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I actually agree with your post. I came up with this to get the thoughts of the forum members on these planes. The SBD is one of my favorites. I've read about it in many books (though not as many as you guys). I wondered how it compared to its closest "competitors". As stated in other threads, pilots say their plane is best so perhaps pilot comments are biased. (Maybe not the SB2C or F2A3.)This is another one of those threads that compare planes designed for different roles, the Stuka was a land based dive/ground attack aircraft, the SBD a dive/recon aircraft, the Val a dive bomber, trying to find out which was the best is not going to work because the roles aren't interchangeable.
Doesn't matter since we are no longer talking about dive bombing once you stick the cannon underneath the Ju 87.How is the Val or SBD going to fair over Russia with a couple of 3.7cm cannons under their wings?
Doesn't matter since we are no longer talking about dive bombing once you stick the cannon underneath the Ju 87.
The Ju 87 was not designed to use the cannon, that came a number of years after initial design
You post it I'll read it.Details of the hits are quite lengthy. If anyone wants them, I'll enlarge the photo and add abbreviated details there
The RLM is Luftwaffe high-command, by the way.Japan aside, their originating countries saw at least potential interchangeability.
The USN's SBD became the USAAF's A-24 Banshee.
The Luftwaffe's Stuka became the RLM's Ju 87C.
And the Stuka in its Luftwaffe role was often playing a maritime strike role, same as the SBD and Val, or the FAA's land based Skuas that sank the cruiser Konigsberg. Both the SBD and Val operated from land bases in addition to carriers.
It's true. Hit by dive bomber, torpedo and kamikaze strikes, plus collision and grounding damage; the armoured carriers came back from it all. Until the Essex class began entering service in 1943, the Illustrious/Implacables were the only class of fleet carrier not to lose a ship.The armored RN carriers cop a lot of negative flak because the design limited the aircraft they could carry, but one thing that cannot be disputed is the punishment those ladies could absorb.
Even by the standards of their users, Ju-87s were obsolete and ineffective as dive bombers after 1942, at the same time the star of the SBD was rising.
Clearly a ship in need of a better and larger CAP.
Clearly a ship in need of a better and larger CAP.
How long can a CIWS run before it's out of ammunition or overheats?Part of the problem was the lack of aircraft in the Mediterranean. Illustrious only had 4 Fulmars and 11 Swordfish on board at the time. It could have been the USS Ronald Reagan but if she had only 4 fighters she would struggle.
Even by the standards of their users, Ju-87s were obsolete and ineffective as dive bombers after 1942, at the same time the star of the SBD was rising. JU-87 ground attack units were mostly replaced with FW-190s.
"Outmoded in performance, slow in level flight and also in dives, inadequately armed both from the front and rear, the Ju.87 soon had to quit the Battle of Britain and the anti-shipping war. When German air superiority in Africa was lost the Ju.87 could not be employed without heavy losses even in the presence of fighter cover."
Generalleutnant, Galland, Adolf. The Luftwaffe Fighter Force: The View from the Cockpit (p. 14). Skyhorse. Kindle Edition.
The Luftwaffe Fighter Force: The View from the Cockpit (p. 75). Skyhorse. Kindle Edition.
How long can a CIWS run before its out of ammunition or overheats?
The Japanese get criticized for not having adequate aircraft and flight crew replacement pipelines, but the British were just as bad or worse. Why build six fleet carriers but neglect the aircraft and pilots needed for each?
Part of the problem was the lack of aircraft in the Mediterranean. Illustrious only had 4 Fulmars and 11 Swordfish on board at the time. It could have been the USS Ronald Reagan but if she had only 4 fighters she would struggle.
She was actually carrying about 14 Fulmars and ~18-20 Swordfish. However some of these aircraft were u/s. IIRC, about eight Fulmars got airborne but some of these were out of ammo from previous engagements. The launching of the fighters was delayed because radar only picked up the raid at 28nm, which gave less than 9 minutes of warning.
My bad I got my figures in a twist, she had 11 Swordfish and 4 Fulmars in the hangar when she was hit, these were burnt out by the bombs that penetrated the flight deck. 8 Fulmars were on the flight deck when the radar picked up the raid these were launched but there was no time to bring the 4 Fulmars up from the hangar before the bombs hit the aft lift destroying the 4 Fulmars which were in Hangar section C aft of the lift.
My point still stands Illustrious and the Mediteranean fleet was short of planes she wasnt even carrying the maximum of 36 in the hangar. From 1942 Illustrious usually carried 45 aircraft and by Jan 1945 carried 32 Corsairs and 22 Avengers. More planes were tried but 54 was the maximum the crew could handle efficently.
In a way the Yokosuka D4Y might have been the most efficient ship killer. A few of them launched successful SINGLE plane attacks against US aircraft carriers. U.S.S. Bunker Hill, U.S.S. Franklin (and I think U.S.S. Indianapolis) as well as a few of CVL's and CVE's. How they slipped through the CAP and search radar nets with inexperienced pilots is amazing.