The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during World War II.
Its crew of three sat in open cockpits, surrounded by a multitude of bracing wires. Power was provided by a Bristol Pegasus radial engine. Slow and obsolete, the 1930s-era "Stringbag" nevertheless achieved some spectacular successes during its service life, which extended all the way to 1946. Most notably the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, in which the German anti-air gunners were not trained to fight against slow-flying yet highly agile aircraft, resulting in overshooting and missing the plane entirely.
Armament included one .303 caliber (7.7mm) machine gun for the pilot and one for the radio operator/gunner. For attack duties, the Swordfish could carry one torpedo or mine, or eight rockets on the lower wing.
