Fairey Barracuda

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo- and dive-bomber used during World War II. It was introduced to the Fleet Air Arm as a replacement for the Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore biplanes. It is famous for its role in attacking the German battleship Tirpitz, and widely regarded as one of the ugliest aircraft to enter production.

The Barracuda resulted from Air Ministry Specification S.24/37 issued in 1937 for a monoplane torpedo bomber. Fairey's design was selected from six submissions, and two prototypes were ordered, the first flying on December 7 1940. It was of high-wing configuration, with large flaps that doubled as dive brakes. Originally fitted with a conventional tail, flight tests suggested that stability would be improved by mounting the stabiliser higher, almost like a T-tail. Further experience with the prototypes and the first production machines (Barracuda Mk.Is) revealed the aircraft to be underpowered on account of the weight of extra equipment that had been added since the initial design. Only 30 Mk.Is were built (including five by Westland) and these were used only for trials and conversion training.

The original Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 engine and three-bladed propeller were replaced with the more powerful Merlin 32 and a four-bladed propeller to create the definitive Barracuda Mk.II variant. 1,688 examples were manufactured by Fairey (675), Blackburn (700), Boulton Paul (300), and Westland (13).

The first Barracudas entered service on January 10, 1943 with No. 827 Squadron and were deployed in the North Atlantic, and the following year, in the Pacific Theatre. The Barracuda first saw action with No. 810 Squadron during the Salerno landings. They eventually would equip 23 front-line squadrons. From 1944 onwards, the Mk.IIs were accompanied in service by radar-equipped (but otherwise similar) Barracuda TB Mk.IIIs which were used for anti-submarine patrols. 852 Mk.IIIs were eventually produced (406 by Fairey, 392 by Boulton Paul).

The Mk.IV never left the drawing board, so the next and final version of the Barracuda was the Mk.V which replaced the Merlin powerplant with a Rolls-Royce Griffon and featured various aerodynamic changes. The Mk.V did not take to the air until November 16, 1944, and only 30 were built by Fairey before the war in Europe was over.

The Barracuda continued in Fleet Air Arm service until the mid 1950s, by which time they were all replaced by Grumman Avengers. Not a single example exists today, although the Fleet Air Arm Museum has large pieces of wreckage from two crashed aircraft and hopes to collect enough parts to eventually assemble a complete example for static display.

Related content
Related Development	None
Similar Aircraft	TBF Avenger - Nakajima B6N
Designation Series	Fulmar - Albacore - Barracuda - Firefly - Spearfish
Related Lists	List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm

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