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Fairey Swordfish

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·first flew 1934· torpedo bomber

🎖️ military piston retired
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Fairey Swordfish on Airfield: Mr. Peter Noble from UK Flying Displays and Museums· CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 2. A Fairey Swordfish being hoisted aboard HMS MALAYA, October 1941. A5694: Claude Henry Parnall· Public domain
  3. 3. A Fairey Swordfish in Flight TR1138: British official photographer· Public domain
  4. 4. Fairey Swordfish, Imperial War Museum, Duxford (11696645365): Roland Turner from Birmingham, Great Britain· CC BY-SA 2.0
  5. 5. Fairey Swordfish at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum June 2025: JustSomePics· CC0
  6. 6. IWM-L94 Swordfish repair 205196340: Ministry of Information official photographer· Public domain
  7. 7. Rocket-armed Fairey Swordfish on a training flight from RNAS St Merryn in Cornwall, 1 August 1944. A24983: Royal Navy official photographer· Public domain
  8. 8. Swordfish Aircraft MOD 45155479: LA(PHOT) Abbie Herron· OGL v1.0
  9. 9. Swordfish on HMS Victorious before strike on Bismarck: not stated. Assumed Royal Navy.· Public domain
  10. 10. 15 Gloster Gauntlet Mk I in the foreground with a Fairey Swordfish (15650662517): San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives· Public domain
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Fairey Swordfish, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Mr. Peter Noble from UK Flying Displays and Museums· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The Fairey Swordfish is a retired biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also used by the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as several overseas operators, including the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Royal Netherlands Navy.

How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · fixed tailwheel (taildragger) · 13.9 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 230 km/htop speed
  • size 3,438 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 2,396made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 92 years ago, in 1934.
  • Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 13.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight
1934-04-17
introduced
1936
retired
1945
status
retired
number built
2,396
role
torpedo bomber
origin
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
makers
Blackburn Aircraft, Fairey Aviation Company
engines
1× Bristol Pegasus IIIM.3 / Bristol Pegasus
crew
3
length
10.9 m
wingspan
13.9 m
height
3.8 m
max take-off weight
3,438 kg
top speed
230 km/h
range
—
ceiling
5,029 m
wings
biplane
landing gear
fixed conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q674079, Wikipedia: Fairey Swordfish (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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