Swordfish - origin of "Stringbag" nickname

[special ed]

Right behind you @BiffF15 (3 Fs). I just typed in shagbat into Google Images and up pops pictures of nothing but the Walrus along with this nightmare

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A previous wife

 

[YakMan]

Hi Trivial question. Anyone know the origin of the Swordfish Stringbag nickname?
I always thought it was due to the very visible wing wires making it look like, well, a stringbag. However I read the other day it was due to its reputation for being able to have almost any kit and weapons added to it, so like a bag. It is true that as the was progressed a wide range of weapons and sensors were fitted. But I pictured the nickname as being an early thing and before it's true versatility was seen.

As a boy in the sixties, when I made my Airfix Swordfish I was already aware of the "stringbag" nickname, it might even have been in the 'potted history' Airfix used to include on the instruction sheet. I always assume it was because of all the bracing wires but it cannot have been that thinking about it now, bracing wires were the norm - monoplanes were the unusual! I never ever associated stringbag with a string bag even though I was aware of those a well! Great question!

 

[wingnuts]

For us colonials, what's a shagbat? It wasn't mentioned on Downton Abbey…

One of the most beautiful aircraft in the world.... (next to the the Fairey Gannet and Avro Shackleton) if you have been shot down in the Engish Channel in 1940. There is a fine example of a restored Walrus/Seagull/Shagbat/Steam Chicken at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, not far from where I live. Recovered as a wreck from Heard Island, Antarctica in 1980. The museum is closed at the moment for refurbishment.... or something.