Fairey Barracuda
The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal.

The Barracuda was developed as a replacement for the Fairey Albacore biplanes. Development was protracted due to the original powerplant intended for the type, the Rolls-Royce Exe, being cancelled; it was replaced by the less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. On 7 December 1940 the first Fairey prototype conducted its maiden flight; early testing revealed it to be somewhat underpowered. However, the definitive Barracuda Mk II had a more powerful model of the Merlin engine, while later versions were powered by the larger and even more powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The type was ordered in bulk to equip the FAA; in addition to Fairey's own production line, Barracudas were also built by Blackburn Aircraft, Boulton Paul, and Westland Aircraft.

The type participated in numerous carrier operations during the conflict, being deployed in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean against the Germans, Italians, and Japanese respectively during the latter half of the war. One of the Barracuda's most noteworthy engagements was a large-scale attack upon the German battleship "Tirpitz" on 3 April 1944. In addition to the FAA, the Barracuda was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Dutch Naval Aviation Service and the French Air Force. Following its withdrawal from service during the 1950s, no intact examples of the Barracuda were preserved despite its once-large numbers, although the Fleet Air Arm Museum has ambitions to assemble a full reproduction.
Q1261534
carrier-borne
MISC
Q753224
torpedo
MISC
Q678321
dive bomber
Concept
Q1393142
Fairey Aviation
ORG
Q172771
Royal Navy
ORG
Q1427735
Fleet Air Arm
MISC
Q11426
metal
Concept
Q1393140
Fairey Albacore
MISC
Q223818
biplane
Concept
Q2164285
Rolls-Royce Exe
MISC
Q1412885
Rolls-Royce Merlin
MISC
Q1362364
maiden flight
Concept
Q2164325
Rolls-Royce Griffon
MISC
Q633316
Blackburn Aircraft
ORG
Q823360
Boulton Paul
ORG
Q586346
Westland Aircraft
ORG
Q97
Atlantic Ocean
LOC
Q4918
Mediterranean Sea
LOC
Q98
Pacific Ocean
LOC
Q3354882
large-scale attack
EVE
Q182531
battleship
Concept
Q153370
"Tirpitz"
MISC
Q165862
Royal Air Force
Concept
Q25387
Royal Canadian Navy
ORG
Q1069982
Dutch Naval Aviation Service
ORG
Q820827
French Air Force
ORG
Q5458381
Fleet Air Arm Museum
LOC
Q671838
Fairey Barracuda
MISC
1940-12-07T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
7 December 1940
DATE
1944-04-03T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
3 April 1944
DATE
1950-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1950
DATE
subclass of
manufacturer
item operated
first flight
military branch
target
point in time
instance of