With US daylight bombing losses extremely high on oil targets, could more night bombing have been performed on oil targets?
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The tell tale sign is that German oil consumption closely mirrored their production. They didn't manage to maintain meaningful reserves post Barbarossa.
They used what they had, which meant that it had to be divided between the various services.
Here's the USSBS's chart for what the Americans call 'aviation gasoline', which follows the same pattern.
From Barbarossa onwards the Luftwaffe NEVER had enough aviation fuel. The Luftwaffe command that suffered the most severe rationing was Training Command which had catastrophic consequences in 1943/44.
Cheers
Steve
With US daylight bombing losses extremely high on oil targets, could more night bombing have been performed on oil targets?
Interesting figures...RAF BC dropped more tonnage than either the 8th and 15th AFs but not the combined.
8th - 66,497
15th - 48,378
BC - 93,691
Interesting figures...
Tonnage totals for the ETO:
RAF Bomber Command - 1,066,141
USAAF 1st TAF - 25,166
USAAF 8th AF - 692,918
USAAF 9th AF - 225,799
USAAF 12th AF - 207,367
USAAF 15th AF - 312,173
The reason that BC dropped more than any of the other groups, is because BC was in action 3 years ahead of the USAAF.
Interesting figures...
Tonnage totals for the ETO:
RAF Bomber Command - 1,066,141
USAAF 1st TAF - 25,166
USAAF 8th AF - 692,918
USAAF 9th AF - 225,799
USAAF 12th AF - 207,367
USAAF 15th AF - 312,173
The reason that BC dropped more than any of the other groups, is because BC was in action 3 years ahead of the USAAF.
When did the oil campaign begin, in earnest?
12th and 15th were MTO Forces.
Another link has 97,914t dropped on oil targets (1944 - 48,043t, 1945 - 47,510t, only 2361t before 1944)
World War II RAF Bomber Command Statistics
They may have been stationed in "MTO" regions, but they targeted Ploesti and other eastern European Oil production facilities.12th and 15th were MTO Forces.
Knocking out Axis oil production was one thing, but knocking out storage, transport and supply routes was just as vital and crippling to the Axis' ability to keep the Luftwaffe in operation. This would also include Me262 manufacturing and assembly sites, Junkers engine plants and the airfields where Me262s operated from.
The reason that BC dropped more than any of the other groups, is because BC was in action 3 years ahead of the USAAF.
Tonnage totals for the ETO:
RAF Bomber Command - 1,066,141
USAAF 1st TAF - 25,166
USAAF 8th AF - 692,918
USAAF 9th AF - 225,799
USAAF 12th AF - 207,367
USAAF 15th AF - 312,173
Odd...so if Eastern Europe isn't the ETO, then what theater would it be?Why did you include the 12th and 15th in the stats you posted for the ETO? Eastern Europe is not the ETO.
Thanks Steve for posting that chart of German oil production. It says exactly what I said ... they were in real trouble starting in spring of 1944 and it only got worse from there.
That's 1% to the Me 262.
How many to flak, own attrition, other fighters, and losses on the way home due to damage inflicted by the various combination of foes along the way?
Not saying you are wrong above, but am curious about the entire losses count, not just to the Me 262.
I'd wish them to have pursued the Bachem Natter. As it is, I believe the Natter killed more German test pilots than Allied casualties inflicted. Had they pursued it, I doubt it would have been much better due to rocket power idiosyncracies, a REALLY bad gunsight, and other weakness inherent to rocket designs in a piston powered world that was seeing 8+ hour, 1,000-plane missions missions from one side that were never developed by the other side.
Sure makes me wonder
Well I wouldn't call 2361t on oil targets dropped before 1944 a lot. Some 12t (1942) and 54t (1943) is a massive amount, right?
Army Air Forces Statistical Digest,
World War II
Table 141 -- Tons of Bombs Dropped in Theaters vs Germany, By Type of Airplane and By Country: 1942 to 1945
Army Air Forces in World War II
Why did you include the 12th and 15th in the stats you posted for the ETO? Eastern Europe is not the ETO.
Where are the stats for the RAF 2TAF?
In 1943, the USAAF dropped 154,117t vs Germany. The RAF BC dropped 157,457t.
The Me262's rate of closure meant that it only had a second or so to effectively fire on it's target as it hurtled in on the bomber formation.
Easing off the throttled did not slow the aircraft enough to allow an extended firing window. It was suggested that if the Me262 had "dive brakes" installed, it would have allowed the Me262 to come into the formation at speed and suddenly deaccelerate, enabling it to have a longer firing window (where the pilot could align the cannon on target), which would also increase accuracy.