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Greatest Strategic Air Missions?
What are some of the greatest strategic air missions?
Some candidates Yamamoto shootdown Hiroshima Paul Doumer bridge LGB Dambusters Tirpitz Norwegian heavy water Midway Doolittle raid |
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"Leadfoot" wrote in message news:KYBVc.118201$sh.114795@fed1read06... What are some of the greatest strategic air missions? Some candidates Yamamoto shootdown Hiroshima Paul Doumer bridge LGB Dambusters Tirpitz Norwegian heavy water Midway Doolittle raid Not taking on the Soviet Union. Winners. |
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While there will be those who fixate completely on large raids by large
bombers, how about ... Taranto. Eliminated the Italian navy's influence in the Mediterranean theatre. Pearl Harbor. Flawed in many ways (didn't eliminate ship repair facilities or oil storage, nor did it catch the carriers in port AND didn't anticipate US population's reaction), but certainly accomplished Yamamoto's goal to allow him to "run wild" in the Pacific for 6-12 months (well, 5 months and 4 weeks actually). In terms of tactical execution (strike force performing as the script required), absolutely brilliant. Incendiary attacks on Japan. Switch from high altitude bombing to fire raids quickly decimated Japan's small manufacturing base and its ability to supply armaments factories with the subassemblies for its weapons of war. Israeli raid on Osirak nuclear facility. Linebacker 2. Brought North Vietnam back to the table to negotiate the alleged end of the Vietnam war. The difficulty in reviewing "great" strategic air missions is that what seemed like a good idea at the time turns out to be not so good, or too expensive or results in an unintended consequence (Pearl Harbor). While the need for the nuclear attacks upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki seemed overwhelming to the national command authority at the time, with the clear perspective of hindsight they contributed little to the defeat of Japan and certainly opened up Pandora's box for the postwar world. Similarly, the urgency to strike the Norwegian heavy water facilities seemed an imperative, but there's little doubt that Germany's nuclear program was not (and could not be) supported adequately to produce a weapon in time for use. A lot of ink is thrown at the 8th Air Force's campaign against Germany. Certainly valor was in overwhelming supply as the crews hurled themselves at a well-integrated defense in broad daylight with little escort (to start). OTOH, the strategy looks remarkably similar to that British Expeditionary force in the battle of the Somme, 1916: "Here we come, try and stop us." Fortunately, by late 1944, they couldn't. But it was an expensive effort. Yamamoto shootdown Brilliant tactical execution. Strategic consequences? After all, Yamamoto brought the Japanese the flawed Midway campaign (and overlooked some important strategic targets at Pearl Harbor). Would his leadership have had an impact on Philippine Sea or Leyte campaigns? Hiroshima See above Paul Doumer bridge LGB That and the Thahn Hoa raids introduced precision weapons to the tactical air power game, but did either raid accomplish significant alterations in the strategic picture? Dambusters One of my favorites. Tirpitz Freed RN for other duty. But considering Tirpitz never did anything in her service life, kind of a non-event. Norwegian heavy water See above Midway In terms of fleet placement and combat orders, I'd have to agree. Tactical execution defined "luck" for the dive bombers (Luck = when preparation meets opportunity). When gamed by the Naval War College, the US loses Midway just about every time. Doolittle raid Amen! Any time you can influence the enemy to change his game plan in your favor, it's a good thing. |
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Leadfoot wrote:
What are some of the greatest strategic air missions? Some candidates Yamamoto shootdown Hiroshima Paul Doumer bridge LGB Dambusters Tirpitz Norwegian heavy water Midway Doolittle raid How about the Korean War Dam busting campaign? Only real strategic air mission of the war, but it worked better than most believed. BUFDRVR "Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips everyone on Bear Creek" |
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On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 21:23:23 -0700, "Leadfoot"
wrote: What are some of the greatest strategic air missions? Some candidates Yamamoto shootdown A tactical mission with strategic implications. Hiroshima Most assuredly strategic and resoundingly decisive. Changed the view of airpower and war forever. Paul Doumer bridge LGB The Doumer LGB mission in May of '72 was only one of a long series of Doumer Bridge missions dating back to Jan. '67. Immortalized in a great Keith Ferris painting! Clearly, in terms of "strategic" mission the North Vietnam war doesn't offer many good examples. One could suggest that the 29-30 June '66 Hanoi oil raids were strategic, with significant destruction of POL supplies and crippling of POL infrastructure. Arguably the introduction of technological advances rather than specific missions could be the strategic milestones. Anti-radiation missiles, Wild Weasels, airborne command/control systems, ECM self-protection, non-cooperative target ID, and precision guided munition introductions to name a few. Biggest strategic campaign, of course, would be Linebacker II. Doolittle raid Tactical mission, but politically strategic. Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled" "Phantom Flights, Bangkok Nights" Both from Smithsonian Books ***www.thunderchief.org |
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"Leadfoot" wrote in message
news:KYBVc.118201$sh.114795@fed1read06... What are some of the greatest strategic air missions? Some candidates Yamamoto shootdown Hiroshima Paul Doumer bridge LGB Dambusters Tirpitz Norwegian heavy water Midway Doolittle raid You would surely have to include the 11th September attacks on New York and Washington. For an outlay of well under $1M, and some volunteers suicide attackers with box cutters, whoever executed it massively damaged the US economy, and so spooked the US that they started not one but two unwinnable wars (in Afghanistan and Iraq) in response. Surely that has to place it up there with Hiroshima? John |
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Ed Rasimus wrote:
Doolittle raid Tactical mission, but politically strategic. Was there not a change in the deployment of Japan's air forces as a result? If so, would it not fall into the strategic realm? -- Andrew Chaplin SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO (If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.) |
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On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 17:14:50 GMT, Andrew Chaplin
wrote: Ed Rasimus wrote: Doolittle raid Tactical mission, but politically strategic. Was there not a change in the deployment of Japan's air forces as a result? If so, would it not fall into the strategic realm? BTSOM. We're quickly descending into the realm of semantics here. The distinction that is usually applied to tactical-v-strategic is one of goals rather than outcomes. The goal of the Doolittle raid was certainly not to bring Japanese industrial might to its knees nor to destroy critical military assets but rather to demonstrate to both the American people and the enemy that the war could be brought to the enemy's homeland. The targets were minimal and the impact even less except for the demonstration of resolve. IMHO. Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled" "Phantom Flights, Bangkok Nights" Both from Smithsonian Books ***www.thunderchief.org |
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"hobo" wrote in message ... In article KYBVc.118201$sh.114795@fed1read06, "Leadfoot" wrote: Some candidates Yamamoto shootdown Hiroshima Paul Doumer bridge LGB Dambusters Tirpitz Norwegian heavy water Midway Doolittle raid Why isn't the Israeli attack on the Egyptian AF to start the Six Day war listed? Cuz I didn't think of it in the twenty minutes I took from taking the idea in my head to flowing the electrons onto the internet. It's definitely a good candidate I didn't think of along with 9-11 or Taranto. After their AF was destroyed on the ground the Egyptians ordered their troops on the border to retreat, which was most likely a mistake, and they were slaughtered by the Israelis as they withdrew. Eliminating Egypt so quickly allowed the Israelis to fight a 3 front war one front at a time. |
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"Emmanuel Gustin" wrote in message om... "Leadfoot" wrote in message news:KYBVc.118201$sh.114795@fed1read06... What are some of the greatest strategic air missions? Depends on what you criterion for "greatest" is. The attacks on the Paul Doumer bridge, the Tirpitz, and the Japanese carriers at Midway can't really be described as strategic; I would also rule out the assasination of Yamamoto from that category. The lgb attack on Paul Doumer knocked it out for a considerable time. This was a vital artery for munitions from China. Tirpitz tied down a considerable number of capitol ships Without aircraft carriers the Japanese decided not to take Midway A great deal of thought went into Yamamoto. One, was it legal to target a particual individual in war? Two, did Japan have anyone better? Three, was he worth risking the breaking of JN-25 cypher being revealed? Let me ask the question another way. How many of you can name his replacement off the top of your head? Scroll down for the answer Admiral Mineichi Koga, who took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Navy after Yamamoto's assassination said it very simply: There was only one Yamamoto, and no one can replace him. If impact on the course of the war (regardless of risk, losses, or size of the operation) makes an operation "great", then Hiroshima and Nagasaki must take first place. Followed, perhaps, by the Doolittle raid, which had an impact on Japanese strategy entirely out of proportion with the damage done or the size of the force involved. But these were of course very much exceptional missions, hard to compare with anything else. If the criterion for a "great" operation is large, bloody battle with lots of opportunity to demonstrate personal valour, then it is hard to overlook the attacks on Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Ploesti. These cannot be called really successful, I thought of them and decided not to list them for that very reason and their impact on the course of the war was not what had been hoped, but they were certainly events in which a lot of courage was displayed and a lot of people died, and deserve to be remembered. On a smaller scale, 617's attack on the dams also belongs in this category, if you consider the survival rate on this operation. On the whole the problem with "great strategic missions" is that as a rule, single missions had little value. Factories, power plants, railway installations, etc. would be repaired after an attack, and often surprisingly quickly. To keep them disabled repeat attacks were always necessary. But then you are talking about a strategic campaign, not a mission. The campaign against the German transport network was probably the most significant and successful of all, followed by the campaign against the German oil industry. Operation "Point Blank" the destruction of the Luftwaffe was pretty good too. I considered listing it. maybe if we see "greatest strategic air campaigns" Emmanuel Gustin |
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