''
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
'', which had sailed from
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
. Few of the Beaufort crews had experience in night-flying: four aircraft failed to find the rendezvous and set out independently. One, flown by
Flying Officer Arthur Aldridge discovered the Italian Fleet some to the east of Malta. Like Loviett's attack on ''Lūtzow'', his Beaufort was mistaken for a friendly aircraft by Italian lookouts. Aldridge torpedoed and crippled the heavy cruiser , whose anti-aircraft fire started only after the Beaufort had escaped. The main formation of Beauforts then came in to attack, having been guided in by the gunfire. In the confusion and the smokescreen that had been laid by the Italian warships, 217 Squadron claimed several torpedo hits for the loss of one Beaufort, which belly-landed at Luqa. In spite of the claims, none of the other ships had been hit. ''Trento'' was sunk later by two torpedoes fired by the submarine , which had witnessed the aerial attack.
By July 1942, 86 Squadron Beauforts and crews had arrived on Malta and were soon absorbed into a reconstituted 39 Squadron, which came under the command of the inspirational
Squadron Leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...
Patrick Gibbs, who was soon promoted to
Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
; 217 squadron moved on to Ceylon.
Over the next 11 months, the Beaufort force, now usually accompanied by Beaufighters, was instrumental in crippling the convoy supply lines that were vital to
Rommel's ''
Afrika Korps
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...
''. At night, torpedo-carrying
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...
s of
38 Squadron also played an important part in attacking convoys. Some important ships destroyed or badly damaged were:
* MV (Motor Vessel) ''Reichenfels'', 7,744 tons (7,025 tonnes): torpedoed by 217 Sqn Beaufort, 21 June.
* MV ''Rosalino Pilo'', 8,300 tons (7,530 tonnes): torpedoed by two aircraft of 39 Sqn, torpedoed and sunk by submarine , 17 August.
* Tanker ''Pozarica'', 7,800 tons (7,925 tonnes): torpedoed and badly damaged by three aircraft of 39 Sqn, later beached, 21 August.
* Steam Ship ''Dielpi'', 1,500 tons (1,360 tonnes) : torpedoed and sunk by three aircraft of 217 Sqn, 27 August.
* Tanker ''San Andrea'', 5,077 tons (4,606 tonnes) : torpedoed and sunk by two aircraft of 39 Sqn, 30 August. (Gibbs' last operation.)
* Tanker ''Proserpina'', 5,000 tons (4,530 tonnes) : Destroyed by combined strike of Beauforts of
47 Sqn and
Bisleys of
15 SAAF Sqn, 27 October.
* Tanker ''Thorsheimer'', 9,955 tons (9,031 tonnes): Torpedoed by four Beauforts of 39 Sqn, 21 February 1943.
[Robertson 1976, p.46.]
In June 1943, 39 Squadron, the last operational Beaufort unit, converted to Beaufighters.
Pacific
![Beaufort (AWM OG3362)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Beaufort_%28AWM_OG3362%29.jpg)
During the first years of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Australian government found itself unable to procure twin-engine bomber aircraft for home duties in Australia. It was decided that the Australian
Department of Aircraft Production
Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World ...
(DAP) would build Beauforts under licence, for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
By late 1941, British authorities had also ordered 180 Australian-built Beauforts for the RAF
Far East Command, for use in East Asia. In particular, DAP Beauforts were to replace the extremely outdated (1928)
Vickers Vildebeest
The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent were two very large two- to three-seat single-engined British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as light bombers, torpedo bombers and in army cooperation roles. First flown i ...
s operated by
No. 100 Squadron RAF
Number 100 Squadron is a former Royal Air Force squadron. It last operated the British Aerospace Hawk T1, providing 'aggressor' aircraft for air combat training from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, UK.
History
First World War
No. 100 was est ...
at Singapore. Q Flight, a detachment from 100 Squadron was based in Australia for operational conversion purposes.
When
Japan entered the war and
invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941, about 20 DAP Beauforts had been completed and delivered to Q Flight in Australia. Only six Australian-built Beauforts reached Singapore, just after hostilities began. Over Malaya and Singapore, 100 Squadron continued to operate Vildebeests,
[Robertson 1976, p. 60.] suffering severe losses. One Beaufort, attached to Air Headquarters, Singapore as a reconnaissance aircraft was attacked, during its first sortie, by Japanese fighters, severely damaged and written-off. The RAF decided that the Beaufort lacked sufficient performance and armament to defend itself against late model fighters, and that 100 Squadron's crews lacked sufficient training and experience on the type. As Japanese forces approached Singapore in early 1942, RAF bases there were abandoned; the remaining Beauforts and 100 Squadron personnel were evacuated to Australia.
All Australian-built Beauforts previously scheduled for British squadrons were subsequently delivered to the RAAF.
The first Beaufort unit formed in Australia, on 25 February 1942 was
No. 100 Squadron RAAF, so named because it was formed partly from members of its RAF counterpart. In the light of the problems encountered by the first Beauforts based at Singapore, the unit was carefully trained and slowly brought up to operational status. Its first operational sorties were carried out on 25 June when a Japanese ship heading towards
Lae
Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...
,
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
was attacked by five Beauforts operating from
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
, which resulted in three Beauforts hitting the ship with bombs, with one Beaufort being damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Out of two Beauforts that carried out a diversionary attack on Lae, one failed to return.
Production at DAP continued to increase, reaching almost one a day in 1943. The Beaufort served with 19 RAAF squadrons and played an important role in the
South West Pacific Area
South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the D ...
, as a
maritime patrol {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008
Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities.
Maritime patrol refers to ac ...
/
strike aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pr ...
and bomber. Aviation historian William Green has written that the Beaufort's "part in the defeat of the Japanese forces in the South-West Pacific was probably of greater importance than that of any other single aircraft type."
In the
Battle of the Bismarck Sea
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops ...
, on 3 March 1943, eight Beauforts from
No. 100 Squadron RAAF took off from the
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range to t ...
to attack the Japanese troop convoy with torpedoes although no hits were scored. Later in the battle, 13 Beaufighters from No. 30 Squadron RAAF approached the convoy at low level to give the impression they were Beauforts making a torpedo attack.
The ships turned to face them, the standard procedure to present a smaller target to torpedo bombers, allowing the Beaufighters to maximise the damage they inflicted on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews in
strafing
Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons.
Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...
runs with their autocannons and machine guns.
Replacement
In March 1942 a
Bristol Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
was successfully tested as a torpedo-carrier and from 1943 a number of Middle East-based squadrons replaced the Beaufort with the so-called "torbeau" (Beaufighter TF Mk X). The last RAF aircraft was retired in 1946
Variants
British
;Beaufort Mk.I
:1,013 built. Torpedo bomber, reconnaissance version for the
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, powered by two
Bristol Taurus
The Taurus is a British 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine, produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1936. The Taurus was developed by adding cylinders to the existing single-row Aquila design and transforming it into a twin ...
II, III, VI, XII or XVI sleeve valve radial engines. First British production version.
[Robertson 1976, pp. 78–79.]
;Beaufort Mk.II
:167 built. Torpedo bomber, reconnaissance version for the RAF, powered by two
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp radial engines.
;Beaufort T Mk. II
:249 conversions from Mk II. Trainer with rear turret position faired over; allocated to Torpedo training units and OTUs.
;Beaufort Mk.III
:Project only. Intended to be powered by two
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...
XX inline piston engines.
;Beaufort Mk.IV
:One prototype only; powered by two Bristol Taurus XX radial piston engines.
;Total Production = 1,180
Australian
;Beaufort Mk.V
:50 built. First Australian built version, powered by two
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp radial piston engines with Curtiss Electric propellers.
[Robertson 1976, pp. 64, 79.]
;Beaufort Mk.Va
:30 built. Pratt & Whitney S3C4-G with Hamilton Standard propellers. Similar to the Beaufort Mk V, but fitted with a larger tail.
;Beaufort Mk.VI
:40 built. Pratt & Whitney-S1C3 Twin Wasp radial piston engines with Curtiss Electric propellers.
;Beaufort Mk.VII
:60 built. Pratt & Whitney S1C3-G with Hamilton Standard propellers.
;Beaufort Mk.VIII
:520 built. Pratt & Whitney S3C4-G with Curtiss Electric propellers. Improved version fitted with an ASV radar, it could carry American or British mines or torpedoes.
;Total Production = 700:
;Beaufort Mk.IX, also known as 'Beaufreighters'
:46 Beauforts of various marks were converted into light transport aircraft for the
RAAF
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
and used Pratt & Whitney S3C4-G with Curtiss Electric propellers.
Operators
;:
;:
;:
;:
;:
;:
Surviving aircraft
Museum display
;
*Beaufort Mk.VII ''A9-150'' – "cockpit only" displayed at the
Australian National Aviation Museum
The Moorabbin Air Museum is an aviation museum at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1962 as the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, in an attempt to maintain a World War II-era Bristol Beaufighter aircraf ...
, Moorabbin, Victoria (possibly to be incorporated into rebuild of ''A9-13'') (note: previously incorrectly identified as A9-152)
*Beaufort Mk. VII ''A9-164'' – "cockpit only" under restoration at the
Gippsland Armed Forces Museum
*Beaufort Mk.VIII ''A9-210/QH-D'' – "cockpit only" displayed at the
Australian National Aviation Museum
The Moorabbin Air Museum is an aviation museum at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1962 as the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, in an attempt to maintain a World War II-era Bristol Beaufighter aircraf ...
, Moorabbin, Victoria (originally incorporated into rebuild of ''A9-13''
*Beaufort Mk.VIII ''A9-501'' – "cockpit only" under restoration by The Beaufort Restoration Group, Caboolture, Queensland for return and display at Gove Northern Territory
*Beaufort Mk.VIII ''A9-557/QH-L'' – on display at
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...
, Canberra.
*Beaufort Mk.IX ''A9-703'' – "cockpit only" displayed at the Camden Museum of Aviation
;
*Beaufort Mk.VIII ''A9-559'' – a composite of several RAAF aircraft, displayed as Mk.IIA ''DD931/L'' at the
Royal Air Force Museum London
The Royal Air Force Museum London (also commonly known as the RAF Museum) is located on the former Hendon Aerodrome. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force. It is part of the Royal Air Forc ...
Under restoration/stored
;
*Beaufort Mk.V ''A9-13/T9552'' – under restoration to static at the
Australian National Aviation Museum
The Moorabbin Air Museum is an aviation museum at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1962 as the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, in an attempt to maintain a World War II-era Bristol Beaufighter aircraf ...
, Moorabbin, Victoria
*Beaufort Mk.VII ''A9-141/KT-W'' – under restoration to airworthy as VH-KTW by The Beaufort Restoration Group,
Caboolture
Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...
, Queensland. Includes rear fuselage of ''A9-485''
;
*Beaufort Mk.VIII ''A9-555'' – under restoration with The Bristol Heritage Collection, Hessel Field, Clifton, Tennessee; has tail of ''A9-182''
*Remains of four other identified RAAF Beaufort hulks were recovered from Tadji in PNG and were known to be stored with the late
David Tallichet
David Compton Tallichet Jr. (December 20, 1922 – October 31, 2007) was an American businessman who started, but did not originate, themed restaurants. He also owned scores of classic military aircraft.
Early life
Born in Dallas, Texas, Tallich ...
at Chino, California for some years. One of these was used to create the RAF's Museum's Beaufort for display. Most of the remaining hulks have been purchased by Australian collectors, to contribute to restorations in Australia.
Specifications (Beaufort I)
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
Barker, Ralph. ''The Ship-Busters: The Story of the R.A.F. Torpedo-Bombers''. London: Chatto & Windus Ltd., 1957. No ISBN.
* Barnes, C.H. ''Bristol Aircraft Since 1910''. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1988 (3rd revised edition). .
* Buttler, Tony. ''Bristol Beaufort'' (Warpaint Series No. 50). Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK: Warpaint Books Ltd., 2000. .
* Buttler, Tony. ''British Secret Projects: Fighters and Bombers 1935–1950''. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Midland, 2004. .
* Delve, Ken. "Beaufort Weather: Mediterranean Anti-shipping Strikes by 39 Squadron". ''
Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
'', No. 65, September/October 1996, pp. 26–39. .
* Gibbs, Patrick (Wing Commander, DSO,DFC and Bar). ''Torpedo Leader''. London: Wrens Park Publishing, 2002.
*
* Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Seven: Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft''. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1967. No ISBN.
* Hayward, Roger. ''Beaufort File''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1990. .
*
*
* Robertson, Bruce. ''Beaufort Special''. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1976. .
* Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Nicola Malizia. ''Malta: The Spitfire Year''. London: Grub Street, 1991. .
* Thetford, Owen. ''Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918''. London:Putnam, 1976.
* Wansbrough-White, Gordon. ''Names With Wings: The Names & Naming Systems of Aircraft & Engines Flown by the British Armed Forces 1878–1994''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1995. .
External links
Bristol Beaufort
{{Authority control
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions ...
1930s British bomber aircraft
World War II British bombers
Articles containing video clips
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1938
World War II torpedo bombers
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft