In 1929, the Blackburn Ripon torpedo bomber began to arrive in the squadrons of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It was equipped with an outdated Napier Lion engine, so after 3 years Blackburn Aircraft began working on updating this aircraft. Taking Ripon as a basis, the company developed a project for the B5 Baffin torpedo bomber. September 30, 1932 - the first flight of the Blackburn B-5 Baffin torpedo bomber.
The differences from Ripon were minimal. The B-5 was a two-seat biplane with a non-retractable landing gear. The Bristol Pegasus I. M3 radial engine (565 hp) allowed speeds up to 219 km/ h. The flight range was 790 km. The armament consisted of 2 ? 7.92 mm machine guns + 820 kg torpedo or 740 kg bombs.
After comparative tests, the B-5 Baffin was adopted. A total of 97 aircraft were produced, all versions. In addition to the British Navy, they were also in service with the New Zealand Air Force.
