Alex Gee
Posts: 14
Joined: 9/16/2003
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I was reading the thread about Aussie Beaufighters using torpedos and recalled that the P-38 was capable of carrying torpedos. I did a search and came up with a pretty cool website. The website is a love-affair with the Lightining so I am sure the author is pretty biased as to how effective the P-38 would be as a torpedo bomber, but below is an excerpt from the website.
No Beaufighters dropped torps in the Pacific war, but they can in UV, it would have been interesting to give the P-38 the ability to carry some torps. I understand why its not, it was only a one time test, but.... oh the possibilities, it would be like an American Betty or Nell!
Here is the website
http://p-38online.com
And the excerpt from that page:
"The torpedo bombers in World War II were normally large and slow. Images of the Battle of Midway show the sacrifices of the American torpedo pilots made in desperate attempts to launch their torpedoes against Japanese aircraft carriers. Had the P-38 been carrier based, it would have been the finest torpedo bomber of the war. One P-38 F was configured to carry torpedoes and was successfully tested. Both external fuel tank pylons were configured to each carry a torpedo. Most bombers were only able to carry one torpedo, and were slow and extremely vulnerable. The P-38 that was tested had no problems delivering the dummy torpedoes, and showed only a 16.7% speed loss (300 mph top speed). Equipped with two torpedoes, the maximum range was 1,000 miles. If the P-38 was equipped with one torpedo and one 310-gallon fuel tank, the range was increased to 2,160 miles. With a single drop tank, the speed loss was reduced to 12.6%. The test flight was described as very stable, and jumped slightly when the torpedoes were released. The tests were extremely successful, and the P-38 would be a first class torpedo bomber. However, all these tests were after the Battle of Midway, and the emphasis was beginning to shift away from torpedo bombers in favor of dive-bombers. Also, the P-38 was land based, and the range options were limited when compared to a torpedo bomber on an aircraft carrier which could attack targets not available to land based aircraft. The P-38 never made a combat torpedo attack."
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P-38 Torpedo Bomber - 
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