Handley Page Hampden
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The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force that was one of the main front-line bombers at the start of World War II. Along with the Whitley and Wellington bombers, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane raid on Cologne. The newest of the three medium bombers, the Hampden, known as the ""Flying Suitcase", was still unsuited to the modern air war and, after operating mainly at night, it was retired from Bomber Command service in late 1942.
Handley Page designed the Hampden to the same specification as the Wellington (Air Ministry Specification B.9/32) and the first prototype flew on June 21, 1936. The first production batch of 180 Mk I Hampdens was built to specification 30/36. No. 49 Squadron received the first Hampdens in September 1938 and a total of 226 were in operation with eight squadrons at the start of the war.
The Mk I had a crew of four; pilot, navigator/bomb aimer, radio operator and rear gunner. The Hampden carried a similar bomb load to the other mediums (Wellington and Whitley) but was almost as fast as the Blenheim yet could carry four times the payload over twice the range. Originally conceived as a fast, manoeuvrable "fighting bomber", the Hampden featured a fixed .303-in Vickers K machine gun fitted in the forward fuselage. To avoid the weight penalties of powered-turrets, the Hampden had a curved Perspex nose fitted with a manual .303-in Lewis gun and two more Lewis guns located in the rear upper and lower positions. The theory was flawed and the guns were thoroughly inadequate for defence so by 1940 the Lewis guns had been replaced by twin Vickers K guns.
Despite its speed and agility, the Hampden was no match for Luftwaffe fighters so its career as a day bomber was brief. It continued to operate at night, on bombing raids over Germany and mine-laying in the North Sea. After being withdrawn from Bomber Command service in 1942, it operated with Coastal Command through 1943 as a long-range torpedo bomber (travelling as far as northern Russia) and a maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
The Hampden was powered by a pair of 980 hp Bristol Pegasus XVIII 9-cylinder radial engines. A Mk II Hampden was designed, powered by two 1,000 hp Wright Cyclone engines but it never went into production.
A total of 1430 Hampdens were built, 500 by Handley Page, 770 by English Electric and in 1940-41, 160 in Canada by Canadian Associated Aircraft.
In 1936 the RAF had also ordered 150 variants of the Hampden, designated the HP.53 Hereford. These were powered by a pair of 1,000 hp Napier Dagger VIII 24-cylinder H-type air-cooled inline engines but problems with the powerplant resulted in most of those built (by Short & Harland) being re-engined as Hampdens. The surviving Herefords served in training units only.
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Specifications (Mk I)
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Length: 53 ft 7 in (16.33 m)
- Wingspan: 69 ft 2 in (21.98 m)
- Height: 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
- Wing area: 688 ft² (63.9 m²)
- Empty: 11,780 lb (5,344 kg)
- Loaded: 18,756 lb (8,508 kg)
- Maximum takeoff: lb ( kg)
- Powerplant: 2 x Bristol Pegasus XVIII 9-cylinder radial engines,980 hp (730 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 265 mph at 15,500 ft (410 km/h at 4,724 m)
- Range: 1,095 miles (1,762 km)
- Service ceiling: 19,000 ft (5,790 m)
- Rate of climb: 980 ft/min (300 m/min)
- Wing loading: 27.3 lb/ft² (133 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.104 hp/lb (0.172 kW/kg)
Armament
- 6 x .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns. two each in nose, dorsal and ventral positons
- 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) bombs or 1 x 18 in torpedo or mines
Related content
Related development: Handley Page Hereford
Comparable aircraft: Armstrong Whitworth Whitley - Vickers Wellington
Designation series: HP.47 - HP.50 - HP.51 - HP.52 - HP.53 - HP.54 - HP.56 - HP.57
See also
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