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Lemurs! -> Research (6/30/2004 11:10:25 PM)
Hi all, Eastern Solomons. Lt Kazuo Yakushiji, flying 2nd with the Vals of Shokaku at Eastern Solomons stated that both carriers Vals were armed with 500kg bombs. Source: Post War tribunals & interviews. Box 246 OSS set. Also, letters taken from LCdr Mamoru Seki, deceased (Santa Cruz), mention the bomb usage. Capt Edward Sauer, commanding Destroyer Division 6, Eastern Solomons, stated "I observed as many as fifteen 500Kg bombs detonate in the water near Enterprise" Official history of the US Navy: The first bomb to strike the Enterprise at Eastern Solomons was at 1714 hours. The 500kg delayed action bomb angled into the teak flight deck at the forward starboard corner of the after elevator and penetrated 42 feet through three steel decks before detonating in the chief petty officers quarters. Navy records state that Enterprise was hit by 2-500kg bombs and 1 partially defective 250kg bomb. Santa Cruz. Lt Kazuo Yakushiji of Shokaku states post war that the Vals at Santa Cruz were armed with one 250kg semi armour piercing bomb and two 60kg anti personnal bombs. Captain Mason stated after Santa Cruz that the Japanese dive bombers were each carrying a centerline bomb and two small wing bombs. One 60kg bomb was recovered in a squadron ready room on Hornet unexploded due to a faulty fuse. Again, letters taken from LCdr Mamoru Seki, deceased (Santa Cruz), mention the usage of one 250kg and two 60kg bombs. Michael

Damien Thorn -> RE: Research (6/30/2004 11:40:22 PM)
Good research. I'm particularly interested in the references to the 500kg bombs since I know that that battle took place at what would be regular range for the D3A in WitP. Currently I'm not sure if we can carry 500kg bombs in WitP (without the editor, of course).

Fallschirmjager -> RE: Research (6/30/2004 11:45:26 PM)
500 kg bombs would make Vals a whole lot more usefull.

Lemurs! -> RE: Research (7/1/2004 12:14:28 AM)
yeah, I had never read that either. I am more of a strategic macro-historian rather than an expert on where every shell and bomb fell in various battles. I feel very out of my depth here because so many of you study battles extensively and i just don't have that background. However, Nikodemus wanted me to provide sources other than the Japanese carrier battle manuals about bomb usage. So i zipped on back to College Park and to George Washington university and also bought a few books. This is what i found. Like i said, i never expected to find both Japanese and American sources that claimed usage of 500kg bombs at Eastern Solomons. This is just what i found. Actually, i had assumed that the 500kg bomb that i knew the Jap carriers carried was purely GP for use against ground targets. But the bomb hits on Enterprise were armour piercing. Interesting. Mike

Lemurs! -> RE: Research (7/1/2004 4:00:41 PM)
Hi all, I am not sure if the Japanese carriers carried 250kg GP bombs though... resticting Vals to either 500kg GP or 2-60Kg GP seems a little silly as i know Betties carried 250KG GP bombs from shore bases. But, i have no clue if the carriers carried them. I need some good source material from Midway and the Darwin raids... maybe the Indian ocean as well. Mike

vonmoltke -> RE: Research (7/1/2004 4:18:27 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager 500 kg bombs would make Vals a whole lot more usefull. Except for transport killing. I'd rather have my Vals dropping 1x250kg and 2x60kg on an AK group than 1x500kg.

Damien Thorn -> RE: Research (7/1/2004 4:48:51 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: vonmoltke quote: ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager 500 kg bombs would make Vals a whole lot more usefull. Except for transport killing. I'd rather have my Vals dropping 1x250kg and 2x60kg on an AK group than 1x500kg. Since the 60 kg bombs do almost no damage to anything, the only reason you would want the 1x250 + 2x60 over the 1x500 is if you were hoping to get lucky with the new super critical, instant death rule. I think that only happens 1% of the time though so I would still want the 500kg load.

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