Best medium bomber of WWII?

[Kilkenny]

I agree, given the right torpedoes the Mitchell will be deadly, especially with a dozen .50 in the nose suppressing the target's AA.

View attachment 610626

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What other medium bomber packed this much forward firepower outside of a night fighter conversion? Mosquito with its 4x20mm and 4x.303 perhaps.

Imagine what the B-42 could have done if (even with dated Allison V-1710's) Douglas started it a few years earlier (and went with one regular cockpit! LOL)

View attachment 610634

 

[Shortround6]

torpedo bombers cannot act as their own AA suppression aircraft.
They need other aircraft, even of the same type but without torpedos, to do the AA suppression mission just before the torpedo planes reach the drop location.

It is simply geometry. If the torpedo bomber with a 40kt torpedo is attacking a 20kt ship and drops from 1200 yds away, it has to be pointing at a spot in the ocean 600 yds in front of the target ship. Fixed guns have no hope of hitting the target ship before the torpedo is dropped. The torpedo plane (at least early war) has to fly a steady course so the gyros in the torpedo can stabilize.
No wild jinking or maneuvering, the plane has to be flying level and at the right altitude or the torpedo will not enter the water correctly, It could dive to deep, skip on th eserface, and/or even break into pieces.

Adjust torpedo speed, ship speed and drop distance as you see fit but unless the ship is very slow or dead in the water the torpedo bomber needs to lead the ship (point ahead of it).
A well armed plane or planes could certainly circle back and strafe a ship or ships in support of a 2nd wave of torpedo bombers.

 

[ClayO]

'Best' is always the operative word in these questions: 'best' in terms of doing the best at what the airplane was designed for? That's probably the Douglas A-26 or Wellington. 'Best' in terms of success at roles that weren't foreseen when it was designed? That goes to the B-25 or Mosquito. To decide between the two, the OP would have to spell out how he would measure the best one - but then the result would fall out of the data with no discussion, and what fun is that?

 

[Greyman]

Some cool art from Osprey's latest:

Sinking Force Z 1941

 

[ClayO]

Some cool art from Osprey's latest:


Sinking Force Z 1941

Cool picture, but see Shortround6, above.

 

[GrauGeist]

Why isn't the Pe-2 on the list?

And how is a B-25 carrying a torpedo and a dozen 50's going to suppress flak before it gets near the ship?
Typical AA cannon ranges are well beyond the effective range of a .50MG and well within the torpedo release point.

 

[fastmongrel]

Why isn't the Pe-2 on the list?

And how is a B-25 carrying a torpedo and a dozen 50's going to suppress flak before it gets near the ship?
Typical AA cannon ranges are well beyond the effective range of a .50MG and well within the torpedo release point.

Pe-2 is one of my favourite aircraft but isn't it more of a light bomber.

 

[GrauGeist]

Pe-2 is one of my favourite aircraft but isn't it more of a light bomber.

As designed, the Pe-2 could carry over a ton of bombs internally, but ended up wearing many hats (like the Ju88).

So I suppose it's on the light end of the list, the Yer-2 being on the heavier end of the spectrum, the Tu-2 and AR-2 falling in between.

 

[Glider]

Pe-2 is one of my favourite aircraft but isn't it more of a light bomber.

Its worth remembering that the RAF considered the Mosquito to be a light bomber, not a medium

 

[Shortround6]

As used the PE-2 could carry four 100kg bombs inside the fuselage, and a single 100kg bomb in each engine nacelle.
Larger bombs were carried outside.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Some cool art from Osprey's latest:
View attachment 610711

Sinking Force Z 1941

This picture looks off. These torpedoes are clearly going to pass harmlessly astern of POW. Surely the IJNAS pilots know to lead their targets?

 

[Vincenzo]

As used the PE-2 could carry four 100kg bombs inside the fuselage, and a single 100kg bomb in each engine nacelle.
Larger bombs were carried outside.

also as designed, was not capable to hold larger bombs internally. externally can hold 4x250 or 2x500

p.s. later was tested with some modification to carry internally one 500 kg or two 250 kg bombs but idk if this become production configuration, some russian speaking could be check, find number in a russian text is one thing understand the text in an other thing

 

[fastmongrel]

Its worth remembering that the RAF considered the Mosquito to be a light bomber, not a medium

Context is everything prewar it might be considered a medium because it was capable of lifting 4,000 pounds. In fact it might be considered a heavy bomber in 1930.

 

[GrauGeist]

The original series (1 and 2) of the Mosquito were rated at 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombloads respectively.
It wasn't until the Mk.IV that a 4,000 pound bombload was incorporated into it's design - in 1943.

 

[Acheron]

No love for the Betty? It had a huge range and it could turn into a fireball like an anime character!

 

[fastmongrel]

The original series (1 and 2) of the Mosquito were rated at 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombloads respectively.
It wasn't until the Mk.IV that a 4,000 pound bombload was incorporated into it's design - in 1943.

I know I was just using hyperbole there's a 2000 page thread of pure hyperbole on the p39 surely I am allowed one post

 

[Shortround6]

The original series (1 and 2) of the Mosquito were rated at 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombloads respectively.
It wasn't until the Mk.IV that a 4,000 pound bombload was incorporated into it's design - in 1943.

There was a 3000lb bomb load stage, 2000lbs inside the airplane (four 500lb bombs) and one 500lb under each wing. Performance with underwing bombs didn't suffer too badly.

The 4000lb load was the single 4000lb cookie, it could not carry 4000lbs of smaller bombs. It was not used operationally until 1944.

I don't believe the British thought of the Mosquito as a general purpose bomber during the war but rather a special purpose bomber. Precision daylight strikes and pathfinder.

The idea that the Mosquito could be a general purpose bomber and replace a large number of the 4 engine heavies may be a post war or even internet idea?
Correction welcome in the form of air ministry memos or letters/minutes of meetings.

 

[tomo pauk]

What is a definition of a 'medium bomber'?

 

[Glider]

There was a 3000lb bomb load stage, 2000lbs inside the airplane (four 500lb bombs) and one 500lb under each wing. Performance with underwing bombs didn't suffer too badly.

The 4000lb load was the single 4000lb cookie, it could not carry 4000lbs of smaller bombs. It was not used operationally until 1944.

I don't believe the British thought of the Mosquito as a general purpose bomber during the war but rather a special purpose bomber. Precision daylight strikes and pathfinder.

The idea that the Mosquito could be a general purpose bomber and replace a large number of the 4 engine heavies may be a post war or even internet idea?
Correction welcome in the form of air ministry memos or letters/minutes of meetings.

Towards the end of the war there was a new system which carried 6 x 500lb inside the aircraft, presumably they could also carry the 2 x 500lb bombs externally, but if they ever did I have no idea

 

[GrauGeist]

What is a definition of a 'medium bomber'?

Smaller than a heavy bomber?