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N0KFQ > TODAY 24.11.15 17:34l 39 Lines 1540 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 75372_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 24
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JM1YTR<JE7YGF<N9PMO<N3XPD<N0KFQ
Sent: 151124/1530Z 75372@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1944
U.S. B-29s raid Tokyo
On this day in 1944, 111 U.S. B-29 Superfortress bombers raid
Tokyo for the first time since Capt. Jimmy Doolittle's raid in
1942. Their target: the Nakajima aircraft engine works.
Fall 1944 saw the sustained strategic bombing of Japan. It began
with a reconnaissance flight over Tokyo by Tokyo Rose, a
Superfortress B-29 bomber piloted by Capt. Ralph D. Steakley, who
grabbed over 700 photographs of the bomb sites in 35 minutes.
Next, starting the first week of November, came a string of B-29
raids, dropping hundreds of tons of high explosives on Iwo Jima,
in order to keep the Japanese fighters stationed there on the
ground and useless for a counteroffensive. Then came Tokyo.
The awesome raid, composed of 111 Superfortress four-engine
bombers, was led by Gen. Emmett "Rosie" O'Donnell, piloting
Dauntless Dotty. Press cameramen on site captured the takeoffs of
the first mass raid on the Japanese capital ever for posterity.
Unfortunately, even with the use of radar, overcast skies and bad
weather proved an insurmountable obstacle at 30,000 feet: Despite
the barrage of bombs that were dropped, fewer than 50 hit the
main target, the Nakajima Aircraft Works, doing little damage.
The upside was that at such a great height, the B-29s were
protected from counter-attack; only one was shot down.
One Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded as a result of the
raid. It went to Captain Steakley.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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