Bazookas On Bombers

[MIflyer]

In David Baker's book on the Me-262, it states that the Me-262 fighter unit, Kommando Nowotny, attacked a USAAF force of B-24's and P-47's with six Me-262's using makeshift 210MM rocket installations attached to the bomb racks.

The US 392nd Bomb Group responded by fitting rear facing bazookas to its aircraft.

There is no evidence that either of these innovations succeeded in hitting anything.

I also recall reading in the book Druid's Circle that the RAF came up with an upward firing rocket to be mounted in B-17 radio rooms in order to break up overhead bombing attacks by German fighters. I don't think this ever got used because US escort fighters pretty much ended that kind of attack.

 

[Shortround6]

I can well understand the US bazookas not hitting anything. IF they tried mounting US army Bazookas the velocity of the rocket about matched the forward speed of the bomber and the rocket would essentially fall to the ground right under the spot fired, much like a retro rocket equipped anti-submarine bomb.
Perhaps they tried using the 4.5in rocket with the Bazooka style tube as used in triples under US fighter wings?

They at least had an 865 fps velocity although after you subtract the 265fps of the bomber (about 180mph) your chances of aiming well enough to hit a fast moving airplane area about zero.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I have a pic of them mounted on a light aircraft (L3 or L-4) used for ground attack.

 

[MIflyer]

They yanked the 75MM gun on a B-25H and installed a a couple of rocket tubes in its place. I think they also tried this in the CBI. This is from the Detail and Scale book on the B-25.

I was thinking the same thing about the bazooka. Being fired backward from a bomber it rocket would be all but standing still, if not going backward. There better not be any bombers below you!

I saw where Bazookas were mounted on an L-4's and I think an L-5 as well.

 

[fubar57]

A-20s were armed with rocket tubes

 

[Tieleader]

I remember a L3 or L4 called "Rosie the Rocketeer" equipped with multiple bazookas. Am I wrong?

 

[fubar57]

You are correct. This book has a photo of the aircraft...

 

[Airframes]

I've got a pic in one of my many B-24 books, showing a cluster (of 3 ?) tubes beneath the tail of a B-24. Can't get to it at the moment, as my arms are too stiff to get the book off the shelf !
From memory, these were mounted just aft of the rear belly hatch, and fired aft, from inside the aircraft, the intention being to at least disrupt attacks from the rear, but the idea was soon abandoned.

 

[Shortround6]

If the rockets are aimed forward you add the velocity of the rockets to the aircraft's speed ( although short burning rocket motors soon result in the rocket slowing down) If aimed backwards you subtract the speed of the aircraft from the rockets speed.

Please note the American 2.75in Mighty Mouse rockets required more powerful engines when they began firing them from slow moving (or hovering) helicopters in stead of 600mph jets.

 

[Tieleader]

You are correct. This book has a photo of the aircraft...

View attachment 511598​

Thanks for the heads up. At least I'm not going senile yet...wait ,what was I saying...

 

[Juanita]

Is your question specifically about the USAAF use of rockets against airborne targets (I can't help with that question)? Or are you interested in the fitting of rockets to any USAAF aircraft?

They were definitely using US Army bazooka type rockets mounted to fighters (P-51, P-47). Three tubes strapped together, one set under each wing. From memory they were introduced in 1943 but they proved ineffective (low target hit rate) and so they didn't last long.
I don't know about their use on the P-47, however they were fitted to P-51s in the India/Burma/China theatre and used for ground attack.

They were 4.5" Aircraft Rockets. The tubes were plastic or metal or magnesium alloy and were 10 ft long (M10, M14, M15)
The rockets were M8 (there is also reference to M16).

The HVAR (5") would have been better but at the time there were good stocks of the M8 Bazookas

Later they used HVAR rockets. These were more effective. They weren't launched from tubes.

Juanita

 

[MIflyer]

The rocket launched from tubes used on P-51's, P-47's, P-40's, and B-25's were not at all the same rockets launched by the bazookas carried by ground troops.

Those B-24's apparently added ground troops' bazookas in an attempt to improve firepower but it apparently was not effective, nor should it have been.

 

[Temistocle]

Hi, a couple of pictures of the "retrorocket" tested on the B-24 (taken from www.americanairmuseum.com):




The tubes were rechargable, as seen in this figure (taken from "US Strategic Bombing Survey - Armament in the Air War 1939-45"):



Another test was made in 1943 at Aberdeen and Eglin Field using the M8 rocket and a couple of launching tube in vertical position installed inside a B-17:



This was intended as a defense from German fighters bombing the B-17 formations with air-to-air bombs.

 

[MIflyer]

Supposedly the RAF helped to develop the the vertical rockets in B-17's.