The Bristol Beaufighter

The Bristol Beaufighter was a British long range heavy fihter. It was manufactured by the Bristol Aeroplane Company and was designed by Leslie Frise and Roy Fredden. The fighters madien voyage was on July 17, 1939 but was not introduced to to battle until July 27, 1940. It had a 20 year career in the Allies air force, retiring in 1960. The fighter had four Histano 20mm cannons that were mounted on the lower fuselage area and had a bomb bay near the rear of the air craft. The fighter was a two man aircraft with a pilot in the front and a navigator at the very back of the plane in a bubble armed with a machine gun, just in case. Many different, new and improved models of the Beaufighter came out as time went on. Every model had some sort of new feature or improvement. For example in 1942, Mk VICs (an improved version of the Beaufighter) were being equipped with torpedo-carrying gear, enabling them to carry the British 18-inch or the US 22.5-inch torpedo externally. The first successful torpedo attacks by Beaufighters came in April 1943, with No. 254 Squadron sinking two merchant ships off Norway.
The Beaufighter took part in many battles. The key to the success of these fighters were the tactics that were developed for the planes. The North Coates strike wing developed attack tactics. They used the the Beau fighters for anti-flank suppression using their cannons and rockets while the Torbeaus (another type of fighter) attacked the lower level of the ships.
The Beaufighters sound to me like they were the cutting edge as far as fighter planes went at the time. They had tons of fire power and were very successful.