The short answer, IMHO, is that the RN FAA were appallingly served by their Lordships, the Air Min, and equipped with dreadful aircraft until, basically, they got US equipment. Swordfish were lucky to be used mostly in conditions of no enemy activity / at night / where there was British air superiority. The one occasion they weren’t, the Channel Dash, they weren’t ‘just’ decimated, they were ALL knocked out of the sky.
I’d agree they were very brave men.
Well, not exactly. Let’s not forget that the Corsair was a disaster waiting to happen when first supplied to the RN. It was only after intervention by British engineers that it became a viable aircraft to deck land, and this was then fed back to the US variants.
I’d also say that stating the FAA were particularly badly done by is forgetting some of the incredibly poor aircraft the RAF had at various points in comparison, many of which lasted a mere fraction of the time that the Swordfish did in service.
As for the Channel Dash, again let’s not forget one of the major contributory factors in the loss of Esmonde and his incredibly brave 825 NAS aircrew – namely the failure of the RAF to provide adequate and timely fighter air cover.
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