XXI Bomber Command, Monthy Activity Report 1 July 1945

8/6/2019 XXI Bomber Command, Monthy Activity Report 1 July 1945

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I XXIBombe r Command

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" .1 JULY 1945


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XX I B OMB E R C OMMA l . 1 1 D

M 0 N T H L Y A C T 1 V I T Y R E P 0 R T

1 July. 1945

C ON T E N T S

PA RT IP A R T I IP A R T I I IPA RT IVP A R T V IP A R T V I I

~ S U LT SC O S T O F M I S S I O J ) T SE F F E C T I V E N E S S O F A I R C R A F T O N M I S S I O N SU S E O F A I R C R A F T A l \ 1 DC R EW SO T H E R U S E S O F A I R C R A F T . M I D O B E i ' l SS T R E N G T H O F T H E C OMMA l I D

H I G H L I G H T S F O R ~

1 1 1 H O U R SFL01'rn P E R A S S I G N E D A I R C R A F T

9 3 HOU R SFL01'INP E R A S S I G N E D e R E 1 - T

*7.1 L O NG RAN G E S O R T I E S P E R A S S I G N E D A I R C B A F T

*0.,8% O F A I R B O R l ~ A I R C R A F T L O S T

* 9 0%O F A I R B O R N E A l c B O MB E D P R I M A R Y T A R G E T

* 9 4% O F A I R B O R N E A I CBOMBEDANY T A R G E T

*6.7 T O N S C A R R I E D P E R A I R B O R N E A I R C R A F T

* 3 2 . 3 6 0 T O N S R E L E A S E D O N A L L T A R G E T S

' "N ew R ec or ds

Prepared By33 rd S ta t is t ic al O on tro l U ni t

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Th: three attacking force, which .were forced to bombpr imary radar tL.et,were ao le to bomb these t a rge t s v i sual ly and in f l i c t subs t an t i a l damage . Theresu l t s o f these a t t acks ar e as f ' o .L lws :

Ta rge t s

Kasu rn igau ra Seap lane Base (Att acked byt\'IO fo rces )

Hi t ach i Enginee r ing 1"orks , Ka igan P lan t

%Dest royed Or Damaged

39.5%

97. 5% ( Pr el im in ar y)

S t r a t e~ ic Targe t s (Ni~

. The 315 th i l i ng made ~ t~ ~ebu t th i s mon th in two n igh t mi~sions aga ins t o i llndus t ry t a l ge t s . By ut l l l z lng the A P Q - 7 equ ipmen t o f t I l i s spec i a l i zed wingi t i s hoped that mate r i a l damage can be in f l i c t ed a t n igh t on prec i s ion ta rg~ t s .I t ,rill be remembered tha t s imi la r a t t acks l aunched in March by othe r wings ofthe command \. . .r e no t success fu l .

In fo rma t ion i s no t ava i l ab l e to as ses s adequa te ly the re su l t s o f these twomiss ions . P re l imina ry repor t s ind ica t e tha t 30% of one ta rge t , t he Utsube Rive rOil Ref ine ry , Yokka ich i , has been des t royed or damaged , bu t th is a s ses smen t in -c ludes damage in f l i c t ed on a prev ious day l igh t mis s ion when a sma l l fo rce bombedth i s t a rge t a s seconda ry ob jec t ive .

Urban Areas

Over 25 squa re mi l e s o f u rban and indus t r i a l a r eas wer e burned ou t du r ingJune to b r ing the to t a l to da te to approx ima te ly 120 sqUaJ . emi l e s . The a t t acksaga inst u roan a reas fo r June fa l l i n to two ca tegor i e s : (1) fou r day l igh t l a rgesca l e a t t acks aga ins t Osaka and Kooe in the ea r ly pa r t o f t l~ month ; (2) th reen igh t a t t acks aga ins t e l even seconda ry c i t i es du r ing the l a t t e r pa r t o f themon th . In these l a t t er r a ids , each c i ty was t he t a rge t fo r a . , ing a t t ack , excep tFukucka a gai ns t w hi ch two Vlings wer e a ir bo rn e.

The fo11O\ ' l i ng s ummary g ives the damage

Osaka and Arnagas ruc iKobeHarnamat suSh izuokaKagosh imaOkayamaToyohash iFuh . -uokaYokka ich i. . . .a ebo , Moj i , Ornu ta , & I ITobeoka

in f l i c t ed by ta rge t :

8 .02 sq . mi l e s (To ta l to da te -16.3 )~ : a ~ (To ta l to da te -8 .75 )2.28 '2 .112.13

1. 81.371.23Less

(P re l imina ry )

(P re l imina ry )( P r e l im im1. r y)

than 1 s~ . n i . oach (Pre l im. )

I t Shou ld be remembered tha t subs t an t i a l da~age to impor t ant s t r a t eg ic t a r -ge t s o f t en resul t s f rom these incend ia ry ra ids aga ins t indus t r ia l and urban a reas

M in in g O pe ra ti on s

Min ing ope ra t ions were ca r r i ed on eve ry o the r n igh t du r ing June beg inning onthe seven th . Ta rge t s were the S l l imonosek i S t r a i t s , N i iga t a , Fush ik i , Nanao ,Tsu ruga , Maizu ru , Fukuoka , Kara t su , Saka ta , Obama , Saka i , Hag i , Senz ruc i , YuyaB~ and the Kobe-Osaka a rea . Accord ing to the A-2 Sh ipp ing In te l l i gence Sec t ioni t i s e s t ima ted tha t a s a re sul t o f these ope ra t ions : ( a ) pas sage of a l l bu t sma l l e r ves se l s th rough the Sh imonosek i S t r a i t s was imposs ib l e fo r a t le as t 75%

of the pe r iod 8-30 June ; (b ) po r t s on the m .,coas t s o f Honshu and Kyushu wereb lockaded fo r va ry ing per iods a f t e r each min ing miss ion , the l eng th o f c losu reva ry ing , in al l p robab i l i t y . in inve r se p ropor t ion to the impor t ance of the por tto the enemy. In o the r wor d s , the more impor t an t po r t s were p robably openedwi th in tvo or th ree days a f t e r a min ing , . , h i l e sma l l e r po r ts ve ry l ike ly re rna ine f .c lo sed fo r a week or more . To /compensa te fo r tha t probab i l i t y the l a rge r po r t swere mined a t more fr equen t in t e rva ls ; ( c ) based upon the number o f mines l a iddur ing the month , it i s e s t Ima t e d tha t a t l ea s t 100 enemy vesse l s o f a l l ty~esand c la sses "Tere sunk or damaged by B-29 la id mines in June; (d ) a l though thee ffec t o f mine lay ing on Japanese impor t s and expor t s canno t be eva lua t ed on thebas i s o f ava i l ab l e in fo rma t ion , i t i s e s t ima ted tha t the ava i l ab l e merchan t sh iptonnage was ab le to ope ra t e dur ing June a t on ly abou t 50% of norma l e f f i c i encyas the re su l t s o f submar ine , a i r and min ing a t t acks~ Th i s es t ima te i s pa r t i a l l yBUbs tan t i a t ed by pho tographs showing la rge numbers o f vesse l s immobi l i zed fo runusua l ly long pe r iods in ha rbor s and anchorage a reas in Japan .

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[VE [ ~ : ,The Operat ions Ana lys i s Sect ion has recen t ly p repa red a de -

t a i l ed study of the bombing accuracy of th i s Command . Al though thef ina l r epor t fo r th i s s tudy has no t ' been comple t ed , the fo l lowing da tasummar izes some of the s t a t is t i c s i t w i l l con ta in :

B om bi ng A cc ur ac y

To de te ; rmine the accuracy aga ins t p rec is ion ' ta rge t s , a t o t al,of 39 d~ l ight miss ions beg inning wi th 27 March were ana lyzed . Theve ry h igh a l t i t ude a t t acks pr io r to th i s da t e were omi t t ed as unrepre -senta t ive o f cu r ren t ope ra t ions . Al l ava i l abl e s t r ike pho tog raphy f romthese miss ions has been examined in de ta i l , and where pOSSib le , bombplo ts fo r each fo rma t ion were p repa red . \ ' l hensmoke or ove rcas t p re -

ven ted ident i f i ca t ion of the actua l bomb burs t , accu racy was dete rminedby ca lcu la t ion f rom bombs- in~a i r photog raphs . Inso fa r a s info rma t ionwas ava i lab l e , forma t ions d ropp ing by radar were a l so inc luded . Theth ree mos t impor t an t e l ement s in dete rmin~ng bombing accuracy a re :(1) Pe rcentage of h i t s wi thin a ce r t a in d is t ance f rom the a iming po in t ;(2) The rad ia l o r c i r cu la r e r ror o r the d i s tance be tween the ac tua lN F l and the ass igned ~~I ; and (3) The si ze o f the bomb pa t te rn . Eachof these el emen ts has been conSide red in th i s s tudy . '

The f'o l Lot.. i ng tab le summar izes the bombing accuracy of theCommand in terms of - the bombs \ ' / i t h in 1000 fee t o f the aiming po in t :

PERCENTOF :BOMBSRELEASEDAT TARGET FALLING l l ITHIN 1000'OF A.P.P re ci si n Tar get s On ly

I---- ,---

G .APRIL* .. MAY JUNE T.-38% 37%

I -34% 26% 45%15% - 19%I 40% 16% 27%:BC I, 31% 27% 32% '-- '-----'-

1'1IN5873

31~\ 31LXX I

O TA L I37r35%17%2~% I31% j

. . .Mis s ions o f March '27 and 31 a re included wi thApr i l .

F rom the above tab le i t c~~ be seen tha t approxima te ly 30%of the Command' s bombs fa l l w i thin 1000 feet o f the AP. Of the 1' l i ngs ,the 58th , ope ra t ing in M~ & June , has compi l ed the best r eco rd , wi ththe 73rd and 3 l4th c lose beh ind . In analyz ing thi s t abula t ion , i tmus t be remembered tha t bombing accuracy f igu res t end to f luctua t e

subs t - an t i a l ly f rom month to mon th . For th is r eason , da t a i s pre sen tedfo r the th ree mon th pe r iod as a Whole , and to be va l id , any compar i sonby 1'T ingshou ld be conf ined to the three mon th bas i s .

The fol lo~Ting table summar izes the accu racy in t e rms ofthe second e lemen t , t he d i s t ance of the , ac tua l MFI f rom the ass ignedMFI . Dur ing thi s per iod , the ave rage c i r cu la r e r ro r o f the Commandhas been ca lcu la t ed to be approx imate ly 1100 fee t . The ave rage for~mat ion pa t t e rn has been in an a rea s l igh t ly l e s s the fou r mi l l i onsqua re fee t . -

ANALYSISOF CIRCULAR ERRORS BY FORMATIONMa rc h- Ju ne 1945

I Visual S igh t ing _ l i J '~fFo ; ;~t ions 1' l i thUEA 0 R ad ar S ig ht in g- 'I -- -- -- :- -- -- -- -- .r -Target No t Not - - - 'W I N G 1 0- 110001- 2000~~ I 0: re r o f Asses s - Asses s - Asses s - TOTAL

, 10 00' , 2 000 1 0001 0001 ... ab le ab le able58- r- '~ -10 5 0 7 2 273 33 21 8 I 18 1 13 4 2 100313 5 7 10 6 3 6 4 0 41- 3 1 4 18 16 I 9 I 12 1 7 4 3 70X x I 1 3 0 I 70 I 54 __ 1_32 ! 40 _ . 2 _ ~ 1~3l_ ! 1~ '" ,__ 7 L 255_

Inc ludes the fo l lowing fo rma t ions :, 73 rd l l i ng - Miss ion 6.3 ~ Sh izuoka A/C Eng ine P lan t

3 l3 th Wing - Miss ion 64 - Targe t 6195313 th l ' l i ng- Miss ion 126 - Hamamatsu AjF3l3 th Wing - Miss ion 126 - Toyohash i3 l4th Wing - Miss ion 199 - Ci ty o f Tokyo

.* Breakdown of th i s f igu re by c i r cu la r e rro r i s a s fo l lows :C i rcula r Er ro r No of Forma t ions

~ l mi l e

1~2 mi le 4Over 2 mi le 4


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I t i s wor thwlu .Le to compar command dur ing thesetnree months wi th the accuracy achieved by the Eigh th Air Force dur ing i t sf i r s t yea r in the European t i l ea t r e . The three ch ie f componen t s for judg ingbombing accuracy for the two Air Forces a re suiamar-Lzed i n the fo l lowingtab le :!--------------------------;::-;----:

Circu la r

i---.:::.;un:.:,]::..;',t"----

IEig l l t l ' l i rXX I BO li lbe r

l__

%Of Bombs Wi th in1000 Feet Of AP

Er ro r(Es t ima te ) Pa t te rn S ize

25%3 0 %

1100 Ft .noo Ft .

7,000,000Sq. F t . "Less Than 4,000,000

Sq . Ft . _!

ForceCommand .

For a comparable per iod in/ the h is to ry of the two un i t s , t he command11US been [. ..Le to bet t er the accu racy of the E ighth Ai r Force . Tn is increaseis l Ja r t1cu lar ly marked in the pe r Gent o f bombs fa l l ing wi th in 1000 feet oft I l e 1\.1'.

I t i s be l ieved tha t- the accuracy of the command would be even grea t erwere i t not fo r two fac tor s in r la r t icu la r :

(1) The va r i ab le s i ze o f the fo rma t ions . Th is re sul ts , f rom the di f -f i cu l t weather condi t ions o f ten preva i l i ng enrou te to the t arget , s ca t t er ingthe o rJ .g inu l a i r c ra f t of a forma t ion and making reas sembly di f f i cu l t .

(2) The mixed cha. .ac t er o f t .he format ions in which a i rc ra f t o f two ormor -e g roups a re comb. ined in one fo rma t ion . Exper i ence in the Eighth Ai rForce va t .h co rnposi te g roups has de f ini te ly proved tha t bombing i s l es s accu-ra te w116n ai r craf t f rom more than one group compr ise a format ion . Thi s isusua l ly caused by t .he d if f icul t i e s of as sembl ing dur ing peor f l i gh t cond i-t i ons .

J . Enemy Figh te r React ion

Japanese f igh te r s aga in did no t cons t i tu te 11 s er io us i nt er fe re nc eto the command ' s comba t ef fo r t du r ing the month . However , on the Kobe mis-s ion of ') June , there Here 100 - 125 f igh te r s wh ich of fe red the st i f f es t op -posi t ion to the Super for ts S ince the Tokyo miss ion of 27 January. However ,deS1Ji t e the fact that f ighter oppcs . i t . on h as yet to show a genera l marked

inc rease ,IT.

mus t be poin ted out too t with the fa l l o f Okinawa, many of theJup f igh te rs und t ra ine rs have been conve r ted in to B-29 i nte rc ept or s u nt ilsuch t ime as they may be needed to repe l an invasion, and good base weatherj J lu s favorab le f 'L i .gf cond i t ions may resu l t i n renewed fignter ac t iv i ty .

Vifl1ile aggress iveness of Jap f igh te rs remained rel a t ive ly und imin i sheddur ing June (40 - 45% of at t acks b reak ing off a t 250 yards o r l e ss ) , t hee f fect iveness o f the i r a t tacks appea rs to have dimini shed when viewed interms of B-29 losses .

E ffec ' t i veness Of Enemy Fighte r At t acks

,---------------------------- ---.I Apri l May June

IA tt uc lc s P er\

At tacks Pe rAtt acks Pe rAtt acks Pe r

Targe t-29 Over Tho

B-29 L,ast,B -2 9 D '~ Jl lL I. go dB-29 Los t and

0.8 0.3 0.3

105 no 15 816 14 16

Damaged 1) 12 14~ l

The per cent of enemy ai rc raf t a . t tacki.ng wh.Lch were des t royed or p ro-b


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4. Bomb and Fuel Data

A V E R A G E B OM B R E I G H T P E R A I R C R A F T

14000,-,-

12000

1000 -

8000-

6000

4.000

2000 -

/~-JUN'

The Command averaged the l arges t bomb load on record dur-ing June , each p lane car ry ing ~ average of 13.445 pounds includingmin ing miss ions of the 313th Wing. or 13.506 pounds for bombing mis -s ions a lone . The 73rd ' ' l ing averaged 13,935 pounds , the 313th l ' l ing '13 .547 including mining miss ions and 13.761 pounds excluding miningmiss ions , the 58th " l ing 13 ,379 pounds , and the 314thWing 12,949pounds . I t should be remembered that these f i gures inc lude subs tan-t ia l loadings of the M-47 incendiary bombs. Airc raf t car ry ing thesebombs are l imi ted to a load of 184 bombs , or 12,880 pounds . If ai r-cra f t ca r ry ing M-47 bombs are excluded from the above compar ison. t heto ta l for each wing is increa sed by apprOXimate ly 35~450 pounds .

AU 1'T ings s ubs tant i a l ly exceeded the i r May f igures . the 314thl t i ng achiev ing the larges t incr ease \ - / i t h a 1500 pound ra ise over May.I t must be pointed out t ha t t h is .~ l ing is a t a we ight di sadvantagebecause o f the dis tance di f feren t ia l .

Ave rage fuel re tu rned rema ined a t apprOXima te ly the Maylevel , the Command averaging 742 ga l lons re turned in June compared to750 in May. The 73 rd lTing averaged 710 gal lons , the 3l4 th lTing 733gal lons , the 3l3 th l ' l ing748 gal lons , and the 58th l ' l ing750 gal l ons .

Poten t ia l i t ies of t he B-29B str ipped a i rcra f t were pa r t ia l lyindi ca ted by the Eerformance of the 3l5 th l1ing in i t s f i r s t t 'o 'Ocombatmiss ions on the 26th and 29th of June . The average bomb load per a i r -craf t was 14,631 pounds and 14,647 for these miss ions f rom Guam. Thi sload can be expected to increa se subs t ant ia l ly ina smuch as the averagefuel re turned was 1320 ga l lons and 1181 ga l lons . Average gal lons con-

sumed ner hour on these f i rs t two miss ions was on ly 387.2 and 379.7compared to 418 for the Command.


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PART I I COST OF ' MISS IONS

Ai r c r a f t a nd c r ew comba t l o s s e s f o r t h e ' mon t h o f J un e wer eex t r eme l y l ow . A t o t a l o f 4 4 a i r c r a f t we r e lo s t o n comba t m i s s i o n st h i s mon t h . Th i s r e p r e s e n t s a l o s s r a t e o f 0. 8% on comba t m i s s i o n ss ub s t a n t i a l l y be Low t h e 2. 1% ra t e f o r May and l owe r t h an t h e r a t e , f ~ rany p rev io us m on th .

Th e l ow l o s s r a t e c a n b e a t t r i b u t e d l a r g e l y t o t h e l i g h t l yde f e nd ed ta r g e t s t h a t we re a t t ac k ed du r in g t h e mon th . Th e Tokyo and

Nagoya u r b an a r e as we r e no t a t t a c k ed a t a l l wh i l e on hlo mi s s i o n sag a i ns t Os ak a , p oo r weather p re v en te d mo re th an a few enemy f i g h t e r sf rom becom ing a i rb o r ne aga i n s t t h e a t t a c k in g fo r c e . I t sh ou l d b e no t e dt h a t a pp r ox ima t e l y 50% o f t h e comba t lo s s e s oc cu r ed on two m is s i on s e a r l yi n th e mon t h ag a in s t O sak a and Kobe .

The th r e e n ig h t a t t ac k s a ga i n s t e l e v en s econda r y c i t i e s we r ec a r r i e d ou t a t ex c ep t i o n a l l y l ow co s t . A s a r e s u l t o f weak de f e ns e s ,p a r t i c u l a r l y s ea r c h - 1i g h t s , a t t h e s e t a r g e t s , o n l y fou r a i r c r a f t we r el o s t o r 0. 26% o f t he so r t i e s .

On l y on e a i r c r a f t wa s lo s t o n min i ng m iSS i ons , a l o s s r a t e

An ana l y s i s o f th e c aus e o f l o s s in d i c a t e s t h a t e nemy an t i -a i r c r a f t was ag a i n t h e ch i e f f a c t o r ca uS ing t h e mon t h ' s l o s se s . Th enumbe r ~Dd pe r ce n t o f c omba t ope r a t i o n a l lo s s e s d e c l i n e d t o 0. 22%, t heLowest mon th l y r a t e s i n ce t h e s t a r t o f op e r a t i o n s .

F i g h t e r e s co r t wa s p r ov i d ed f o r f i v e m i s s io n s du r i ng t hemon t h . Howcver , f o r on l y t h re e mi s s i on s wer e t ho f i g h t e r s a b l e t ocomp le t e r e nd e zvou s u i t h th e bombe r s a nd su c c es s f u l l y e s c o r t t h em toth e t a r g e t . A sev e r e wea t he r f r on t f o r ce d t h o f i g h t e r s t o r e t u r n t o11110 on t h e r ema i n in g twa m i s s io n s , o n on e o f 1; l h i c h27 P~51 s " l o r e 10 s t .

One o f t he ma jo r ch ang es in lo s s r a t e s o f t he mon th i s t h el a rg e number o f a i r c r a f t wh.i ch wez e r e d es Ign a t . c d t o TB -29 o r r e tu r n edto th e Un i t ed S ta t e s a s wa r " l e a r y . S in c e t h e r e t u r n o f " t a r w ea r y a i r -c r a f t may r edu c e t he a i r c r a f t s t r e ng th and con sequ en t l y th e comba te f f o r t , t h e f e a s ib i l i t y o f r e t u r n i n g war weary a i r c r a f t t o th e Un i t e dS t a t e s i n t he fu t u re mus t b e app ra i s e d i n l i g h t ( 1) o f t h e sh a r p l y d e -c'reas Ing flm.,r o f a i r c r a f t t o t h e command , (a) t h e po t e n t i a l c a pa c i ty o ft h i rd a nd f ou r t h e ch e l on ma i n t e n an c e f ac i l i t i e s to r e p a i r t h e s e a i r -

c r a f t , an d ( 3 ) t he i nc r e a s e d u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h e a i r c r a f t a s shown byJune p e r fo rmanc e . The f'o I Lowd.ng t a b l e summa r i z e s t he r e a s on s f o r t he32 a i r c r a f t i n t h i s c a t e go r y .

f CAU SE S FOR \ TAR l TEARY- A- I- R- CRAF T- 'R l lDES IGNAT iC)N TO TB-291

INo. % I

R equ ir es E xce ss ive M ain te nan ce 11 , 3 5%I B at t le Da ma ge 11 35% '1 F l ig h t Cha r a c t e r i s t i c s 6 16%

_ ...,- ,;- ,== l-=~ =_ ~= .~~ !~ ;e~~~UlEP!.~~~ L_ . .i~CAUSES FOICB-29 CREW'LOSSES June%I C AUS ES F OR p; .29- A/C L OS ' SE S . - -

May May JuneNo . % No . I No. % No. %19 22 . 6 16 15 . 4 Enemy Ac t i on 29 30. 9 23 29. 1

12 14 . 3 5 4. 8 Comba t Ope r a t i o n a l 3 3 35 . 1 12 15 . 233 39. 3 7 6. 7 Unknown on Mi s ' n s 30 31. 9 9 11. 414 16. 7 13 12 .5 ' ' f a r' ' {e a r y 32 40.56 7 . 1 63 60. 6 1Mech

& Acc i d en t s 2 2 .1 3 3 . 8

84 100.0 104 100. 0U : To t a l 94 100. 0 79 100.0

Enemy Ac t i o n

C om ba t O pe ra ti on slUnknown on Mi ss i o n sRec l a s s & Reo rgRo t a t i o n

To t a lIL.

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XXI Bomber Command, Monthy Activity Report 1 July 1945

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Transcript of XXI Bomber Command, Monthy Activity Report 1 July 1945