Re: sunderland- fw200 /emily action?

On Nov 29, 4:14 pm, "deemsb...@xxxxxxx" <deemsb...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 29, 4:08 pm, Walt <Walterm...@xxxxxxx> wrote:





On Nov 29, 2:31 pm, "patrick mitchel" <patm...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

I understand that there was contacts between sunderlands and fw200's . What
was the outcome. Also, since sunderlands served in the pacific, was there
action between them and kawanishi emily's? The emily looks to be a
formidable opponent.. Thanks Pat

Maybe.

B-17's did.

"Confidence in the Fortress was always high amongst men of the
squadrons
operating in the southwest Pacific. It was considered a 'rugged
ship', highly
durable in which aircrew felt they had a chance and were quite able to
give any
formation of Zeros a tough time. In fact, gunners claimed the
destruction of
one out of every four Japanese fighters reported attacking. A
Japanese
assessment of the B-17 referred to it as 'a fighting plane used for
all
purposes' rather than a heavy bomber. This attribute was not without
foundation, for apart from general bombing, patrol, reconnaisance and
even
transport, there were several instances when the Fortress had been
used as a
gunship, low-level strafer and even pursuit plane.

...Fortresses also intercepted and destroyed a number of enemy partol
bombers.
On one such incident involved a Kawanishi H6K 'Mavis' which a lone
Fortress on
oceanic partol encountered. Captain Walter Lucas took his aircraft in
to attack
coming up below the four-engined flying-boat so that the top turret
and waist
guns could bring fire to bear. Then, pulling up abreast of the enemy,
a twenty
minute running battle took place, until the Mavis had an engine catch
fire and
was forced to land in the sea where it was enveloped in flames."

--"B-17 Fortress at War, p. 40-41 by Roger Freeman.

Walt

A mavis was a bit different from an Emily. My first reaction,
besides "good show", to that encounter was "It took them 20 minutes to
catch an Emily on fire? That's pretty poor shooting".

Oops...make that a Mavis.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: sunderland- fw200 /emily action?
    ... "Confidence in the Fortress was always high amongst men of the ... On one such incident involved a Kawanishi H6K 'Mavis' which a lone ... guns could bring fire to bear. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: sunderland- fw200 /emily action?
    ... "Confidence in the Fortress was always high amongst men of the ... On one such incident involved a Kawanishi H6K 'Mavis' which a lone ... guns could bring fire to bear. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)