Dive bombers are gonna have a hard time sinking battleships.
Bombs both dive bomber and bomber dropped, proved singular effective at sinking battleships.
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Dive bombers are gonna have a hard time sinking battleships.
Don't forget the achievements of these planes as well. Other types of torpedo bombers also suffered badly at times and
yet performed well at others.
The Swordfish can hardly be called awful considering it's contributions to the allied effort. The Albacore didn't seem to get
the breaks it needed to be better recognised.
Well I get the following:-I don't know of many capital ships that were solely sunk by bombs.
I don't know of many capital ships that were solely sunk by bombs.
I don't know of any capitol ships that were sunk by a single torpedo hit.*
thank youConte di Cavour at Taranto.
Indeed. That is why Albacores were carrying torpedoes and not dive bombing.Dive bombers are gonna have a hard time sinking battleships.
Might be a tricky job inserting a lot of 12.5 metre fixed wing Dauntlesses into FAA carrier hangers and where would you mount the torpedoes?The Ablacore proved to be even more vulnerable to ground fire and fighters than the awful Swordfish.
FWIW, the British had some VERY strange ideas of what represented an acceptable naval aircraft - They rejected the superb SBD Dauntless as 'unsuitable' for combat operations and over its flight characteristics.
Bombs both dive bomber and bomber dropped, proved singular effective at sinking battleships.
But everyone forgets that Albacores caught Tirpitz cold in the North Atlantic in March 1942 and it was an utter fiasco.
They were simply too slow to mount an effected attack on a fast warship with relative speed advantages often down to double digits.
If the FAA had a credible dive bomber such as the SBD, the Kriegesmarines battleships and heavy units would have had very short and very exciting wars.
Well I get the following:-
Arizona 7/12/41 Pearl Harbour. 4x800kg AP hits and 3 near misses.
Roma 9/43 hit by 2x Fritz X 3,500lb AP guided bombs while at sea.
Tirpitz 12/11/44 hit by 2x12,000lb Tallboy plus a near miss (plus the earlier Tallboy hit that wrecked her bow)
Ise 28/7/45 Finally sank after 2 days of air attacks that resulted in 16 bomb hits and numerous near misses.
Hyuga 24-26/7/45 slowly settled to the bottom and abandoned after receiving 10 bomb hits and at least 30 near misses on the 24th.
Haruna 28/7/45. Finally sank after 2 days of air attacks that only succeeded in hitting her 13 times and near missing her 10 times.
Note only one of those sinkings occurred while the ship was sailing in open water, and just how much difficulty the USN had in sinking those 3 in Japanese harbours.
Indeed. That is why Albacores were carrying torpedoes and not dive bombing.
Trouble it to took over 4 years to make the Switch.To add to the problems for the FAA I would submit 'Battleship mafia', those who stuck to the thought of paddling their
massive armoured bathtubs to glory in battle against other bathtubs.
The primary target for the US dive bombers was the enemy carriers by ripping up their flight decks denying them both strike and defensive capabilities, and to do it first before the enemy could do it to them. Some US admirals considered the carrier a one shot weapon. In the early 1930s the USN didn't even favour the aerial torpedo, at one point only having one squadron. The TB only came back with the arrival of the TBD Devastator in 1935. And TB were never expected to deliver the "coup de grace". They were merely there to slow down the enemy fleet for the big guns to do their work and deliver the "coup de grace".The US "doctrine" such at it was, called for fighters to strafe (small bomb) the decks of the enemy ships, suppressing their AA while the dive bombers went in with the 500lb bombs to wreck the top sides and the torpedo bombers came in for the coup de grace. Aside from minor things like the enemy not having aircraft of their own and the US planes coming in at different altitudes and at slightly different put precise times (details, details) no problem![]()