That was until Bf 110G2 with MG 151/20 or am I wrong?
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He was also the loader for the 20mm cannon. The 110 carried a 60 round drum on each cannon plus two extra drums. I don't know how often they got to the 3rd drum but without the rear gunner the 110 would have had no more cannon ammo than the 109.
The Ohio was hit by a torpedo, had two aircraft crash on it, suffered a direct hit right by the torpedo hit that broke its back, was straddled by 2 near misses that lifted it bodily out of the water, plus numerous other near misses and still made it to harbor. Sinking it with one 250 kg bomb is beyond belief.Beaufighter / Mosquito
57' 10" (17.63 m) / 54' 2 " (16.51 m) - Wingspan
503 Sq Ft (46.7 Sq m) / 454 Sq Ft (42.2 Sq m) - Wing Area
41' 4" / 44' 6" (13.56 m) - Length
15,592 lb / 14,300 lb - Empty Weight
"much" is a subjective term, but I'd estimate it was about 10% smaller. The wing in particular, which is usually where most of the fuel goes, is just about 90% the wing area of a Beaufighter.
My original point which you may have forgotten was that you didn't need to turn a Bf 110 into a Beaufighter to give it long range. The Me 210, for all it's faults, had nearly twice the range and fuel capacity (2,500 liters vs 1,200) of a Bf 110 with a somewhat smaller wing.
My understanding is that the normal practice with the Ju 88 on a long range strike was to put extra fuel in the internal bomb bays and carry 250 kg bombs on the external hard points, two 250 kg bombs is about 1,100 lbs. And a hit with a 250 kg bomb can sink a ship like the SS Ohio, which is what they needed to do most.
It could carry much more (up to 2,000 kg for an A4, according to this source) but that wouldn't be as common for a long range strike.
I don't know the precise range of a Ju 88 carrying a bomb load, but the "normal range" was listed as over 1,200 miles, and I know that Ju 88 units stationed in Crete did strikes on Malta which is around 400 miles I think round trip. No Bf 109 could make that journey, though of course they could fly from Sicily.
I would appreciate that if you could. My understanding was that the primary long range fighter used over the Bay of Biscay was the Ju88. Originally I wasn't expecting that as if the Me110 had a good range then that would have been the first choice of fighter. I have some books on combat in that area and have an interest as it's the one area where aircraft who normally fought at night, fought in daylight. Me110's are mentioned, but only rarely.I can cite some examples
I have the book but my emphasis was being equal, that they clearly were not.Well, again I can cite some examples - some of the units operating over and around Anzio, notably the 79th FG, seems to have shot down a fair number of Fw 190s, more than they lost to them. Most of the latter were flying fighter bomber missions at the time. But I don't think that really matters, you couldn't say the P-40 wasn't competitive there. I can post some combat records from MAW IV in the other thread on combat histories.
That I agree with you also she did have extra strength added to her before she sailed to protect her from near misses which would have helped considerably.I have, but I also know most of the other ships were sunk by Stukas which don't carry a very heavy bomb load. Ohio was just lucky and had a very brave crew.
Some yes, but far from the majority as extra fuel or equipment was often considered to be the more valuable.Some were replaced with .50 HMG
The USAAF P-40 units overclaimed against Fw 190s over Anzio well above the norm, according to MAW IV. It's difficult to say how many the P-40s did shoot down as most of the losses were attributed to Spitfires, which also overclaimed just not as much as the P-40s. It might only be a couple of Jabos actually shot down by P-40s, but it might be more than Fw 190s shot down P40s, as SG4 didn't make any claims.
Nope,
You can't actually interchange most or all of the parts, but the form of the wing was inherited for good or bad.
It is subjective. It has to be.It's to a large extent, subjective. Pretending to confidently know where to make that distinction is isn't on the level.
A Bf 110C-1 was supposed to weigh about 13,300lb normal loaded (it could weigh more in overload), so a 200lb (dressed and with parachute) crewman is about 1.5%. leaving the crewman on the ground is going to do very little.Out of curiosity, didn't the extra weight from the second crewman perceivably worsen the plane's performance or was that not much of an issue in a heavy plane like the Me 110?
It is subjective. It has to be.
Astounding. Just recently, I read about Japanese pilots throwing the radios out of their Reisens/Zeros. Now, the radios were apparently pretty crappy anyway, but I doubt they weighted anything near a full second crewman. Of course, the Reisens weighted like what, a third of the Me-110?A Bf 110C-1 was supposed to weigh about 13,300lb normal loaded (it could weigh more in overload), so a 200lb (dressed and with parachute) crewman is about 1.5%. leaving the crewman on the ground is going to do very little.
However in the design process the extra man needs a cockpit to sit in (longer fuselage), more oxygen tanks, a slightly bigger wing to keep the same stalling speed and a few other changes that can run up the weight of the airplane if it is actually built. The weight of a single rcmg and 500-600 rounds of ammo is actually fairly minor.
I would appreciate any examples of the Me110 operating over the Bay of Biscay. Since my last posting I have been trying to look into this and have come up with nothing. My resources are far from all encompassing but I have failed to find anything, no losses where the Me110 was mentioned as the attacker or any claims. Interestingly I have found a number of instances where the Fw190's were operational over the Bay, which I admit I didn't expect, but not the Me110.I can cite some examples
I would appreciate any examples of the Me110 operating over the Bay of Biscay. Since my last posting I have been trying to look into this and have come up with nothing. My resources are far from all encompassing but I have failed to find anything, no losses where the Me110 was mentioned as the attacker or any claims. Interestingly I have found a number of instances where the Fw190's were operational over the Bay, which I admit I didn't expect, but not the Me110.
Any help welcome
You can debate how many they claimed at Anzio vs. how many they actually got (some of their victories may have actually been Bf 109s), but it's clear that they were engaging Fw 190s routinely by then, some of which were shot down and they (the P-40s) were not in turn suffering heavy losses in air to air combat (the way say, a unit of Hurricanes, or even early Spit Vs would have done by that time).
I only see one incident where the late model P-40s suffered significant losses in combat to FW 190s and that was the 33rd Fighter group in February of 1943, and it was an ambush basically where they were caught in a bad position. P-40 equipped units encountered Fw 190s intermittently from that point through being phased out in mid 1944, though they mostly engaged Bf 109Gs and MC 202 / 205s.
Oh, is this a case of (for the allies) air superiority but not yet air supremacy?The Jabos over Anzio were flying multiple ground attack missions per day, running the gaunlet of Allied fighter cover and they weren't sticking around for a fight, once bombs were dropped/ jettisoned it was back to base and load up for the next mission.
I would argue air superiority. If the other side cannot even contest the airspace for a short time at a specific location, that would IMHO be air supremacy, no?In 1944 it was what I would call "Contested Allied Air superiority" - as in, the Allies were able to bring so many aircraft and of such good quality (Spit IX in particular) that the Germans were struggling. If they sent a big force they could achieve local air superiority very briefly, enough to be able to get a high-speed bomb run in.
That is what Stig1207 is referring to regarding the Fw 190s - several Fw units in Italy at this time were actually bomber units, with pilots who had formerly flown Stukas and had transitioned to the Fw but were not necessarily given a lot of fighter training. That doesn't mean they couldn't fight but shooting down enemy planes wasn't their main mission. The reason is that the Fw 190 being so much faster, could survive in the new environment whereas the Stuka really no longer could. A Fw 190 could swoop in and drop some bombs and be gone before a flight of Ju 87s would even be ready to make their dive.
That said, I don't think all of the Fw 190s operating in Italy during the time of Anzio were in these bomber units. There were also Fw 190 fighter units operating in the Med, for example JG 2. JG 2 left the area in 1943 but I believe II./JG 2 was brought into JG. 53 to help stiffen air defense in the Med. I'm not sure if they kept their Fw 190s or transitioned to Bf 109s. I will check my sources. 1944 was already a screaming emergency for the Germans especially on the Russian Front. The battle at the Anzio beachhead lasted all the way from January 1944 to June 5 1944, and you know what happened the day after that. So the Germans were routinely moving units around like little fire brigades.