Fairey Sabrefish Mk-II
When in early 1940 the first
Fairey Albacores showed no great increase of performance over the
Swordfish, the Royal Navy began to look for ways to extend the life of
the Swordfish.
![](images/Sword-2.JPG)
A
production Swordfish Mk I was taken from the assembly line and fitted
with a Napier Sabre IIA engine. This provided almost three times the
power of the Pegasus engine fitted to the Swordfish I. Maximum speed
was raised from 230km/h to over 400km/h with a payload increased from
one to two torpedo’s.
![](images/Sword-3.JPG)
The Sabre
engined version was officially designated Swordfish Mk V, but the crews
quickly named them Sabrefish. This was taken up by the Royal Navy and
the Swordfish Mk V became the Sabrefish Mk I.
![](images/Sword-4.JPG)
In 1942 the
Sabrefish Mk II arrived with bigger fuel tanks and the ability to fit
underwing rockets.
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