Blackburn Baffin
| Blackburn Baffin | |
|---|---|
 A season of Blackburn Baffin |
|
| Type: | Torpedo bombers |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
September 30, 1932 |
| Commissioning: |
1934 |
| Production time: |
1933-1936 |
| Number of pieces: |
31 new buildings |
The Blackburn B-5 Baffin in 1932 as biplane - torpedo bomber of Blackburn's chief designer, Major FA Bumpus, for the Fleet Air Arm developed (FAA), which at the time of the Royal Air Force was subordinated. The Baffin was a further development of the Blackburn Ripon . The main change was the replacement of the Napier Lion engine of the previous Blackburn Ripon with a 545 HP Bristol Pegasus star engine. There were fewer newly built Blackburn Baffins than conversions of existing Blackburn Ripons .
Shortly before the Second World War, 29 used machines were given to New Zealand to train the Territorial Air Force of the Royal New Zealand Air Force .
history
The Blackburn Baffin flew for the first time on September 30, 1932 as the Pegasus-Ripon B-5 , which proved to be superior to the second prototype, the Tiger-Ripon B-4 . The townend rings of the Pegasus engine that were present in the prototype were dispensed with in the series version. Production of the new machines according to specification 4/33 began in 1933. In addition to the Ripon / Baffin prototypes, 29 machines were built and 64 old Blackburn Ripons were rebuilt in Baffins . The last three newbuildings received 580 hp Pegasus II M3 engines.
The Baffin was a conventional two-seater biplane aircraft in composite construction . The Blackburn Baffin was slightly shorter than the Blackburn Ripon with its Napier Lion. The wingspan of the Baffin was slightly larger than that of its predecessor. The slightly modified wings could be folded closer together. The armament was identical to the Ripon . As a bomb load, however , the Baffin could also carry a 2000 lb bomb instead of the 1576 lb torpedoes under the fuselage.
Used by the British Fleet Air Arm
Since March 3, 1933, the FAA had three torpedo bomber squadrons for its large carriers HMS Furious , HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious , when the RAF changed the organizational structure of its units for the aircraft carriers.
As the first of these squadrons, the 812 Squadron of the Glorious deployed in the Mediterranean was equipped with twelve Blackburn Baffin in January 1934 . When the carrier went home for overhaul in April 1934, the squadron remained in Hal Far on Malta to be available to other carriers used in the Mediterranean Fleet . So this squadron was used from June to October 1934 by the Furious . In the first half of 1935, the HMS Eagle operated when this carrier stayed with the Mediterranean fleet for a few months on the march back from the China station to Great Britain. The Eagle was on her way home, only the reconnaissance squadron 825 Squ. with Fairey III on board, since she no longer had her own torpedo bombers since 1932 and also her fighter squadron 803 Squ. when it was replaced in China to HMS Hermes . In the course of the Abyssinia crisis , the Glorious arrived again in the Mediterranean and took her squadron back on board in September 1935.
At this point, the other two squadrons were also converted. The second season was 810 Squ. converted for the Courageous from July 1934, which until recently had used the older, single-seat Blackburn Dart in addition to the Ripon . The last season was in January 1935 the 811 Squ. the Furious , which had stayed behind in England during the ship's service in the Mediterranean in late 1934.
As the Courageous in the late summer of 1935 also moved into the Mediterranean because of Abessinienkrise, she had not only the twelve Blackburn Baffin the relay 810 on board, but another six of the A-Flight of the relay 820 . This unit was formed because one did not trust the Blackburn Shark and their Tiger engines used in the Courageous squadron . The Shark was therefore left at home, but the Baffin flight was formed and taken into action. The additional flight was disbanded when the Courageous returned to England in the spring of 1936.
From October 1936, the season 811 was the first season from their Blackburn Baffin and replaced it with the Fairey Swordfish after only 22 months. This was followed by the 812 season in December 1936 in Hal Far, which had used the Baffin for 35 months and also converted to the Swordfish . In April 1937, the squadron 810 gave their Baffin ab's and replaced them after 33 months by Blackburn Shark Mk.II .
After a little over three years, the Blackburn Baffin's service life in one of the combat squadrons was over. In addition, over 30 Baffins were used as training aircraft in Gosport for deck landing and torpedo exercises. Before the Second World War, however, all machines were taken out of service. The new training squadrons of the FAA, which came under the Royal Navy from 1937, no longer received this model.
Use in New Zealand
In 1937, 29 Baffins were transferred from Great Britain to New Zealand . Only three machines had been built as a Baffin , the others were conversions from Blackburn Ripon Mk.II, IIa, IIC . The first machine started on February 1, 1938. Four machines were lost due to crashes. You served in the Territorial Air Force in Auckland , Wellington and Christchurch . At the beginning of the Second World War , 24 of them were still in operation (16 in Wellington and eight in Christchurch). However, the last Baffin s were replaced by Lockheed Hudson s before the outbreak of the Pacific War with Japan .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 |
| length | 11.68 m |
| span | 13.89 m |
| height | 3.91 m |
| Wing area | 63 m² |
| Empty mass | 1447 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 3459 kg |
| Top speed | 201 km / h at sea level, 219 km / h at 1981 m |
| Rate of climb | 2.44 m / s |
| Service ceiling | 4570 m |
| Range | 789 km |
| Max. Flight duration | 4.5 h |
| Engines | a nine-cylinder star engine Bristol Pegasus I.M3 with 421 kW |
| Armament | one 0.303-in (7.7-mm) Vickers machine gun one cockpit Lewis machine gun 908-kg bomb or 716-kg Mk-VIII or -Mk-IX torpedo or three 241-kg bombs or six 114 -kg bombs. |
See also
literature
- David Brown: HMS Eagle , Warship Profile 35, 1973
- Wiliam Green: Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft , Volume 7, Macdonald London, 1967
- CA Jenkins: HMS Furious , Warship Profile 23/24, 1972
- AJ Jackson: Blackburn Aircraft since 1909 . Putnam, London 1968, ISBN 0-370-00053-6 .
- Peter Lewis: The British Bomber since 1914 , Putnam London, 3rd edition 1980, ISBN 0-370-30265-6
- Mason, Francis K .: The British Bomber since 1914 . Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1994, ISBN 0-85177-861-5 .
- Kenneth Munson: Bomber 1919–1939 , Orell Füssli; Zurich, 1971
- Ray Sturtivant: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm , Air-Britain Tonbridge, 1984, ISBN 0-85130-120-7
Web links
- Blackburn Baffin (Engl.)
- Blackburn B-5 Baffin (Engl.)
- Blackburn Baffin (Russian)
- Model of the Blackburn Ripon and Baffin (engl.)
- CVs of the Blackburn Baffin in New Zealand (English).
Individual evidence
- ^ Lewis: British Bomber, p. 221
- ↑ Sturtivant: The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm , pp. 197, 203, 206
- ↑ Sturtivant, p. 206
- ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 206, 209
- ^ Brown: HMS Eagle , p. 258
- ↑ Sturtivant, p. 197
- ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 203f.
- ↑ Sturtivant, p. 243
- ↑ Sturtivant, p. 204
- ↑ Sturtivant, p. 200.
- ↑ Sturtivant, pp. 208f.