|
Grollub -> RE: 4E bombers... (8/1/2009 10:11:13 PM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge
quote:
ORIGINAL: bigbaba
i remember an episode from history chan. "dogfights" about a single B-17 flying recon at buka isl. in soutn pacific. the bomber was intercepted by 17!! japanese zero and oscars and made it back home after shooting down at least 2 japanese fighters.
it took the germans until late 1943 to shoot down the 4E in a huge number with their famous and deadly 30mm MK-108. so its no surprise that the japanese simply can not match the heavies in early 1942 with their "paper flyers".
the later japanese fighters with 20mm and armor protection however should do much better against the heavies.
I don't have the link anymore (computer crashed) but you should read the real story of that crew, it is even more unbelieveable then the one on TV, that wasn't the only mission that crew flew like that (well, that was the worse one, but others were pretty wild also)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_666
The Mapping Mission
On June 16 1943 a request went out for a special mission, a single ship unescorted mapping mission over hostile territory. Capt. Zeamer and crew eagerly volunteered.
Taking off at 4 A.M. to make use of darkness to cover at least part of the mission 'Old 666' and crew headed for Bougainville, where they were instructed to make a reconnaissance of the Japanese airfield there to determine logistics and enemy strength.
The flight would require flying over 600 miles of open sea to even reach the target. By 7:40 AM with only 22 minutes of flight-time remaining to complete his mission, Old 666 was intercepted by no less than 17 Japanese fighters (15 A6M Zeros & 2 Ki-46 Dinahs) of the 251st Kokutai Squadron, commanded by Chief Flight Petty Officer Yoshio Ooki.[2]
After making a pass at the heavily armed tail the fighters came in against the normally lightly armed nose only to find that this specific bomber possessed much heavier forward firepower, resulting in two A6M Zeros being shot down. However, 20mm cannon shells from a third Zero smashed into the cockpit and nose wounding both Zeamer and Sarnoski before being shot down itself. Sarnoski crawled out of the nose to seek first aid attention but when a Ki-46 Dinah led a second wave of fighters to attack nose on he returned to his guns, shot it down and then shortly thereafter collapsed.[1]
The second wave knocked out the oxygen system and forced the bomber to dive from 25,000 ft to 10,000 ft, where the crew could breathe normally, in just a matter of seconds.
By 8:45 AM the American bomber was over open seas and the enemy fighters, low on ammunition and fuel, were forced to turn back to Bougainville, most of the crew had been wounded in varying degrees and the aircraft was shot full of holes. It was during the return flight that Zeamer lost consciousness and Sarnoski, still manning his guns, died.
Upon landing the co-pilot told the ground crews, "Get the pilot last. He's dead!" He was not, and Zeamer lived to receive the Medal of Honor, but Sarnoski's Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously. In one of the most decorated flights in history, the rest of the entire crew received Distinguished Service Crosses.[3] This mission was featured on the episode "Long Odds" on the History Channel show Dogfights.
|
|
|
|
