Stringbags in actions : the attack on Taranto 1940 ; The loss of the Bismarck 1941

207 Pages·2011·2.59 MB·English

by  Admiral

By the same author
The Royal Navy Today
The Russian Convoys
British Sea Power
The Rescue Ships (with L.F. Martyn)
The Loss of the Bismarck
The Arctic Convoys
Operation Neptune
The Story of HMS Dryad

The Attack on Taranto
First published in Great Britain in 1973
The Loss of the Bismarck
First published in Great Britain in 1972
Reprinted in this format in 2010
By Pen and Sword Maritime
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
Copyright © The Estate of Vice Admiral B.B. Schofield, CB, CBE, 2010
ISBN 978 1 84884 388 2
ISBN 978 1 84468 267 6 (ebook)
The right of Vice Admiral B.B. Schofield to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the
Publisher in writing.
Printed and bound in England
by CPI
Typeset by Chic Media
Pen and Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of
Pen and Sword Aviation, Pen and Sword Maritime, Pen and Sword Military,
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For a complete list of Pen and Sword titles please contact
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Contents
Foreword
The Attack on Taranto 1940
Introduction
PART I
1 The Mediterranean 1939–1940
2 Operation Mike Bravo Ate (MB.8)
3 The Plan of Attack
4 The Attack Goes In
5 Taranto Night and its Aftermath
6 The Avengers
Epilogue
Plans
The Attack on Taranto, 11 November 1940
Movements of Forces during Operation MB.8
HMS Illustrious showing bomb hits and near misses on 10 January 1941
PART II
Appendices
I Honours and Awards
II Summary of Torpedoes fired during the Attack on the Italian Fleet at
Taranto, 11/12 November 1940
III Summary of Ammunition Expenditure by Italian Shore Defences
IV Fleet Air Arm Personnel taking part in the Attack on Taranto
V Details of British Naval Aircraft
VI Details of German and Italian Aircraft
VII Ship’s Data (British)
VIII Ship’s Data (Italian)
Notes
Acknowledgements
Select Bibliography
The Loss of the Bismarck 1941
Introduction
PART I
1 Moves and Countermoves
2 British Home Fleet Sails
3 Action and Reaction
4 Pursuit
5 26 May – Bismarck Relocated
6 The Final Phase
PART II
Appendices
I List of Flags and Commanding Officers and Ships Taking Part in
Operations Against the Bismarck
II Ship’s Data (British)
III Ship’s Data (German)
IV Air Data
V Torpedoes Fired at Bismarck
VI Ammunition Expended During the Final Action Against Bismarck, 27 May
1941
VII Honours and Awards
Diagrams
1 Operation Rheinübung 23 May 1941. The sighting of the Bismarck
2 Plan of action between HMS Hood and Prince of Wales and the German
ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen on 24 May
3 Bismarck lost after torpedo attacks by Victorious’ aircraft
4 Movements of British Forces after losing touching with Bismarck 0800-2000
on 25 May
5 Bismarck relocated, movements of British Forces from 1030 on 26 May
6 Final action against Bismarck on 27 May
Notes
Acknowledgements
Select Bibliography
Foreword
My Stringbag flies over the ocean,
My Stringbag flies over the sea.
If it weren’t for King George’s Swordfish,
Where the hell would the Royal Navy be?
The popular lyric sung by Fleet Air Arm pilots to the tune of ‘My Bonnie Lies
over the Ocean’ during the Second World War makes a valid point. Without the
legendary Swordfish plane, the Royal Navy would not have retained its mastery
of the seas. Threatened by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean and German
submarines in the Atlantic, if Britain was to prevail in the inevitable naval battles
to come, it was essential to have the ability for aerial attack.
‘Stringbags in Action’ tells the story of two major events in 1940 and 1941
– the attack on Taranto and the sinking of the Bismarck - in which the Swordfish
played a significant role. With a cruising speed of less than 100 mph, the slow-
moving bi-plane had been built in the 1930s by Fairey Aviation Company.
Designed to spot the fall of a warship’s gunfire, with a torpedo strapped under
the fuselage, the plane was effective both in naval reconnaissance and as an
aerial torpedo bomber. Officially called the Fairey Torpedo-Spotter
Reconnaissance, with space-saving folding wings, it was given the name
Swordfish; the bracing wires between the wings, and its ability to carry an
assortment of pieces of equipment - like a housewife’s shopping bag - also
meant that the Swordfish was affectionately called a ‘Stringbag’ by the brave
young men who flew in it. Against its deficiencies, it surpassed the speedier
monoplanes by being easy to handle and was relatively resistant, both against
attack and in seaborne sorties in adverse weather conditions. ‘Although
obsolescent when the war began,’ writes my father, B.B. Schofield, ‘the
Swordfish remained operational throughout the war and proved its value in anti-
submarine warfare many times over.’
After Italy’s entry into the war in June 1940, Swordfish planes, based in
Malta, started to attack Italian shipping in the Mediterranean, sinking on average
50,000 tons of shipping per month. Then came the ambitious plan to attack the