Bristol Beaufort Mk.IA with RAF pilots
Bristol Beaufort torpedo-bombers began arriving at RAF Coastal Command in late 1939, and in the spring of the following year they entered combat service. Airplanes carried out aerial mining of seaports, carried out day and night torpedo attacks, hit coastal targets with bombs. In the process of operation, the Bristol Beaufort was modernized, the composition of its weapons and equipment changed. The Mk.IA modification received a new machine gun turret, ASV radars were also installed on the torpedo boat to search for ships. One of the regions of combat service of this aircraft was the Mediterranean area, where the targets were transport convoys and warships of the Axis countries. It should be noted that service on torpedo boats was extremely difficult and dangerous, and at some periods of the war the losses among their crews were the highest in the Royal Air Force. However, despite all the difficulties, the pilots of torpedo boats were able to carry out a significant number of successful attacks on enemy ships.
