Posted 23 November 2009 - 08:05 AM by PipsPriller
Does anyone have any information on the tactics adopted by the pilots of the SM 79 in torpedo attacks? Such as height of release and speed; what was the preferred approach eg bow or beam; how distance to target was determined; how the 'angle off' (deflection) was estimated and so on.
Posted 23 November 2009 - 08:39 PM by Gian
Torpedo bombers used a rather crude aiming device developed by Maggiore Carlo Unia. It might be like in picture, or with more nails sticking out.
The graduated scale was shifted according to the speed of the ship and it was used by the pilot to adjust the aircraft accordingly. The front nail was used as an aiming sight to drop the torpedo in deflection, which had to be done near, but not too near to the target. This is how it is narrated by a real torpedo pilot:
And more:
As per the drop height, there were no preferences. I have seen footage where aircraft drop their torpedo from several hundred feet of height, but I am certain that the pilots were trained to fly incredibly low to evade both ack-ack and fighters.
Does anyone have any information on the tactics adopted by the pilots of the SM 79 in torpedo attacks? Such as height of release and speed; what was the preferred approach eg bow or beam; how distance to target was determined; how the 'angle off' (deflection) was estimated and so on.
Posted 23 November 2009 - 08:39 PM by Gian
Torpedo bombers used a rather crude aiming device developed by Maggiore Carlo Unia. It might be like in picture, or with more nails sticking out.
The graduated scale was shifted according to the speed of the ship and it was used by the pilot to adjust the aircraft accordingly. The front nail was used as an aiming sight to drop the torpedo in deflection, which had to be done near, but not too near to the target. This is how it is narrated by a real torpedo pilot:
The aiming instrument was a primitive device shaped like a horseshoe with several nails sticking out of it. As I saw the ship, I was to estimate its speed. The only clue I had for this was the length of the wake; if it was equal to the length of the ship, the speed was estimated at 20 nautical miles per hour. For a wake half the length of the ship, the speed was estimated at 10 miles per hour; any other length of the wake would give me a corresponding estimated speed of the ship. Once the speed had been estimated, I would aim the corresponding nail of the horse shoe at the ship and launch the torpedo in the direction of the front nail of the device. This would create a triangle where the ship and the plane were at the two lower points and the torpedo would hit the ship at the third, higher point.
And more:
The torpedo was launched by the first pilot by pulling a lever at an estimated distance of about 2000 feet from the side of the ship. This distance was needed to overcome the "dolphin" trajectory of the torpedo at the first impact with the water until it would stabilize itself at about a 3 foot depth, preset before takeoff."
As per the drop height, there were no preferences. I have seen footage where aircraft drop their torpedo from several hundred feet of height, but I am certain that the pilots were trained to fly incredibly low to evade both ack-ack and fighters.