Arctic Patrol: Stringbags (Part 4)

Summary

We Have Ways of Making You Talk – SWORDISH ARCTIC PATROL: STRINGBAGS (Part 4)

Podcast: We Have Ways of Making You Talk
Hosts: Al Murray & James Holland
Release Date: December 18, 2025
Focus: The legendary Fairey Swordfish’s role in the Arctic Convoys, with stories of endurance, ingenuity, peril, and the unsung heroics behind World War II’s “Stringbag” aircrews.

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Main Theme

This episode explores the post-Taranto fate of the Fairey Swordfish biplane, focusing on its repurposed and pivotal anti-submarine role in protecting vital Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union. Drawing on the memoirs of Robert LePage, an observer in Swordfish 816 Naval Air Squadron, Al and James illuminate the brutal conditions, ingenious adaptations, operational routines, and everyday heroism of the men who flew and maintained these aging yet indispensable aircraft in some of WWII’s harshest theaters.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Swordfish Beyond Torpedoes (04:38–06:45)

• Transition in Role: After its moment of glory at Taranto, the Swordfish becomes “perhaps obsolete as a torpedo aircraft,” but gains a crucial new life as an anti-submarine platform—owing to its low-speed loitering and capacity for depth charges and rockets.

  “It’s as crucial as anything else. And so we’re going to look at Arctic Convoy JW57…Stringbag Patrol we’re calling this episode.” – Al (05:13)

• Why No Helicopters? Before the advent of helicopters, the Swordfish was the best tool available for anti-submarine warfare from small escort carriers.

2. Robert LePage: An Unlikely Observer (06:45–09:31)

• Biography: LePage, from humble beginnings, becomes an observer in Swordfish and later a luminary in linguistics, credited with major contributions to the study of Jamaican Creole.

  “He wants to join the Fleet Air Arm and ends up, you know, an incredibly important professor…” – Al (07:09)

• Training Realities: Naval aircrew had to first qualify as sailors. LePage is assigned as an observer because of his eyesight – which he wryly questions!

  “If my eyes are no good, right, why do you want me to observe?” – LePage via Al (08:28)

3. The Escort Carrier HMS Chaser (09:19–12:18)

• American-built for the Royal Navy: HMS Chaser, originally constructed as a merchantman, is fitted with state-of-the-art radar and adapted for convoy escort.
• Hazardous Service: Chaser avoids early loss, but the specter of disaster looms large, referencing the tragic fate and cover-up of HMS Dasher.

  “Dasher is one of the great Royal Navy cover-ups of the Second World War.” – Al (11:09)

• Design Oddities: The small starboard bridge is a solution to balance and docking hazards.

4. The Arctic Convoy JW57 (12:37–16:10)

• Convoy Composition: 45 merchant ships, guarded by destroyers, corvettes, and backed by cruisers. The air group includes Swordfish and newly introduced Wildcats.
• Perpetual Threat: The convoy’s route pressed along the Norwegian coast, exposed to Luftwaffe aircraft and U-boat wolfpacks, constrained by sea ice.

  “You’re basically in a sandwich. You’re trapped.” – Al (16:36)

5. Operations & Patrol Patterns (22:01–25:16)

• Codename Patrols: The crew use vivid, animal-themed patrol names (e.g., Cobra, Adder, Python, Frog, Crocodile) to coordinate complex search grids and anti-submarine coverage.
  • Cobra Y: Orbit convoy at Y miles.
  • Adder: Patrol ahead 8–12 miles out.
  • Python: Search on a bearing at set distance.
  • Frog: Astern patrol to prevent trailing.
  • Crocodile: Ahead patrol, “half-Cobra.”
• Communication Simplicity: These names facilitate unambiguous commands over the noise and stress of the flight deck.

6. The Human and Physical Toll (27:30–31:35)

• Clothing & Cold: Crew describe the absurdity of flying open-cockpit biplanes at -40°C in the Arctic, despite layers of wool, down, and leather.

  “Bottom line, though, it doesn’t matter how much you wear, you’re never going to be warm enough, are you?” – James (28:54)

• Hygiene Horrors: Without usable toilet facilities, urinating in flightsuits is standard, leading to “steaming” underwear draped to dry on the ship’s piping post-flight.

  “He said there’d be a pleasant warmth for a couple of minutes, then a growing chill, then an acid chafing that left them all with red, sore, red groins…” – Al (30:22)

• Equipment Limitations: Newer but enclosed Albacore aircraft are not deployed here, despite their heated, protected cockpits—an enduring mystery.

7. Combat and Adaption Under Fire (19:02–23:16; 34:45–37:01)

• Freezing Fails: Even modern weapons freeze—in one incident, a Wildcat’s guns freeze at altitude, firing accidentally upon landing (19:15).
• Constant Peril: Descriptions of sighting U-boats, rocket attacks, and the strain of finding carriers to land on in whiteout conditions.

  “The Swordfish attacks. The submarine dives as the Swordfish fires its rocket then snow whites out the scene. So they have no idea if they hit it or not.” – Al (35:48)

• Inter-Service Rivalry & Invisibility: Swordfish contribution is seldom mentioned in destroyer captain memoirs, highlighting different cultures and perspectives aboard.

8. Outcome: Victory in the Fringes (37:19–41:23)

• Convoy Successes: Despite high drama and hardship, most convoys get through; the U-boats are increasingly outmatched and decimated by this late-war stage.

  “By this stage of the war…the navy have got all these traps set for them. They figured it out.” – Al (37:39)

• Recognition Lag: Soviet cooperation is practical, not ideological; yet, the “fringe” victories like the Arctic convoys were long unsung and undervalued (the Arctic Star medal awarded only recently).
• Swordfish Endures: The battered aircraft and their crews are saluted for “imperturbability and indefatigability”—qualities that defined the Arctic campaign.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

On Swordfish Obsolescence and Adaptation

“Swordfish…is perhaps, I’m going to say it, obsolete in that role, but goes on to be incredibly important in the Atlantic war because of its ability to loiter…”
— Al Murray (04:38)

On Human Cost and Hygiene

“...there’d be a pleasant warmth for a couple of minutes, then a growing chill, then an acid chafing that left them all with red, sore, red groins…”
— Al (30:22)

On the Realities of Open-Cockpit Patrols

“How can you do it? How can this possibly be in an open cockpit? It's absolutely insane.”
— James (27:30)

On the Understated Heroism

“This is like a corner of the war where imperturbability and indefatigability and all those values, virtues we've talked about…absolutely center stage and no one knows about it.”
— Al (40:21)

On the Fringes Being Central to Victory

“It's war of the fringes, isn't it?... The war of the fringes, which is incredibly important.”
— James Holland (40:26)

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Important Timestamps

• 04:38–06:45: The Swordfish’s new anti-submarine role explained.
• 09:19–12:18: HMS Chaser: history, tragedy, innovations.
• 16:12–17:03: The perils and route of the convoy trapped by ice.
• 19:02–20:16: First aerial encounters; Wildcat’s frozen guns mishap.
• 22:01–25:16: Detailed breakdown of animal-named patrols and their roles.
• 27:30–31:35: Vivid descriptions of clothing, hypothermia, hygiene struggles.
• 34:45–37:01: Combat patrol, U-Boat engagement at -40°C, communications.
• 37:19–40:26: Swordfish effectiveness, heavy losses for U-boats, recognition for the Arctic effort.

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Closing Thoughts

Wrap-up:
The episode is a tribute to the Swordfish and the resilient, inventive crews that pushed this “obsolete” biplane to its limits. The Arctic Convoys, often treated as peripheral to “main events,” emerge as crucibles of grit, service, and quiet victory. The stories—both harrowing and hilarious—breathe life into the larger history, making these “fringes” central to understanding WWII’s full cost and character.

Recommended Reading:

• Luck of the Devil by Robert LePage
• Stringbag: The Fairey Swordfish at War by David Wragg

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Morals of the Story

• Don’t pee in your flightsuit—if you can help it.
• “Imperturbability and indefatigability” are perhaps war’s most important virtues—especially in a Swordfish.
• History’s “fringes” often hold its best unsung heroes.

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Next up: The Bismarck episodes, where the Swordfish again becomes legendary. Stay tuned!

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

1-800-Contacts. Parapa pum pum. Parapa pum pum. Merry Christmas, everyone. Ah, the little drummer boy. Everyone's favorite at this seasonal time of year. It's me, Al Murray, co host of the WWII pod. We have ways of making you talk the world's finest second World War podcast. And you know what? At this time of year, it's important to think about what's important, isn't it? Spending time with loved ones, looking to the year ahead, enjoying the finer things in life. And of course, the most important thing of all, the question that irks so many at this seasonal time of season. What exactly is a Pocket battleship? Now, we all like to say, of course, that it's just the thought that counts when it comes to gift giving. But actually, why not have a good thought, right? It can't just be a thought. Go for a thoughtful gift. And the best gift of course is a subscription to WW2 pod. We have ways of making you talk with a subscription to. We have ways you know what your loved one, your loved one, or even someone you only like a bit could enjoy. Ad free listening, priority access to new series and ticketed events, regular live streams, a weekly newsletter with book and model discounts. Oh yes, you know the kind you glue together and bonus episodes. In fact, why not give yourself a membership this year? Go on, you deserve it. Santa says you should. Ho, ho, ho. So head over to we havewayspod.co.uk and you too can present the very best gift that they'll ever get this year or any other year. Even as you remember on the way to dinner that you forgot to get them anything. Yeah, exactly. You can do this just like that. Go to the website. We have wastepod.co.uk and put that in your Christmas string bag. Merry Christmas and a happy new Year. Meine Lieblingen, auf Wiedersen. Un trusty truss. They had flown in the far north down endless avenues, 200 miles of hanging gardens, snow squalls in clear skies glinting in bright sun above black Arctic. 3 minutes maximum survival time if the engine failed. But ravishing beauty that squeezed the heart nevertheless. And at each cloud corner, the chance of a lurking U boat surprised on surface, stalk it, hold breath, attack from cloud, dive firing rockets, screaming obscenities. Die, fuck you. Die. Sink. Sod you, Sink.

[D]

Later.

[A]

Remorse and silent shame for this bloodlust staining the beauty. And that's a poem by Robert lepage from his account of flying swordfish in the Second World War. Luck of the Devil. Welcome to we have Ways of Making youg Talk with Me, Omari and James Holland and Jim. We're just giving the. We're giving the Swordfish one last lap of glory, aren't we?

[D]

Yeah, very much so.

[A]

We looked at the development of Fleet Air Arm, we looked at the Taranto raid plane by plane, which is terribly exciting. But the thing is the Swordfish then fades from view as a torpedo aircraft as, as the war progresses and you know, is perhaps I'm going to say it, obsolete in that role, but goes on to be incredibly important in the Atlantic War because of its ability to loiter, because you can fit anti submarine radar in it and because you can, because you can use it as a rocket firing or bombing platform to depth charge dropping platform for anti submarine warfare. Because there are no helicopters. Right. So what we thought we'd look at in this episode is the Arctic War.

[D]

Yes, I should just say Though for anyone who's worrying. Yeah, but what about the Bismarck? Of course that is coming up. Hood and the Bismarck, the new four part series which will be coming up at some point relatively soon and where the Swordfish will also be playing a key role in the whole epic amazing story.

[A]

But we thought we'd off this offer. This is a kind of, I don't know as a sort of, you know, when in a movie they do after the credits they do the thing where they go, you know, James Holland went on to run a successful bakery. You know, Al Murray went back to being a plumbing contractor. You know the end of. The end of Banner Brothers. This is what happened to the Swordfish after the big adventures. Right after its glory is where it's reptile is burnished in, in military legend and, and aviation stardom. This is what she then went on to do workhorse style. And that's. And it's as crucial as anything else. And so we're going to look at Arctic Convoy JW57. Stringbag Patrol we're calling this episode. And we're using Robert LePage as, as our narrator for this now the page. He writes this amazing account of flying as an observer. And if you listen to our Toronto second Toronto episode we talked about. Observer in a string bag is crap.

[D]

It's worse than being a pilot.

[A]

Much worse than being a pilot. You're at the back, you're. You don't know where you're going and all this sort of stuff. He flew with 816 Naval Air Squadron on ATMS. Dasher on this convoy on JW57. And in later life he goes on to become an expert in languages. And he makes a name for himself at Jamaica University studying Jamaican Creole, formulates a dictionary and postulates ideas about linguistics and identity that apparently really like that are part of the sort of fabric of the study of linguistics.

[D]

God, how amazing.

[A]

Isn't that incredible? Yeah. Goes on to do that and is one of the all time greats in linguistics in the study of it all.

[D]

More amazing since he has come from such. Yeah. Such humble beginnings.

[A]

Exactly.

[D]

Son of a window cleaner. Born in progress.

[A]

Estate Wellhall, Woolwich and Le Page because his family are from Guernsey originally. And he's called up before his family are bombed out. You could say. Here's an interesting example of, you know, social mobility as a result of the Second World War. He wants to flee, fly so the navy will have him and. Or he wants, wants to join the, the Fleet Air Arm and ends up, you know, an incredibly important professor in the memoir, he says his war experience is an important part of this. When you join the Fleet Air Arm, you go to train as a naval conscript at HMS Daedalus at Leon Solon, right?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

So before you become a pilot, before you can fly, you have to train as a seaman. You learn knots, you learn gunnery, you learn Morse code, you learn how to be an officer of the watch. You have to pass your watch exams. If you pass this, you go to the flight training. If you fail the flight training, that's called being dipped. And at his medical, they decide his eyes are wrong for a pilot. So he's assigned, assigned a role as an observer. And he thinks, well, if my eyes are no good, right, why do you want me to observe? Yeah.

[D]

What, how am I doing being an observer? Oh yeah, don't worry about that, that'll be fine.

[A]

Don't worry about that. We found something. If you do, you're, you're the right sort of fellow. He thinks at the time that there's a shortage because a ship that's gone on its way, it's on its way to Trinidad for training has gone, gone down. And they said they've lost a whole load of observers, so they need people. Right, so these are his origins as a, as an observer in Swordfish.

[D]

Amazing, isn't it?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

The many, many unlikely stories of people in the Second World War. I mean, don't you think how many people end up doing bizarre things in the Second World War because of a quirk or something or piece of luck or a piece of misfortune or. It's just incredible, isn't it?

[A]

Well, it's the story of the.

[D]

I mean, he doesn't sound like the kind of man, he's going to end up in a Swordfish over the Arctic, does he?

[A]

No, no, no. But here he is. So that's our observer and he lit. You know, we've got an observer observing what it's like being a convoy. So I think we, we're quite well set here. So his ship is HMS Chaser and Chaser is an escort carrier and these are the carriers developed for convoy escort. Right. And she's built by.

[D]

And they're smaller, aren't they? They're very much smaller vessels.

[A]

I mean, they're not unlike a helicopter carrier or whatever, or it's the idea that they've got an air element to being able to prosecute anti submarine warfare. That's the entire point. Right. Although there are fighters on Dasha, which we'll come to, and she's built by Ingalls shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her keel is laid down in June 1941 as a merchantman but before her launch is requisitioned by the US Navy for conversion to an aircraft carrier. And from an early stage she's fitted with the British Type 271 shipboard radar. In terms of escort carrier state of the art, right. She's completed and handed over to the Royal Navy as HMS Chaser in April 1943. And I think what's quite interesting is the previous episodes we're talking about, you know, naval air power being developed and the sort of genesis of it and experimental efforts towards it. This is when the gear, those lessons have been digested, the prescriptions for the, for the cure of the U boat menace have been sort of enacted. And this is, this is it, you know, 1943 when this stuff's coming online. And she first sails for active duty from Norfolk, Virginia and joins Convoy HX245 out of Halifax bound for the Clyde. The convoy reaches Britain without loss. So it's one of our non event convoys as it were. But an accident occurs on the 7th of July that's unfortunately reminiscent of HMS Dasher which we'll come to in a moment because there's an explosion in Chaser's boiler room. Now Dasher is one of the great Iran Navy cover ups of the Second World War. Her engines blow up, there's a fueling issue, 379 of 528 of her crew are killed. And this is covered up because it's an American built ship that has gone wrong for the Royal Navy. So it's kind of glossed over.

[D]

Yeah, we don't want to mention that.

[A]

No, the Americans blame the Navy because they, they're handling a ship that they don't understand. The, the Royal Navy blames the American.

[D]

Fuel system but let's never mention it ever again.

[A]

We'll never mention ever again the story of a cover up and of bodies being dumped in a mass grave and all this sort of stuff. If anyone listening knows about Dasher or has some sort of family story to do with Dasha, please let us know because it, it's, it's one of those gray areas. Now she's, it's, she's got the small bridge structure on the starboard side. This is to prevent a lopsided weight. And also one of the other things is, is they don't want it being knocked off when the ship docks alongside a key. They don't want the bridge being knocked off. It's part of the, part of the design structure. And again it's on the starboard side because of the way props turn and the torque pushing the planes to port.

[D]

Yep.

[A]

What they've got for this convoy is Wildcat fighters, which have been flying out of scapa flow since 1941. 816 Squadron that Robert Lepage is gonna, is gonna fly with now has some of those as interceptors for this Arctic convoy. Swordfish is no longer torpedoing, it's not a strike aircraft anymore, but it's an anti submarine plane.

[D]

Is that because it's just been usurped by Beaufort, by Beauforts and things quicker and heavier stuff?

[A]

Basically, yeah, it's been moved aside, but they still need it and you know, you've got all these crews trained on it. And Swordfish can fly from a carrier in conditions that will keep any other plane down in the hangar. Right. She still has no equal for getting off, for getting off a flight deck, particularly in extremely stiff winds. And we'll see exactly what they're, what they're getting up to on the Arctic convoy. So this convoy JW57 consists of 45 merchant ships which depart from Loch U on the 20th of February 1944. And close escort is provided by a force led by Commander I.J. tyson in the destroyer Keppel with three other destroyers and four corvettes. And this is 816's second attempt to get to Murmanx because they were on, they were on dasha816 that blew up and were meant to go, so she blew up, they're transferred and with the loss of lots of the crews, because she was in harbour, they'd flown off. But, but enough of the guys were killed and said to rebuild the squadron as well. With JW57, there's six corvettes, they're flower class, so you've got your Bluebell, Camellia, Lotus, etc, a dozen destroyers, including HMS Beagle, which settled in 16 convoys.

[D]

Oh my goodness, you think of that, right?

[A]

PQ14, QP11, JW51, a JW5052, been all over the world. Right.

[D]

And JW PQQP, they're all, they're all Arctic ones, aren't they?

[A]

Yeah, exactly. RA 51, 52, 55, 57, 58, 59, RA 62, Bedouin. And there's a force of cruisers in the background because there's a cruiser force that sort of is on call. Two support groups from the western approaches with frigates and minesweepers, as well as a specialist anti aircraft cruiser, HMS Black Prince, with Vice Admiral IG Glennie, and she sells in two convoys. I think what's really interesting about this is, is that when you look at this naval effort, some ships like Beagle backwards and forwards, just at it constantly. Some ships sail two convoys. And of course, Jim, you talk about the tyranny of Overlord in, in the Italian campaign. The tyranny of Overlord is going to kick in with the Arctic convoy campaign because they basically have to get all this done before this shipping is needed for Overlord. Just as resources are drawn away from Italy during the Italian campaign, during the Italian land campaign. The reason there isn't the shipping to do more in Italy in terms of, you know, flank hopping, like the Anzio style stuff. The reason there isn't the shipping for Italy is the same reason that the Arctic convoys need to get everything done and dusted. And the fact of the amount of daylight there is that serves the enemy an advantage. They have to get this all done because of D Day. So the tyranny of Overlord affects all theaters in the west that it's coming because this is February 1944, and everyone in the up the planning tree knows what's coming. LePage is part of this thing where they go and meet the Wildcats to bring them to the carrier. And in his account, he says everyone knows how stupid fighter pilots were and their tendency to get lost. They couldn't navigate. So we fly out and. And because we have to haven't got the radio that they've got, we use zogging, which is tipping the wings, doing signals with the wings, basically signals to flipping their wings, the swordfish wings, to give the Wildcats instruction. So turning left three, now three degrees or whatever, right. The Wildcats have to fly around in big circles because they can't fly as slow as the sword fish. It's great sort of, okay, absurd parade.

[D]

Well, we all know they, you know, nothing, nothing else can fly that slow.

[A]

Exactly, exactly. So they joined the convoy off the Pharaohs instead of Iceland. And he says, there's no point in pretending. We know we're going to be spotted almost immediately. And the convoy, this convoy has to steam almost the full length of the Norwegian coast, unable to move a few hundred miles offshore because of the ice of the Arctic winter pressing down from the northwest. So you're basically in a sandwich. You're trapped. You can't go near the ice. And it's just after it's, you know, it's still winter, so there's plenty of ice. And apart from the Luftwaffe fighters and condors coming Have a look. They're going to be in a range of shore based bombers, let alone submarines and battleships.

[D]

So we should also just point out that the jw and because this is two convoys, so JW is going to Murmansk and RA is coming back. And actually JW replaces the pq.

[A]

Yeah, that's right, yeah. Yeah. And the Germans, they have a u Boat Force, 14 boats arranged in two patrols which are undisappointingly named Werwolf.

[D]

Why?

[A]

Wolves. Yeah, exactly. Wolves, mate. Yeah. We talked about open cockpits and all this sort of stuff in the Mediterranean. The conditions are completely brutal. The deck. Can I stop? The deck you're landing on. Can I stop?

[D]

Right, Can I stop? Oh, my God. Do you ever think to yourself some of the things that were asked of young men in the Second World War, really, I mean, not being under fire, just. Just the circumstances in which they find themselves are just so beyond the pale? I mean, the tin can of the Lancaster at night, in the middle of winter, you know, etc.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Being in a Swordfish on an Arctic convoy.

[A]

Yeah. In winter, before you're trying to shoot anyone down. Right. Or be shot down or engage a submarine. Le Page, I mean, his account is there's things where you, you think I can't be right or is that he says that no one has thought to bring Arctic Grail grade oil. Right. And the, and they're the air coolers on the, on the starboard side of the Pegasus engine. He says the oil's freezing in the air cooler. Oh, this is the bigger engine, the Pegasus 2. So it's an upgraded. It's not much more power, it's got more power, which is what it needs. And he says, as usual, we solved this with the sort of makeshift expedient the Swordfish could take in its stride. So they got protected covers for the engines. They'd leave the covers on the engines outside when they were parked outside and they'd start the plane inside the ship, which is an absolute. No, no, you don't, you know, you don't do that because of spark and flame and all that, but they were doing that, right. Because otherwise they can't get the Damn thing going. 22nd of February, JW 57 proceeding to MomentsK is.

[D]

Yep.

[A]

They're met by their Ocean escort and by Chaser and her group, while the local escort turns and goes. So this sort of day, you know, relay where they're handed over.

[D]

Day one is the 23rd, isn't it?

[A]

Yeah. So condors appear immediately.

[D]

So these are focke Wulf, two hundreds, four engine aircraft.

[A]

That's got the range. It's exactly, actually exactly what you need to loiter and spot and have a good look and direct, direct U boats, right. It's the Germans are getting this, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

A wildcat goes out to attack it, Sent out to attack it. His guns freeze 5,000ft so he can't shoot it down. Exasperated, the pilot flies back to Chaser. As he lands the hook catches the arrestor wire and the jerk sets the frozen guns off, spraying the flight deck cannon shells. So no one's in the way, no one's hurt. This is the stuff they're dealing with.

[D]

So that's day one. That's day one. Day two is the 24th of February. The U boats gain contact but are unsuccessful in their attacks. While U713 is sunk in a counter attack by Keppel, assisted by a Swordfish.

[A]

From Chaser, which is the destroyer. Yeah. And interestingly the captain of the Keppel wrote a, wrote a memoir about this convoy in which he never mentions the Swordfish, never mentions them. And it's apparently, it's a gripping account, it's a brilliant account of working on a destroyer. Never mentions the Swordfish patrols, nothing. Right. They don't, they don't feature piles, don't cross or they run on time. You know, it's just part of how it works. Right. So he doesn't think to think about it.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And it also this, also this, this idea that the Royal Navy, if you're on a destroyer, the Royal Navy is the destroyer. It goes no further than you and the man on the boat. Right. There isn't a navy outside you and your immediate concerns. Right. On day three, 25 February, an RAF Catalina spots a U boat, dives on the submarine and releases homing torpedoes that destroy it.

[D]

You're getting a sense, aren't you, that these U boats aren't very good by.

[A]

This top, this point and that between them, the raf, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, they have the answers. And the tactic they developed is during the short hours of daylight when the Swordfish can fly, the submarines cruise just under the surface with their snorkel, because they've got a snorkel by this point. And then when the light fades, they surface speed ahead, trying to get the convoys, destroyers and corvettes after them, creating a high speed signal from the ship's propellers that to the best target for the other submarines, acoustic torpedoes. So the idea is one submarine pops up as bait and, and draws the destroyers away and then the Others. The others attack. And this works. So u990 torpedoes the destroyer Maharata and she sinks quickly with the loss of most of her crew. 17 survivors. What's the metric nowadays? If you lose a third of your strength as an infantry company, then you're not battle capable. Right. Here are ships going down with a handful of survivors. Right. But there are no further losses. And JW57 reaches Kola safely on the 28th of February.

[D]

Good news.

[A]

Yeah, good news. And there are two more days. Those two more days involve the Wildcats forcing the Condors away.

[D]

Scaring them off, basically.

[A]

Scaring them off. So what they do, they leave before dawn. So you're taking off in the dark gym in the Arctic.

[D]

Yep.

[A]

With the ship pitching and rolling, in.

[D]

High wind, it's freezing cold, it's winter, it's February.

[A]

And the first thing they do is they circle low over the merchantman so they can see the planes and know what not to shoot down. And also to reassure them that there is a presence. So there aren't grumbles about you weren't up in the air and about when you should have been. Because being, you know, it's like, it's like justice being seen to be done as much as being done. You know what I mean? And they do 90 minute to three hour patrols and the visibility dictates the patrolling, obviously. So there are different styles of patrol, all named after reptiles.

[D]

So first one's Cobra.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So Cobra is a patrol around, around the convoy at a distance of Y miles. Y is the distance from the convoy so that the instruction Cobra 12 would mean a patrol of a distance of.

[A]

12 miles that's patrolling around the convoy at distance of visibility. So if you've got 10 mile visibility, you sit on the edge of the visibility.

[D]

Right. And what about Adder?

[A]

Adder is to patrol ahead of the convoy at a distance of 8 to 12 miles with a length of patrol 30 miles. That is 15 miles on either side of the center line.

[D]

Okay. And then X, Python Y.

[A]

This is given when a submarine has been spotted. So the aircraft would patrol on the bearing of X at a distance of Y miles. So submarine at 240 and we want you to 10 miles away. We want to patrol 240. 10. So 240, Python 10, off you go, you jump in the plane and you're gone. And then you carry out a square search around the indicator position for 20 minutes.

[D]

I think this is my favorite frog Y. Yeah.

[A]

You patrol astern of convoy at a distance of Y miles. Length of patrol will be 2 y miles. That is y miles on either side of the center line.

[D]

Yeah, lost me already.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is to stop U boats trailing the convoy, often shortly before dusk. It's also essential prior to any change of course so that the U boat commander would keep his craft submerged and not realize that the change had taken place until it was too late.

[D]

I'm not 100% following that.

[A]

Well, so what you do is you patrol. You patrol astern of the convoy. The length of the patrol is 2 y min miles. Y miles on either side of the center line. So if the. The convoy is two miles wide. So you patrol four miles. Right, 2Y. The length of patrol is 2Y.

[D]

Got it.

[A]

Yeah. On either side of the center line. So basically you're. You're sweeping behind the convoy at a distance to force the U boat down to the point where it won't be able to see the convoy change course.

[D]

So that would be a total of 10 miles because it's 4 miles either side plus the 2 miles of the convoy. There would be a point where this would all just click into. Into your head, isn't it? And you just go, yeah, okay, got it.

[A]

Yeah, I'll do a frog Y. No problem.

[D]

I'm doing frog Y.

[A]

But also, Jim, these. All these words can't be confused with each other. So you can yell this across a flight deck, right?

[D]

It's the same principle as the Battle of Britain radio traffic, isn't it?

[A]

Exactly.

[D]

And there's one more. One more. The crocodile Y. Crocodile Y is the.

[A]

Last of these patrol ahead of the convoy from beam to beam at radius Y miles, in effect, a half Cobra gym. Yep, I like a half of.

[D]

Yeah, me too.

[A]

This is popular with fast convoys because they. Then they don't have anything to worry about with the U boat sneaking up from astern.

[D]

Should we take a break at this point? I'm exhausted by all this. All these alligators and crocodiles and frogs.

[A]

We'll take a break. I'm just going to perform an alligator, a starboard alligator while I'm. While you do a port alligator. And that way we'll chase the U boats away. We'll see you in a moment.

[E]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast. Smart move. Being financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor. State Farm. Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

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[A]

Limu Emu and Doug Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates excludes Massachusetts. Welcome back to we have ways of making you talk. We hope your crocodile Y went well.

[D]

Or your frog or whatever.

[A]

Or your frog. Or whatever. Whatever it was you chose to do. I think these could be T shirts, couldn't they? I mean, maybe these are beers. For next we have Wastefest Cobra 4.3%. You know, maybe that's the session ale. Anyway, now I think we need to talk about flying the Swordfish in this weather.

[D]

How can you do it? How can this possibly be in an open cockpit? It's absolutely insane. Anyway, open cockpit in the Arctic. Pilot, observer, radio operator, stroke, rear gunner, pilot slightly protected by the wing. Yes, by the wing. And by the wing almost above his head. But the observer and the tag, the telegraphist air gunner are completely exposed. So this is not the modern day. It's 1944. So it's silk underwear. That's all right. Then over. Which went oiled wool long johns, everyday cottons and. And a woollen battle dress. Then you have a SID cut flying suit. Lots of zips, windproof gabardine. Gabardine is waterproof with huge pockets into which one stuff maps and torches, navigation protractors, chocolate and the like. Under the leather flying helmet and goggles they'd wear a woolen balaclava. Yeah, Sheepskin flying boots, heavy leather with silk gloves underneath. You'd have to get the levers off to do the navigation. And then a leather Irvine flying jacket.

[A]

On top of which in theory had provision for electrical heating, but they were told not to use it because the Swordfish systems couldn't Cope with heating, three extra circuits for the air crew. I don't know. I think we could safely say Avra will not be making a sidcut flying suit, which is like a great big one piece, windproof gabardine thing that zips from heel to neck. We're not going to bother with that. No one wants that. Right.

[D]

Bottom line, though, it doesn't matter how much you weigh, you're never going to be warm enough, are you?

[A]

You're never, ever going to be warm enough. And the other thing is they have a safety harness as well. But. But because it's so cold and because they're wearing so many layers, it makes it very difficult to move and it restricts circulation because they're so cold and they're wearing so many layers. So you could let it off. But during mine laying operations in the Channel, One Swordfish had run into a group of German fighters, taken evasive action, and the observer had been thrown out and lost, killed in the ocean.

[D]

Oh, my goodness me. So you are basically flying into the Arctic Sea around the North Cape, without proper heating, without proper clothes, and with no safety harness at all.

[A]

And if he wants to navigate, he's got to take his gloves off, you know, and he's got to navigate his observer.

[D]

And that's not all, is it? Because there's a final discomfort, which is, ladies and gentlemen, urinating.

[A]

Yeah. And we never talk about this sort of thing, really. Going for. Going for a slash. You're on it. Flying an alligator and you've been up for an hour and a half and you really need to go. And of course, in the cold, you need to go, don't you? There's a P tube in later. Swordfish. Right. And LePage says, you know, we could do, in theory, do away with. Because they would have funnels and bottles and all this sort of stuff. But the P tube designers had not allowed for the swirling backdraft of the propeller that would send the pee in a fine spray over the air gunner.

[D]

But also there's the other point that you've got to get your knob out and you've got to have a slash in Arctic conditions.

[A]

Yeah. So what they do, they'd urinate in their suits. And he said there'd be a pleasant warmth for a couple of minutes, then a growing chill, then an acid chafing that left them all with red, sore, red groins and oh, my God, as soon as you landed, you're straight in, putting your underwear on, warm piping to dry it out. So that he said that any Warm piping was soon draped in underwear gently steaming. Air crews soon learned to carry as much clean underwear as possible on convoys. And one of the interesting things, the American built carriers have hot showers.

[D]

Just hold that thought. So what that means is that anything that's British built doesn't have hot showers.

[A]

Doesn't have a hot shower or doesn't necessarily. Yeah, exactly. And he says, but you could keep the skin clean, you could prevent it from breaking down if you were lucky. This is, this is the day to day of flying these patrols, you know. And in 1940, of course, the Fleet Air Arm was introduced to Fairey Albacore. Right. Which is rubbish. It's slow, it's got an unreliable engine and they're phased out well before the Swordfish that they're supposed to replace. But they've got enclosed cockpits, they've got windscreen wipers, they've got heating, they've got a toilet. But they are not deployed on Arctic convoys.

[D]

Why not?

[A]

Why?

[D]

You know, you're not asking anyone to carry a torpedo. All they've got to do is just fly around.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I mean this is barely comprehensible what they're expected to do, isn't it? I literally can't think of anything I'd rather do less.

[A]

We've talked about some tough gigs.

[D]

This has got to be right up there, hasn't it?

[A]

It's got to be right up there. Just flying on and off an aircraft.

[D]

Carrier in the Arctic.

[A]

And in an open cockpit, the convoy arrives. So what, the merchant ships go down to Murmansk itself.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

While the naval escort drops anchor at Vienga Roads, which is halfway up the inlet, 15 miles north of the port. And Vaenga Airport, which is now severe Mosque was where Operation Benedict had been staged which brought hurricanes up in September 1941, of course, 151 Squadron bolstering defense of the port and getting the Soviets to use the Hurricanes converting into the following month.

[D]

Vanguard Roads is miserable, isn't it? It's bleak, it's cold, there's no joy there to be had at all. There's a few Russians with some vodka and that's literally it.

[A]

Yeah. Big Royal Navy presence. Sloops, minesweepers working with the Soviet Navy to keep U boats away from the harbour entrance. That is literally the British and the Soviets alongside one another working together, which I think is again an interesting component of the war that maybe, maybe doesn't get talked about actually working together. Not this sort of. Not this sort of Soviets over there who we don't really Know what they're like and are rude to us and don't like us. Actual proper tactical operational cooperation for something really important. There are friendly Russians driving American military trucks sliding around on the docks. And the small town there that's been completely bombed flat to annihilation and there's snow all over it. Low hills, stunted little pine trees. So this is the end of the world, isn't it?

[D]

Absolutely awful.

[A]

You've endured all this to get there. Peeing in your flying suit, in your open cockpit, flying your X Python Y. And the merchantmen are unloaded the tanks and machinery and crates of ammunition stacked high on the quay and in return they're swapping out for bulk materials and ballast, basically for the return journey. 816 Squadron, they're invited to a party to drink terrifying quantities of vodka with the Red army air base outside town. And then they invite the Soviets back to Chaser to drink comparable volumes of Royal Navy whiskey.

[D]

Yes, there's lots of back slapping and lots of glasses, everyone laughing.

[A]

Exactly.

[D]

So they've got to Vienga Rhodes, they've had that. They've got shit face with the Russians, they've cleaned out their underwear, put on some new drawers, then they've got to go back. And that's the RA bit of the convoy.

[A]

Yeah. So they set off on March 2, having arrived on 28 February. So it's only a couple of days of this heavy drinking and dusting themselves down. And the first two days of the weather is too bad for flying Flower class corvettes are rolling on an 80 degree roll. So right down to the gunnels on the 4th to the northwest of Norway, they damage U472, which is finished off by the destroyer onslaught. It's better weather. So the condors and ju828s are out spotting. The U boats are pushing again. The Swordfish are running patrols despite ice on the flight deck. It's minus 40, so the metal is becoming so brittle. Tail wheels, tail wheels will snap off. Right, the iced up flight deck, the crew get out with steam hoses and chip away at the ice. And they do night patrols as well.

[D]

Honestly, I mean this, this just defies belief, doesn't it? And I'm ashamed to say I had no idea they were still doing this in swordfish in 1944.

[A]

It's crazy, isn't it? It's completely crazy.

[D]

Absolutely nuts.

[A]

You've got to spot the carrier at night. Is it going to be ice free when you come into land? Probably not.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, on a dusk patrol on the fourth swordfish flying 15 miles astern of the convoy. So what's he on? He's on a frog 15 astern of the convoy through a snow cloud. It's a 40 knot wind at 2000ft.

[D]

Just imagine being in the open cockpit with that.

[A]

Spots a U boat through a gap in the weather. They close on, the U boat can see. Hey.

[D]

Boat.

[A]

Jolly good. In we go.

[D]

You know, my hands have frozen to the control column.

[A]

I've just peed. It's awful. I mean.

[D]

I've now got ice coming out of my knob. Yeah.

[A]

This is the insight, the kind of insight our listeners are desperate for.

[D]

Do you know what? It's actually making me feel cold.

[A]

Yes, it is actually. Yeah. The Swordfish attacks. The submarine dives as the Swordfish fires its rocket then snow whites out the scene. So they have no idea if they hit it or not.

[D]

Oh my God. No idea whether we're going to find the aircraft carrier again.

[A]

We've got some telegrams and some typical exchanges. Right. James, would you, would you like to be chaser's telegraphist, please?

[D]

Device Admiral. Destroyers from chaser aircraft report 1 u boat attacked in position 250 zz 16 at 08201 certain hit. 2 possible u boat submerged and was attacked by destroyers. 1 u boat sighted in position 187. Zz 22 at 0847. Offer home to position of Swirl. 1 u boat attacks in position 187 zz 22 at 06152 certain hits. 2 possible u boat eventually finished off by gunfire from onslaught destroyer who took.

[A]

Off survivors 2 Chaser from Vice Admiral destroyers. Well done. It is nice to read, he said.

[D]

The Stoic Club to Vice Admiral. Destroyers from chaser aircraft report submarine sunk. 095 ZZ15 survivors in water.

[A]

Will confirm Vice Admiral to Chaser Stoat work. You always wear a good cricketer.

[D]

What does that mean?

[A]

I don't know. But when I found this I thought I've got to put that and Jim will love that.

[D]

Yeah, I love it.

[A]

I always wear a good cricketer.

[D]

We need a T shirt with that on, don't we? That's a T shirt. People in a swordfish with just icicles coming off it.

[A]

Yeah, just that alone. That first telegram, they're really kicking the U boats here.

[D]

I was literally about to make that exact point, you know that you can see at this stage of the war the U boats are. They're next to useless. They're so under trained.

[A]

The crews and also the navy have got all these traps set for them. They figured it out.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

You know those patrols designed to force the U boat down so the convoy can change course, all of it, you know, they've got it worked out. So in the next two days, in spite of the bad weather, they destroy U366, U973, and the second escort group moves from Atlantic convoys to support the Russian convoy JW58. So two days after leaving Lock U and by now off Iceland, Staling, who's come out to meet the returning convoy, sinks U961 on the 29th. So more U boats are lost before the convoy reaches Russia early in April. So they're just taking an absolute wrecking ball to the convoy effort. And you do think, given these escort carriers, that a concerted air effort, air strikes on these convoys would be much more effective than trying to deal. Deal with them, with U boats, don't you? You know that because the Martlets and the Swordfish don't have the answer. And we talked about high winds being a problem. If there's no wind, there's also a problem.

[D]

Can't take off properly.

[A]

Can't take off properly. So the carrier can only do 17 knots to create the headwind, which will. A Swordfish can do. The Wildcat cannot take off in that kind of weather. So you end up with Swordfish being sent up to meet the Ju88s. It's carnage for the Germans. Chaser is eventually diverted to Scapa Flow rather than going on to Loch U and run. Runs aground when she gets there, which is a footnote to the story.

[D]

I'm absolutely gobsmacked by this.

[A]

Yeah. The intensity and the drama of these operations and how important they are. And then, of course, this all winds down because the longer days make it much more difficult and easier for the U boats.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Spotting the convoy is the thing. And then, of course, Overlord comes into view. So all of Black Prince has to go be part of the flagship effort for D Day.

[D]

But it's also amazing, isn't it, that these convoys are still going. The supply line of goods to the Soviet Union.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Doesn't stop at any point. I mean, it's just incredible.

[A]

It's absolutely crazy.

[D]

I feel like I need to go and have a hot bath and kind of then sit in a sauna for an hour.

[A]

What's really interesting here, though, is this is. This is the thing we've talked about before on the podcast about how often you don't look at the naval effort because the trains kind of run on time. You Know, there are, There are many more convoys that go unscathed than are attacked, Right?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

By this stage of the war. And you know, Maratha's sunk the destroyer. They lose the destroyer on this trip. In order to make the trains run on time, you have to fly this kind of combat air patrol with Swordfish, with whatever you've got. And the Swordfish is ideal for this role. And you have to do it day in, day out, regardless of the weather and what that strain must be on the cruise. Not just the flight crews, but the maintenance crews and all those people. I think this is like a corner of the war where imperturbability and indefatigability and all those values, virtues we've talked about before absolutely center stage and no one knows about it.

[D]

It's war of the fringes, isn't it? The war of the fringes.

[A]

War of the fringes, which is incredibly important. And this is a. It's an unequivocal victory, this. And the Arctic convoys get off to the start, they do. But by this, this is a victory we don't talk about. And you know, the Arctic convoy medal took ages to be coughed up. Eventually again, Fleet Air Arm, man. Can't knock it, can we?

[D]

You can't knock it. Well, thank you for all that, Al. That's just been amazing.

[A]

I mean, and I thoroughly recommend Robert lepage's book, the Luck of the Devil. And there's another book called Stringbag by David Ragg, the Fairy Swordfish in War. And he, you know, he talks about the shifting roles of the, of the Swordfish and the, you know, the Last Swordfish Patrol. This is amazing stuff. And these crews are of a, of a. Of a different caliber altogether. Anyway, thanks everyone for listening. This is our post match this, our post finale credits for the history of the Swordfish, because we have, we yet have yet to sink the Bismarck, haven't we, Jim? In which the Swordfish plays a central.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's still to come.

[A]

There we go. Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll see you soon. Wrap up warm and don't pee in your trousers. Those are the morals of this. Those are the morals of this particular story. We'll see you soon. Cheerio. Cheerio.

[F]

Hello, I'm Professor Hannah Fry.

[A]

And I'm Michael Stevens, creator of Vsauce. We thought we would join you for a moment completely uninvited.

[F]

We are going to stay too long, unless you want us to, of course.

[A]

We're here to tell you about our brand new show. The rest is science.

[F]

Every episode is going to start with something that feels initially familiar, and then we're going to unpick it and tear it apart until you no longer recognize it at all. You know, banana flavor doesn't taste like bananas.

[A]

Yeah, what is that about?

[F]

So it is supposed to taste like an old species of banana that was wiped out in a bananapocalypse and now you will only find it in botanical collections in the gardens of billionaires.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

Banana candy is actually the ghost of a long extinct banana.

[F]

So if you like scratching the surface.

[A]

Thinking a little bit deeper or weirder.

[F]

Yes, definitely.

[D]

That too.

[F]

You can join Michael and I every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts.