Fairey Barracuda

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation, and the first aircraft of its type flown by the Fleet Air Arm to be built entirely of metal. It was developed to replace the Albacore biplanes under Specification S.24/37, a three-seat monoplane with a high payload. Development was slow because the planned Rolls-Royce Exe engine was cancelled, and the less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin was fitted instead. The first prototype flew on 7 December 1940 and early trials found it underpowered. The definitive Mark II had a Merlin 32 of 1,640 horsepower driving a four-bladed propeller, and 1,688 were made by Fairey, Blackburn, Boulton Paul and Westland. Later versions used the larger Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. As the only British naval aircraft stressed for dive bombing, the Barracuda took part in Operation Tungsten against the Tirpitz in April 1944, and the RAF also flew the Mark II until mid-1945.