Blackburn Shark

The Blackburn Shark torpedo/spotter/reconnaissance biplane was overshadowed by its competitor the Fairey Swordfish. In reality though, the Shark was more modern than the Swordfish and performed better, and had it not been bedevilled with engine trouble in its early service, might have gone on to great things.

As it was, the Shark contributed greatly to the Royal Navy’s preparation for war in the late 1930s, and performed valuable service for the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII.

This is the first book devoted to the Shark to cover all of its service with every operator, and features nearly 100 photographs including many never seen before and detailed manufacturer images from the BAE Systems Heritage archive. Written by naval aviation historian Matthew Willis, featuring scale plans based on manufacturer drawings and artwork by British illustrator Chris Sandham-Bailey, this title offers the most comprehensive historical and technical study of the Shark yet published.