The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Bristol Blenheim I
| Crew | 3 |
| Dimensions | 56’4” by 39'9” by 9'10” 17.17m by 12.12m by 3.00m |
| Weight | 8840-12,500 lbs 4010-5670 kg |
| Maximum speed | 278 mph at 15,000 feet 447 km/h at 4600 meters |
| Climb rate | 26 feet per second 7.9 m/s |
| Service ceiling | 25,500 feet 7780 meters |
| Power plant | 2 840 hp (626 kW) Bristol Mercury VIII nine-cylinder radials driving three-bladed propellers |
| Armament | One 0.303 machine
gun in port engine One 0.303 machine gun in dorsal turret |
| Bomb load | 1000 lbs 450 kg |
| Range | 1050 miles 1690 km |
| Production | 1427 Mark I, 3983 Mark IV, and 945 Mark V by Bristol, Avro, and Rootes Securities by June 1943 |
| Variants |
There were numerous variants, but the I was the principal variant in the Far East when war broke out, and the VD was the principal variant supplied thereafter. The VD used two 950 hp (708 kW) Mercury 30s and had a range of 1450 miles. Its armament consisted of two 0.303 machine guns in a rearward-firing chin turret and two 0.303 machine guns in a dorsal turret. |
The Blenheim entered service in 1936 as the first British "fast bomber", meant to outrun fighter defenses in the days before radar. The concept may have been viable in the late 30’s, but the Blenheim was hopelessly obsolete by the time war broke out in the Pacific in 1941, being heavy and underpowered compared with more modern bombers. Nonetheless, there were about 65 Blenheims in Malaya and another 18 at Trincomalee when war broke out. Several hundred more served in the Far East until they were withdrawn in late 1943. The Canadians had a variant of the Blenheim that they called the Bolingbroke, used for training and patrol duty on the Pacific coast.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
