A contemporary of the Spitfire, Britain’s Fleet Air Arm torpedo bomber was outdated when it entered service in 1939. Yet this sturdycraftsankahighertonnage of shipping than any other torpedo bomber in the war, outliving several intended replacements. Twenty Swordfish shuttered Italy’s Taranto naval base in a November 1940 raid, sinking three battleships, two auxiliary vessels, and damaging two destroyers; only two were shot down by the defensive storm of 13,000 antiaircraft shells. Against enemies anticipating cutting-edge aircraft, the Swordfish could be a deadly surprise—most notably during the May 1941 sinking of the Bismarck, when German gunners were ill-prepared to hit slow, low-flying airplanes, allowing a Swordfish to disable the ship’s rudder.
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