At worst, my kill percentage on CV's is 4 out of 5 attempts, and fairly rarily do I lose even one buff to any ack. And if I do, it's usually puffy auto ack. I use B24's because of their specific bomb load (2000 lb'ers), it's climb rate, speed and defensive guns. My attack approach is always at exactly 10K alt which, as stated by others, puts me above the small auto ack, and is much more difficult (though not completely impossible) for the average 5" gunner to make a hit at that alt. I'm also less likely to be intercepted by air defenders at that alt. I drop the 2000 lb. bombs in four single (x3) salvos because of the increased kill/damage circle they impose over 1000 or 500 lb'ers.
My first choice for approach if I have time to set up properly is as close to perfectly abeam (at right angles) of the CV as I can, or as second choice, head-on. Rarely, if ever, from directly astern. Head-on is OK as the fast closure rate between the buffs and CV gives the CV driver less time to react and turn before the drop hits. A rear approach, however, is too slow, giving ack gunners and the CV driver too much time to react. And, in both head-on or rear approach, if the CV begins a turn you can only adjust effectively once, to the right or left, leaving the other direction uncovered by your drop. Further, it's often imposible to adjust soon enough to get your drop a full boat length in front of the CV on its new heading. With an abeam approach you can spread a very heavy drop in four salvos across the CV's path and to both the right or left of it, regardless of which way it turns to evade. With this approach and drop pattern, chances of at least a serious hit are very high.
Approaching from some angle off of the CV's heading (abeam), and aiming roughly 1 boat length ahead, I drop a string of four single (3x) salvos across his path, whether he turns or not. With four salvo's of 3x 2000lb. bombs, I drop one salvo early in case the CV is turns towards me, one in front of his straight heading, and one salvo dropped late in case the CV turns away from me. I drop the fourth salvo with one of the others depending upon what I see the CV do at the last instant: stays straight it's two salvos in front, turns towards me its two salvos early, away from me, two salvos late.
With each salvo being 3x2000lb., and the increased shock area of the larger bombs over 1000lb. or 500lb'ers, the CV almost always goes down from a direct hit, plus the contributed shock wave from the near misses.
