Probably the last
biplane in serious military service, the Swordfish was designed in the early 1930s and stayed in production until 1943; it was not finally taken out of service with the
RAF and
Royal Navy until after the end of the war in Europe. Despite its apparent obsolescence - an open cockpit, frame and fabric construction,
fixed undercarriage biplane with a top speed of a less than staggering 140
knots - it proved very successful in harsh conditions and carrier-borne operations due to its very forgiving handling characteristics; it was responsible for sinking more ships than any other torpedo bomber flown by the
Allies during
World War II. The undercarriage could be exchanged for floats and this version was flown as a
spotter plane from
battleships and
cruisers; the wheeled version could also be used for
minelaying or as a
dive bomber. The fabric construction had some advantages against anti-aircraft fire (explosive cannon shells often went right through without exploding) but it was a
sitting duck if it encountered fighter cover.
The "Stringbag" played a major role as a carrier strike aircraft in the early part of the war in the Norwegian campaign, during the sinking of the Bismarck and the successful strike on the Italian fleet at anchor at Taranto (which may have helped inspire the Pearl Harbour attack), as well as the less glorious attack on the French fleet at Mers-El-Kebir; it was however spectacularly unsuccessful flying from land bases during the Channel Dash by the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, and from then on was mainly used for less spectacular but vital work on convoy escort carriers, carrying rockets for anti-submarine duties.
With a bit of help from http://vectorsite.tripod.com/avsword.html