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The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus radial engines but a variant known as the Handley Page Hereford had in-line Napier Daggers.

The Hampden served in the early stages of the Second World War, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne. When it became obsolete, after a period of mainly operating at night, it was retired from RAF Bomber Command service in late 1942. By 1943, the rest of the trio were being superseded by the larger four-engined heavy bombers such as the Avro Lancaster.[3]

Other Operators[]

  • Sweden: Single example operated as an equipment testbed.

Notes[]

  1. This example is AT137, operated as 'UB-T', of No. 455 Squadron RAAF based at Leuchars, Fife, Scotland (UK), shown in flight above clouds, May 1942.
  2. Pilot, navigator/bomb aimer, radio operator/dorsal gunner, ventral gunner
  3. The Soviet Naval Air Arm took charge of 23 Hampdens TB.1s on October 12 1942. These were the survivors of 32 aircraft originally belonging to 144 and 455 Squadrons. The other nine aircraft were lost to a variety of causes. Four crashed - two in Russia and two in Sweden - four were shot down by fighters (One of these by a Russian fighter, after it was mistaken for a Bf 110 because of it's twin tail fins.) and one forced landed due to shortage of fuel because of holes in the fuel tanks.[1] By the time operations had been rendered impractical, by attrition and lack of spare parts at the end of 1943, the Russian Hampdens had been credited with the confirmed sinking of 36,000 tons of shipping, probable destruction of a further 30,000 tons, and damage to another 45,000 tons.[2]

Sources[]

  1. Aeroplane Monthly. Kelsey Publishing Group. Database: Hampden - (July 2006) Page 81
  2. Aeroplane Monthly Database: Hampden - (July 2006) Page 82
  3. Wikipedia entry
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