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Bristol Beaufort

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Bristol Beaufort

A Bristol Beaufort of the Royal Air Force in flight.

The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) was 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.

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, when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945. Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped put an end to Axis shipping supplying Rommel's Deutsches Afrikakorps in North Africa.

Beauforts saw their most extensive use with the Royal Australian Air Force in the Pacific theatre, where they were used until the very end of the war. With the exception of six examples delivered from the United Kingdom, Australian Beauforts were locally produced under license.

Although designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort more often flew as a level-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. However, the Beaufort did spawn a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter, which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.

Varants[]

British[]

  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.1: 1,013 built. Torpedo bomber, reconnaissance version for the RAF, powered by two 1,140 bhp Bristol Taurus 2, 940hp Bristol Taurus 3, 985hp Bristol Taurus 6 and 985hp Bristol Taurus 14 sleeve valve radial engines. First British production version
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.1A: As late built Mk.1 but featuring a strengthened structure and fitted with Bristol B.I.Mk 5 turret in place of the B.IV of the Mk.1, 530 built.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.2: 167 built. Torpedo bomber, reconnaissance version for the RAF, powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp radial engines.[77]
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort T.2: 249 conversions from Mk II. Trainer with rear turret position faired over; allocated to Torpedo training units and OTUs.[78]
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.3: Project only. Intended to be powered by two 1,250 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin 20 inline piston engines.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.4: One prototype only; powered by two Bristol Taurus XX radial piston engines.

Australian[]

  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.5: 50 built. First Australian built version, powered by two 1,250hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp radial piston engines with Curtiss Electric propellers.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.5a: As the Mk.5 but fitted with 1,250hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp with de Havilland Australia built Hamilton Standard propellers. Similar to the Beaufort Mk V, but fitted with a larger tail, 30 built.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.6: As the Mk.5 with 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S1C3 Twin Wasp radial piston engines with Curtiss Electric propellers, 40 built.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.7: As the Mk.6 with 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S1C3 Twin Wasp radial piston engines with Hamilton Standard propellers, 60 built.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.8: As the Mk.5 with 1,250hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp with Curtiss Electric propellers. Improved version fitted with an ASV radar, it could carry American or British mines or torpedoes, 520 built.
  • Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.9 also known as 'Beaufreighters': 5 Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.5 and 41 Bristol 152 Beaufort Mk.8 totalling 46 Beauforts of the RAAF were converted into light transport aircraft for the RAAF and used either 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S1C3 Twin Wasp or 1,250hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp with either de Havilland Australia built Hamilton Standard propellers or Curtiss Electric propellers.

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