Best medium bomber of WWII?

Admiral Beez · Jan 8, 2022

33k in the air said:
How does the pilot in the front of a B-26 see what's going on behind him? Does the plane missing the superstructure do so in front of him, in which wouldn't it have nearly collided with his own aircraft? Or is the near collision taking place at a different carrier than Akagi?

We can't know for certain, but I'll trust an eye witness over Shattered Sword's authors.

GrauGeist · Jan 8, 2022

Very detailed interviews of the B-26 survivors as well as other participants (both Japanese and American) in the book by Walter Lord, "Midway - The Incredible Victory".

MiTasol · Jan 8, 2022

33k in the air said:
How does the pilot in the front of a B-26 see what's going on behind him? Does the plane missing the superstructure do so in front of him, in which wouldn't it have nearly collided with his own aircraft? Or is the near collision taking place at a different carrier than Akagi?

The same way you know if you driving a truck or are towing a caravan or trailer with your car - experience and spatial awareness

Greg Boeser · Jan 8, 2022

The B-26 would always be hampered by it's poor take off characteristics. In the Pacific it was a key reason for it's withdrawal from combat operations. After the deployment of the 22nd BG to Australia, the 77th BS to Alaska and the re-equipping of the 73rd BS already there, the last Marauder equipped units were the early B-26B equipped 69th and 70th BS, sent to New Caledonia and Fiji in mid 1942. Other B-26 equipped units slated for deployment to the Pacific, (the rest of the 38th BG and the rest of the 42nd BG) were re-equipped with B-25s prior to deployment. Their B-26s were either used as replacements for the 22nd and 28th groups, or were handed over to the 21st and 17th BGs which were the training units tasked with producing the B-26 units bound for the ETO and MTO.
The B-26 equipped bomb groups sent to North Africa with the short wing B-26B fared poorly compared to similar units equipped with B-25s.

Acheron · Jan 9, 2022

Admiral Beez said:
We can't know for certain, but I'll trust an eye witness over Shattered Sword's authors.

Understandable, but eye witnesses only sees what they see and they see, yet may extrapolate and draw conclusions that seem plausible to them, yet are not necessarily true.

tyrodtom · Jan 9, 2022

Acheron said:
Understandable, but eye witnesses only sees what they see and they see, yet may extrapolate and draw conclusions that seem plausible to them, yet are not necessarily true.

I've been around circle track racing over 30 years, raced over 20 years myself.
Early in my experience one of my sponsors was a man who videoed the races and sold them, I got the videos free.
On viewing them I noticed that what actually happened was sometimes different from what I had thought had happened.
Sometimes, under stress, the mind can come up with solutions that have little relation to what really took place.

GrauGeist · Jan 9, 2022

From the United States Navy's Naval Heritage and History Command website:

"The third heavily damaged B-26, which may or may not have dropped its torpedo, flew directly at Akagi's bridge and missed hitting Nagumo and his entire staff by a matter of feet before crashing in the water on the opposite side. Whether the B-26 was out of control, or whether the pilot was trying to deliberately hit the bridge with his crippled aircraft remains unknown, but to Nagumo it certainly looked like the latter."

H-006-3 The Sacrifice

H-Gram 006, Attachment 3 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC May 2017 **Revised and updated 28 October 2019**

www.history.navy.mil

SaparotRob · Jan 9, 2022

GrauGeist said:
From the United States Navy's Naval Heritage and History Command website:

"The third heavily damaged B-26, which may or may not have dropped its torpedo, flew directly at Akagi's bridge and missed hitting Nagumo and his entire staff by a matter of feet before crashing in the water on the opposite side. Whether the B-26 was out of control, or whether the pilot was trying to deliberately hit the bridge with his crippled aircraft remains unknown, but to Nagumo it certainly looked like the latter."

H-006-3 The Sacrifice

H-Gram 006, Attachment 3 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC May 2017 **Revised and updated 28 October 2019**

www.history.navy.mil

Great link!

Thumpalumpacus · Jan 10, 2022

NHHC is a great resource all the way 'round.

Acheron · Jan 10, 2022

tyrodtom said:
I've been around circle track racing over 30 years, raced over 20 years myself.
Early in my experience one of my sponsors was a man who videoed the races and sold them, I got the videos free.
On viewing them I noticed that what actually happened was sometimes different from what I had thought had happened.
Sometimes, under stress, the mind can come up with solutions that have little relation to what really took place.

Check out this and please please please don't spoil it for others

Thumpalumpacus · Jan 10, 2022

SaparotRob · Jan 10, 2022

Thumpalumpacus said:
15?

Damn. I'm gonna' have to watch it again.

Thumpalumpacus · Jan 10, 2022

SaparotRob said:
Damn. I'm gonna' have to watch it again.

I probably missed a couple all the same.

SaparotRob · Jan 10, 2022

I'll have to concentrate harder.

RagTag · Jan 10, 2022

tomo pauk said:
The early B-26s were pretty fast on low altitudes. Later models were slower due to the greater drag (bigger wing, wing incidence was increased, engine air intakes grew bigger, many guns were added...), not able to do 300 mph. Despite some engine power increase. B-25 was just a tad slower.
The low sortie/loss ratio for the B-26s was achieved once the Allies established air superiority over NW Europe, with B-26s not venturing too deep - talk to the Ardenes max?

AA gunners never liked a fast target. However, the B-26 was not fast to begin with, so the gunners stood a fair chance to hit it.

That got me looking at my Dad's logbook as a B-26 Pathfinder to see how deep they went. From fall '44 missions just past the Ardennes to hit staging areas and troop concentrations. A fair number up and down the Saar and east side of the Rhine. But toward the end they got deeper with lighter load outs, 5 hour missions out as far as near Nuremberg and concluding into Czechoslovakia in May 45.

Best medium bomber of WWII?

Favorite WWII medium/tactical bomber?

Dornier Do 217

Heinkel He 111

Junkers Ju 88

Douglas A-26 Invader

Martin B-26 Marauder

North American B-25 Mitchell

Douglas A-20 Havoc/Boston

Mitsubishi G4M "Betty"

de Havilland Mosquito

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Tupolev Tu-2

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