It had swept, staggered, equal-span wings, the lower having an inverse gull to provide clearance for the torpedo while retaining a short undercarriage.

First flown on 30 September 1932, the project caught the interest of the Air Ministry, who produced Specification 4/33 around the aircraft and placed an initial order with Blackburn for it in early 1933.

It had a relatively short service life with the FAA, who elected to withdraw the type in favour of newer aircraft prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.

[1] As early as 1928, Blackburn had promptly recognised that the replacement of the Lion with a modern air-cooled radial engine would present several advantages.

[1] It drew up its own plans for a reengining of existing Ripons with either the Armstrong Siddeley Tiger and the second by the Bristol Pegasus engines, which were viewed as having particularly promising performance.

[2] According, during 1932, Blackburn decided to build two prototypes of radial-engined Ripons, each powered by one of these engines, as a private venture (i.e. without an order from the Air Ministry).

[4] Following the completion of manufacturer tests, in February 1933, the two prototypes were delivered to RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, for competitive evaluation flights.

Partway through the evaluation, the aircraft were briefly returned to Blackburn's facility in Brough to be fitted with bomb rails and a Townend ring.

[7] During 1935, a further 26 conversions of Ripons into Baffins were ordered due to the reliability problems that had become associated with the Armstrong Siddeley Tiger engines that had powered the Blackburn Shark.

[citation needed] Initial deliveries, including the two prototypes and 33 production Baffins, were to Gosport for training purposes, such as dummy deck-landings and torpedo practice.

On 22 June 1936, one Baffin, while closely circling the French ocean liner SS Normandie, collided with one of its derricks and crashed onto its foredeck.

812 Squadron was the final FAA unit to operate the Baffin, with most aircraft lost with the destruction of a hangar caused by a tornado in December 1936.

Despite the arrival of more capable types, these aircraft were equipped by the Territorial Air Force (reserve) squadrons based in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch as it was felt that the Baffin's obsolescence did not impinge on its value for conducting local coastal defence operations.

These aircraft had been largely utilised as trainers prior to hostilities but, with the realisation of the threat posed by surface raiders, New Zealand's Baffins were returned to the active list.

They were often dispatched on sea reconnaissance missions, aimed at maintaining awareness of nearby shipping and identifying potential threats.