WW II Historical Thread, Discussion, Pics, Videos

[Miragedriver]

The Hindenberg over lower Manhattan, 1937.

LZ 129 Hindenburg (Luftschiff Zeppelin #129; Registration: D-LZ 129) was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume.[1] It was designed and built by the Zeppelin Company (Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH) on the shores of LakeConstance in Friedrichshafen and was operated by the German Zeppelin Airline Company (Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei). The airship flew from March 1936 until it was destroyed by fire 14 months later on May 6, 1937, at the end of the first North American transatlantic journey of its second season of service. Thirty-six people died in the accident, which occurred while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States


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[delft]

Already at the end of WWII German guns were being developed with a range of about a hundred KM. In fact if you fire from a tank gun a tungsten or DU round at an elevation usual for a howitzer it would come down at a similar range. So why not develop large calibre smooth bore guns firing fin stabilized discarding sabot rounds and have cheap ones without fancy moving fins, ordinary ones with just INS or satellite navigation and extra expensive ones with target searching equipment?

 

[Ultra]

Already at the end of WWII German guns were being developed with a range of about a hundred KM. In fact if you fire from a tank gun a tungsten or DU round at an elevation usual for a howitzer it would come down at a similar range. So why not develop large calibre smooth bore guns firing fin stabilized discarding sabot rounds and have cheap ones without fancy moving fins, ordinary ones with just INS or satellite navigation and extra expensive ones with target searching equipment?

I am well aware of the fact there were longer range artillery that came before, that's why I said:

Also to note - this munition (combine with PLZ-05) out range every artillery currently in service.

Also not to mention, those guns were enormous:
The "Paris Gun" were over 256 tonnes and were 34 meters in length.

The "V3 Cannon" is even more ridicules:
With a length of 130 meters, it is hugely impractical.

And finally, the The 21 cm Kanone 12 in Eisenbahnlafette:
With a length of 41.3 meters and weighing 302 tonnes, it is also equally impractical.

As to tank guns that can fire at similar range, I found it hard to believe. Do you have any actual reference to this? Most tank gun have very limited range, with only 4~8 km effective firing range.

 

[Miragedriver]

US Marines with an Alberto Vargas pin-up girl picture in a landing craft, during the Battle of Tarawa, 21st Nov 1943 - D+1

Operation Galvanic
The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, located in what is now the nation of Kiribati. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio.

The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but this time the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The US had suffered similar casualties in other campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but in this case the losses were incurred within the space of 76 hours.


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[Miragedriver]

LCT Utah
Members of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division crowd aboard an LCT on the way to Utah Beach, June 6, 1944.


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[delft]

I am well aware of the fact there were longer range artillery that came before, that's why I said:






Also not to mention, those guns were enormous:
The "Paris Gun" were over 256 tonnes and were 34 meters in length.

The "V3 Cannon" is even more ridicules:
With a length of 130 meters, it is hugely impractical.

And finally, the The 21 cm Kanone 12 in Eisenbahnlafette:
With a length of 41.3 meters and weighing 302 tonnes, it is also equally impractical.

As to tank guns that can fire at similar range, I found it hard to believe. Do you have any actual reference to this? Most tank gun have very limited range, with only 4~8 km effective firing range.

That is because the elevation of a tank gun is necessarily small. The range can be determined from muzzle velocity and elevation, as you probably learned in secondary school, and air drag which is of course much more important for a small than a large projectile.

 

[Miragedriver]

Trophies of the Great Battles (1943)
exhibition

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[Miragedriver]

Interview with B-25 pilot

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(english) and some photos

A more interesting story of B-17 and B-24 in Soviet Air force , this planes were not sent by

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programme but restored after landing in Poland and Belorussia or in russian Far East .

With other planes of soviet long-range aviation they made a lot of combat flights.
For example to the july 1945 890 regiment had 9 Pe-8, 19 B-25 , 12 B-17
203 Guard aviation regiment had 17 Pe-8, 2 B-25, 19 B-24 to the same date

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[Miragedriver]

671st Bomb Squadron A-20J A/C Serial# 43-10129 Fuselage Code 5C-I
Crew: 1st Lt. Robert E. Stockwell (Pilot), 2nd Lt. Albert Jedinak (B/N),
S/Sgts Hollis A. Foster and Egon W. Rust (Gunners)
A/C received direct hit from flak under bomb bay.
2 crew KIA not sure which, but I would imagine it was the gunners.

The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) was an American attack, light bomber, intruder and night fighter aircraft of World War II. It served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Soviet Naval Aviation (AVMF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. Soviet units received more than one in three (2,908 aircraft) of the DB-7s ultimately built. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards.

In British Commonwealth air forces, bomber/attack variants of the DB-7 were usually known by the service name Boston, while night fighter and intruder variants were usually known as Havoc. An exception to this was the Royal Australian Air Force, which referred to all variants of the DB-7 by the name Boston. The USAAF referred to night fighter variants as P-70.


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[Miragedriver]

B-29 Superfortress 73rd Bomber Wing / XXI BC - 499th Bomber Group.
Serial # 42-63447 - Tail Code V Square 50.

Planes name "Umbriago III - Dat's My Boy" A tag-line used by Jimmy Durante.
Reason for ditching - Out of fuel. (not known why it was out of fuel)
Ditched 90 miles NW of Saipan after bombing the Mitsubishi aircraft factory at Nagoya.

Photo taken by US Navy PBY-5A Catalina that rescued the survivors.
The aircraft remained afloat all night and was sunk the next day by naval fire.


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