A-Bombing Germany

[the lancaster kicks ass]

this is it..............

 

[cheddar cheese]

cool pic 8)

Description: sorry about the colours, it's because of the file type

then why not change the file type

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

becuase i originally saved it as a .bmp, but it said it couldn't use that file type when i uploaded it, so whn i changed it to .gif, the colours changed a bit................

 

[cheddar cheese]

should have changed it to jpeg 8)

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it didn't give me that option..............

 

[DaveB.inVa]

If Germany was to be A-bombed it would have been the B-29. Paul Tibbets states in his book and has stated publicly that the 509th CG was training for two theatres of operation. He states that one squadron was to be deployed to England and one to the Marianas, and that both strikes were to be carried out on the same day. Both would have been Silverplate B-29's. He states that the only reason Germany didn't get an A-bomb was because they surrendered before the bomb was ready. If you need page numbers and exact quotations I can provide them.

I also have a limited edition book named "They were called Silverplate" by 509th historian Richard Campbell. This book is very informative as it goes into lengthy detail about all Silverplate modifications as well as each individual aircrafts crew, missions and demise. It also includes bomb descriptions, dummy and practice bombing missions plus a complete list of all 509th personell. I was very lucky to get this book as theyre were only 500 copies and most went to 509th veterans!

Also as a sidenote I feel it would be good to mention that the bomb shackle used to hold both atomic bombs as well as all Pumpkin practice bombs was the British "Type-F" single point heavy bomb shackle. This was the same shackle the Lancaster used with the Grand Slam.

 

[Nonskimmer]

That's very interesting!

 

[cheddar cheese]

Yes this was a good discussion in its day 8)

 

[HealzDevo]

Flying as high as the B-29 did would mean that very few of the Luftwaffe fighters could get to it. The Lancaster was shifted to night-time raids early on. By the time the A-Bomb was ready the Lancaster was only really good for a night-time saturation area bomber. It was still a good aircraft but it just wasn't good enough for conditions in 1942. There were other better aircraft available such as the B-17 Fortress. Considering that the B-17 Fortress was being considered obsolete and they had the replacement of a B-29 even if it was flown there for deception purposes, I seriously doubt that they would use the Lancaster!! The B-17 had made the Lancaster obsolete and was itself obsolete so no, sorry I don't see a Lancaster doing it sorry. I chose B-29 Stratofortress, because I was unaware of the time period however, if it stretched out a bit longer my ultimate choice would be the B-36 Peacemaker due to its size and defences. Don't forget that the A-Bombs in production took a lot of time and effort to create. Therefore targets were selected very carefully to maximize their effective use.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

If they were to have dropped an A-Bomb on Germany it would have been a B-29. The British did not have an A-Bomb so it would have been a US bomber with a US Bomb.

Besides the B-29 is much more suited for it.

I know you have to go with you Lanc, Lanc but even you can see that a B-29 is more capable.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Considering that the B-17 Fortress was being considered obsolete and they had the replacement of a B-29 even if it was flown there for deception purposes, I seriously doubt that they would use the Lancaster!! The B-17 had made the Lancaster obsolete and was itself obsolete so no, sorry I don't see a Lancaster doing it sorry. I chose B-29 Stratofortress, because I was unaware of the time period however, if it stretched out a bit longer my ultimate choice would be the B-36 Peacemaker due to its size and defences.

Had the war went on in Europe, the B-32 Dominator was supposed to replace the B-24 and B-17. Just a tad smaller than the B-29, it carried a similar load and had huge bomb bays. It probably could of carried an atomic bomb.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

That would have been an option other than the B-29. I believe though that it would have been a B-29.

 

[syscom3]

In all fairness to the brits, an atomic bomb in Europe would have been assembled in Britain. The short range from there to any target in Germany was far shorter than the 3200 mile round trips the 20th AF in the PTO had to fly.

A modified Lanc could have carried the bomb just by trading fuel for payload.

 

[102first_hussars]

From London To Berlin Is Exactly a 2000 mile round trip (PD may call me a retard for this) and I dont think the USAF or the RAF/RCAF operated that far inland, so I think your distance may be inacurate SYS

 

[evangilder]

London to Berlin a 2000 mile round-trip? Nope. It is 579 air miles from London to Berlin on a straight route. The distance from London to East Anglia, where all the airplane patches are is not great at all. From London to Lakenheath, where I was stationed, was 75 miles.

Granted WWII bomber would not be flying a direct route to Berlin, but 2000 miles round trip would require a serious alteration.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Fly all the way around France and come up through Itlay maybe?

 

[syscom3]

I was watching an a-bomb documentary on history channel.

I learned a new tidbit on the history of this. Seems that when the a-bomb was assembled on Tinian and it was only hours from being hoisted into the Enola Gay, one of the officers involved in the development of the bomb (a naval officer, I might add) was talking to Col Tibbets about arming it, and they both realized....what would happen if the plane crashed on takeoff.

The possibility of an atomic detonation was possible, which would wipe out all the B29's on the island. Or, the high explosives could detonate and make a "dirty bomb" which could be just as bad. They decided to arm the bomb once airborne, just for the sake of the safety of the island.

I wonder if a Lanc modified to carry a bomb of this dimension, would have bomb bay access to allow a post take off arming.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I think I have seen the documentary also. Is an interesting bit of trivia. I dont know if the Lanc would have been able to either.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i saw about that on days that changed the world, and i dunno if the lanc could do it, unfortunately i doubt it.........

 

[FLYBOYJ]

i saw about that on days that changed the world, and i dunno if the lanc could do it, unfortunately i doubt it.........

HA! I mean too bad