Name this plane

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Okay, here's a brainteaser. Why would a divebomber fire it's machineguns at a ship. (Hint, they didn't care if they damaged the ship or not with them.)

At a guess...Would they be using them to gauge the trajectory of their bombs before releasing them (a bit like the ranging guns on tanks before they had laser rangefinders)?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Okay, here's a brainteaser. Why would a divebomber fire it's machineguns at a ship. (Hint, they didn't care if they damaged the ship or not with them.)

At a guess...Would they be using them to gauge the trajectory of their bombs before releasing them (a bit like the ranging guns on tanks before they had laser rangefinders)?

Essentially. They could judge from the line of tracers what adjustments were needed on their attack dive. The pilot that described this was referencing his attack on Yamato. The .50 cal. rounds were also handy for suppressing AAA from the open mounts on deck. You can imagine the havoc 348 warplanes could wreak on a ship of any size with machineguns alone.

[Calilasseia]

Okay, here's a brainteaser. Why would a divebomber fire it's machineguns at a ship. (Hint, they didn't care if they damaged the ship or not with them.)

At a guess...Would they be using them to gauge the trajectory of their bombs before releasing them (a bit like the ranging guns on tanks before they had laser rangefinders)?

Essentially. They could judge from the line of tracers what adjustments were needed on their attack dive. The pilot that described this was referencing his attack on Yamato. The .50 cal. rounds were also handy for suppressing AAA from the open mounts on deck. You can imagine the havoc 348 warplanes could wreak on a ship of any size with machineguns alone.

That many planes would simply be too many for the AAA crews to handle with WWII vintage AAA. They'd be swamped. Even a 21st century warship with an 84-tube VLS launcher for latest generation SAMs and a brace of Phalanx CIWS would be severely tested by 348 inbound attacking aircraft.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

...Be better off with a giant fly-swatter.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The attack on Yamato points out the crushing differential between IJN pre-war philosophy and reality.

[klr]

The attack on Yamato points out the crushing differential between IJN pre-war philosophy and reality.

... and also Japanese desperation/stupidity, since they would have been long since aware of the dangers to ships from an enemy with air superiority. After all, they had more than enough success themselves early in the war against US and British ships, never mind being on the receiving end for a couple of years.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The attack on Yamato points out the crushing differential between IJN pre-war philosophy and reality.

... and also Japanese desperation/stupidity, since they would have been long since aware of the dangers to ships from an enemy with air superiority. After all, they had more than enough success themselves early in the war against US and British ships, never mind being on the receiving end for a couple of years.

It was a swan dive song anyway, Yamato was going to beach herself and become a big-ass pill box. Stupid plan, but that's what they were left with. The military set the course of the country instead of following the lead of the civilian government. This is what that got them.

[klr]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_Simoun

[Jason]

PenisPlane.jpg

[Svartalf]

Ôka suicide rocket plane?

[Jason]

Yep. A spectacular failure thanks to its limited range.

[klr]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_Simoun

Damn, I was hoping that one might trick people up. :twisted:

[Svartalf]

Yep. A spectacular failure thanks to its limited range.

Weren't those launched from bombardier planes or something? Not speaking of landing but I don't think those things were even capable of taking off

[klr]

Yep. A spectacular failure thanks to its limited range.

Weren't those launched from bombardier planes or something? Not speaking of landing but I don't think those things were even capable of taking off

Yup. Both planes were sitting ducks when they were together. In some cases, the "Bettys" jettisoned the rocket planes to try and save themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_M ... al_history