Midway

[kolibri282]

The best picture I have seen so far by any artist trying to capture one decisive moment in history is the one below:

https://bbs-f.onmyojigame.com/forum/...d9ri9xrszx.jpg

Enjoy!

PS: Sorry, got carried away and forgot the [OT] tag in the title

 

[eddie]

Juergen absolutely amazing,thank you

 

[Uncle Willie]

For what it's worth... The picture depicts an SBD (Scout, Bomber, Douglas) likely an SBD-3 version with markings indicating it came from the Carrier Yorktown and flown by the Bombing Group Leader (B1) attacking the Japanese carrier Akagi.

My real question...
The movies and other artwork commonly depict bomb attacks taking place across the beam.
This makes little sense to me other than it is just artistic license and frames the pictures nicely.
It just looks good!

The Akagi was ~850ft long and ~100 ft wide.
If aiming for dead-center and attacking across the beam, any bombing error of more than 50ft would result in a miss.
If aiming for dead-center and attacking from the stern, an error of 400ft, long or short, would still result in a hit.
An 8x easier shot. Add the relative motion of the ship canceling some of the motion of the plane if attacking from the stern and it gets even easier.

Does anyone know if the attacks were actually made along the length of the ship or is there a logical reason to attack cross the beam?
Or are the common depictions just the creative liberties of the artists.

 

[Tyger]

My real question...
The movies and other artwork commonly depict bomb attacks taking place across the beam.
This makes little sense to me other than it is just artistic license and frames the pictures nicely.
It just looks good!

The Akagi was ~850ft long and ~100 ft wide.
If aiming for dead-center and attacking across the beam, any bombing error of more than 50ft would result in a miss.
If aiming for dead-center and attacking from the stern, an error of 400ft, long or short, would still result in a hit.
An 8x easier shot. Add the relative motion of the ship canceling some of the motion of the plane if attacking from the stern and it gets even easier.

Does anyone know if the attacks were actually made along the length of the ship or is there a logical reason to attack cross the beam?
Or are the common depictions just the creative liberties of the artists.

There's obviously a lot of stuff going on and, for one thing, it may often not be possible to approach from the stern. Aside from that, have a look at this video, particularly the bit about how to attack a bridge – It's a question of correcting for range vs deflection. Note that they do not suggest that attacking along the length of the bridge is necessarily better than attacking from the side!
https://youtu.be/lOz_i_2USkY

 

[kolibri282]

Glad you like the picture, Eddie! Most war paintings show the scenery after the attack, with carriers burning fiercely, which at first seems more dramatic. This picture though is for the connoisseur who sees that the fighters frantically launched below have no chance of fending off the attack and knows how professional the US Navy pilots were. The carrier is doomed with her nemesis screaming down towards her, what a great idea to pack drama and suspense into a picture!

As for the tactics I thought that the plane would slightly overshoot the ship and then roll to the left shortly before reaching release altitude, thus lining up along the ship. As Tyger had pointed out the training film explains that with an elongated target both attacking along the center line as well as athwart ship gives the pilot an advantage. Attacking along the center line his range estimate does not have to be as accurate as for a point target, while an attack from either side leaves him with some leeway in getting the deflection right.