Best Bomber of WW2 (continued)

I thinkl the B29 was probabably the best bomber of WW2 due to technolgical advances, but I think the Lanc was the more successfull due to the length of its operational combat service.

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According to the translated article, a combined Soviet and British force took part in 'Operation PARAVAN' in September 1944 against the German battleship Tirpitz which was sheltering in Alten fjord in Norway. Although damaged, Tirpitz still posed a threat to the convoys sailing between Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

From 0600 hrs on 12 September 1944 - 38 Lancasters, two Liberator transports and a single reconnaissance Mosquito were deployed to YAGODNIK aerodrome in the Archangel area. The Lancasters came from 617 and 9 squadrons and were a mix of Lancaster I's and III's specially adapted to carry 12,000lb 'Tallboy' bombs in a bulged bomb bay.

Ten of the Lancasters made forced landings at various airfields in the Archangel area, and following repairs to some of them, 27 Lancasters, with Russian navigators, carried out a bombing raid on the Tirpitz on 15 September 1944. The Tirpitz was damaged but remained afloat and was moved to Tromso fjord where she was attacked again, this time successfully, on 12 November from bases in the UK.

Between the 16th and 28th of September all the serviceable Lancasters returned to their bases in the UK. Six damaged Lancasters were left behind - one Mk III and five Mk I's, of which four were inspected by the Soviets with a view to restoration and the two with the least damage were taken to KEGOSTROV where they were repaired and modified in the workshops of the Air Force of the White Sea Flotilla under the direction of chief engineer KIR'YANOV.

All the armament was removed and the rear gun turret faired over with sheet Duralumin. The damaged nose section was replaced with a new transparent nose. The standard bomber finish of Dark Earth, Dark Green and Night was retained but the identification markings were overpainted in 'Russian green' and red stars with black outlines were applied in six positions, both machines being refurbished identically.

One of the Lancasters, with the side number '01' in white, was used by the 16th Transport Flight (the original article speculates that this may have been serialled ME559) for convoy escort, submarine detection flights and reconnaissance where its long range and endurance were much appreciated by the Soviets.

In August 1945 it was sent to the Pacific but became stranded at KRASNOYARSK due to lack of fuel. In the summer of 1946 it was flown to RIGA where it was used as an educational aid by the aviation technical college. Its subsequent fate remains unknown.

The second restored Lancaster, side number '02', served with the 70th Independent Transport Regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force and eventually crashed whilst landing at IZMAILOVO outside Moscow at the end of the war and was written off.

There you have it - a fascinating article about the Soviet use of at least two Avro Lancasters that was completely unknown to me and to everyone else, if the reaction of those who saw the finished model on our Soviet Aircraft SIG stand at the IPMS UK Nationals is anything to go by. A number of people thought it should have been on the 'What if' SIG stand - hopefully this article will put them right.
http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/ModelArticles/Duffy/Lancaster/index.php

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MP-Willow said:

Lanc, I will try to look for that. but it did have documented engine problums, the Italians could not get that fixed and were never given the funds to realy try.

Damage, it was ok I think, C.C might know better. The raids on "The Rock" and into North Africa did show she could take some hits, but also a spitfire could take her down.

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delcyros said:

Wouldn´t the Fw-191 A be a pretty good bomber? Not produced in numbers because of stupid decisions by RLM. But it was really a capable weapon, comparable, if not better than the He-177. The first prototype has to use electrical power assist (Tank don´t wanted to use that much of it) and became prone to malfunction. The next have been the same, the sixth prototype (Fw-191 V-6, became the origin of the Fw-191 A-series) was redesigned for hydraulic power assist and it proved to be an excellent plane. And very reliable. RLM postponed the design in favour of the Ju-288, lately all bomber -b projects have been cancelled because of the lack of high hp-engines (focke wulf redesigned it for other engines, but RLM refused these ideas, too.)
Fw-191 A
twin engined medium bomber, 1942
Engines: two DB 610 with 2950 hp each
(or two Jumo-222 with 1800 hp or two DB 606 with 2700 hp or four DB 601 E with 1200 hp)
spanwidth: 26,00 m (~85 ft)
length: 19,63 m (~65 ft)
height: 5,60 m (~ 18ft)
wing surface: 70, 50 m² (~235 ft²)
weight: 11545-16300 kg (depends on engine) (~25400 lbs-35860 lbs.)
take off weight: 23600 kg (~51920 lbs)
top speed (at 5000m / 15000 ft): 605 Km/h (~376 mp/h)
cruise speed (at 5000m / 15000 ft): 505 Km/h (~313 mp/h)
initial (sustainable) climb: 1150 m/min (~3400 ft/min)
time to altitude: 21 min to 6000 m (~19000 ft)
range: 3500 km (2174 miles)
service altitude: 9100 m (~30000 ft)
total armor: 1450 kg (3190 lbs), self sealing fuel tanks
usual bomb load: 4000 kg ( 8800 lbs, capable to take two Hs-293 or two LT 950) overloaded condition could allow up to 6000 kg (13200 lbs) bombload with reduced range
military equipment: chin turret: 1 MG 151/15
top turret: 2 MG 151/15 (Z)
gondola remotery controlled guns: 2 MG 81
remotery controlled tail turret: 2 MG 151/15 (Z)

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