Vickers Wellington in the Coastal Command (1941-45)

Coastal Command, c2,500 built.

Before the Vickers Warwick developed for the Coastal Command, here is the story of the RAF Bomber Wellington VIII, Gr.Mk. XI, XII, XII, XIV.

Development

The main RAF 2-engine medium bomber

The Wellington was developed from Air Ministry Specification B.9/32 middle of 1932, for a medium bomber for the Royal Air Force. This specification called for a modern 2-engined day with high performance under the assumption "the bomber will always get through". So expected to be unescorted. Others developed for the same were the famous Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Handley Page Hampden. Performance requirements changed substantially however and the engine was also changed. In the end, the Wellington prototype was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey, under Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson.

One key feature which constributed to the model's immortal fame was its very modern (for the time) geodetic airframe fuselage structure. Designed by genious engineer Barnes Wallis it enabled resistance while being flexible and light, and being wrapped in canvas, made it extremely easy to repair. The Wallington shared around 85% of their structural components with the Warwick bomber developed later under the Specification B.1/35. A civilian model was also developed, the Vickers VC.1 Viking.

However, after it entered service in 1936, the Wellington only was frontline for the first part of the war as its design soon was seen as obsolescent. It became typically used as a night bomber and became in fact one of the primary long range model of the Bomber Command. In 1943, it started to be superseded by the faster and more modern Avro Lancaster and HP Halifax which carried a bigger payload, faster, and were better protected for the role. Relegated as a second fiddler, the Wellington however gradually started to find a new career gradualy from 1941. As the first entry in the Coastal Command, this bomber, at first refused to the service, became soon its primary instrument. It started service as an anti-submarine aircraft and even remained first-line in this service until 1945, while it was relegated to secondary roles in the RAF. The Wellington was named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, vanquisher of Napoleon.

The Coastal Command's Darling

The 48 ft diameter magnetic coil on a Wellington DWI Mark II used to detonate naval mines.

RAF Coastal Command was a specialized formation within the British Royal Air Force founded already in 1936, as its maritime aviation arm. It was not a competitor of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) as the latter was limited to "marine aircraft" only, meaning ship-borne or seaplanes. In contrast, the Coastal Command was provided regular land-based bomber to operate from coastal bases. The equipment and strategy remained native to the RAF, but it was a cooperative service working with the Royal Navy. The Coastal Command played a critical role in securing Allied victory in the Second World War.

Indeed the "Cinderella Service" created in a major RAF restructuring also seeing the creation of the Fighter and Bomber Commands. was very much the result of disagreements between the Royal Navy and the RAF over funding and control. Due to this lack of resources and secondary status it became the "Cinderella Service". Until 1941 the Coastal Command was equipped with "RAF leftovers", literrally the "drawer's scraps", in 1939 consisting of 19 under-strength squadrons totaling roughly 170 operational aircraft. It was a mix of seaplanes and land-bases bombers: The Supermarine Stranraer and Saro London for example made the bulk of its purely coastal bases like Felixtowe. From 1938 however it started to receive the Short Sunderland Mark I, soon to be its best asset as far as flying boats were concerned.

As for land-based models, the Coastal Command flew for example the Bristol Blenheim light bomber in its first versions. The main issue was the strict separation of the bomber command from the Coastal Command so very few to the dismay of its first and most active commander, Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté complaning of its neglect. Some 16 of these c170 aircraft were allocated to trade defence. Hugh Trenchard accepted to see however the developement of bombers for the maritime arm but only to bolster the air offensive from over the sea, and were classic land based models not specialised anti-submarine warfare. Until the war started, the sad truth was that the Air Ministry was thoroughly uninterested in any aircraft which fell outside the bomber function. And the bomber command continued to jealously keep its assets, not dispensing them to the Coastal Command.

GR Mark XIII, the most common Coastal Command model

So when the idea of detaching now older Wellingtons Mark I, to be superseded by more modern variants in the bomber command, to the Coastal Command, it was the first good news since a while. From September 1939, the CC tried to exist under a more vigorous Air Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill, the longest in service, successor of De la ferté, from 18 August 1937 to 14 June 1941. It was him that really shook the air ministry in order to obtain, from the Warwick, its first dedicated bomber, at least a part of the Bomber Command's precious assets. However even with mounting pressure of the battle of the Atlantic, the CC could not obtain any bomber, even obsolete ones, and only from 1940, a number of Wellingtons equipped to explode magnetic mines were detached to operate with the CC. So the first Wellingtons were "mineseepers". They had a large antenna-like magnetic gimble causing, when flying at low altitude, magnetic mines to explode. They played their role, and were returned to the bomber command after reconversion, and the service still had to make due with its antiquated Blenheim Mark I, hoping to make a lucky bomb hit on a surfaced U-Boat.

At last in late 1941, Bowhill, just before departing and Joubert de La Ferté returning obtained from "bomber harris" to have now largely obsolete Mark I-IIs modified as proper maritime bombers. But it's only with the Mark VIII that the first proper maritime bombers, dedicated to U-Boat hunt, were developed. They were indeed modified with a leigh light. They preyed by night across the Bay of Biscaye in search of surfaced U-Boats. The first of these was accepted in the 221 Squadron and detached to the Mediterranean in January 1942. However the Wellingtons that were at last obtained at the time were used for "maritime reconnaissance" over the Atlantic, meaning they were loaded with bombs and depht charges if available, shared with the Fleet Aoir Arm and engaged at will any surfaced U-Boats. Sin,ce the latter emerged at night to reload their batteries before or after, and in between convoy tracking and attacks (made systematically by night from 1942) the Wellingtons had to be adapted for night missions.

Main Versions

Fishington and Snoopington

Mark XIV operating from Gibraltar "In 1942 the Wellington was adapted to conduct night anti-shipping torpedo attacks against German and Italian shipping in the Mediterranean. The torpedo-carrying Wellington was nicknamed the "Fishington", and the radar equipped Wellingtons that guided the torpedo carrying aircraft onto their target were dubbed the "Snoopington".[33] 38 Squadron, based in Shallufah, Egypt had a detachment of Wellingtons operating from RAF Luqa in Malta conducting anti-shipping operations with torpedoes during 1942. The Wellington was also adopted by RAF Coastal Command, in which it contributed to the Battle of the Atlantic.[29] The Mark IC in Coastal had an endurance of over 10 hours at a cruising speed of 125 knots (144 mph) carrying 1,500 lb (680 kg) of bombs or depth charges.[34] It was used for anti-submarine operations; on 6 July 1942, a Wellington sank its first enemy vessel. In 1944, Wellingtons of Coastal Command were sent to Greece and performed various support duties during the British intervention in the Greek Civil War. A few Wellingtons were operated by the Hellenic Air Force." The Wellington also served in anti-submarine duties off the African coast with 26 Squadron SAAF based in Takoradi, Gold Coast (now Ghana), and the Free French 344 Squadron from Dakar.[35]

Minesweeping Duties

"Specialised "Directional Wireless Installation" (DWI), a cover story for the true purpose of the hoop variants, fitted with a 48 ft (15 m) diameter metal hoop, were used for exploding German magnetic mines by generating a powerful magnetic field as it passed over them.[29] The first successful mine detonation occurred on 8 January 1940 followed by a second on 13 January. In the latter the aircraft flew below the safe 35 ft (11 m) altitude and was caught in the explosive blast though remained flyable.[36] The hoop was an aluminium coil in an aerodynamic balsa case; turrets were faired over and unnecessary equipment removed to reduce weight. The first mine detonation unit No. 1 GRU at RAF Manston was joined by a second (No. 2 GRU) at RAF Bircham Newton. To protect the unarmed Wellingtons, Bristol Blenheims of No. 600 Squadron RAF flew escort during the Battle of France. One DWI was detached to the Middle East to act as the pattern for conversion of Wellingtons there. They were used for clearing the Suez Canal Zone and, later during the North Africa campaign, ports along the coast.[36]" Type 419 Wellington DWI Mark II DWI Mark I aircraft upgraded by installation of de Havilland Gipsy Six engine for increased generation power. 11 aircraft were converted to this standard. They were operated by No. 1 General Reconnaissance Unit, RAF, sweeping mines in the Thames Estuary for a short time until the Royal Navy had an equivalent capability to sweep magnetic mines. The unit was transferred to Egypt for use in the Suez Canal.[56]

ASW variants

For the development of what became the Leigh Light, Wing Commander Humphrey de Verd Leigh fitted a 24-inch search light in the 'dustbin' turret of a DWI Wellington testing it from January 1941. This prototype substituted batteries for the engine and generator setup to reduce weight and this carried forward into production Leigh Light-equipped Wellingtons.[37] Together with accurate radar altimeters, Wellingtons could fly safely down to 50 ft (15 m), illuminating the target submarine at around half a mile away just as the air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radar lost the target among returns from the water's surface.[38] Airborne radar

In late 1944, a radar-equipped Wellington XIV from 407 Sqn. RCAF was modified for use by the RAF's Fighter Interception Unit as what would now be described as an airborne early warning and control aircraft.[39] It operated at an altitude of 4,000 ft (1,200 m) over the North Sea to control a de Havilland Mosquito and a Bristol Beaufighter fighter intercepting Heinkel He 111 bombers flying from Dutch airbases and carrying out airborne launches of the V-1 flying bomb. The FIU operators on the Wellington would search for the He 111 aircraft climbing to launch altitude, then direct the Beaufighter to attack the bomber, while the Mosquito would attempt to intercept the V-1 if it was launched.[40][page needed][41]

Wellington Mark VIII

"Type 429 Wellington General Reconnaissance (GR) Mark VIII Mark IC conversion for Coastal Command service. Roles included reconnaissance, anti-submarine and anti-shipping attack. A Coastal Command Wellington was the first aircraft to be fitted with the anti-submarine Leigh light. A total of 307 were built at Weybridge, 58 fitted with the Leigh light."

Wellington Gr. Mark XI

The Mark X was the basis for a number of Coastal Command versions. Also called the Type 440 Wellingtron B, some 3804 were built, the most widely variant. It had a pair of 1,675 hp (1,250 kW) Hercules XVIII engines and was used as main platform to develop the GR. Mark XI to XIV. The Mark XI as also called the Type 458. It had an ordinary nose turret, mast ASV Mark II radar and no waist guns: 180 built at Weybridge and Blackpool.

Wellington Gr. Mark XII

Asl called Type 466, it was adapted to be armed with torpedoes (two 18-inch carried under wings). Redesigned nose to accommodate centrimetric ASV Mark III radar which had a radome in the chin position rather than external aerials. Twin flexible machine guns in a clear canopy replaced the front turret. Leigh light in bomb bay. Hercules VI or XVI engines: 58 built at Weybridge and Broughton in Flintshire.[50]

Wellington Gr. Mark XIII

Aslo class Type 466. an ordinary nose turret and mast ASV Mark II radar instead of chin radome, no waist guns. Hercules XVII engines of 1,735 hp (1,294 kW). 844 built including 2 at Weybridge and rest at Blackpool making it the main coastal command bomber.

Wellington Gr. Mark XIV

Also called the Type 467. It has a chin radome housing the ASV Mark III radar and RP-3 explosive rocket rails under the wings. It was powered by Hercules XVII engines. 841 were built at Weybridge, Broughton and Blackpool making it the second most common moel of the Coastal Command.

The pure ASW bomber: Warwick

A Vickers Warwick based at No 179 Squadron, RAF, St Eval, Cornwall, England. This squadron was the first to receive this type of aircraft (developed alongside the famous Vickers Wellington) in November 1944 and was used for anti-submarine work over the Bay of Biscay and the Western Approaches The Coastal Command had however a true, specialized ASW bomber, developed from 1940 alongside the Wellington at the same factories and from the same teams: It was the biggest hope of the Coastal Command: Along with some 11,460 Wellingtons, the 846 Warwicks represent more than 75% of the total number of aircraft built by Vickers-Armstrongs, otherwide an industrial giant of Britain, very much linked to naval construciton as well (in the 1880-1900s it provided 80% of the cruisers in service globally outside shipbuiding nations).

In Conclusion

The Wellington and strongly related Warwick became the primary instruments of the coastal Command until 1945, despite the arrival of better models, like the Avro Anson, backbone of early coastal patrols, and then Lockheed Hudson, and naval versions of the Bristol Beaufort, which proved one of its greatest asset. Then came the B-17 and B-24 Liberator. The CC spent 1941 to 1945 try to protect Allied supply convoys from German U-boats, with its primary responsibility of watching over the "Mid-Atlantic Air Gap" and provide continuous air cover. There were also more active, Anti-Shipping Squadrons actively searching for and attacking German surface warships and Axis merchant shipping networks massive patrols.

Crews flew thousands of hours over 10 million square miles of ocean, stretching from the Arctic to North Africa, destroyed 212 German U-boats, sank massive amounts of enemy shipping but the service also suffered a higher loss rate than Bomber Command: 2,060 aircraft and 5,866 personnel, and earned comparativly more Victoria Crosses. The Wellington was very much part of this story, as when it was gradually retitred from frontline operations with the RAF, Vickers continue to run the production exclusively for the Coastal Command.

Design

General conception

Engine

Armament

⚙ PLANE specifications
Gross Weight
Max Takeoff weight
Lenght
Wingspan
Height
Wing Area
Engine
Top Speed, sea level
Cruise Speed
Range
Climb Rate
Ceiling
Armament
Crew

Crew: five or six Length: 64 ft 7 in (19.69 m) Wingspan: 86 ft 2 in (26.26 m) Height: 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m) Wing area: 840 sq ft (78 m2) Empty weight: 18,556 lb (8,417 kg) Max takeoff weight: 28,500 lb (12,927 kg) Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Pegasus Mark XVIII radial engines, 1,050 hp (780 kW) each Performance Maximum speed: 235 mph (378 km/h, 204 kn) at 15,500 ft (4,700 m) Range: 2,550 mi (4,100 km, 2,220 nmi) Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m) Rate of climb: 1,120 ft/min (5.7 m/s) Armament Guns: 6–8× .303 (7.7 mm) "Browning .303 Mk II" machine guns: 2× in nose turret 2× in tail turret[d] 2× in waist positions[e] Bombs: 4,500 lb (2,000 kg) bombs