Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
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| SM.79 "Sparviero" | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Medium bomber, torpedo bomber |
| Manufacturer | Savoia-Marchetti |
| Maiden flight | October 1934 |
| Primary user | Regia Aeronautica |
| Number built | 1,350 |
The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Italian: "Sparrowhawk") was an Italian bomber of World War II. The three-engined airplane served well as torpedo and medium bomber. Notable for its distinctive 'hump' in the fuselage the aircraft was well liked by its crews. The Royal Air Force fighter pilots nicknamed the plane as "Damned Hunchback" because of the rugged structure, and the machine gun in the 'hump', which made it quite difficult to shoot down[citation needed]. The SM.79 first saw action in the Spanish Civil War, and plane stayed in Italian use until 1952.
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[edit] Design
Like many Italian aircraft of the time the fuselage of the SM.79 was constructed of a welded tubular steel frame, covered with duralumin forward, duralumin and plywood over the top, and fabric elsewhere. The wing was all wood, with trailing edge flaps and leading edge slats to offset its relatively small size.
In the cockpit the pilot and the co-pilot sat side-by-side operating a forward fixed Breda-SAFAT 12.7 mm machine gun. The bomb-bay occupied the central part of the fuselage and aft of that a ventral gondola was occupied by the bombardier and a rear-facing gunner armed with a 12.7 mm. In the "hump" was another rear-facing 12.7 mm machine gun. In addition, there were optional ports each side of the fuselage that could be fitted with additional 7.7 mm machine guns.
[edit] Operational history
The SM.79 saw action for the first time serving with the Aviacion Legionaria - an Italian unit sent to assist Franco's nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. During the fighting over 100 SM.79's served as bombers attacking Republican targets, mainly in Catalonia.
Thanks to the experience gained in Spain, the SM.79 became the backbone of the Italian bomber force during World War II. In addition, a highly successful version equipped as a torpedo-bomber was developed. This version necessarily lacked the ventral gondola, and the fixed forward machine gun was replaced by a 20 mm cannon.
The aircraft served in the campaigns of France, Greece and Yugoslavia, as well as Crete, Malta, Gibraltar, Palestine and in Eastern and Northern Africa. In the Mediterranean attacks by SM.79's damaged the battleship HMS Malaya, the aircraft carriers HMS Indomitable, HMS Victorious and HMS Argus, in addition to sinking 86 Allied ships, totaling 708,500 tonnes by mid-1943.
Forty-five SM.79-I's were sold to Yugoslavia in 1939. Most were destroyed in the invasion by Germany in 1941, but a few survived to be pressed into service by the pro-Axis forces of the NDH, apart from four which became AX702-705 of the RAF.
After the 1943 armistice, the SM.79's based in the south of Italy (34 altogether) were used by the Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud as transports in support of the Anglo-American military; those that remained in the North (36) fought with the German forces as part of the Aeronautica Nazionale Reppublicana, or were used by the Luftwaffe.
After the war a small number of SM.79's remained in service in the new Aeronautica Militare as passenger transports.
[edit] Survivor
Three SM.79-III were bought by Lebanon in 1950 for use as military transports, one of which survived, and now is on display at the Museo Storico dell' Aeronautica Militare Italiana at Vigna di Valle, north of Rome.
[edit] Variants
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79-I - the first production model.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79-II - torpedo-bomber, powered by three Piaggio P.XI engines.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79B - twin-engined export version with Fiat A-80 engines and with a glazed nose for the bombardier.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79JR - twin-engined version for Romania, powered by two Junkers Jumo 211Da engines.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79-III - improved torpedo-bomber model.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79C - VIP transport conversion.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79K - version for Yugoslavia.
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79T - long-range VIP transport version.
[edit] Operators
- Wartime
Brazil
Germany: Luftwaffe
Iraq
Italy
Italy (Italian Social Republic)
Romania
Spain
Yugoslavia
United Kingdom
- Postwar
[edit] Specifications (Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 III)
General characteristics
- Crew: six (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer/gunner, radio operator, bombardier, gunner)
- Length: 16.2 m (53 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 20.2 m (66 ft 3 in)
- Height: 4.1 m (13 ft 6 in)
- Wing area: 61.7 m² (664 ft²)
- Empty weight: 7,700 kg (16,975 lb)
- Loaded weight: 10,050 kg (25,132 lb)
- Powerplant: 3× Alfa Romeo 128-RC18 radial engines, 642 kW (860 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 460 km/h (286 mph) at 3,790 m (12,450 ft)
- Range: 2,600 km (1,615 mi)
- Service ceiling: 7,500 m (24,600 ft)
- Rate of climb: 5.3 m/s (1,050 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 165 kg/m² (33.8 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 0.173 kW/kg (0.106 hp/lb)
Armament
- 1 x 20 mm forward Cannon
- 1 x 12.7 mm (.5 in) dorsal Breda-SAFAT machine gun
- 2 x 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns in lateral ports (optional)
- 1,200 kg (2,645 lb) internal bomb load or two external 450 mm torpedoes
[edit] External links
[edit] Sources
- Gunston, Bill, Aircraft of World War 2, Octopus Books 1980, ISBN 0-86237-014-7
[edit] Related content
Designation sequence
SM.77 - Savoia-Marchetti S.78 - SM.79 Sparviero - SM.81 Pipistrello - SM.82 Canguru
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