The Swordfish's low speed creates an awkward fighter problem

A Swordfish could fly so slowly that a faster fighter risked overshooting or stalling while trying to remain behind it. Its stall speed was about 50 miles per hour clean and 54 with a torpedo. A wartime account illustrates the identification problem: a German pilot reported being shot down by a Spitfire, although the only Allied aircraft known to have fired in the area was a Swordfish from Warspite. The attribution remains unconfirmed because the German report names a different aircraft. That quirk did not make the biplane a good daylight striker against a formed carrier fleet; it remained vulnerable and its strength lay in controlled torpedo delivery. At night, however, Japan's weaker radar and fighter coverage made the Swordfish far more credible in the specific British attack plan.