S3 Series

Farout, Mtdew & myself lifted F2 and headed west on the wavetops. Flying IL2s our mission was to attack Port 42. Approximately 10 minutes into the flight we ran into dots at our 12 ... low and twin engine. They turned and we approached as best as our IL2s would go. If they were escorted we were going to be hunted down, if not then perhaps we could catch a couple of them. Dew was out in front so he was the first to overtake one of the Ju88s, a quick burst shot off the tail controls and the ju88 pulled up. Farout & I were trailing behind and were caught in the bomb blast as sentin decided to unload his bombs rather than attempt to bail out. Both Farout & I were caught in the bomb blast, though it was long enough after the kill that we at first didnt really understand what had happened. Dew shot down another but fell to the escorting fighters that had dove in to the rescue.

with that our night was quickly over.

This may sound crazy, but is it normal for a Ju88 to dump all his bombs like that in the S3? Were the bombs defused? Could he actually have expected to get away from that scene after doing that? What did you mean "rather than attempt to bail out?" What squad is SENTIN in?

Just want to understand what is acceptable from a bomber's stand point.

I tell my bombers NOT to drop bombs unless on a target (fields or gv, etc.). That applies to the S3 and the MA. So, what's the deal?

Sincerely <S>

2nd time, now.

One of ours was lost in OD Frame 3 for a frag

It was the Knights of Ni, the JU88s were running away hoping their fighters would get there in time.
He may have dropped the bombs to be more agile.... or to try to protect his squad after his tail was gone...
Dropping bombs to take out planes.... well it just sucks to be on that end of it.

Is it true that dfused bombs float on top of the water til they go of? that's probably the biggest issue I would have, I mean I hate dying but it is what it is.

.

Salute!

Common practice to jett ord and climb/run if ya gotta maneuver, and they prolly had dfuse.

Gums...

Sorry, GUMS. The Doolittle's Raiders SOP is NOT to drop bombs unless on targets if we are NOE. Period. We make that clear to our guys in the MA and, for dadgum sure, in the S3. If we get caught low, we got caught. If we can get some alt, and feel the need to drop bombs to get light, that's acceptable. But, we aren't going to "frag" anyone. Fight too hard to prove to the community that we DON'T do that sort of thing. Know what I mean, sir?

Dead serious... <S>

If the enemy had actually "lost his tail" then he was already dead effectively.
In that case dropping bombs seems somewhat cynical.

It is of course reasonable to jettison ord in order to try to escape so you should always be wary.

Those Ju88s must have looked like a juicy target but you may have done better to ignore them, concentrate on your own mission and simply report their position for others to intercept / attack them.

Defused bombs do float on the water which is not ideal - this is not news though.

In hindsight I agree Bollok, but I figured if they had fighter cover we were dead anyway (not going to outrun anything in the IL2) and if not..... well yeah, probably a bit greedy

Further action during the night saw hobo and houndg attacking the port at 42. Several cargo ships were sunk and after houndg made a second trip back the port was closed.



Easier said than done. We were operating at the bottom of the map with little to no wiggle room. It appeared to be 2 dots which at first look like ships to be honest. When the rest rendered we were too close to escape any single engine a/c.



Its sure news to me.....I've been dropping bombs for years and watching them to nothing to shipping if defused.

Great work on closing 42