US Coastal Air Defences in WW2

[nuuumannn]

It's in a similar vein to that old joke that does the rounds; "my grandfather single-handedly destroyed 45 enemy aircraft. He was the worst mechanic in the Luftwaffe..."

 

[pinehilljoe]

Speaking of Condors has anyone seen the restored aircraft? Summary – Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor"

The Condor was always one of my favorites, elegant , long range, the plane had the look of it being a head of its time, and the Churchillian nickname, the Scourge of the Atlantic.

 

[swampyankee]

First they have to be able to do it, which the Germans couldn't really. In Germany's case it's a bit of a red herring in its impact given that from 1943 its cities are being rained on by day and night. I doubt the propaganda value of one aeroplane dropping a few bombs aimlessly over the USA will have much impact on the German people being subjected to the likes of the Hamburg raids, but I get your point, Dave.

Early in the war, a German air raid on an important (or not very important) city would more likely just piss us off, in the same way as we were furious with the Japanese. Maybe the US would even treat its own African-American soldiers better than the German PoWs.

 

[Shortround6]

Early in the war, a German air raid on an important (or not very important) city would more likely just piss us off, in the same way as we were furious with the Japanese. Maybe the US would even treat its own African-American soldiers better than the German PoWs.

Well, anything more than a nuisance raid (a few balloons with an incendiary bomb) early in the war could have had some consequences as several hundred towns all screamed that they were more important than their neighbor and needed costal defenses more than they did.
Thousands of soldiers stationed up and down the east coast with penny packets of guns delaying the forming up and shipping out of the first divisions to send overseas.

 

[GrauGeist]

The Military worked real hard to keep the Japanese Fu-Go balloon bombs under wraps, too.

 

[pinehilljoe]

Remember what Richard Blane said to Major Strasser, "there are certain sections of New York I wouldn't advise you to try and invade"

 

[SaparotRob]

"Help me Rick!"

 

[swampyankee]

The Military worked real hard to keep the Japanese Fu-Go balloon bombs under wraps, too.

Be a bit harder to keep German bombers attacking the Northeast US under wraps than the baloon-borne Fu-Go bombs that were tiny and landed in the middle of nowhere.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Well, anything more than a nuisance raid (a few balloons with an incendiary bomb) early in the war could have had some consequences as several hundred towns all screamed that they were more important than their neighbor and needed costal defenses more than they did.
Thousands of soldiers stationed up and down the east coast with penny packets of guns delaying the forming up and shipping out of the first divisions to send overseas.
View attachment 664872

West coast as well...

 

[GrauGeist]

Be a bit harder to keep German bombers attacking the Northeast US under wraps than the baloon-borne Fu-Go bombs that were tiny and landed in the middle of nowhere.

The Japanese nearly scored a huge victory with their balloons, when one came down (of all places) at the Hanford Site, causing a short circuit in the power lines to the reactor's cooling system!

 

[SaparotRob]

When did that happen? I never heard of that before.

 

[GrauGeist]

When did that happen? I never heard of that before.

March of '45

 

[GrauGeist]

Here's some info about the Fu-Go balloons that has details of the Hanford incident:

Japanese Balloon Bombs "Fu-Go" - Nuclear Museum

On November 3, 1944, Japan released fusen bakudan, or balloon bombs, into the Pacific jet stream. Japan’s latest weapon, the balloon bombs were intended to cause damage and spread panic in the continental United States.

www.atomicheritage.org

 

[Denny G]

What was the state of coastal air defence of the United States during WW2?

I Imagine that the east coast would be well defended due to the concentration of industry in that region, the north east in particular.

My question stems from the start of this Megaprojects video, in which the myth of a bomber flight to the US east coast is mentioned.



I would think that such a flight would have been intercepted by US aircraft.

Here is a link where you can spend a couple of days reading. And there is much more if you search around a bit. The American Theater of Operations

 

[Barrett]

Backtracing somewhat:

In researching Whirlwind and the LeMay bio I found that the Army Air Corps (not yet AAF) took upon itself the mission of coastal defense beyond X miles. A most peculiar situation because apparently Big Navy did not much object (maybe figured it wouldn't be necessary) AND the army conducted almost zero training for the mission.

Despite Billy Mitchell's 1921 staked-out Elephant type of tests, it should've been obvious (like totally) that hitting a maneuvering ship from a level bomber at umpteen thousand feet was, um, unlikely. (IIRC at Midway the B-17s dropped 322 bombs without a hit. The Forts did somewhat better in the Solomons, sinking 1 or two destroyers but I don't remember if they were moving.)

Just FWIW

 

[GrauGeist]

The B-17 attacks at Midway did have an unexpected benefit - while they may not have caused any damage, they did hamper carrier operations and scattered the fleet.

The high point of B-17s versus shipping would be during the Battle of Bismark Sea.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Remember what Richard Blane said to Major Strasser, "there are certain sections of New York I wouldn't advise you to try and invade"

 

[Buster01]

About every one of the old coast artillery sites, some dating to the late 1890s, were manned with 3 inch anti-aircraft guns in WWII. These forts were generally unarmed as the original canons were removed for use in WWI as railway artillery once converted and mounted on special railcars. The forts also received more modern 90mm fixed and mobile guns. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego on the pacific coast and almost all of the major coastal cities on the Atlantic coast were similarly armed. For information on where the gun emplacements were located, check out the Coast Defense Study Group. Plans and maps are available as free downloads.