Originally posted by Kev367th Wasn't the Tirpitz sunk by Lancs from 617 sqn dropping those freackin big bombs?If I remember correctly from Guy Gibsons (617 sqn leader) book, they landed close and tore the bottom off it.Although the Navy claimed it was never really sunk by the RAF as it settled on the bottom with the decks still above water.
On November 12th, 1944, the Tirpitz was attacked by 29 Lancaster's - including some from 617 Dambuster Squadron. Flying at 14,000 feet, their new Mark XIV bombsight gave them an excellent target to aim at. 'Blockbuster' bombs ripped into the ship and a 100 feet hole was ripped open. Her magazines exploded and the Tirpitz rolled over trapping over 1000 men in her as she turned turtle. A few - 80 men - managed to get to the bottom of the hull where a hole was cut through it and the men escaped. Many others were not so lucky.
Originally posted by Karnak Kev,Yes, but she wasn't at sea, moving and dodging. She was motionless, moored in a known location. In addition 617 Squadron was an elite squadron.The B-17s at Midway did not land a single bomb on a Japanese ship of any kind.
1) W. J. Lawrence wrote about the Tallboy bomb in his book, No 5 Bomber Group (1951)It was an extraordinary weapon, an apparent contradiction in terms, since it had at one and the same time the explosive force of a large high-capacity blast bomb and the penetrating power of an armour-piercing bomb. On the ground it was capable of displacing a million cubic feet of earth and made a crater which it would have taken 5,000 tons of earth to fill. It was ballistically perfect and in consequence had a very high terminal velocity, variously estimated at 3,600 and 3,700 feet a second, which was, of course, a good deal faster than sound so that, as with the V-2 rocket, the noise of its fall would be heard after that of the explosion
Originally posted by MOSQ Everyone always forgets the Arizona was sunk at Pearl harbor by a level bombing B5N at high alt. One 800-kilogram bomb was all it took.
Originally posted by Tony Williams Against a stationary and completely unsuspecting target, with watertight doors presumably all open, no damage control crews in place, the bombers undisturbed by AA fire or defending fighters....Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
