Best strafing aircraft in WWII???

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filnorm

Airman
32
0
Apr 4, 2007
Dear all, I came across to the article by MGen. Richard B.H. Lewis (ret.) giving an overview of strafing in the history of warfare. He also wrote: Among World War II strafing aircraft, few if any were more effective than the American B-25 Mitchell bomber. In the Pacific, it was used frequently on treetop-level missions against Japanese airfields and shipping, with great impact.
Source: http://www.afa.org/magazine/July2007/0707strafing.asp
What was in your opinion the best/most effective strafing aircraft in World War II?
Regards, Filip
 
There was a version of B-25 armed with a cannon so that the efectiveness even increased, isn't it?
 
filnorm said:
There was a version of B-25 armed with a cannon so that the efectiveness even increased, isn't it?
Click to expand...

Hmm, I think the B25 almost stalled when the 7.5 mm fired, something you don't want while strafing which always is at low altitude. Althoug a crashing airplane is of course very destructive

Don't know if the guns really were effective in any role, but I'm sure some other members can tell something about that.
 
I'll take the 8th AF P-51D for their wild work done on German AF during spring of 45. Some unbelievable record of ground kills for each group. Bill will have stats on the 355th fg records bar none
 
Fire power wise I agree the B25J was a mighty beast and probably does deserve the title that amount of fire power against soft targets is pretty overwhelming, but I still think the Beaufighter was close behind as the dumpy nose gave superb forward vision and made for hedge hopping accurate runs at lower angles hence (how true I'm not sure) the "whispering death" nick name given by the Japanese. (not whistling death as for the Corsair)
Initially the mk1 with just the four 20mm under nose cannons suffered a pronounced dip when fired causing target drift but after various stages of development this problem was overcome and the addition of six wing mounted .303s increased the planes fire power.
 

The 75 mm cannon on the B25 was designed for anti-shipping in the pacific. In my mind, that is not strafing. Thats anti-shipping attack.

fourteen .50 cals.... now thats staffing!
 
Bernhart said:
throw in 8 rockets on the beaufighter and that is alotof lead coming at you
Click to expand...

Perhaps we should decide what strafing is....
\
Strafing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Strafing (adaptation of German strafen, to punish, specifically from the World War I humorous adaptation of the German catchphrase "Gott strafe England"), is the practice of firing on a static, or mobile targets of opportunity on land, sea, or air from a flying platform. The term is usually applied to machine gun or cannon fire from a variety of aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, or unmanned aerial vehicles.

The thread is not about ground attack in general.. it is about strafing.

...
 
So firing a 75 mm from a B25 on either ship or vehicle is considered to be strafing according to your definition

Does anybody know if the 75 mm was ever effective?
 
Marcel said:
So firing a 75 mm from a B25 on either ship or vehicle is considered to be strafing according to your definition

Does anybody know if the 75 mm was ever effective?
Click to expand...

it was very effective against ships!

The rate of fire was so damn slow. Lobbing a couple shells is not strafing by my definition...

B-25 Mitchell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


>> Due to its low rate of fire (approximately four shells could be fired in a single strafing run and relative ineffectiveness against ground targets, the 75mm cannon was sometimes removed from both G and H models and replaced with two additional .50-caliber machine guns as a field modification.[2] T
No other bomber of World War II carried as many guns. However, the first 555 B-25Js (the B-25J-1-NC production block) were delivered without the fuselage package guns, because it was discovered that muzzle blast from these guns was causing severe stress in the fuselage next to the muzzles; while later production runs returned these guns, they were often removed as a field modification for that same reason.[4] In all, 4,318 B-25Js were built.
 
I admit that my understanding was that the 75mm wasn't very effective. Its rate of fire was so slow that only one or two shots could be fired in an attack run and few ships were ever sunk or even badly damaged after being hit by one or two 75mm shells.
Rockets were considered more effective as each rocket was four to five times more effective that one shell plus of course a number of them were fired on each pass.

Another factor being the stress the shell put on the aircraft which was significant.
 
Dont get me wrong... I LOVE the B25J... effective or not, the idea of a Doolittle raider with a Sherman tank round makes me smile.

<pause for smile>

But for me, the mechanical rattle of hundreds or thousands of rounds of led rapidly spewed from a fast mover screaming on the deck while violently butchering flesh into crimson mist and transforming iron into twisted, scorched and shattered shards is the essence of strafing.


The occasional thud of a low velocity round, although fearsome, does not instill as much fear as a Beaufighter, Tempest or Thunderbolt..

What is the average rounds delivered during an "average" strafing for 20mm equipped warbirds? Some planes had a flatter angle of attack, thus more target time, but is there an average? ...

Which is more effective? 1000 of .50 cal rounds or 300 20MM rounds? (or whatever the ratio is)
 
The hispano 20mm was around 600 rounds per minute which is on a par with the .5, agreed with 14 .5's its a much higher rate of fire , the .5 is excellent and 600+ m/s is not bad the Hispano was 800+m/s so could take on tougher targets with a mix of hard and explosive rounds while the .303 took on the anti personel role IMO I think it was a could balance.
 
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