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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists Aviation Artists Philip West British Aviation  Swordfish |
[UP] - Beaufighter - Halifax - Hurricane - Jaguar - Lancaster - Lysander - Mosquito - Seafire - Skua - Spitfire - Stirling - Swordfish - Tornado - Vulcan - Wellington |
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Operation Judgement by Philip West. The attack on Taranto was the first major victory for naval air power in the world and blueprint for the strike on Pearl Harbor. The Fleet Air Arm played an active part in the fight against the Axis forces in the Mediterranean. Their greatest achievement was the strike against the Italian Fleet at Taranto, 11 November 1940 by four Fleet Air Arm squadrons and 40 or so men who carried out this daring raid. In this picture we see the Swordfish flown by Lt. FMA Torrense-Spence and Lt. AWF Sutton, having just released its torpedo. |
Channel Dash Heroes by Philip West. The Straits of Dover, 12th February 1942. Sub Lieutenant Edgar Lee helps his badly wounded pilot, Sub Lieutenant Brian Rose from the cockpit of their downed Swordfish, before it sinks into the depths of the English Channel following their brave attack on the mighty German fleet. Six Royal Navy Swordfish aircraft manned by 18 aircrew attacked the German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, with their accompanying flotilla of destroyers and motor torpedo boats and top cover provided by deadly fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe. But only five Swordfish crew survived. |
Operation Cerberus - The Channel Dash by Philip West. The Channel Dash (officially known as Operation Cerberus) was one of three operations during the Second World War for which the Swordfish was to become the most famous. Heavily outgunned in the Straits of Dover on this day in February 1942 by the German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, with their accompanying flotilla of destroyers and motor torpedo boats, and with top cover provided by deadly fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe, all six Fleet Air Arm Swordfish were shot down. Only five of the eighteen aircrew survived. Here we see the Swordfish flown by Sub. Lt. Kingsmill and Sub. Lt. Samples with PO Bunce in the rear, fighting for their lives with his machine gun. |
Flight Against the Bismarck by Philip West. The Royal Navys week long chase of the formidable German battleship Bismarck culminated in the foul evening weather of 26th May 1941. Despite the deck of HMS Ark Royal pitching through 55 feet, S/Lt John Moffat was one of fifteen Swordfish pilots who took off to attack Bismarck. After 90 minutes of arduous and turbulent flying the Swordfish found their quarry and dived through the intense anti-aircraft fire to drop their torpedoes. One of these hit and jammed Bismarcks rudder and condemned the battleship to sail in slow circles. The Royal Navys own capital ships then closed in and pounded Bismarck into a burning wreck. |
On a Wing and a Prayer by Philip West. The venerable Fairy Swordfish was the Fleet Air Arms premier torpedo-bomber at the outbreak of World War II. It may have looked archaic in appearance, but its courageous crews proved time and time again that it was a potent fighting machine. Stringbags as they were affectionately known, served in several important roles and theatres including Coastal Command, the Mediterranean and flying from MAC-ships protecting North Atlantic and Arctic convoys |
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