Airship battles, naval heavy-lift duels over the Pacific Ocean
The film depicts an absolutely real episode that took place on July 2, 1944. PB4Y-1 patrol squadron of the American fleet VB-115 shoots down Kawanishi H8K "Emily"
We're used to thinking of aerial combat as either a kaleidoscope of aerobatic maneuvers in an attempt to lock onto the enemy, or a swift, diving attack, often involving a whole group of aircraft. But during World War II, there were other types of aerial combat, where large, unwieldy aircraft clashed in battles more reminiscent of battles between sailing ships.
We're talking about duels between heavy four-engine aircraft. Yes, that happened, and quite often. No, formations of heavy bombers didn't chase each other in the skies over Germany or Great Britain. But when the "heavyweights" found themselves one-on-one with their counterparts, duels did occur.
When could such a thing even happen? Well, primarily during patrols over the vast expanses of sea and ocean. It was over the surface of the water that four-engine aircraft most often clashed. This happened both in the Mediterranean and over the North Sea. But most often, multi-engine aircraft battles unfolded over the Pacific Ocean.
First, in late spring 1943, PB4Y-1s (the top photo, though it's a late model with a full nose turret) began flying over the Pacific Ocean, and the Japanese became sad. Toward the end of 1944, PB4Y-2s (bottom photo) appeared in the air, and the Japanese became completely disheartened.
The Japanese placed a great deal of emphasis on long-range reconnaissance over the sea, specifically, searching for enemy naval formations. According to pre-war concepts, this task fell to flying boats… large flying boats. This made sense, as such aircraft had no problem deploying on islands without runways of sufficient length, or any kind of runway, and could, if necessary, land on water.
The Type 99 Mark 1 automatic cannon, captured by the Allies in 1945, and in the tail turret of a Mitsubishi G4M bomber. Formally, it was quite formidable. weapon…But with a lot of “buts” and “ifs”
The pinnacle of the large reconnaissance flying boat concept was the Kawanishi H8K, or "Emily" in Allied codename. It was an outstanding aircraft in many ways, one of the best, if not the best, flying boat of World War II. But, beginning in the latter half of the war, losses of these giants began to mount irreversibly. And it wasn't because of Allied fighters, as one might think. These aircraft often flew in places fighters simply couldn't. It's just that there were other reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean, which, unfortunately for the Emily crews, served as the proverbial "bigger fish." We're talking about the US Navy's PB4Y-1 and PB4Y-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
Naval Air Arm armorers service the Brownings on the Erco nose turret of a PB4Y-1. These nose turrets were exclusive to the PB4Y-1 and PB4Y-2; they were not installed on the land-based B-24s.
The American Navy did not care much about long-range navigation before the war. aviation reconnaissance with large aircraft. The Navy generally viewed aviation as a competitor, with all the ensuing consequences. As a result, the legendary Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft were the first in the American armed forces to be used as patrol and anti-submarine aircraft… by the Army. This is a separate and very sad story. story It's like "losing everything and not realizing it." But the Navy finally caught on, and the Consolidated PB4Y-1 was born—essentially a maritime patrol version of the Army B-24. The US Army, and its British allies, had already perfected both anti-submarine patrol and long-range maritime reconnaissance missions with this aircraft, so the Navy had a ready-made, effective tool.
A PB4Y-1 gunner with his single Browning AN/M2 in 1945. Mounted on the receiver cover was not just a sight, but a "Compensating Gun Sight." The sight automatically shifted its aiming point based on your position and the target data you entered. It was a primitive, mechanical, but still a ballistic computer.
But, as they say, appetite comes with eating. So, the Navy next wanted a specialized naval aircraft based on the Consolidated B-24 Liberator for reconnaissance and patrol. The aircraft was radically redesigned. The fuselage was lengthened, the tail was completely redesigned, the engine turbochargers were removed (there was no need for high-flying aircraft), and the armament and avionics were modified.
Technically, the Emily was a clear winner in a one-on-one duel with the naval Liberators. The flying boat was well-armed, uncharacteristically so. 20mm cannons were all around, mounted in turrets and blisters. In the bow, on the sides, in the tail, in the dorsal turret. Incredible power! Right... Right? In reality, things were a bit more complicated.
The Japanese Type 99 Mark 1 cannon mounted on the Emily was a copy of the Swiss Oerlikon FF. In other words, the Japanese took a cannon intended for aircraft use, not turret mounting, and shoved it into a turret. The cannon retained its relatively short barrel and, most importantly, was magazine-fed. Moreover, the turret version of the cannon required a smaller magazine capacity; the gunner alone struggled to maneuver the 60-round drum, and often found it impossible to maneuver in the tight confines of the turret.
Needless to say, given these inputs, there was no talk of a decent rate of fire for a weapon that was already slow to fire. Accuracy was also lacking. Pilots of both American Army and Navy aviation repeatedly noted in their reports that the 20mm turrets were inaccurate and had long reload intervals.
Erko side turrets, images from the factory operating manual
The Americans, with their nominally "weaker" Browning 0.50 AN/M2s, were in reality outgunning the Japanese. The late PB4Y-1s flying over the Pacific in 1944 were a variant of the late-model B-24, so they already had a full-fledged nose and tail turret. Plus a dorsal turret, plus gunners' positions in the "windows" in the fuselage sides. But the legendary lower "ball" turret was often removed. Naval reconnaissance aircraft often flew not just low, but literally belly-scraping the surface of the water, so expecting an attack from the lower hemisphere was pointless. Moreover, this convenient position was sometimes occupied by a surface-detection radar fairing.
The epic explosion of the Emily flying boat, shot down in December 1944 by a PB4Y-1 crew from VPB-117.
The PB4Y-2's armament was revised. There were now two dorsal turrets. The lower "ball" turret was completely eliminated, but Erco turrets were added on each side, closer to the tail. Yes, these weren't twin machine guns behind blisters, but full-fledged turrets, which the manufacturer romantically called "teardrop turrets." The Erco turrets, among other things, could also confidently peer under the aircraft's belly, so despite the loss of the lower turret, the "Privateer" (officially the PB4Y-2) became even more protected than its earlier sibling.
A tragedy in three acts involving a Navy PB4Y-1 from the same VPB-117 and Emily. The battle took place in October 1944 near Okinawa. A distinctive feature of the American naval "heavyweights" was the detailed recording of their actions. Photographic equipment was standard equipment on the aircraft. Although the bombers did not have camera guns, almost all the destroyed aircraft were captured on film.
The battles usually took place on parallel courses. The aircraft would close in, trying to gain an altitude advantage, and fire their turrets as if from the broadside. Just like sailing ships in line tactics. Well, the PB4Y-1's broadside could be a maximum of seven machine guns (if equipped with a ventral turret) or, more often, five. The "Privateer," on the other hand, could fire a broadside with as many as eight .50-caliber machine guns, which, mind you, is comparable to the machine gun salvo of a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. It could have been better, but the tail turret wasn't designed for broadside fire. Add to this the complete superiority of the Americans in flight and technical characteristics, the presence of radar, the presence of collimator sights with the ability to make adjustments on the turrets, and later on individual machine guns, and the overall high level of training of both pilots and gunners, and it becomes quite sad to see the Japanese in 1944, and especially in 1945.
The battle of Lieutenant Atwood's PB4Y-1 is also well documented. While Atwood was sneaking up on Emily and the gunners were destroying the enemy, the co-pilot, Ensign Regan, was taking these photos.
A prime example of naval Liberators engaging Japanese large flying boats is the engagement that took place on July 2, 1944, southwest of Palau, involving Lieutenant Atwood's PB4Y-1 from Patrol Bomber Squadron VB-115 and a Kawanishi H8K from the 851st Kokutai. The Americans were not only the first to spot the Japanese aircraft, but also managed to sneak up on the Emily unnoticed (this in a monstrous craft with a 34-meter wingspan). Naturally, the Americans opened fire first, first knocking out the dorsal and aft turrets, and then calmly firing on the now unarmed aircraft.
There's a whole story behind this photograph. On October 31, 1944, during an attack on a Japanese tanker and its escort, the submarine USS Salmon (SS-182) was damaged. The submariners were forced to surface and engage the tanker's two escort boats. The approach of other American submarines helped drive off the attackers (yes, the Americans were no strangers to "wolf pack" tactics), and the Salmon began to flee the battle on the surface. The Japanese deployed flying boats to search for the submarine, while the Americans dispatched PB4Y-1s to cover the submariners' retreat. In fact, in the photo, Lieutenant Thompson's PB4Y-1 from VPB-116 is driving the Emily away from the USS Salmon (SS-182). And this is precisely the case when the Japanese managed to escape. But here the naval pilots had a clear task - to cover the submarine; they could not pursue the flying boat, even if it was damaged.
From the spring of 1943, when they first appeared over the Pacific Ocean, until the end of the war, American naval patrol heavies claimed dozens of enemy aircraft. Among the victims of these "four-engine fighters" were fifteen large H6K and H8K flying boats. However, the Americans suffered no permanent losses of their own to return fire from the Japanese four-engine giants. An impressive achievement for an aircraft that, even in theory, was not intended to serve as a fighter.
A report on the actions of PB4Y-1, again from VB-115, from the summer of 1944. Here, however, the victim was a "Betty" (Mitsubishi G4M). Judging by the report, the American aircraft had a ventral "ball" turret. Fire was delivered by the nose, ventral, and dorsal turrets. According to American pilots, the Japanese bomber most likely lacked a rear turret cannon. This was a common practice. To save weight, the Japanese removed as much defensive armament as possible from the single aircraft being converted into long-range transports. The armament composition is also interesting: the patrol aircraft carried two 500-pound (approximately 227 kg) AN-M43 bombs. The crews of the four-engine patrol bombers were instructed to act aggressively and attack isolated ships. For example, in a 1989 interview for the US Naval Institute, former PB4Y-1 crew commander Paul Stevens recounted how, during one patrol, his crew bombed a small cargo ship (up to 3,000 t deadweight), fired machine guns at a Japanese patrol vessel, and shot down one Aichi E13A and one Kawanishi H8K.
Information