The Blackburn B.26 Botha was a British four-seat reconnaissance and torpedo bomber. It was built by Blackburn Aircraft at its factories at Brough and Dumbarton, as a competitor to the Bristol Beaufort, entering service with the RAF in 1939. The design was underpowered and it was quickly withdrawn from operations.
Development and design
In September 1935, the British Air Ministry issued specification M.15/35, for a three-seat twin-engined reconnaissance/torpedo bomber. Two submissions that met this requirement were accepted, from Blackburn for the Botha and the Type 152 from Bristol. Both were intended to use the 850 hp Bristol Perseus engine. The Air Ministry later revised the specification to M.10/36, which required a crew of four. The weight increase meant that both designs required more power. The 1,130 hp Taurus was provided for the Beaufort but the Botha received only the Perseus X of 880 hp. The Air Ministry ordered 442 Bothas in 1936, while also placing orders for the Beaufort. The first flight took place on 28 December 1938. The aircraft was built at Blackburn's factory at Brough and at a new factory at Dumbarton, Scotland. Brough built 382 aircraft and Dumbarton 200, a total of 580.
Operational history
Service testing of the Botha showed that the aircraft had serious problems. It was considered to have poor lateral stability, while the view to the side or rearward was virtually nonexistent owing to the location of the aircraft's engines, the poor view making the aircraft "useless as a GR aircraft" and the Botha was underpowered. Although the Botha passed torpedo and mine-dropping tests, the aircraft's poor performance resulted in the decision in April 1940 to issue the Botha only to four general reconnaissance squadrons equipped with the Avro Anson, rather than the torpedo bomber squadrons previously planned. The Botha entered squadron service in June 1940 with No. 608 Squadron RAF, the only squadron that used the Botha operationally, on convoy escort duties starting in August that year. Typical bomb load on these patrols was three anti-submarine bombs and two general-purpose bombs. The Botha proved to be severely underpowered and unstable; there were a number of fatal crashes in 1940. The airframe and engines were subject to further development work but it was decided to withdraw the type from frontline service. The Air Staff decided to transfer the surviving aircraft to training units, which inevitably resulted in further casualties. Some Bothas were converted to target tugs as TT Mk.I. The type was retired in September 1944. In total, 580 aircraft were built.
