Shortround6
Major General
The graphs kindly posted by Reluctant Poster show the problem in the 30s (and later)
You need to drop the AP bomb from considerable height or in a high speed dive to get it to punch through thick armor.
Dropping the 1500-2000lb AP bomb from a torpedo bomber flying at a few thousand feet isn't going to work (even using a shallow dive).
A steep dive with a slow airplane at low altitude isn't going to work either.
It will work on cruisers or old battleships that need refitting.
If you bomb at the altitudes you need to punch through thick armor your accuracy is such that you will need to drop a lot of bombs. In the late 30s many navy's overestimated their accuracy.
What dive bombers of the 1930s could do was hit the target ship/s ahead of the torpedo bombers and destroy/suppress the AA guns to make the torpedo attack more successful.
As we all know, torpedo attacks had to be done low, slow and steady.
In 1939 the US was issuing a requirement for a dive bomber to use a 1500-1600hp engine. The British were issuing requirements for Barracuda. Both were 3-4 years away.
A good anti-battleship bomb before those planes became available is just a good (really good) HE bomb to do as much damage as possible to the superstructure and upper deck/s.
Forget the "one big blow" nonsense of a single bomb taking out a battleship.
You need to drop the AP bomb from considerable height or in a high speed dive to get it to punch through thick armor.
Dropping the 1500-2000lb AP bomb from a torpedo bomber flying at a few thousand feet isn't going to work (even using a shallow dive).
A steep dive with a slow airplane at low altitude isn't going to work either.
It will work on cruisers or old battleships that need refitting.
If you bomb at the altitudes you need to punch through thick armor your accuracy is such that you will need to drop a lot of bombs. In the late 30s many navy's overestimated their accuracy.
What dive bombers of the 1930s could do was hit the target ship/s ahead of the torpedo bombers and destroy/suppress the AA guns to make the torpedo attack more successful.
As we all know, torpedo attacks had to be done low, slow and steady.
In 1939 the US was issuing a requirement for a dive bomber to use a 1500-1600hp engine. The British were issuing requirements for Barracuda. Both were 3-4 years away.
A good anti-battleship bomb before those planes became available is just a good (really good) HE bomb to do as much damage as possible to the superstructure and upper deck/s.
Forget the "one big blow" nonsense of a single bomb taking out a battleship.
