Bristol Beaufort

For the car produced by Bristol Cars in the late 1980s and early 1990s, see Bristol 412.

Type 152 Beaufort
Colour photo of two Beaufort Mk.Is of 217 Squadron
General information
TypeTorpedo bomber
National originUnited Kingdom
ManufacturerBristol Aeroplane Company
Primary usersRoyal Australian Air Force
Number built1,121 (+700 in Australia)[1]
History
Introduction date1939
First flight15 October 1938
Retired1944
Developed fromBristol Blenheim
VariantsBristol Beaufighter

The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber.[2] At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers.

Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942,[3] when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945.[4] Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped interdict Axis shipping supplying Rommel's Deutsches Afrikakorps in North Africa.

Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire.[5] The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter, which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.[6]

The Australian government's Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) also manufactured variants of the Beaufort. These are often known collectively as the DAP Beaufort.[7] More than 700 Australian-built Beauforts saw service with the Royal Australian Air Force in the South West Pacific theatre, where they were used until the end of the war.

  1. ^ Angelucci, Enzo (1988). Combat aircraft of World War II. p. 32. ISBN 0-517-64179-8.
  2. ^ Barnes 1988, p. 283.
  3. ^ Robertson 1976, p. 30.
  4. ^ Robertson 1976, pp.52–55.
  5. ^ Robertson 1976 p. 3.
  6. ^ Barnes 1988, p. 290.
  7. ^ Robertson 1976, p. 56.