Torpedo bomber
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A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings.
The torpedo bomber first appeared during the later years of World War I. As an airborne torpedo could weigh as much as 2000 pounds (or 907 kilograms, more than twice the bombload of a contemporary single-engined bomber), the aircraft carrying it needed to have a more powerful engine. Carrying torpedoes also required a long bomb-bay (or in any case a longer fuselage), which was why a special type of plane was needed for this role. However, a number of multi-engined, heavier aircraft have also been used in torpedo bomber role.
Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during WWII. During the war they were an important player in many famous battles, notably the British attack at Taranto and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They did particularly well in these attacks as the targets were stationary. In other battles, when the targets were ships able to maneuver at high speed and hence much harder to hit, torpedoes proved less effective, except in cases when the crews launching them were especially well trained (for an example, see Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse). Still, even a single torpedo hit on an enemy warship could cripple it decisively (as during the hunt for the Bismarck), so the torpedo bomber remained a very dangerous weapon. One crucial limitation of a torpedo bomber was that it had to fly a long, straight course at a constant altitutude towards the target ship before launching its torpedo, and hence was highly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. Torpedo bombers disappeared almost immediately at the end of the war, replaced by more generalized aircraft, and then missiles.
In a parallel development, some maritime strike aircraft and helicopters have been capable of launching guided torpedoes against submarines. However, the mode of operation of these aircraft is considerably different.
Some important torpedo bombers
- Douglas TBD Devastator
- Fairey Swordfish
- Fairey Barracuda
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero
- Nakajima B5N Kate
- Grumman TBF Avenger
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hu:Torpedóbombázó ja:雷撃機 pl:Samolot torpedowy pt:Torpedeiro (avião)