[Milsurplus] Training Is Our Problem

[Gary Pewitt]

None of these were -heavy-  4 engine bombers like 
B-17's and B-24's.  The technique they used was 
un-escorted high altitude formation saturation 
bombing by numerous planes so that no matter 
which way the ships turned some one would get 
them.  The idea was pre war and like so many 
other pre war plans it just didn't work.  At 
Midway the heavy bombers scored not one single hit on any Japanese ship.
Combined carrier raids were devastatingly 
effective at least when the different types of 
aircraft were well coordinated.  They even 
managed to pull it off at Midway by pure dumb 
luck.  By all odds we should have lost that 
battle.  Those Swordfish torpedo bombers that 
crippled the Bismark's rudder survived mainly 
because the Germans anti aircraft gun sights 
wouldn't properly track such a slow target.  In 
WWII navel battles the dive and torpedo bombers 
did all of the work.  B-25 bombers using the skip 
bombing technique and sometimes equipped with 75mm cannons in the nose
were particularly effective on transports and 
other merchant ships.  They did a -lot- of damage 
at Rabaul and to war ships too.  But a B-25 is not a heavy bomber.
Your turn, this is fun.    73  Gary






At 10:52 PM 7/12/2009, Ryan Gill wrote:
> >At 10:10 PM -0500 7/12/09, Gary Pewitt wrote:
> >bombers and torpedo bombers.  Yes the Arizona was sunk by a level
> >bomber but that was a single engine plane and the Arizona was at
> >anchor.  British Lancaster bombers dropping 10,000 lb
> >Tallboy bombs finally did sink the Tirpitz in a Norwegian fiord after
> >numerous failed attempts with carrier planes and heavy bombers.  But
> >she was at anchor too.  OK all you military buffs let me know if I'm
> >wrong.  I'll be very interested in any good "war stories".
> >73  Gary  N9ZSV
>
>Let me see...
>
>Force Z, HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales were
>attacked by JApanese bobmers and torpedo aircraft
>(11 reconnaissance, 34 bombers, and 52 torpedo
>carrying aircraft). They were level bombed and
>torpedoed. Three waves of the level bombers, 
>HMS     I wonder how many hits (if any) were by the level bombers?
>repulse took one bomb. Then they were attacked by
>the Torpedo aircraft, three waves each with POW
>taking one torpedo in the first attack, and
>Repulse one in the second. Then the third wave
>scored multiple torpedo hits.
>
>Force Z was asteam, in open sea. The loss of both
>ships was a serious blow for the RN.
>
>Yamato was sunk by carrier aircraft at sea under
>steam. In this case 280 US carrier aircraft 
>were                          All dive bombers and torpedo bombers.
>sent after Yamato and her escorts. Yamato took 10
>torpedos and 7 bombs.
>
>Convoy PQ 17 was attacked by U-Boats, 
>Aircraft                      Stukas, and some Focke Wolf patrol bombers.
>and Ships on the passage to Archangel.
>
>Several other convoys had bad dealings with the KM and Luftwaffe.
>
>Then there's Bismark's undoing by the RN with
>stringbags. Several waves of very 'advanced'
>biplanes with a top speed all of 140mph 
>scored                            One torpedo 
>hit on the rudder but that was enough.
>several key torpedo hits on him which made
>maneuvering nearly impossible (Germans ships are
>masculine).
>
>Also, what of Taranto?
>
>More interesting is the sinking of the RM (Reggio
>Marina, aka Italian Navy) by 12 German 
>DO-217s                       Still no heavy 
>bombers and they did use early smart bombs.
>using Fritz-X Radio Controled Glide bombs. Roma
>took two of the Fritz-X bombs. RM Littorio was
>also damaged.
>
>
>How's that for Air to Surface Naval attacks?
>--
>--
>Ryan Gill              rmgill at SPAMmindspring.com
>----------------------------------------------------------
>             I speak not for CNN, nor they for me.
>        But I do work there and still like the company.
>----------------------------------------------------------
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>'60 Daimler Ferret '42 Daimler Dingo '42 Humber MkIV (1/2)
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Gary Pewitt  N9ZSV   garypewitt at centurytel.net  479 675 4376
1500 French Prairie Rd. Booneville, Arkansas  72927
Sturgeon's Law "Ninety percent of everything is crap."
Pewitt's Law: But it's that other 10% that makes life worth living."