Blackburn Shark
| Shark | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| RCAF Blackburn Shark Mk II | |
| Role | torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance aircraft |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Blackburn Aircraft |
| First flight | 24 August 1933 |
| Introduction | 1934 |
| Retired | 1945 |
| Primary users |
Royal Navy Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Portuguese Navy |
| Produced | 1937-1939 |
| Number built | 269 |
The Blackburn Shark was a British carrier-borne torpedo bomber built by the Blackburn Aircraft company in England. It first flew on 24 August 1933 and went into service with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Canadian Air Force, Portuguese Navy, and the British Air Observers' School, but was already obsolescent in 1937 and in the following year, replacement by the Fairey Swordfish began.
The Blackburn T.9 Shark was designed and built, initially as a private venture, to Air Ministry Specification S.15/33 for a torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance aircraft to be operated by the Fleet Air Arm. It had a crew of three, with the observer/wireless operator and gunner sharing the second cockpit (open on Mks I and II, enclosed on Mk III). Armament consisted of one fixed, forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun, plus a .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun or Lewis Gun mounted on a Scarff ring in the rear cockpit, with provision for a 1,500 lb (680 kg) torpedo or equivalent bombload carried externally. The Blackburn "B-6" prototype with a 700 hp (520 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IV was flown at Brough on 24 August 1933. The aircraft subsequently began Naval aviation tests at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), RAF Martlesham Heath on 26 November 1933.
...
Wikipedia