Torpedo bomber

A military aircraft designed to attack ships by carrying and releasing aerial torpedoes. Its attacks required the aircraft to approach low and slow enough for the torpedo to enter the water reliably.

Aerial torpedo: A torpedo adapted for release from an aircraft into water before traveling toward a target. The weapon’s entry speed, depth, and direction determined whether a torpedo-bomber attack could succeed.
Fairey Swordfish: A British biplane torpedo bomber used by the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. Its attacks at Taranto and during the pursuit of Bismarck made it the best-known British example.
John Arnott Fisher: A British admiral who promoted naval aviation and the development of aircraft capable of carrying torpedoes. His advocacy helped establish the strategic case for aircraft attacking ships with torpedoes.
Dive bomber: A bomber designed to attack by diving steeply toward a target before releasing its bomb. Dive bombers carried bombs rather than torpedoes and generally attacked from above.
Torpedo bombing: An aerial attack in which an aircraft releases a torpedo into the water to strike a ship. This is the attack method torpedo bombers were built to perform.
Nakajima B5N: A Japanese carrier-borne torpedo and level bomber used in the Pacific War. B5Ns carried out torpedo attacks at Pearl Harbor and during major carrier battles.
Aerial torpedo development: The engineering and testing of torpedoes designed to survive release from aircraft and run underwater. Progress in the weapon made dedicated aircraft-based torpedo attack practical.
Level bomber: A bomber that releases weapons during roughly horizontal flight. Level bombers attacked ships with bombs, avoiding the underwater weapon’s launch constraints.
Torpedo drop: The release of an aerial torpedo at a selected height, speed, and distance from a target. Correct release conditions were essential to keeping the torpedo intact and on course.
Douglas TBD Devastator: A United States Navy carrier-based torpedo bomber introduced in the 1930s. Its disastrous losses at Midway exposed the danger of slow, unsupported torpedo attacks.

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