United States Navy PB4Y-1 (B-24) Liberator Squadrons in Great Britain During World War II

United States Navy PB4Y-1 (B-24) Liberator Squadrons in Great Britain During World War II PDF

Author: Alan C. Carey

Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9780764317750

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Alan Careys new book, his fifth on USN and USMC bomber units of the Second World War, is the story of U.S. Navy Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7) and the men who flew the Navy version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber out of Dunkeswell and Upottery, England during World War II. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator squadrons were unlike their counterparts in the U.S. Armys 8th Air Force, who battled their way through thick flak and swarms of German fighters while flying to and from targets in continental Europe. The job of U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator aircrews was to keep German U-boats from successfully operating in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel by going out day after day, often in miserable weather conditions, on unrelenting search and destroy missions. During the war, FAW-7 Liberators were responsible for the sinking of five U-boats and damaging many more.

The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats

The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats PDF

Author: Timothy S. Good

Publisher: Frontline Books

Published: 2022-09-15

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1399096524

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No weapon platform sank more U-boats in the Second World War than the Allied aircraft. Whether it was an American ’plane operating from American escort carriers, US aircraft from Royal Air Force bases, or British aircraft from bases throughout the world, these officers and men became the most decisive factor in turning the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic against the German submarine threat. While the German crews could threaten escort vessels with torpedoes, or avoid them by remaining submerged, their leaders never developed an effective strategy against aircraft. However, the Allied aircraft did not enjoy much early success. British, Canadian and Australian air crews that fought the U-boats from 1939 until 1941 achieved few triumphs. They possessed neither the aircraft nor the bases necessary to deliver consistent lethal attacks against German submarines. In 1941, the Royal Air Force finally began implementing an effective aircraft response when it initiated training on the American-built Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Supported by other types then in service, these four-engine bombers would prove to be decisive. With America’s entry into the war, the United States Navy and the United States Army Air Forces also began employing Liberators against the U-boats so that by mid-1943, the Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of U-boat forces, withdrew his submarines from the North Atlantic in recognition of the Allied aircraft’s new dominance. From Dönitz’s retreat to the end of the war, Allied aircraft continued to dominate the U-boat battle as it shifted to other areas including the Bay of Biscay. Dönitz eventually ordered his U-boats to remain on the surface and engage Allied aircraft as opposed to submerging. This approach did lead to the demise of some Allied aircraft, but it also resulted in even more U-boat being sunk. Most critically, Dönitz acknowledged with his new policy that he knew of no tactics or weapons that would defend his submarines from Allied aircraft. In the end, it was a matter of choosing whether his submariners would die submerged or die surfaced. Either way, Allied aircraft prevailed. The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler’s U-Boats is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of this most crucial battle which helped turn the Battle of the Atlantic irrevocably in favour of the Allies.

Sighted Sub, Sank Same

Sighted Sub, Sank Same PDF

Author: Alan C. Carey

Publisher: Casemate

Published: 2019-11-08

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1612007848

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A historian examines the U.S. Navy’s efforts to stop Axis forces from attacking Allied merchant ships providing supplies during World War II. During the Second World War, a battle was waged to cut the lifeline of food and armaments sailing across the Atlantic from North America. It evolved into a far-ranging conflict beyond the North Atlantic and the eastern seaboard of the United States. It covered the frigid waters off Iceland down to the warm waters of Florida, through the Caribbean Sea, across the ocean to the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean Sea, down to Africa, and across the South Atlantic to Brazil’s southern tip. Nazi Germany’s efforts to deny supplies from reaching Europe came at a high price, losing 783 U-boats and approximately 30,000 men between 1939 and 1945, with land and carrier-based naval air units sinking 83 German submarines of the 159 sunk by American aircraft. Axis forces saw their submarines targeted as well in the Atlantic, with Imperial Japanese submarine I-52 and the Italian Archimede falling victim to American naval aircraft armed with depth bombs or acoustic homing torpedoes. All the dramatic action is captured in Sighted Sub, Sank Same. This book contains over 200 color and black and white photographs, as well as personal interviews, interrogation reports, personal correspondence, and after-action reports, weaving a fascinating history about the naval air campaign in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean Theaters during World War II. Praise for Sighted Sub, Sank Same “Richly illustrates the navy’s battle for the Atlantic from the air.” —The National WWII Museum “Gives the reader a real feeling of that relentless hunt.” —Baird Maritime

One Hundred Years of U.S. Navy Air Power

One Hundred Years of U.S. Navy Air Power PDF

Author: Douglas V Smith

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2010-10-15

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1612514235

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Published to coincide with the centennial celebration of U.S. Navy Aviation, this book chronicles Navy aviation from its earliest days, before the Navy’s first aircraft carrier joined the fleet, through the modern jet era marked by the introduction of the F-18 Hornet. It tells how naval aviation got its start, profiles its pioneers, and explains the early bureaucracy that fostered and sometimes inhibited its growth. The book then turns to the refinement of carrier aviation doctrine and tactics and the rapid development of aircraft and carriers, highlighting the transition from propeller-driven aircraft to swept wing jets in the period after WW II. Land-based Navy aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft and rigid airships, and balloons are also considered in this sweeping tribute.

Above an Angry Sea

Above an Angry Sea PDF

Author: Alan C. Carey

Publisher: Schiffer Military History

Published: 2017-08-28

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9780764353680

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This is a revised and expanded second edition that examines United States Navy patrol and bombing squadrons equipped with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator (PB4Y-1) and its successor, the Consolidated-Vultee PB4Y-2 Privateer. The author's previous book, We Flew Alone, discussed the Navy's use of the B-24 Liberator from February 1943 to September 1944. He now examines in dramatic detail the use of the B-24 and PB4Y-2 during the last eleven months of the war against Japan. The author has collected personal stories, over 300 images, a tabulation of all aerial kills credited to PB4Y patrol plane commanders, a roster of all personnel killed in action or in the line of duty, individual squadron records, and a list of all known B-24 Liberators and PB4Y-2 Privateers assigned to the Pacific between 1943 and 1945.

Consolidated-Vultee PB4Y-2 Privateer

Consolidated-Vultee PB4Y-2 Privateer PDF

Author: Alan C. Carey

Publisher: Schiffer Military History

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13:

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Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation's (Convair) attempt to make a few design changes to its famous B-24 Liberator for the U.S. Navy in 1942 eventually evolved into the PB4Y-2 Privateer, a 70,000-pound patrol bomber equipped with state-of-the-art electronics gear, armed with twelve .50-caliber machine guns, and the capability to deliver bombs, depth charges, and guided missiles. Beginning with the development and production of the aircraft, this book presents an in-depth examination of the patrol bomber's entire operational history from 1942 to the present. Containing over 260 photographs and line art, the book covers the PB4Y-2's service with the U.S. Navy, French Aéronavale, Republic of China Air Force, various countries of Latin America, and finally as a slurry bomber for aerial fire fighting companies.

Special Operations Consolidated B-24 Liberators

Special Operations Consolidated B-24 Liberators PDF

Author: William Wolf

Publisher: Air World

Published: 2024-01-30

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1399057782

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Despite being America’s most produced bomber, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator has forever flown in the shadow of its more famous and glamorous B-17 rival. The workmanlike B-24 performed multiple unheralded roles in all theatres beyond its also multiple offensive missions, making it the war’s most versatile heavy bomber. Besides its offensive bombing, anti-submarine, and mining missions, the Liberator performed many little known “inoffensive” duties. Undoubtedly the most colorful of all Liberators were the so-called assembly ships of the Groups of the 2nd Air Division. Their unique paint schemes of stripes, polka dots, and checkerboard, were designed to make them ultra-conspicuous for their task of acting as leaders on which a Group formation could assemble their combat formations more quickly for a combat mission The Consolidated F-7 was a photographic reconnaissance version of the B-24 Liberator. The F-7 saw service in most theatres of the war. The long range of the Liberator also made it well suited to mapping missions during the war and post-war. Beginning in early 1944, to aid the Allied liberation of Europe, Carpetbagger B-24s were utilized to parachute spies, called “Joes” or “Janes”, or provide aerial supply of weapons and other matériel to resistance fighters in occupied Europe. Liberators also participated in the dropping of 2.75 billion propaganda leaflets using various techniques and delivery devices. Electronic Warfare played an important part in Allied global pre-invasion plans to discover the location of enemy radars, and, if possible, destroy them. This interception and analysis of an enemy electronic radiation was the origin of present day ELINT (ELectonicINTelligence). Modified RAF B-24D Airborne Electronic Reconnaissance Liberators, codenamed Ferret, were Radio Counter Measures and Electronic Intelligence aircraft that played a major role in European air opera¬tions. During 1942 the AAF became interested in aerial refueling as a means to bombing Japan. A shorter-range B-17E was selected as the receiver aircraft while the more spacious B-24D acted as the tanker. Although these tests were considered to be successful, the availability of longer-ranging B-29s and bases ever closer to Japan diminished the urgency of wartime aerial refueling. During the war, eighty-three B-24s crashed or made forced landings in Switzerland, sixty in Sweden, and several in Russia, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. Many of these Liberators landed undamaged or were repaired to be flown by these nations. Of particular interest are the six Liberators that were captured and flown by the Luftwaffe. Packed with a unique collection of photographs. Special Operations Consolidated B-24 Liberators reveals the most unusual and little-known facets of the Second World War’s most versatile bomber.

RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War

RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War PDF

Author: Geoff Mills

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2022-03-31

Total Pages: 1069

ISBN-13:

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Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was described as one vast aircraft carrier anchored off the coast of Europe. During a seven year period 500 airfields were constructed to serve the needs first of the RAF and later the USAAF as they carried the war to German-occupied Europe. The airfields that were constructed took many different forms from training airfields and Advanced Landing Grounds to grass fighter airstrips and vast complexes used to accommodate heavy bombers. This book charts the history of each Second World War airfield in and around the UK providing a unique insight in to the construction, operational life and post-war history of each airfield. Alongside detailing the history of each airfield, this work comprehensively records the details of each unit that operated from airfields around the UK. The information provided in this meticulously researched book is supported by a wealth of 690 photographs providing an illustration into the life of each wartime station.

The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II

The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II PDF

Author: Chris Bishop

Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 558

ISBN-13: 9781586637620

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The encyclopedia of weapns of world war II is the most detailed and authoritative compendium of the weapons of mankind's greatesst conflict ever published. It is a must for the military, enthusiast, and all those interested in World War II.