The Shark was a carrier-borne torpedo biplane with a buoyant metal-skinned fuselage and a 750hp Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IV two-row radial engine. Production for the Fleet Air Arm was undertaken between 1934 and 1937, with 238 Shark I, II and III (Pegasus radial engines) being built, many as seaplanes. Accommodation was provided for a crew of two and armament comprised one 680kg torpedo or equivalent bomb load, plus one forward-firing Vickers and one rear-mounted Vickers or Lewis machine-gun. Deck take-offs and landings were aided by the large camber-changing flaps fitted to the aircraft. Sharks served with Nos 820 and 821 Squadrons on board HMS Courageous, No 822 Squadron on board HMS Furious and No 705 (Catapult) Flight on the battleships HMS Repulse and Warspite. The type was also used at Air Gunnery Schools in the UK and Trinidad.
Six Sharks were also delivered to the Portuguese Navy in March 1936 and were based at Bom Succeso on the River Tagus, near Lisbon, where they operated for several years. Four aircraft were built for the Royal Canadian Air Force and 17 IIIs were built under licence by Boeing Aircraft of Canada during 1939-40, mainly for the RCAF.

Blackburn B 6 Shark Mk.II
Engine: Armstrong Siddeley Tiger VI, 750 hp, 567kW
Length: 35 ft 3 in / 10.74 m
Height: 12 ft 1 in / 3.68 m
Wingspan: 45 ft 12 in / 14.02 m
Wing area: 489.009 sq.ft / 45.43 sq.m
Max take off weight: 8050.5 lb / 3651.0 kg
Weight empty: 4039.6 lb / 1832.0 kg
Max. speed: 130 kt / 241 km/h
Cruising speed: 103 kt / 190 km/h
Service ceiling: 15994 ft / 4875 m
Wing load: 16.4 lb/sq.ft / 80.0 kg/sq.m
Range: 543 nm / 1006 km
Crew: 2-3
Armament: 2x cal.303 MG (7,7mm), 680kg Torp.

The Baffin was an improved version of the Ripon with a 421kW Bristol Pegasus radial engine in place of the water-cooled Napier Lion. Two prototypes and 33 production Baffins served with a single flight at Gosport for dummy deck-landing and torpedo practice and with Nos 810, 811 and 812 Squadrons on board the aircraft carriers HMS Courageous, Furious and Glorious respectively from 1934 until replaced by Sharks in 1936. One batch of 14 Baffins were shipped to Malta as reserve aircraft when the carriers exercised their squadrons in the Mediterranean.
More than 60 Ripons were re-worked and re-engined as Baffins during 1934-35. Twenty-nine surplus Fleet Air Arm aircraft were sold to the RNZAF during 1937-38 for the Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland Territorial GR Squadrons, which combined for wartime coastal patrols.

The Baffin was taken out of RAF service in 1937.

Engine: 1 x Bristol Pegasus IM-3, 405kW
Take-off weight: 3450 kg / 7606 lb
Empty weight: 1900 kg / 4189 lb
Wingspan: 13.9 m / 45 ft 7 in
Length: 11.6 m / 38 ft 1 in
Height: 4.1 m / 13 ft 5 in
Wing area: 63.4 sq.m / 682.43 sq ft
Max. speed: 218 km/h / 135 mph
Cruise speed: 160 km/h / 99 mph
Ceiling: 4500 m / 14750 ft
Range w/max.payload: 725 km / 451 miles

Engine: Bristol Pegasus II M-3, 580-660 hp.
Max speed: 136 mph.
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft.
Range: 450 miles.
Crew: 2
Armament: 2 mg + 2000 lb bombs.

A batch of 32 were ordered by the Fleet Air Arm in August 1924.