Bomb loads

[herman1rg]

This evening following seeing the Lancasters "Thumper" and "Vera" followed by B-17 "Sally B" today at the Duxford airshow (watched from a field just off flight line) I am given to wonder the following.

Supposing each type also including the Halifax and Liberator were on a mission to Essen in the Ruhr valley and also seperately to Berlin what would the comparative bomb loads carried?

I throw my thought to the might of the assembled experts.

 

[wuzak]

For the Lancaster it woudl be 12-14,000lb for either target. But also depends on type of target - less weight is carried if more incendiaries are used.

Bomb Loads


For the B-17 the Berlin load would most likely be 12 x 500lb or 6 x 1000lb = 6000lb. For the Ruhr they may be able to carry 8000lb - 8 x 1000lb, but I'm not sure whether they coudl carry that weight in 500lb bombs (not enough stations).

 

[wuzak]

This also may be of some help

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/personal-gallery/bomb-loads-36912.html

 

[Greyman]

Figures from the British Data Sheets.
I know the American types are at WWII Aircraft Performance

Type	Bombs Carried	Fuel Carried	Range
Lancaster I/III	14,000 lb	1,625 gal	1,660 miles
Lancaster I/III	10,000 lb	2,150 gal	2,250 miles
Lancaster I/III	7,000 lb	2,550 gal	2,680 miles
B-17F	12,800 lb	870 gal	840 miles
B-17F	8,800 lb	1,440 gal	1,550 miles
B-17F	6,400 lb	1,770 gal	2,050 miles
B-17G	12,800 lb	1,050 gal	1,140 miles
B-17G	10,000 lb	1,140 gal	1,640 miles
B-17G	3,500 lb	2,350 gal	2,740 miles
B-24D	12,800 lb	1,310 gal	1,290 miles
B-24D	8,500 lb	1,960 gal	2,040 miles
B-24D	3,500 lb	2,350 gal	2,470 miles
Halifax III	13,000 lb	1,150 gal	1,030 miles
Halifax III	7,000 lb	1,986 gal	1,985 miles
Halifax III	3,000 lb	2,446 gal	2,510 miles

Ranges are for most economical speed:
Lancaster I/III: 216 mph at 20,000 ft
Fortress F: 195 mph at 20,000 ft
Fortress G: 190 mph at 20,000 ft
Liberator D: 200 mph at 20,000 ft
Halifax III: 215 mph at 20,000 ft

 

[Jabberwocky]

This evening following seeing the Lancasters "Thumper" and "Vera" followed by B-17 "Sally B" today at the Duxford airshow (watched from a field just off flight line) I am given to wonder the following.

Supposing each type also including the Halifax and Liberator were on a mission to Essen in the Ruhr valley and also seperately to Berlin what would the comparative bomb loads carried?

I throw my thought to the might of the assembled experts.

Typical Lancaster bombloads to The Ruhr were on the order of 10-14,000 lb, depending on what the target and mission was.

Area bombing would usually be 12-14 x 1,000 lbs GP (MC) bombs or 10-14 1000 lbs Small Bomb Containers.

Blast/area missions would usually be 1 x 4,000 HC bomb and a combination of GP bombs and SBCs/incendiaries, usually up to about 14,000 lb.

Blast/incendiary missions were usually 1 x 4000 HC bomb and 8-10 SBCs, or 1 X 8000 HC Bomb and 6 SBCs.

Blast/demolition missions were typically 1 x 8000 HC bomb and 6 x 1000 lb GP bombs or 1 x 4000 lbs and a mix of 500 or 1000 lb GP bombs


Australian government archives has some more information:

The Lancaster's bomb load

 

[stona]

For the Ruhr they may be able to carry 8000lb - 8 x 1000lb,

This was the maximum bomb load for a B-17 compared to 22,000lbs for an admittedly modified Lancaster. Around 4-5,000lbs was a far more typical operational load for the B-17, according to Freeman. A late war B-17 was also carrying well over 6,000lbs of defensive armour, machine guns, turrets and ammunition for which bomb load was sacrificed, not something that Bomber Command worried about.

14,000lbs was the maximum load for a service Lancaster and they carried your stated 12-14,000lbs whenever possible.( Both Mason and McKinstry.)

Cheers

Steve

 

[Tangopilot89]

Thought this would be a good place to post a question I have been pondering for a while. Hope it's not a stupid question.

I have a documentary on the Avro Lancaster and it mentions that it was capable of carrying a bomb load greater than the weight of the aircraft itself. Please could someone explain how this was possible?

Andy

 

[pbehn]

Thought this would be a good place to post a question I have been pondering for a while. Hope it's not a stupid question.

I have a documentary on the Avro Lancaster and it mentions that it was capable of carrying a bomb load greater than the weight of the aircraft itself. Please could someone explain how this was possible?

Andy

Hard to figure. The empty weight of the Lancaster was 16.738 Kg while a grand slam bomb weighed 10,000Kg. Also the empty weight does not have a crew or fuel, it doesn't count as an "aircraft " as such. Lancs dropping the grand slam had their upper turret removed. The maximum take off weight was 31,751 Kg which is approximately twice the empty weight.

 

[Milosh]

This is a bomb load a Halifax carried from Leeming to Essen,

6 x 500 lb MC bomb
1 x 2000 lb HC bomb
5 x 1000 lb SAP bomb

for 10,000lb total

 

[stona]

This is a bomb load a Halifax carried from Leeming to Essen,

6 x 500 lb MC bomb
1 x 2000 lb HC bomb
5 x 1000 lb SAP bomb

for 10,000lb total

What date was that. I'm guessing that this was when the Stirling was still in use, as it often carried an entirely incendiary load and the HE had to be made up by other types.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Hop]

For the B-17 the Berlin load would most likely be 12 x 500lb or 6 x 1000lb = 6000lb. For the Ruhr they may be able to carry 8000lb - 8 x 1000lb, but I'm not sure whether they coudl carry that weight in 500lb bombs (not enough stations).

The maximum internal load for the B-17 was 12 x 500 or 6 x 1,000. They didn't have the stations to carry more.

The maximum internal weight of bombs was made up of 8 x 1,600, but the 1,600 lb bomb was armour piercing and very rarely used (just over 1,000 dropped in Europe during the war). Because it was armour piercing the 1,600 lb bomb had a much smaller diameter than the 1,000 lb HE bomb, which meant they could squeeze more in.

 

[Milosh]

That was Oct 1944 Steve.

 

[stona]

That was Oct 1944 Steve.

A very unusual load for the period if this was an area raid, particularly the SAP bombs. They must have had a surplus of those or a shortage of something else .

Cheers

Steve

 

[Milosh]

Steve it was on Oct 23 1944 and a 429 Halifax III.
took off at 1611 hrs

 

[stona]

Thanks. I'm intrigued. When I get home (hopefully next Monday) I'll look up the raid. The SAP bombs made me think of an attack on dock yards or shipping, but Essen is a long way from the sea!
Cheers
Steve

 

[Milosh]

I was hoping you would.

 

[stona]

I know that two aircraft returned damaged by bombs from that raid (a 166 Squadron Lancaster and a 626 Squadron Lancaster). They were presumably hit by bombs from other aircraft, but most likely incendiaries. A hit from a 4lb incendiary was survivable and fairly commonplace, they were raining down in their tens of thousands on most raids. That's all I could find on my computer, I'll have to wait until Monday.
Cheers
Steve

 

[billrunnels]

For the Lancaster it woudl be 12-14,000lb for either target. But also depends on type of target - less weight is carried if more incendiaries are used.

Bomb Loads


For the B-17 the Berlin load would most likely be 12 x 500lb or 6 x 1000lb = 6000lb. For the Ruhr they may be able to carry 8000lb - 8 x 1000lb, but I'm not sure whether they coudl carry that weight in 500lb bombs (not enough stations).

Maximum capacity bombay load for the B-17 is 12 x 500lb = 6,000lbs for both targets.

 

[fubar57]

Welcome to the forum Bill.

 

[billrunnels]

Welcome to the forum Bill.

Thank you. Look forward to the association.