Bristol Beaufort
Description
Role	Light and torpedo bomber
Crew	Four
First flight	October 15, 1938
Entered service	October 1939
Manufacturer	Bristol Aeroplane Company
Dimensions
Length	44 ft 2 in	13.46 m
Wingspan	57 ft 10 in	17.63 m
Height	14 ft 3 in	4.34 m
Wing area	503 ft²	46.73 m²
Weights
Empty	13,107 lb	5,945 kg
Loaded	21,230 lb	9,629 kg
Maximum takeoff	lb	kg
Powerplant
Engines 2 x	Bristol Taurus VI 14-cyl radial Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp
Power 2 x	Bristol Taurus
	1,130 hp	843 kW
	Twin Wasp
	1,200 hp	900 kW
Performance
Maximum speed	Clean
	260 mph	418 km/h
	With torpedo
	225 mph	362 km/h
Combat range	1,600 miles	2,575 km
Ferry range	miles	km
Service ceiling	16,500 ft	5,030 m
Rate of climb	ft/min	m/min
Armament
Guns	3 x .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns (two in dorsal turret, one in port wing) 1 x .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in rear-firing chin blister
Bombs	2,000 lb	907 kg
Other	1,605 lb (728 kg) torpedo

The Bristol Type 152 Beaufort was a large torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from the earlier Blenheim light bomber. Bristol Beaufort torpedo-bomber Photograph published in: Aircraft of the Fighting Powers Vol I Ed: H J Cooper, O G Thetford and D A. Russell Harborough Publishing Co, Leicester, England 1940. ... A light bomber is a military bomber aircraft which, when compared to other bombers, is relatively small and fast; such aircraft will probably not carry more than one ton of ordnance. ... A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings. ... October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in Leap years). ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1938: Events Imperial Airways inaugurates scheduled service from London to Montreal. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1939: Events January January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve is formed February February 9 - Alex Henshaw sets a new speed record for the round trip between England and Cape Town in 4 days 10 minutes in a Percival Mew... The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) began building primitive Bristol Boxkites in a former tram shed and became famous for the production of the war-time Blenhein and Beaufighter, the Brabazon airliner prototypes, the Britannia and Freighter and the Belvedere and Sycamore helicopters. ... Bristol Taurus engine The Taurus was a 14_cylinder two_row radial aircraft engine, produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1936. ... Categories: Stub | Aircraft piston engines ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a self-propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings. ... The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) began building primitive Bristol Boxkites in a former tram shed and became famous for the production of the war-time Blenhein and Beaufighter, the Brabazon airliner prototypes, the Britannia and Freighter and the Belvedere and Sycamore helicopters. ... The Bristol Type 142M Blenheim was a high-speed light bomber used extensively in the early days of World War II, built by Bristol Aeroplane Company. ... A light bomber is a military bomber aircraft which, when compared to other bombers, is relatively small and fast; such aircraft will probably not carry more than one ton of ordnance. ...

Beauforts were most widely used, until the end of the war, by the Royal Australian Air Force in the Pacific theatre. Most of these planes were manufactured under licence in Australia. Beauforts also saw service with the Royal Air Force's Coastal Command — including Commonwealth squadrons serving with the RAF — and then the Fleet Air Arm from 1940, until they were withdrawn in 1944. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. ... US landings in the Pacific, 1942–1945 The Pacific War occurred in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in Asia. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Coastal Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force tasked with protecting the United Kingdom from naval threats. ... // Definition and linguistics The original phrase common wealth or the common weal is a calque translation of the Latin term res publica (public matters), from which the word republic comes, which was itself used as a synonym for the greek politeia as well as for the republican (i. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ...

General description

Although the design looked similar in most ways to the Blenheim, it was in fact somewhat larger, considerably heavier, and added another crewmember (to make four). The weight proved too much for the Blenheim's Mercury engines, and so a switch to the larger Taurus engine was made. The Taurus proved to be a problem on the Beaufort, and overheating was a constant issue. This introduced delays into the production, so while the plane had first flown in October 1938 and should have been available almost immediately, it was not until December 1939 that production started in earnest, with service entry in August 1940. Bristol Mercury engine The Mercury was a 9 cylinder one_row radial aircraft engine that was developed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1925, as their Bristol Jupiter was reaching the end of its lifespan. ... Bristol Taurus engine The Taurus was a 14_cylinder two_row radial aircraft engine, produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1936. ...

A number of changes were introduced into the line, and after the 1014th had been delivered, all of these were collected into the new Beaufort Mk.II. The Mk.II was visibly different primarily in the use of a flat bomb-aiming window under the nose. However it also included a second forward firing 0.303 in (7.7 mm) gun in the wing, a blister under the nose with a rearward firing gun, an improved dorsal turret with a newer Vickers K gun, an installation of the ASV Mk.II air-to-surface radar, removal of the Youngman trailing edges, retractable tailwheel, and improved airflow on some points of the aircraft. Performance, sadly, was not improved. 203. ...

Oddly the first 165 of the Mk.II's were delivered with the Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp engines instead of the Taurus. From the 166th onwards engines reverted to the Taurus, although the better performing and more common Twin Wasp seems like a much better fit for the aircraft. The Taurus engine was otherwise unused, and that production line could surely be put to better use. Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp (sectioned) A R-1830 used in a B-24 Liberator restoration project. ...

The Beaufort was a slow aircraft, with a top speed of only 265 mph (430 km/h), which dropped to a mere 225 mph (360 km/h) when carrying a torpedo. Although it did see some use in the torpedo bomber role, notably in attacks on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while in port in Brest, the Beaufort was more often used as a mine-laying aircraft while in European service. It saw considerable action in the Mediterranean theatre, where it helped put an end to Axis shipping supplying Rommel in North Africa. Scharnhorst was a 31,500 tonne Gneisenau class battlecruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, named the Prussian general and army reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst and to commemorate the World War I armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst. ... Gneisenau was a 31,100 ton Gneisenau class battlecruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, named to commemorate the World War I armored cruiser SMS Gneisenau, which was in turn named after the Prussian general August von Gneisenau. ... Location within France Brest, at the tip of Brittany Brest is a city in the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Field Marshal Erwin Rommel Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (November 15, 1891–October 14, 1944) was one of the most distinguished German Field Marshals and commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps in World War II. He is also known by his nickname The Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs). ...

Coastal Command regarded the Beaufort as a disappointment, but it turned out to make an excellent basis for a heavy fighter in the form of the Bristol Beaufighter. The Beaufighter was so superior to the Beaufort that a number were specially modified to carry a torpedo, and it replaced the Beaufort in service. Coastal Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force tasked with protecting the United Kingdom from naval threats. ... A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... A Hercules-powered Bristol Beaufighter Mk. ...

Australian-built Beauforts

With Britain's domestic aircraft industry working at capacity already in early 1939, the British Air Ministry instigated negotiations to set up parallel production lines in Australia, to supply both the RAF and the RAAF with Beauforts and Twin Wasp engines. Australia's tiny industrial base was barely up to the task of making a modern aircraft, but frantic efforts by the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) saw the first of an eventual 700 planes roll off the line in August 1941. The Australian made version is often known as the DAP Beaufort. The Air Ministry was formerly a department of the United Kingdom Government, established in 1918 with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the (then newly formed) Royal Air Force. ...

During the Pacific War, the Beaufort performed a vital role. With the United States unable to supply many aircraft to the RAAF, the DAP Beaufort became a mainstay of the RAAF during 1941-44. Production continued to increase, reaching almost one a day in 1943, and though inexperience and hurry combined to produce a horrendous accident rate early on, the Beaufort served with 19 squadrons and played a vital role in stemming the Japanese advance: as a maritime patrol aircraft, bomber, fighter-bomber, and most of all on maritime strike duties, where Beauforts sunk an impressive tonnage of merchant and naval shipping. After roughly 50 each of the Mk V, VI and VII and 520 Mk VIIIs, production ceased in favour of more modern types in 1944, and handful of Mk.VIII's were later modified as transports, known as the Mk.IX or "Beaufreighter". US landings in the Pacific, 1942–1945 The Pacific War occurred in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in Asia. ...

Units using the Beaufort

Royal Australian Air Force

• No. 1 Squadron
• No. 2 Squadron
• No. 6 Squadron
• No. 7 Squadron
• No. 8 Squadron
• No. 13 Squadron
• No. 14 Squadron
• No. 15 Squadron
• No. 32 Squadron
• No. 100 Squadron
• Sub-squadron units
  • 1 Communications Unit
  • 3 Communications Unit
  • 4 Communications Unit
  • 5 Communications Unit
  • 6 Communications Unit
  • 8 Communications Unit
  • 11 Communications Unit
  • 9 Local Air Supply Unit
  • 10 Local Air Supply Unit
  • 12 Local Air Supply Unit

Royal Air Force

• No. 22 Squadron RAF
• No. 39 Squadron RAF
• No. 42 Squadron RAF
• No. 47 Squadron RAF
• No. 48 Squadron RAF
• No. 69 Squadron RAF
• No. 86 Squadron RAF
• No. 100 Squadron RAF
• No. 217 Squadron RAF

No. ... No. ... No. ... Contents // Categories: Stub | Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons ... // History No. ...

Fleet Air Arm

• No. 728 Squadron
• No. 733 Squadron
• No. 762 Squadron
• No. 788 Squadron
• No. 798 Squadron

Royal Canadian Air Force

• No. 415 Squadron
• No. 404 Squadron

Royal New Zealand Air Force

• No. 489 Squadron RNZAF

Formed from pilots of the Royal New Zealand Air Force on 12 August 1941 under Coastal Command as an anti submarine and reconissance unit at Leuchars with Bristol Beauforts. ...

External links

• Bristol Beaufort
• A9 Bristol Beaufort

See also