The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Fairey Albacore Mk I
|
Crew |
2 or 3 |
|
Dimensions |
50' by 39'10" by
14'2" 15.24m by 12.14m by 4.32m |
|
Weight |
7250-12,500 lbs (3290-4745 kg) |
|
Maximum speed |
161 mph at 4500 feet 260 km/h at 1370 meters |
| Cruise speed |
116 mph (187 km/h) |
|
Service ceiling |
20,700 feet 6310 meters |
| One 1130hp (843 kW) Bristol Taurus XII driving a three bladed variable pitch propeller | |
|
Armament |
1 forward firing 0.303 machine gun 2 0.303 machine guns in rear cockpit |
|
External stores |
One 1610lb (730kg) torpedo
or 6 250lb (115kg) bombs or 4 500 lb (227 kg) bombs |
|
Range |
930 miles (1500 km) with maximum load |
| 802 aircraft from March 1940 to early 1943. |
The Albacore first flew on 12 December 1938 and proved to be a great
improvement over
the Swordfish, It was stronger
and considerably more powerful, with excellent visibility and hydraulic
flaps that could double as dive
brakes. The first units went into
service with the Fleet Air Arm in March 1940 and operated mostly from
land bases their first year. Carrier
operations began in March 1941 in
the Mediterranean against the Italians.
Notwithstanding its superior qualities, the Albacore never replaced the Swordfish as intended. It acquired a (probably undeserved) bad reputation from its performance on missions in Norway against the Tirpitz and was replaced by 1944 by the Fairey Barracuda.
References
aviastar.org (accessed 2013-2-18)
fleetairarmarchive.net (2010; accessed 2013-2-18)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index
