The aircraft was designed to Specification S.24/37, two were ordered
in July 1938 and first of two Barracuda prototypes flew on December 7
1940. After 30 production Mk I's powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 of
1,300 hp, it was followed by the Mk II with the 1,640 hp Merlin 32,
which became the most important model with 1688 built.
The Mk III was equipped with the new ASV anti-submarine radar
equipment, a Mk II was converted to prototype and flew in 1943. First
production Mk III's became available in early 1944 and finally 852
were delivered.
The last model was the Mk V powered by the 2,030 hp Rolls-Royce
Griffon 37. Again, earlier models were converted to prototypes, this
time three Mk III's (PM940 which is pictured here, PM941 and PM944).
Only 30 production models were build with the c/n 7180 to 7209 and
Royal Navy s/ns RK530 to RK542 and RK558 to RK574.
The aircraft was of all-metal construction and had a folding
shoulder-wing with Fairey-Youngman trailing flaps. The three
crew-members were seated in tandem under a large multi-glazed canopy.
The rear-crewmember operated two .3 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine
guns, further weapons were a combination of bombs, depthcharges,
mines or a torpedo up to a total of 1,640 lb (744 kg).