During the Battle of Midway, the Japanese launched a...
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THE AKUTAN ZERO During the Battle of Midway, the Japanese launched a diversionary attack on the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. A Zero crash - landed, was captured intact , studied by military intelligence and flown by American aircraft designers. As a result, the U.S. developed the F6F HELLCAT that was faster, more maneuverable and carried stronger armament than Japanese aircraft. The Hellcat produced more aces than any aircraft of WWII.
Transcript of During the Battle of Midway, the Japanese launched a...
THE AKUTAN ZERO
During the Battle of Midway, the Japanese
launched a diversionary attack on the Aleutian
Islands near Alaska.
A Zero crash-landed, was captured intact,
studied by military intelligence and flown by
American aircraft designers.
As a result, the U.S. developed the F6F HELLCAT
that was faster, more maneuverable and carried
stronger armament than Japanese aircraft.
The Hellcat produced more aces than any
aircraft of WWII.
GUN CONVERGENCE
Aircraft machine guns and cannons do not fire in
separate straight lines.
The guns are “harmonized” (angled slightly) so
that their bullet streams mass together at a
point in front of the aircraft creating “lethal
density” in order to inflict maximum damage.
200-250 yards was determined to be the optimal
range.
DEFLECTION SHOOTING
The optimal place to be is directly behind the
enemy, but the enemy doesn’t want to die so he
probably won’t fly straight and level.
Attacking a bomber from directly behind can put
you into the sights of defensive gunners.
This means you will have to make a shot from an
angle, called DEFLECTION SHOT.
Don’t put your sight directly on the enemy
because he won’t be there when your bullets
arrive.
DEFLECTION SHOOTING
Figuring out where to put the gun sight depends
on the angle, speed and distance of the enemy.
1.5 aircraft lengths per 100 yards.
STRATEGIC BOMBING
DEFINITION: Using air power to destroy an
enemy’s factories, infrastructure and will to
fight.
U.S. was unable to regularly bomb Japan until
1944-45 as it did not have bases within range.
Medium (2 engines) and heavy bombers (4 engines)
were used to attack Japanese ships and island
bases in the Pacific.
STRATEGIC BOMBING
By late 1944, new B-29 SUPERFOTRESSES began
bombing Japan from bases in China, on Guam,
Tinian and the Marianas islands.
These raids caused only moderate damage to
Japan’s factories and large numbers of the
unescorted bombers were being lost.
The capture of the island of Iwo Jima in March
1945 gave the USAAF an airbase from which the
bombers could strike Japan while being escorted
by fighters.
FIREBOMBING
The raids were not hitting their
targets.
General Curtis LeMay proposed
taking advantage of the wood and
paper construction of many
Japanese buildings.
He ordered 300+ B-29’s to drop
incendiary bombs from low
altitudes.
The resulting firestorm spread to
the factories and leveled 50% of
Tokyo, killing 100,000 civilians.
KAMIKAZE
Desperate to halt the American assault on the
home islands in 1944-5, Japan calls for
volunteer pilots to deliberately crash bomb-
laden aircraft into allied ships.
Kamikaze means “Divine Wind” in Japanese, named
for a typhoon that sunk a Mongol fleet that
attempted to invade Japan in the 1200’s.
Ineffective: 4000 Kamikazes sunk 47 allied ships
and damaged 300 more. (14% accuracy) but…
They convinced military planners that Japan
could not be invaded without heavy losses.
American scientists undertake a top secret
program known as the MANHATTAN PROJECT in
1942 to develop a nuclear weapon.
TRINITY
16 JULY 1945: The first atomic bomb is
successfully detonated at Los Alamos, New
Mexico.
Once Japan was isolated, Allied planners
debated what to do next since demands for
unconditional surrender were refused.
I. Blockade Japan with naval power
II.Continually bomb Japanese population centers
until she surrendered
III.Invasion
The invasion was scheduled to begin in
November, 1945 and last as late as 1948.
DOWNFALL included plans for the use of tactical
nuclear and chemical weapons.
FATMAN & LITTLE BOY
Japan rejects demands for unconditional
surrender.
06 AUGUST 1945: The B-29 ENOLA GAY releases
LITTLE BOY over the Japanese city of Hiroshima,
selected because it housed no POW camps.
The bomb kills 90,000 civilians almost
immediately and another 60,000 will die from
radiation sickness and injuries in the next
months.
The Japanese refuse to surrender.
09 AUGUST 1945: BOCKSCAR releases FAT MAN over
the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
The bomb kills 80,000 civilians almost
immediately.
Emperor Hirohito informs his family of his
plans to surrender. The military attempts to
overthrow him and destroy the recording of his
surrender declaration before it can be played
over the air. They fail.
