Bristol Brigand
| Type 164 Brigand | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Official photograph: Bristol Brigand T Mk 4, 5 February 1948, IWM ATP 16512B | |
| Role | anti-shipping torpedo bomber, ground attack/dive bomber |
| Manufacturer | Bristol Aeroplane Company |
| First flight | 4 December 1944 |
| Introduction | June 1946 |
| Retired | 1958 |
| Primary user | Royal Air Force |
| Number built | 147 |
| Developed from | Bristol Buckingham |
The Bristol Brigand was a British anti-shipping/ground attack/dive bomber aircraft, developed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a replacement for the Beaufighter. A total of 147 were built and were used by the Royal Air Force in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency and Kenya until replaced by the de Havilland Hornet in Malaya and the English Electric Canberra jet bomber elsewhere.
The Bristol Type 164 was the outcome of the 1942 Air Ministry specification H.7/42 calling for a faster edition of the Beaufighter for long-range torpedo work and anti-shipping strikes.
The Bristol design team under Leslie J. Frise, used the wings, tail and undercarriage of the Buckingham with a new fuselage of oval cross-section. The pilot, navigator/bomb aimer and radio-operator/gunner were grouped in the forward cockpit. In spite of the official change in its role to a bomber, the first eleven Brigands off the production line were completed as torpedo bombers. These early aircraft served with RAF Coastal Command from 1946–1947 before being converted to bombers.
In 1946 the first 11 production torpedo-fighter (TF.1) aircraft were delivered to 36 and 42 Squadron of RAF Coastal Command. Coastal Command and no need coastal strike aircraft so the torpedo-fighters were returned to Filton and converted to light bombers (B.1).
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