Amerika Bomber

[Angus]

Bombing Tokyo in 1942 was silly too.


wrongway

Well, that one was just for the Ego....
Anyway, what Karnak said 

[BigPlay]

Even if the Germans were able to send large amounts of bombers to US soil what impact would they have been able to make considering the size of the US? Maybe they could have reduced New York city to rubble but that was being done to every major city in Germany towards wars end and that didn't seem to force the Germans to the peace table. The Germans also bombed London pretty effectively and that didn't send England to the peace table either. So bombing US soil would have been a waste of German resources.  That being said if they were able to produce atomic weapons then maybe intercontinental bombers would have changed things.

[AWwrgwy]

Psychological.  Like I said, the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.  The balloons carrying explosives that Japan sent across the Pacific that did manage to land in North America were never reported during the war. 

Figure one German bomb on the U.S. where it could be a threat to the general population could cause a panic amongst civilians.  Look at the panics on the west coast over the possibility of a Japanese attack.

On the other hand, U-boats sinking ships right off shore didn't seem to concern the population as a whole.


wrongway

[Plawranc]

I had an interesting debate with myself about what would happen if germany hadn't halted its strategic bombing development and had deployed this aircraft and the Ju390 and the heinkel Long range bomber designs. with this  came the frightening possibility that bombers could reach the Ural Mountains and Russian production and also reach ALL the airbases in England. and possibly if Japan hadn't attacked the US an Invasion of the British isles and an eventual long range air war with the united states.

The complete destruction of human society aside a cross atlantic air war wouldve been very cool and interesting. maybe if we could put these "what if" scenarios to Aces High we could have P 80 Shooting stars Vs Me262s and TA 185s and Mig 15s

[Angus]

The German bombers could reach ALL the airbases in the UK as soon as the war broke out in 1939. The first time the Spitfire drew blood was over Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1939.
However their escorts couldn't....
Which is another point of how silly the whole affair was.
The crossing from France to the east coast is about 6.000 km. If you want to hit a target on the west coast, you would have to cross a hostile territory some odd 4000 km. Then return 
Sorry Fritzies, what was not even do-able over the 30 km of the English channel is definately not possible over the Atlantic.
As a sidenote, German bombers did occasionally venture over Iceland with hit & run tactics. Sometimes there was success, sometimes they got shot down. My mother witnessed a chase when she was a kid - the German came low over the farm at full speed, and quickly after it, 2 American fighters.
The distance there (From bases in Mid-Norway) would be some odd 1.400 km, never under 1.000 km.

[frank3]

Sorry Fritzies, what was not even do-able over the 30 km of the English channel is definately not possible over the Atlantic.

Keep in mind that the Channel was a relatively small, but heavily defended area. It would have instead been impossible for the allies to defend all of the Atlantic.
Added to that, the channel was almost completely covered with radar, and the Atlantic wasn't

[Angus]

The straight N-S line of the U.S. coast was well awake before the Germans had anything that could reach there. There is a claim that a German bomber saw the lights of NY, but it is debated since it should have been picked up.
Also bear in mind that the length of the British lines of network are not that little.
Then comes the enormous depth of the US territory. The industrial core of the USA is not scattered along the east coast I'm afraid.
Now try to imagine a Crippled German bomber jettisoning it's bombs into the Atlantic after being mauled by intercepting P47's, and trying to glide across the pond 

[expat]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but i didnt realise the Italians were in on the America bomber idea also ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoia-Marchetti_SM.95