The Vincent was a multi-role biplane that entered service with the Royal Air Force in December 1934. Although obsolete when the Second World War began, overseas squadrons continued using the Vickers Vincent until January 1943.
The Vincent had its roots in the Vickers Vildebeest which was redesigned by Rex Pierson to meet Specification G.4/31 during 1931. The major change saw a fuel tank replace the torpedo installation that the Vildebeest had.
A Vildebeest Mk I would serve as the prototype and this flew for the first time on the 24th November 1932 before undergoing service trials. As a result Specification 21/33 was issued by the Air Ministry for the aircraft,
although some would also be built to meet Specification 16/34.
Now known as the Vincent Mk I it was powered by the 635-hp Bristol Pegasus IIM3 engine, giving the aircraft a top speed of 142 mph, range of 625 miles with a service ceiling of 19,000 ft. Armament was one 0.303-in machine-gun
and one Lewis gun, bomb load was 1,000lb bombs. No. 84 Squadron were the first to receive the Vincent in December 1934, replacing their Westland Wapitis, with February 1935 seeing No. 8 Squadron begin to replace their Fairey
IIIFs with the type.
The public saw the Vincent for the first time at the RAF Display, Hendon on the 29th June 1935. The aircraft would equip further squadrons, only the first production example would remain in the United Kingdom, with the rest
serving overseas. Despite being outdated the Vincent would still be in service at the outbreak of the Second World War (1939 – 1945). It wouldn't be until January 1943 that the last of the Vincents were retired from frontline Royal Air
Force service when the Bristol Blenheim replaced the remaining aircraft with No. 244 Squadron.
In total 198 Vincents were built or converted from Vickers Vildebeests, with the Royal Air Force taking delivery of their final example in October 1936.
