Stringbags and Applecores - FAA Carrier planes in Blood Red Skies part 2.

Ok let's get down to it. This time I'm looking at three of the most derided or ignored aircraft to see service in WW2, one of which is also (arguably) the most effective aircraft of it's type ever.

But before I go into details, I need to remind folks that these planes were not designed and built in a vacuum. They are the product of a logical and reasoned requirement. Sadly it may not have been shown by history to have been the correct one, but hindsight is 20\20. The Fleet Air Arm was looking for aircraft that could perform a multitude of tasks, in this case Torpedo attack, gunnery Spotting and Reconnaissance, hence the designation TSR

The Fairy Swordfish

When the Swordfish was under development it was in no way unusual. The three carrier operating nations, the UK, US and Japan were all flying biplane torpedo bombers with open cockpits and fixed undercarriages. The Swordfish was therefore not that remarkable. However by the time it was entering service with the Royal Navy in 1936 both Japan and the USA had ditched the biplane and had introduced or were introducing low wing monoplane torpedo bombers with enclosed cockpits and retracting undercarriages in the B5N and TBD. The Brits were suddenly looking like they were flying a WW1 era plane. On the other hand the Swordfish did have some advantages. It had a very short take off and landing run, was robust, reliable and surprisingly nimble - all useful when operating from a carrier. It also proved to be remarkably versatile and could carry a wide range of weaponry - the "Stringbag" knickname derives from a comment that "never had a housewife packed more into her string bag". It also proved to be a rather useful dive bomber (!), being rock steady in a steep dive, mainly due to the incredible amount of drag. I suppose a modern analogy would probably be a Toyota pick-up truck . On the other hand it was a deathtrap when facing any sort of fighter, achieving all it's successes either at night or out of reach of fighters.

The problem with the Swordfish in BRS is that in many ways it has too many exceptions. We have a max speed of (variously quoted) 156 mph "clean" and about 139 mph loaded. In BRS this equates to Speed 3. If we apply the usual "Laden" rules that drops to Speed 2 (gulp), or we introduce an exception to the Laden rule. That makes for several problems in game. The other issue is that the Swordfish was not just a torpedo bomber, but a rather effective dive bomber. Andy C is uneasy with having these two Traits on a single plane - he thinks it is bad game design (and he's right). I think Swordfish will really only work in special scenarios, but just in case, here is my interpretation for BRS.

Nation	Type	Date	Speed	Ag	Fp	Traits	Points cost
British	Swordfish	1936	3 (156 mph)	2	(-)	Torpedo Bomber, Dive Bomber, Turret (Rear Fp1) + Biplane + No Laden Speed*

* When Laden this aircraft does not lose any speed

The Fairy Albacore

The Albacore was a logical development of the Swordfish. The problem was the real logical decision would have been to end the obvious dead end of that development line and move on to something with less wings and more relevance. The Albacore managed an enclosed cockpit and a marginally improved performance, but beyond that was really just a Swordfish. It was like putting spoilers and go faster stripes on a Trabant. They did give valuable service, mainly in the Med, and like the Swordfish proved to be a handy dive bomber, but like the Swordfish were death traps if caught by a fighter. Albacore was taken out of production pretty quickly as when compared to the Swordfish in the roles both types were being pressed into by the wartime circumstances. The performance difference was marginal and there were plenty of Swordfish around due to the Stringbag's legendary robustness and reliability. In Blood Red Skies the "Applecore" has the same issues as the Stringbag. It's slow, and also dual purpose, with all that implies for game design. By some generous interpretation we can however get the speed up to 4, which allows us to drop the "Laden" exception.

Nation	Type	Date	Speed	Ag	Fp	Traits	Points cost
British	Albacore	1940	4 (175 mph)	2	(-)	Torpedo Bomber, Dive Bomber, Turret (Rear, Fp1) + Biplane +

So last up, the Barracuda

The Fairy Barracuda is one of those almost forgotten planes, which is a shame. Designed as a monoplane replacement for the Swordfish \ Albacore it first flew in 1940 and if it had managed to get through to service then would probably be well thought of. Instead it was found to be under-powered, and went through a drawn out development hell which lasted for three years.  It sits roughly where the TBF Avenger would in US service, with the added advantage of being designed from the outset as a dive-bomber and torpedo bomber (sorry Andy). Barracudas did see quite a bit of action, dive bombing the Tirpitz a couple of times, and serving in the Med and later the Pacific.  More Barracudas were made than any other UK naval type, but by the time it entered service the day of the torpedo bomber had pretty much ended. Out in the Far East it was found the Barracuda struggled with the tropical conditions which impacted on both range and altitude, and with little need for specialist dive bombers many FAA Squadrons operated US built Avengers instead. In BRS it is an interesting option.

Nation	Type	Date	Speed	Ag	Fp	Traits	Points cost
British	Barracuda	1943	5 (228 mph)	1	-	Torpedo Bomber, Dive Bomber, Turret (Rear, Fp1)

So there you go. British carrier borne strike aircraft in BRS. How much use they are in the game is open to debate - actually, it really isn't. The Swordfish \ Albacore are just too slow to survive in our fighter based game - which is 100% correct. The Barracuda is certainly more viable. The real war was not fought on our table top (sadly), which means that players will look on these as oddities and dismiss them, which is a shame. The Swordfish in particular was, when you look at the results, probably on of the "best" (or most effective?) carrier aircraft of the war (gulp - ducks for cover) having crippled or sunk 5 Battleships, at least 1 Cruiser, around 20 U boats and a conservative estimate of over a million tons of Axis shipping. The Swordfish was also capable of operating from small decks and in conditions other types simple could not, and because of that made a huge contribution to winning the Battle of the Atlantic, and ultimately the war in the West. That's quite an achievement for a comedy act.

As an aside, the Swordfish was surprisingly agile for such a big aircraft - and it can't be stressed just how big a Stringbag was. We tend to think of biplanes as being dinky little planes, the Swordfish was about the size of a double decker bus! There is a story that one Swordfish operating in the Norway campaign of 1940 got bounced in a fjord by a 109. The 109 was unable to turn with the Stringbag and "became one with the landscape". The Swordfish crew tried to claim it as a kill, but as they had not fired a single round from either of their guns this was disallowed.  I've used this - and other similar tales to justify giving the Swordfish and Albacore Agility 2. I know Andy C will probably disagree but I think it is possible to justify and makes them different enough to be interesting.

The FAA museum still has three Swordfish in flying condition (did I mention reliable?) and they're a sight to see at a flypast - also good value as they're so slow the flypast takes quite a while :-)