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B.26 Botha
Blackburn B.26 Botha
Role	Torpedo bomber
Manufacturer	Blackburn Aircraft
First flight	28 December 1938
Introduction	12 December 1939
Retired	September 1944
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Number built	580

The Blackburn B.26 Botha was a British four-seat reconnaissance and torpedo bomber. It was built by Blackburn Aircraft at its factories at Brough and Dumbarton, as a competitor to the Bristol Beaufort, entering service with the RAF in 1939. The design was underpowered and it was quickly withdrawn from operations.

Development and design

In September 1935, the British Air Ministry issued specification M.15/35, for a three-seat twin-engined reconnaissance/torpedo bomber. Two submissions that met this requirement were accepted, from Blackburn for the Botha and the Type 152 (later known as the Beaufort) from Bristol. Both were intended to use the 850 hp (634 kW) Bristol Perseus engine. The Air Ministry later revised the specification to M.10/36, which required a crew of four. The weight increase meant that both designs required more power. The 1,130 hp (840 kW) Taurus was provided for the Beaufort but the Botha received only the Perseus X of 880 hp (660 kW).^[1]

The Air Ministry ordered 442 Bothas in 1936, while also placing orders for the Beaufort. The first flight took place on 28 December 1938.^[2] The aircraft was built at Blackburn's factory at Brough and at a new factory at Dumbarton, Scotland. Brough built 382 aircraft and Dumbarton 200, a total of 580.

Operational history

Service testing of the Botha showed that the aircraft had serious problems. It was considered to have poor lateral stability, while the view to the side or rearward was virtually nonexistent owing to the location of the aircraft's engines, the poor view making the aircraft "useless as a GR [General Reconnaissance] aircraft" and the Botha was underpowered.^[3] Although the Botha passed torpedo and mine-dropping tests, the aircraft's poor performance resulted in the decision in April 1940 to issue the Botha only to four general reconnaissance squadrons equipped with the Avro Anson, rather than the torpedo bomber squadrons previously planned.^[4]

The Botha entered squadron service in June 1940 with No. 608 Squadron RAF, the only squadron that used the Botha operationally, on convoy escort duties starting in August that year.^[5] Typical bomb load on these patrols was three 100 lb (50 kg) anti-submarine bombs and two 250 lb (110 kg) general-purpose bombs.^[6]

The Botha proved to be severely underpowered and unstable; there were a number of fatal crashes in 1940. The airframe and engines were subject to further development work but it was decided to withdraw the type from frontline service. The Air Staff decided to transfer the surviving aircraft to training units, which inevitably resulted in further casualties. Some Bothas were converted to target tugs as TT Mk.I. The type was retired in September 1944. In total, 580 aircraft were built.

Variants

• 
  Botha Mk I : Four-seat reconnaissance, torpedo bomber aircraft.


• 
  Botha TT Mk I : Target tug aircraft.

Operators

 Poland

• 
  Polish Air Force
  
  • No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
  
  
  • No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron
  
  

 United Kingdom

• 
  Royal Air Force
  
  • No. 3 School of General Reconnaissance
  
  
  • No. 24 Squadron RAF
  
  
  • No. 502 Squadron RAF
  
  
  • No. 608 Squadron RAF
  
  

Specifications (Botha Mk.I)

Orthographic projection of the Botha, with inset detail showing the asymmetrical nose glazing.

Data from The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II ^[7]

General characteristics

• 
  Crew: four


• 
  Length: 51 ft 1.5 in (15.58 m)


• 
  Wingspan: 59 ft (17.98 m)


• 
  Height: 14 ft 7.5 in (4.46 m)


• 
  Wing area: 518 ft² (48.12 m²)


• 
  Empty weight: 11,830 lb (5,366 kg)


• 
  Max. takeoff weight: 18,450 lb (8,369 kg)


• 
  Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Perseus radial engine, 930 hp (694 kW) each

Performance

• 
  Maximum speed: 216 kn (249 mph, 401 km/h)


• 
  Cruise speed: 184 kn (212 mph, 341 km/h)


• 
  Stall speed: 65 kn ^[8] (75 mph, 120 km/h)


• 
  Range: 1,100 nmi (1,270 mi, 2,044 km)


• 
  Service ceiling: 17,500 ft (5,335 m)

Armament

• 3 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns (one fixed forward-firing, two in dorsal turret)


• internal torpedo, depth charges or bombs up to 2,000 lb (907 kg)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bristol Beaufort

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II


• List of aircraft of the RAF


• List of bomber aircraft

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blackburn Botha.

• Rickard, J (2 November 2008) Blackburn Botha