Bombs....

[Lucky13]

What kinda bombs did exist in WWII '39-45, in general, including neutral countries?
I can imagine that RAF had the biggest ones at the end....
Was any of these, more prone to fail than others?

 

[fubar57]

What kinda bombs did exist in WWII '39-45, in general, including neutral countries?
I can imagine that RAF had the biggest ones at the end....
Was any of these, more prone to be dudes than others?

I didn't think bombs were gender specific.

Geo

 

[fastmongrel]

The early RAF GP bombs from 100 to 2,000 pounds were pretty dire. They didnt carry much HE iirc around 35% by weight, the fuses were prone to not firing if the bomb struck at anything other than around 90 degrees and they were too long for there weight meaning fewer could be carried in a bomb bay than the later MC bombs of the RAF. The RAFs AS anti sub bombs were even worse and had a habit of skipping off the water and striking the bomber.

Apparently the bombs had been designed in the late twenties and early thirties but no one had any money to test them in real life situations and by the time money was available it was too late they were all that was available. Having said that by the late war years RAF bombs were considered very reliable and destructive it was unfortunate that so many RAF pilots lost there lives carrying dud lumps of steel into action.

 

[Lucky13]

Cheers mate!

 

[altsym]

I can imagine that RAF had the biggest ones at the end....

May be the heaviest if that's what you mean, but Fat Boy @ 10,200lbs, was the most destructive.

 

[wuzak]

May not be the heaviest if that's what you mean, but Fat Boy @ 10,200lbs, was the most destructive.

You mean Fat Man or Little Boy?

Some info on bombs:
RAF: Bombs
Luftwaffe: Drop Ordnance - Luftwaffe Resource Center - A Warbirds Resource Group Site

There are also catalogs of explosive ordnance for the USAAF and RAF somewhere in the technical section.

 

[altsym]

For some reason I was thinking of a Fat Boy burger lol. Otherwise yes, Fat Man.

 

[wuzak]

Though not 10,000lbs, a fat boy would make a decent dent in Japan when dropped from 30,000ft!

 

[tyrodtom]

Though not 10,000lbs, a fat boy would make a decent dent in Japan when dropped from 30,000ft!

That just ain't right to even think of doing that.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Supposedly the Germans had a massive 17 ton bomb that was being tested by dropping out of a Me 323 when the aircraft broke up in flight.

 

[tyrodtom]

Supposedly the Germans had a massive 17 ton bomb that was being tested by dropping out of a Me 323 when the aircraft broke up in flight.

I wonder how they planed on dropping it ? The Me323 had a nose loading ramp.

 

[Airframes]

They waited until the Me323 broke up, and the dropping problem was solved ............. I'll get me coat!

 

[fastmongrel]

Though not 10,000lbs, a fat boy would make a decent dent in Japan when dropped from 30,000ft!

Best thing for it though they arent motor bikes they are 2 wheel SUVs. This isnt mine (for some reason I cant get flickr links to work on the forum) but its the same model apart from the fact mines a single carb Thunderbolt not a twin carb Lightning

 

[Lucky13]

Didn't know that the 4000 lbs 'cookie' was first dropped from the Wellington.....

 

[Zipper730]

Didn't know that the 4000 lbs 'cookie' was first dropped from the Wellington.....

Wasn't it during a raid on Emden?

 

[nuuumannn]

Wasn't it during a raid on Emden?

Yes, April 1941. The Wellington's bomb bay had to be specially modified to carry the bomb and not all Wellingtons could, but the mods were not especially difficult to implement. The Wellington's bomb bay was sectioned into three horizontal bays that were not wide enough to carry the 4,000 pounder, so the two centre bay dividers, which were a part of the bomb bay ceiling/aircraft floor longitudinal structure were removed and vertical struts were fitted to the wing centre section spar bracing for carriage of the bombs. The centre bay doors were also removed. The first Wellington to be so converted was a Mk.II Merlin engined variant. Trials revealed severe vibration after around 5 hours flying, attributed to the parachute retardation casing giving way, which was subsequently fixed before going into service. After production of the bomb began in March 1941, Wellingtons were either retrofitted or completed as such and Mk.ICs and IIs were approved for modification.

This is a shot of the Wellington bomb bay. You can see the longitudinal structure and the centre bay doors that had to be removed in order to carry the 4,000 lb bomb.

Wellington bomb bay

The Halifax installation was more problematic because the bay wasn't deep enough and also because of the door geometry, the main doors retracted into the bay, which restricted the diameter of what could be carried internally, so the doors couldn't be bulged. In the first model of Hali that was suitably modified to carry the bomb, the Mk.II Series Ia had to fly with the doors slightly open, which produced drag and marginally reduced its range.