Vickers Wellington Totally Explained

Everything about The Vickers Wellington totally explained

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night-time bomber in the early years of World War II, before being displaced as a bomber by the larger four-engined "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other duties, particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft. It was the only British bomber to be produced for the entire duration of the war. The Wellington was popularly known as the Wimpy by service personnel, after J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons and a Wellington "B for Bertie" had a starring role in the 1942 propaganda film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing

Design and development

The Wellington used a geodesic construction method, which had been devised by Barnes Wallis for use in airships, and had previously been used to build the single-engined Vickers Wellesley bomber. The fuselage was built up from a number of aluminium alloy (duralumin) channel-beams that were formed into a large framework. Wooden battens were screwed onto the aluminium, and these were covered with Irish linen, which, once treated with many layers of dope, formed the outer skin of the aircraft. The metal lattice gave the structure tremendous strength because any one of the stringers could support some of the weight from even the opposite side of the aircraft. Blowing out one side's beams would still leave the aircraft as a whole intact; as a result, Wellingtons with huge areas of framework missing continued to return home when other types wouldn't have survived; the dramatic effect enhanced by the doped fabric skin burning off, leaving the naked frames exposed (see photo).
However, the construction system also had some distinct disadvantages, in that it took considerably longer to complete a Wellington than for other designs using monocoque construction techniques. Also, it was difficult to cut holes into the fuselage to provide additional access or equipment fixtures. The Leigh light, for instance, was deployed through the mounting for the absent FN9 ventral turret. Nevertheless, in the late 1930s Vickers succeeded in building Wellingtons at a rate of one per day at Weybridge and 50 per month at Chester. Peak wartime production in 1942 saw monthly rates of 70 achieved at Weybridge, 130 at Chester and 102 at Blackpool.
The Wellington went through a total of 16 variants during its production life plus a further two training conversions after the war. The prototype serial K4049 designed to satisfy Ministry specification B.9/32, first flew as a Type 271 (and initially named Crecy) from Brooklands on 15 June 1936 with J. Summers as pilot. After many changes to the design, it was accepted on 15 August 1936 for production with the name Wellington. The first model was the Wellington Mk I, powered by a pair of 1,050 hp (783 kW) Bristol Pegasus engines, of which 180 were built, 150 for the Royal Air Force and 30 for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Mk I first entered service with No. 9 Squadron RAF in October 1938. Improvements to the turrets resulted in 183 Mk IA Wellingtons and this complement of aircraft equipped the RAF Bomber Command heavy bomber squadrons at the outbreak of war. The Wellington was initially out-numbered by its twin-engined contemporaries, the Handley Page Hampden and the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, but would ultimately outlast them in productive service. The number of Wellingtons built totalled 11,461 of all versions, the last of which rolled out on 13 October 1945.

Operational history

The first RAF bombing attack of the war was made by Wellingtons of No. 9 and No. 149 Squadrons, along with Bristol Blenheims, on German shipping at Brunsbüttel on 4 September, 1939. During this raid, the two Wellingtons became the first aircraft shot down on the Western Front. Numbers 9, 37 and 149 Squadrons saw action on 18 December 1939 on a mission against the Schillig Roads and Wilhelmshaven. Luftwaffe fighters destroyed 10 of the bombers and badly damaged three others; thus highlighting the aircraft's vulnerability to attacking fighters, having neither self-sealing fuel tanks nor sufficient defensive armament. As a consequence, Wellingtons were switched to night operations and participated in the first night raid on Berlin on 25 August 1940. In the first 1000-aircraft raid on Cologne, on 30 May 1942, 599 out of 1046 aircraft were Wellingtons (101 of them were flown by Polish aircrew).
   With Bomber Command, Wellingtons flew 47,409 operations, dropped 41,823 tons of bombs and lost 1,332 aircraft in action.
   Coastal Command Wellingtons carried out anti-submarine duties and sank their first enemy vessel on 6 July 1942. DWI versions (see below) fitted with a 48 ft (14.63 m) diameter metal hoop were used for exploding enemy mines by generating a powerful magnetic field as it passed over them. In 1944, Wellingtons of Coastal Command were deployed to Greece, and performed various support duties during the RAF involvement in the Greek Civil War. A few Wellingtons were operated by the Hellenic Air Force.
   While the Wellington was superseded in the European Theatre, it remained in operational service for much of the war in the Middle East, and in 1942, Wellingtons based in India became the RAF's first long-range bomber operating in the Far East. It was particularly effective with the South African Air Force in North Africa.
   In late 1944 a radar-equipped Wellington was modified for use by the RAF's Fighter Interception Unit as what would now be described as an Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft. It operated at an altitude of some 4,000 feet over the North Sea to control de Havilland Mosquito fighters intercepting Heinkel He 111 bombers flying from Dutch airbases and carrying out airborne launches of the V-1 flying bomb.

Variants

Bomber variants

Type 271: The first Wellington bomber prototype.

Type 285 Wellington Mk I: Pre-production prototype. Powered by two Bristol Pegasus X radial piston engines.

Type 290 Wellington Mk I: The first production version. Powered by two 1,000 hp (746 kW) Bristol Pegasus XVIII radial piston engines. Fitted with Vickers gun turrets.

Type 408 Wellington Mk IA: Production version. Powered by two 1,000 hp Pegasus XVIII engines. Fitted with Nash & Thomson gun turrets.

Type 416 Wellington Mk IC: The first main production variant was the Mk IC which added waist guns to the Mk IA. A total of 2,685 were produced. The Mk IC had a crew of six; a pilot, radio operator, navigator/bomb aimer, observer/nose gunner, tail gunner and waist gunner.

Type 406 Wellington Mk II: The B Mk II was identical with the exception of the powerplant; using the 1,145 hp (855 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin X engine instead—400 were produced at Weybridge.

Type 417 Wellington B.Mk III: The next significant variant was the B Mk III which featured the 1,375 hp (1,205 kW) Bristol Hercules III or XI engine and a four-gun tail turret, instead of two-gun. A total of 1,519 Mk IIIs were built and became mainstays of Bomber Command through 1941.

Type 424 Wellington B.Mk IV: The 220 B Mk IV Wellingtons used the 1,200 hp (895 kW) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engine and were flown by two Polish squadrons.

Type 442 Wellington B Mk VI: Pressurised with a long wingspan and 1,600 hp (1,190 kW) Merlin R6SM engines, 63 were produced and were operated by 109 Squadron and as Gee radio navigation trainers.

Type 440 Wellington B Mk X: The most widely produced variant of which 3,804 were built. It was similar to the Mk III except for the 1,675 hp (1,250 kW) Hercules VI or XVI powerplant and a fuselage structure of light alloy, instead of steel. The Mk X was the basis for a number of Coastal Command versions.

Coastal Command variants

Type 429 Wellington GR Mk VIII: Mk IC conversion for Coastal Command service. Roles included reconnaissance, anti-submarine and anti-shipping attack. A Coastal Command Wimpy was the first aircraft to be fitted with the anti-submarine Leigh light.

Wellington GR Mk XI: Maritime version of B Mk X with an ordinary nose turret and mast radar ASV Mk II instead of chin radome, no waist guns.

Wellington GR Mk XII: Maritime version of B Mk X armed with torpedoes and with a chin radome housing the ASV Mk III radar, single nose machine gun.

Wellington GR Mk XIII: Maritime version of B Mk X with an ordinary nose turret and mast radar ASV Mk II instead of chin radome, no waist guns.

Wellington GR Mk XIV: Maritime version of B Mk X with a chin radome housing the ASV Mk III radar and added RP-3 explosive rocket rails to the wings.

Transport variants

Wellington C Mk XV: Service conversions of the Wellington Mk IA into unarmed transport aircraft. Able to carry up to 18 troops.

Wellington C Mk XVI: Service conversions of the Wellington Mk IC into unarmed transport aircraft. Able to carry up to 18 troops.

Trainer variants

Type 487 Wellington T Mk XVII: Service conversions of the Wellington bomber into training aircraft. Powered by two Bristol Hercules XVII radial piston engines.

Type 490 Wellington T Mk XVIII: Production version. Powered by two Bristol Hercules XVI radial piston engines. 80 built, plus some conversions.

Wellington T Mk XIX: Service conversions of the Wellington Mk X used for navigation training. Remained in use as a trainer until 1953.

Type 619 Wellington T Mk X: Postwar conversions of the Wellington Bomber into training aircraft by Boulton Paul in Wolverhampton.

Type 407 and Type 421 Wellington Mk V. Second and first protypes respectively: Three were built, designed for pressurised, high-altitude operations using turbocharged Hercules VIII engines.

Wellington Mk VI: One high-altitude prototype only.

Type 449 Wellington Mk VIG: Production version of Type 431. Two aircraft only.

Wellington Mk VII: Single aircraft, built as a test-bed for the 40 mm Vickers S machine gun turret.

Type 437 Wellington Mk IX: One Mk IC conversion for troop transport.

Type 454 and Type 459 Wellington Mk IX: Prototypes with ASV.Mk II, ASV.Mk III radars, and powered by two Bristol Hercules VI and XVI radial piston engines.

Operators

Royal Australian Air Force
- No. 458 Squadron RAAF Code letters "FU"
- No. 460 Squadron RAAF Code letters "UV" and "AR"
- No. 466 Squadron RAAF Code letters "HD"

Royal Canadian Air Force

No. 405 Squadron RCAF 'Vancouver Squadron' Code letters "LQ"
No. 407 Squadron RCAF
No. 415 Squadron RCAF
No. 419 Squadron RCAF 'Moose Squadron' Code letters "VR"
No. 420 Squadron RCAF 'Snowy Owl Squadron' Code letters "PT"
No. 424 Squadron RCAF 'Tiger Squadron' Code letters "QB"
No. 425 Squadron RCAF 'Alouette Squadron' Code letters "KW"
No. 426 Squadron RCAF 'Thunderbird Squadron' Code letters "OW"
No. 427 Squadron RCAF 'Lion Squadron' Code letters "ZL"
No. 428 Squadron RCAF 'Ghost Squadron' Code letters "NA"
No. 429 Squadron RCAF 'Bison Squadron' Code letters "AL"
No. 431 Squadron RCAF
No. 432 Squadron RCAF 'Leaside Squadron' Code letters "QO"

Czechoslovakian Air Force in exile in Great Britain

No. 311 (Czecho-Slovak) Squadron Code letters "KX"

Free France

Free French Air Force

No. 326 Squadron RAF
No. 344 Squadron RAF

Aeronavale (Postwar)

Luftwaffe (captured)

Hellenic Air Force (Postwar)

Polish Air Forces in exile in Great Britain

No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Masovia" Code letters "BH"
No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Pomerania" Code letters "GR"
No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Silesia" Code letters "NZ" and "2"
No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Greater Poland" Squadron Code "SM"

South African Air Force

No. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF Code letters "AA"

No. 93 Squadron RAF

No. 99 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF

No. 158 Squadron RAF 1942 only

No. 196 Squadron RAF Code letters "ZO"

No. 621 Squadron RAF Fleet Air Arm

Survivors

There are two surviving complete Vickers Wellingtons; both are on display in the United Kingdom. Some other substantial parts also survive.

Wellington T Mk X Serial Number MF628 is on display at the Royal Air Force Museum,

Specifications (Wellington Mk IC)

2 in nose turret
2 in tail turret
2 in waist positions |bombs=4,500 lb (2,041 kg) bombs }}

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