And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
North American B-25 Mitchell (PBJ 1H Mitchell)In the anti-ship (anti-vortex) version, around 1944
These I believe were used in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in WW2. The Japanese skippers of the troop ships, believing these to be torpedo bombers, turned their vessels to face in incoming bomber head on, which had the opposite effect. By doing so the B 25's were able to rake these troops wship from stem to stern with mass casualties.
I remember reading that after dropping their bomb load they could surprise a fighter as they were quit nimble at that point, with enough machine guns to make their point.
The Commerce Destroyer. Japanese actually complained about them. That is a 75mm field gun on the lower right. All that lead from the .50s plus a wicked left jab.
Our BoyScout master was a Colonel who was the pilot who flew one, he talked about how the first time they mounted the 105, another guy used simple iron rifle sights, and he would fly at a specific downward angle to have a straight shot at the water line on the targeted ship, and they mounted the gun straight down the centerline thru the nose, claimed it was very effective, later they put in an aiming reticle for the pilot and mounted the gun offset below the pilot seat, they sank another ship a week later, but they only flew one more mission before he was transferred out to lead another squadron .
I bet the gyros got knocked off-line when all of the guns engaged at once.
ReplyDeleteand maybe concussion slowed her down half-a-notch
ReplyDeleteThese I believe were used in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in WW2. The Japanese skippers of the troop ships, believing these to be torpedo bombers, turned their vessels to face in incoming bomber head on, which had the opposite effect. By doing so the B 25's were able to rake these troops wship from stem to stern with mass casualties.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Beaufighters made the strafing runs at the Bismarck sea.
Deletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBpmflvJkfk
I remember reading that after dropping their bomb load they could surprise a fighter as they were quit nimble at that point, with enough machine guns to make their point.
ReplyDeleteThe Commerce Destroyer. Japanese actually complained about them. That is a 75mm field gun on the lower right. All that lead from the .50s plus a wicked left jab.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/cEek5IvGYKg?si=9ocOuoSDdZnjJfxG
Our BoyScout master was a Colonel who was the pilot who flew one, he talked about how the first time they mounted the 105, another guy used simple iron rifle sights, and he would fly at a specific downward angle to have a straight shot at the water line on the targeted ship, and they mounted the gun straight down the centerline thru the nose, claimed it was very effective, later they put in an aiming reticle for the pilot and mounted the gun offset below the pilot seat, they sank another ship a week later, but they only flew one more mission before he was transferred out to lead another squadron .
ReplyDelete