Recent content by Reluctant Poster

I haven't had a chance to post the actual record of the Royal Navy in night battles in the Mediterranean, but is spectacular to say the least. Liguran Sea was actually fought by the Kriegsmarine after Italy surrendered. This is total domination. Note the heavy losses in Italian merchant...

Agreed. Those that are actually interested in the night fighting capacities of the RN rather than pontificating that the British were bad at because they were ...British, should read this...

The Japanese realized later on in the war that great range was not all that useful and reduced the range of both the Type 93 and 95 torpedoes in favor of larger warheads. The track of the torpedo that sank the USS Strong vs the track of the Strong itself shows how fluky it is to obtain hit at...

I posted the record of escort carriers here: https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/rn-vs-ijn.61540/page-50?post=1905103#post-1905103

According to the figures from "Strangling the Axis" aircraft sank 153,000 tons in 1941, 195,563 tons in 1942 and 474,407 tons in 1943. They achieved a monthly high of 35,196 tons in August 1941, exceeded that with 44,105 in November 1942. In no other month did they exceed 30,000. 1943 was when...

Oribi and Offa proved to be extraordinarily useful in the pivotal battle of ONS 5. Excerpt from: https://www.history.navy.mil/get-involved/essay-contest/2017-winners/additional-essay-contest-submissions/hell_s-highway--the-battle-for-convoy-ons-5-and-the-defeat-of-ge.html Excerpt from...

I would also add that one of the first aviation books I remember reading was Ralph Barkers "Torpedo Bomber" followed by his "The Thousand Plan".

Aircraft should be thought of as weapons systems. The B-24s effectiveness improved dramatically with the addition of centimetric radar. Also operational research had a lot to do with improved performance. Setting depth charges to lower settings, much better navigation aids, vastly improved...

I posted this USN study on dive bombing accuracy a while ago https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/fairey-battle-performance-and-tactics.52773/page-7?post=1555319#post-1555319

Agreed. The Battle of the Atlantic was won primarily by the destroyers and corvettes of the RN and RCN. You can escort convoys with surface vessels alone but not with aircraft alone. Aircraft are a force multiplier but they are not the force. The pivotal convoy battles of May 1943 were fought at...

I found the claims for Swordfish to be very dubious so a few months ago I purchased this book: https://www.amazon.com/Strangling-Axis-Mediterranean-Cambridge-Histories/dp/1108478212 It gives quite a complete accounting of Axis shipping sunk and as I suspected submarines were the largest...

The longest Type 95 hit is likely on the USS Strong https://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussstrong/ The image from the above website shows the path taken by the Strong in the time it took the torpedo to hit. Note that it actually crossed the torpedo's path once before being hit. That...

The USNs standard front line fighter during the Battle of Britain was a biplane. Only the Saratoga was flighting Brewster Buffaloes. And that's June 1940 The Tornado's first flight was October 6, 1939. One month after the war started. Good luck fighting the Battle of Britain. The Merlin was...

On 87 octane? What evidence is there to evidence to support that?

I believe the naming of the Exe was inspired by the engines physical layout.