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Bomber command used the De Havilland Mosquito to improve the very poor accuracy of the heavy bombers and to reduce their losses, but it refused to consider the alternative, which was finally adopted only after World War 2 and dominates modern air power since. The alternative was to replace the big and slow and expensive heavy bombers with the Mosquito as Bomber command's main bomber. The points in favor of this alternative were also clearly presented by group commander Bennett, as a comparison between the Mosquito and the Lancaster, which was the best British heavy bomber:
- Mosquito carries to Berlin half the bomb load carried by a Lancaster, but...
- Mosquito loss rate is just 1/10 of Lancasters' loss rate
- Mosquito costs a third of the cost of a Lancaster
- Mosquito has a crew of two, compared to a Lancaster's crew of seven
- Mosquito was a proven precision day bomber and the Lancaster was not.
Bennett added that any way you do the math with those data, "It's quite clear that the value of the Mosquito to the war effort is significantly greater than that of any other aircraft in the history of aviation". In the German side, Erhard Milch, the deputy head of the Luftwaffe, said about the Mosquito "I fear that one day the British will start attacking with masses of this aircraft". But in one of the greatest allied mistakes in World War 2, bomber command persisted with its heavy bombers, and less than 1/4 of the Mosquitoes produced were of bomber types.
Bomber command dropped a total of 1.2 million tons of bombs in World War 2. Given the above 1% hit precision statistic, it actually means dropping just 12,000 tons of bombs on real strategic targets. Since accuracy was later improved thanks to Mosquito Pathfinders, let's assume for a moment that the amount of bombs which hit strategic targets was 50% higher. A quick calculation shows that a force of only 1000 Mosquito bombers of the 7781 Mosquitoes produced, could drop this amount on the same targets with high precision in just ten bombing missions each, at a fraction of the cost in blood, material resources, and time. This demonstrates the tremendous potential lost by using most of the Mosquitoes for every possible mission other than as a main strategic day and night precision bomber. The entire course of World War 2 could be drastically different.
The Mosquito bomber enabled the British bomber command to do exactly what it wanted to do, and destroy the entire German military industry in a precision bombing campaign even before American B-17s and B-24s began their costly day bombing campaign over Germany.
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Modern bombers no longer rely on gun turrets to engage an enemy fighter which intercepted them. Instead, all modern bombers, like the De Havilland Mosquito, rely on their speed and agility, and also on electronic warfare and stealth, to avoid being intercepted in the first place.
Also dont be led too much by the weight of a cookie which is a can full of explosive. To cause serious damage to refineries water mains etc you need heavy bombs, of which the mosquito could carry a couple if any at all.
mosquito with cookie - Google Search
This is a fantasy scenario, more mosquitos instead of battles and wellingtons and halifaxes used to keep damaged targets damaged with a lot more smaller raids on refineries etc.I think it is important to emphasise the link between the need for heavy bombers to deliver sufficient bombs on a target given the likely accuracy of the attack.
I gave some figures a while ago on the density of bombs required to destroy a marshaling yard. Essentially three 500lb bombs per acre were required. Using the most accurate navigational aid (Oboe), to ensure a 50% and 75% chance of success, required 114 and 168 Lancaster sorties respectively. Just how many Mosquitoes is the writer of the article proposing be used by Bomber Command? Are bombers to be manufactured to the detriment of all other versions of the aircraft? Which aircraft would replace them as Intruders, Rangers, Fighter Bombers, Airliners, in Coastal Command's Strike Wings etc., etc.
Cheers
Steve
This is a fantasy scenario, .
The idea of using the Mosquito to replace heavy bombers is to my mind ridiculous it would mean massed formations over targets heavily defended by flack. My proposal would be to use its strengths, for one example not making a massed raid on a marshalling yard but many raids like the transport plan hitting trains and rail lines all over Germany.We see the Mosquito-only option every few years and the same old arguments come up. Perhaps we should have a dedicated "what-if" subforum so the frequent what-ifs could be made sticky posts. Then only the people interested in what-ifs would ever go there.
Just a thought, but we've dealt with this particular one at least three of four times previously, unless I recall incorrectly. Stranger things have happened.
Also dont be led too much by the weight of a cookie which is a can full of explosive. To cause serious damage to refineries water mains etc you need heavy bombs, of which the mosquito could carry a couple if any at all.
I gave some figures a while ago on the density of bombs required to destroy a marshaling yard. Essentially three 500lb bombs per acre were required. Using the most accurate navigational aid (Oboe), to ensure a 50% and 75% chance of success, required 114 and 168 Lancaster sorties respectively. Just how many Mosquitoes is the writer of the article proposing be used by Bomber Command?
Yes, a cookie was a bomb to blow off roof tiles it had most effect when it exploded above ground, such a bomb would have almost no effect on the important parts of a refinery, if you see the remains of German cities they were burned to the ground but the brick structure ws standing, a steel structure would be unaffected.Like the 100lb - 250lb bombs the USAAF regularly used against refineries and synthetic oil plants?
The later Mark Mossies could carry a max. of 4,000 pounds, but what was the trade-off in range and speed under a max. load condition?As the Mosquito carried the approx. bomb load as the American heavies, could it have replaced almost all of the American heavies?