The Whispering Death: The Bristol Beaufighter

[Music] as war loomed in europe the royal air force found itself lacking a long-range fighter with a significant amount of firepower in 1938 the bristol aeroplane company recognized the urgent need to fulfill this role and proceeded on a private venture to design a long-range aircraft that would fulfill this requirement the design team was led by leslie george freeze and significantly based off the bristol beaufort bomber utilizing the same wings undercarriages and tail units additionally it used the same jigs as the bowfed so during manufacturing switching between the two aircraft types could be done quickly and easily at short notice the bow fighter would also differ from the beaufort in the power plant utilized with the bow fighter being equipped with a 1 500 horsepower bristol hercules engines instead of the 1000 horsepower bristol taurus engines fanned on the bowfed armament for the new long range heavy fighter would consist of four 20 millimeter cannons in the nose of the fuselage bristol attached the designation type 156 to the bow fighter design by november 1938 the air ministry had given the go-ahead for four prototypes and in march 1939 the new aircraft would name the bow fighter such was the air ministry desperate for a heavily armed long-range fighter that on the 3rd of july 1939 the air ministry placed an order for 300 both fighters under specification f-1739 before the prototype had even flown the first prototype powered by hercules one sm engines took to the air for the first time on the 17th of july 1939 with captain cyril unwin at the controls the second prototype was powered by the hercules one m and the third and fourth were fitted with the hercules two engines the first production aircraft beaufighter mark 1s f for fighter powered by hercules 3 or hercules 11 engines arrived at frontline squadrons in september 1940 replacing bristol blenheim mark one the first bowfighters of the production line only had four 20 millimeter cannons in the nose of the fuselage however after the first 50 6 303 machine guns were added in the wings four in the starboard wing and twin the port side pressed into the night fighter roll just as the blitz began mark one f's were equipped with mark iv airborne interception radar and compared to other night fighters in service the beau fighter had the advantage of being able to carry the bulky equipment with limited sacrifice to either firepower or speed this made it a very effective and successful night fighter on the 25th of october 1940 a beaufighter of number 219 squadron shot down a dornier do-17z claiming the first aerial victory for the type and on the night of the 19th 20th of november number 604 squadron recorded the beaufighter's first radar assisted victory shooting down a juncker's ju-88 the introduction of ground controlled interception radar stations in january 1941 allowed for the both fighters to be utilized much more effectively the mark ii was powered by two 1300 horsepower merlin 20 engines the changing power plant occurred for a few reasons firstly the trials of the beaufighter prototypes in april 1940 had produced 335 miles per hour at 16 000 feet but it became evident the beaufighter's speed at altitude was disappointing to improve performance bristol suggested the hercules 6 engine but that was still very early in development the royals royce griffin was also suggested but they had been reserved for the fairy firefly secondly there was worry about supply shortages of the hercules engines due to them also being utilized for production of the short sterling thus it was decided the mark ii would be powered by the rolls-royce merlin 20 engines the mark ii entered service in april 1941 with it eventually equipping nine night fighter squadrons mark twos also served in electronic countermeasures with number 515 squadron mark 2s were found to be underpowered and thus the merlin engine was never utilized in future variants later production models introduced a 20 increase of the tail plane and a tail plane with a 12 degree diahedral this was designed to address longitudinal instability that was particularly present during takeoff all production versions following would include this edition the mark 3 and 4 ended up as cancelled projects both were to introduce a slimmer fuselage a baltimore bpa1 turret with 4 303 machine guns was mounted behind the cockpit of two mark iis while the wing-mounted 33 machine guns and two cannons in the nose were removed this was designated the mark v it was tested operationally but the mark v was never put into production with two prototypes being the sole example in 1941 as fighting became more intense in the mediterranean and then in april the german invasion of greece raf coastal command was in desperate need for a long-range fighter bristol submitted a modified version of the beaufighter mark 1f as a solution with modifications including the removal of the six 303 machine guns in the wings in exchange for additional fuel tanks and a fully fledged navigator's position was added to the fuselage these would be designated mach 1cs c for coastal with 300 ordered as a stopped gap measure while coastal command waited for the new mark 1 seas was the conversion of 50 mark 1 f's to carry additional fuel tanks in the front fuselage delivered to number 252 squadron the squadron moved to malta in may 1941 and then egypt in june where it was joined by number 272 squadron field modifications allowed the bow fighters to carry either a 250 pound or 500 pound bomb under each wing here both fires were utilized to attack german and italian shipping as well as attacking airfields and strafing enemy positions in the western desert it excelled in both roles seeing considerable success back home four squadrons utilise mark 1cs for convoy protection duties mainly from bases within scotland these were quickly upgraded to the newer mark 6cs the next major production version was the mark vi the mark 6f was a fighter variant while the mark 6c was designed for coastal command the fighter variant introduced the hercules 6 engine improving performance mainly at altitude as well as ai mark 7 and mark 8 radar mark 8 radar was housed in a distinct thimble shaper dome attached to the front of the cockpit range also increased and both variants of the mark vi had the ability to carry two 250 pound bombs coastal commands mark vi differed from the fighter variant with its power plant being a modified hercules mark vi designated mark 17 that increased lower altitude performance mark 6cs also had greater fuel capacity both variants of the mark vi began to enter service in early 1942. the mark 6f registered its first victory on the 5th of april 1942 by the fighter interception unit and shortly afterwards mark 6 f's started to enter service with numbers 68 and 604 squadrons 14 night fighter squadrons would utilize beaufighter's mark 6f as luffwaffer night raids began to lessen both fighters were utilized in a range of offensive measures over the continent attacking rail and road transport targets as well as doing escort and decoy missions with bomber command from 1943 the beaufighters within the uk began to be retired from night fighting duties being replaced by the javelin mosquitoes by mid-1944 both fighters ceased to operate as night fighters within europe coastal command utilized the mark 6c to great effect equipping home-based squadrons that undertook a range of anti-shipping operations along the west coast of europe regular operations included attacking shipping and submarines in the north sea and bay of biscay as well as long-range patrols over the bay of biscay searching for yunkas ju-88 and fokker wolf fw 200 bombers during 1942 the beau fighter started to arrive in the far east and the pacific in the far east operating from bases within india three squadrons utilized both fighters as a night fighter and grand attack aircraft against the japanese forces in burma and thailand here they were utilised to great effect against japanese airfields transport and communications the low engine noise of the hercules engines combined with the low level operations of both fighters supposedly earned it the nickname the whispering death from the japanese the mark 7 8 and 9 were designs meant for production in australia however none of these marks were ever produced australian both fighters will be covered later on with coastal command looking at replacing their standard torpedo bomber the bristol bowfed a beaufighter mark 6c was converted to carry a torpedo and in may 1942 was tested the tests were considered successful and 50 mark c interim torpedo fighters also known as mark vi itfs were ordered and entered service in late of 1942 with number 254 squadron mark vi its also had the addition of young men dive breaks beaufighter's first success with the torpedo occurred in april 1943 with the sinking of two merchant vessels off the coast of norway by beaufighters number 254 squadron in the summer of 1943 a hundred beau fighters arrived to the united states army air force squadrons operating in the mediterranean here they mainly operated in the night time interception role but also in convoy protection and grand attack during the day eventually the beau fighter was replaced by northrop p-61 black widows in december 1944 although both fighters fought over france and italy until the end of the war the tf mark 10 followed next and would become the most produced version with just over 2 200 being built mark 10s were powered by the hercules 17 engines though optimized for low altitude mark 10s could also handle a variety of weaponry under the belly of the aircraft a torpedo or two 500 pound bombs could be loaded well under the wings a 250 pound bomb or four 90 pound rockets could be fitted to each wing early production versions had asv radar the later production aircraft had the ai mark 8 radar fitted in a thimbler dome attached to the front of the cockpit this was utilized to track down enemy shipping and submarines and in a 48 hour period five german submarines were sunk by both fighters and numbers 236 and 254 squadron with the modifications the mark 10 weighed some 50 greater than originally planned when the beaufighter was designed mark tens began entering service in early 1943. the mark 11 lost the ability to carry torpedoes but was otherwise very similar to the mark 10. only 163 were built of this type to maximise the beau fighter coastal command set up dedicated strike wings to undertake anti-shipping operations royal air force royal canadian air force royal new zealand air force and royal australian air force beaufighters were used the north coast strike wing was one such strike wing formed during september 1942 and comprised of numbers 142 236 and 254 squadrons and ended the war with a claim of 150 000 tons of enemy shipping the mark 12 was based off the mark 11 but would have had better range however the mark 12 was never put into production in 1939 australia had placed orders for both fighters with the first example arriving to the royal australian air force in april 1942 217 british-built bow fighters would be used by the royal australian air force and were a combination of mark 1's 6 10 and 12. they began operations in 1942 with number 30 squadron operating in new guinea and number 31 squadron in north west australia number 30 squadron both fighters alongside royal australian air force beaufords a20 bostons and united states army air force b-25 mitchells b-17s and a20 bostons saw action in the battle of the bismarck sea australia also manufactured both fighters in january 1943 the australian war cabinet gave approval to production of 350 beaufighters to be manufactured by the department of aircraft production dap this was logical as dap were currently manufacturing both heads so it wasn't overly difficult to switch between manufacturing of the two in march 1943 the first of 55 000 microfilms arrived in australia from britain containing some 500 000 blueprints both fighters were designated the mark 21 and were very similar to the beaufighter tf mark 10 with the notable removal of the asv radar torpedo carrying equipment and the dorsal fin additionally instead of six 303 machine guns in the wings australian bow fighters had four 50-inch browning guns and were powered by bristol hercules 18 engines the hercules engines had to be imported entirely from britain and in case of a shortage of hercules engines a british-built bowfighter mark 1c was converted to take the right double cyclone engine flying in august 1944 testing was successful but the hercules supply was always sufficient and thus the double cyclone was never adopted for production the first australian beau fighter took to the air for the first time on the 26th of may 1944 the first operational sortie by a mark 21 bowfighter occurred in september 1944 and eventually five squadrons would be equipped with the type it proved once again to be a successful a devastating attack and strike aircraft seeing action in new guinea the celiba's and the philippines production finished at the end of 1945 with a total of 364 dap beaufighter mark 21s being built post-war both fighters were kept in royal australian air force service but relegated to a target towing operation by 1955-56 majority had been retired although two were kept on for missile aerial recovery duties at wilmira with the final beaufighter mark 21 being taken out of service in december 1957 the final significant variant of the beaufighter was a tt mark 10. these were mark tens converted to target tugs beaufighter tt mark tens will serve with the royal air force until 1960 when they were finally retired and thus bringing an end to a highly distinguished service career beaufighter survivors are quite rare today currently there are no airworthy bow fighters in the world however there is one under restoration to flight in the uk with a fighter collection and another in new south wales australia with a historical aircraft restoration society a beau fighter is on display at the raf museum hendon national museum of the u.s air force and the moorabbin air museum which is capable of grand running restoration work is also occurring on examples at the canada air and space museum and the national museum of flight in scotland another beaufighter can be found in the camden museum of aviation a private collection in australia the beau fighters serve with 52 squadrons and post-war was exported to the air forces of south africa turkey portugal dominican republic and israel it also saw action in the greek civil war in total 5 562 bowfires were produced in britain with an additional 364 in australia known for being a rugged and hard-hitting strike aircraft it served with distinction in all major theatres of the second world war in a wide variety of roles aviation author stuart wilson notes in his book aircraft made in australia volume 2. quote the beaufighter was probably the finest torpedo and strike aircraft of his day end quote indeed the beaufighter was a versatile and highly successful strike aircraft in all theaters of war

Channel: Tomato Eins

Views: 353,026

Keywords: beaufighter, Bristol beaaufighter, bristol beaufighter

Id: qBZPVQBna3o

Length: 17min 21sec (1041 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 09 2021