Vickers Wellington

The Vickers-produced Wellington medium-class bomber was a principle bomber of the Royal Air Force at the start of the Second World War, serving up until late 1943 when it was relegated to maritime support roles. The Wellington saw production numbers exceed 11,400 and provided an exceptional record for night bombing sorties in which it excelled. Outlasting its other 1930's designed contemporaries, the Wellington proved a vital and successful additional to the Royal Air Force's offensive reach.

The Vickers Wellington was designed as early as 1932 to a requirement for a medium two-engine bomber. The resulting Wellington first flew in 1936 and joined Bomber Command in 1938, just in time for the development of the Second World War. Still utilizing construction (an internal lattice structure was utilized) and design technology that would prove obsolescent by the middle years of the war, the Wellington powered on. The system would go on to be powered by a mix of Hercules, Pegasus and Merlin engines throughout her career. Engines were mounted on a mid-wing monoplane which were in turn mounted onto a stout fuselage. Crew accommodations ranged from 5 to 6 personnel. An internal bombload capacity was limited to 4,500lbs of ordnance and defensive armament was a mix of 7.7mm machine guns - two in the front turret, four in the rear turret and an additional two in beam positions. Though this array might appear to some as impressive on paper, it was soon found that the Wellington suffered from large defenseless angles in her design. As such, early daylight bombing raids proved disastrous for the type.

It would not be until the Wellington was featured into night time raiding sorties did the type shine. The Wellington would go on to form a powerful addition to Bomber Command's plans to derail the German war machine in the night time hours. As much as the Wellington progressed throughout its time in the war, it was nonetheless become evermore outclassed by the addition of new Allied bombers and new Axis fighters. As such, the Wellington would fly its last offensive mission in October of 1943. Even so, the type would go on in other forms, particularly fulfilling the role of maritime patrol - this type armed with two torpedoes and specialized equipment. Other Wellingtons served in the dedicated transport, crew trainer and even as a research test bed for the new development of turbojet technology.

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