The AAF at Midway: B-17 fantasies /or nightmares?

[parsifal]

Yeah, there were aty least two direct hits, and possibly as many as four.

Battleships dont sink or capsize from near misses. Even with 22000lb bombs

 

[nuuumannn]

I just noticed Donivan, you said Grand Slam bombs. Tirpitz was sunk by Tallboys. Also, 9 Sqn was also carrying the bombs and it was not specifically a specialised unit, although the Lanc was modified to carry the weapon. Of course, delivering Tallboys did require special training.

 

[Garyt]

The Tirpiz was not a hit on the ship, it was a near miss with a 22000 lb grand slam bomb. Mind you in this case it worked, but ti was very speliclzed crew in a specialized bomber, not just any heavy bomber crew on any heavy bomber. Let's keep that in mind.

To me it does not matter if it was a hit or a damaging near miss. Per Billy Mitchell's testing, near misses posed more of a threat to a heavier armed vessel. The physics of water and the hull of the ship allowed the near misses to be more effective in collapsing the hull. Of course a talboy is no ordinary "bomb" that was generally used to attack shipping.

And ALL the sorties vs the Tirpitz were not tallboy armed planes. There were many attacks with more conventional sized bombs as well.