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Yes and thy had to do it at 2400 feet presenting a greater target despite the ability to drop at a faster speed.RN aerial torpedoes available from about 1943 onwards had drop speeds of up to 270 knots. From the article, it would seem that the Barracuda would cruise at medium altitude, then dive vertically towards the target, pull out at a few hundred feet, bleed speed down to aprox 300mph, drop their torpedo and then hit the overboost and escape.
According to Campbell, Naval Weapons of world War Two, the RN had the mid war, Mk XII** which was capable of drop speed of 250-270 knots, but the standard mid war torpedo was the Mk XV, with a 270 knot drop speed, and the MkXVII was in production towards the end of war, and it had a 350 knot drop speed.
Are you meaning knots or MPH?RN aerial torpedoes available from about 1943 onwards had drop speeds of up to 270 knots. From the article, it would seem that the Barracuda would cruise at medium altitude, then dive vertically towards the target, pull out at a few hundred feet, bleed speed down to aprox 300mph, drop their torpedo and then hit the overboost and escape.
According to Campbell, Naval Weapons of world War Two, the RN had the mid war, Mk XII** which was capable of drop speed of 250-270 knots, but the standard mid war torpedo was the Mk XV, with a 270 knot drop speed, and the MkXVII was in production towards the end of war, and it had a 350 knot drop speed.
Are you meaning knots or MPH?
261 Knots = 300 MPH
270 Knots = 310 MPH
350 Knots = 402 MPH
Yes and thy had to do it at 2400 feet presenting a greater target despite the ability to drop at a faster speed.
So what does this have to do with the best dive bomber? If you're still trying to push the Barracuda I think you have a rather empty argument.
DropDo what at 2400ft?
I was replying to other posts regarding the barracuda's torpedo bombing capability, but it could have also dropped a 1600lb bomb directly onto the target, rather than a torpedo, which shows the versatility of the aircraft. Eric Brown rated the Barracuda higher than the Sb2C, and I think it is pretty obvious that it was the best allied naval dive bomber, of the war, when all it's capabilities are considered.
Drop
According to Torpedoes of World War II put out by the USN
So the Barracuda could carry a 1600 pound bomb? How many of those bombs were put on target?
I haven't read anything that says that RN torpedoes had to be dropped from such high altitudes.
On 3 April 1944, 42 Barracudas scored 14 bomb hits on the Tirpitz, including 4 of 10 1600lb bombs dropped.
And between June 5 and 6 1942 about 40 SBDs sunk 4 aircraft carriers and a heavy crusier. What's your point?
And it did, but in the over all picture did it have anything that set it above any of the aircraft listed on here and previously discussed? No. It seems even the Vengeance had a better operational and combat record than the Barracuda.According to Navweaps The three USN carriers had 103 operational SBDs at Midway, but my point is that the Barracuda had relatively few opportunities to attack naval targets, but it did so successfully when it had the chance.
And it did, but in the over all picture did it have anything that set it above any of the aircraft listed on here and previously discussed? No. It seems even the Vengeance had a better operational and combat record than the Barracuda.
Lets see - the title of this thread...In the overall picture:
The SBD had fixed wings.
The SB2C had terrible handling characteristics, and was rejected for RN service, and nearly so for the USN, so the RN rated the Barracuda above all the other available naval divebombers.
The Vengeance was a fixed wing aircraft that was not designed for naval service.
Lets see - the title of this thread...
"What was the best dive-bomber in the pacific theater"?
I don't see the word "Naval" in the title.
Right - Including the B-29...Any aircraft that cannot operate from a carrier, will be pretty marginal in the Pacific, IMHO, and hardly worth mentioning.
From wikipedia for what its worth. The bolded statementsare from me...
[
Right - Including the B-29...
As I said, the TBF was a better level bomber, and the RN used it to attack land based targets:
The notes from the wiki article:
[n1] All aircraft are adversely effected by increased temperature and humidity.
AFAIK the Barracuda couldn't carry the atomic bomb...The refinery that the RN knocked out had been previously attacked by B-29s, with less than spectacular results, and, AFAIK, the B-29 couldn't dive bomb...