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During the early evening of 26 May 1941, fifteen obsolete biplane bombers, each armed with a single torpedo, took off from the pitching steel deck of the Royal Navy carrier Ark Royal, their target the Kriegsmarine's most modern and powerful battleship, the Bismarck.
From 2047 and for the next thirty minutes or so, the attacking Fleet Air Arm pilots faced a formidable anti-aircraft barrage from the German ship as they droned low over the waves in groups of three. Even Bismarck's main and secondary armament was brought to bear upon the slowly approaching aeroplanes. The battleship's adept helmsman managed to avoid most of the incoming torpedoes, but towards the end of the attack one, and possibly two, of them struck amidships on the port side, although the effect of these hits was contained by the battleship's stout armoured belt. A pair of the attacking biplanes were then seen to approach Bismarck's port quarter, closing to within 500yds before releasing their torpedoes. Despite the battleship's manoeuvring, one of the torpedoes struck home, detonating below the vessel's steering gear compartment above the port rudder shaft...

Название: Swordfish. Fairey Swordfish MKS I-III
Aeroguide classics number 4
Publisher: Linewrights
Год издания: 1988
ISBN: 0946958297
Язык: english
Кол-во страниц: 48
Формат: PDF
Размер: 84,2 МБ