Identify these?
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:31 pm
Anyone able to ID what these are?
Anyone able to ID what these are?
Page 1 of 1
Anyone able to ID what these are?
deep penetrators
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:41 pm
My guess is these bombs were designed to penetrate the german sub pens at st.nazaire.You can see the nets guarding the approaches to the base.The concrete on top of the pens was something like 22ft thick.These bombs did the job by the looks of the after war pics of these sub pens. I wonder what the drop A/C was?
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:33 pm
Would these be the British "tall boy" bombs..or "grand slam"??
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:34 pm
Chances are this is what they are.
The Disney Rocket-Assisted Bomb was another World War II device to be
used against U-boat pens and other super-hardened targets. Designed by
a Royal Navy Captain it was streamlined hardened case bomb weighing
some 4,500 lb (2 tonnes). The bomb was dropped from 20,000 ft (6,000 m).
At 5,000 ft (1,500 m) a barometric fuse fired the rocket in the tail to give
it a velocity at impact of up to 2,400 ft/second (730 m/s). It was first used
by the 92nd Bomb Group on 10 February 1945 on U-boat pens at IJmuiden
in The Netherlands.- one bomb under each wing of 9 B-17 Flying Fortress.
On that occasion a single direct hit was scored. A total of 158 "Disney Bombs"
were used operationally by the end of hostilities in Europe.
The Disney Rocket-Assisted Bomb was another World War II device to be
used against U-boat pens and other super-hardened targets. Designed by
a Royal Navy Captain it was streamlined hardened case bomb weighing
some 4,500 lb (2 tonnes). The bomb was dropped from 20,000 ft (6,000 m).
At 5,000 ft (1,500 m) a barometric fuse fired the rocket in the tail to give
it a velocity at impact of up to 2,400 ft/second (730 m/s). It was first used
by the 92nd Bomb Group on 10 February 1945 on U-boat pens at IJmuiden
in The Netherlands.- one bomb under each wing of 9 B-17 Flying Fortress.
On that occasion a single direct hit was scored. A total of 158 "Disney Bombs"
were used operationally by the end of hostilities in Europe.
More Info
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:54 pm
This picture was from Harry Spila's wartime photo album.
He was a B-17 radio operator with the 92nd BG, 326th BS
late in the war. He passed away in 1996, but his son Harry
let me scan the pictures in his album because he knew I was
interested in B-17s.
I had never heard of the Disney bomb before, and indeed
Dik's post makes sense knowing the above information.
How kewl is that?
Here's another pict from his album.
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:21 am
Dear Bill,
With regard to my study on the destruction of the E-boat pens (Schnellbootbunkers) of IJmuiden by the RAF and USAAF I can confirm the statement of Dik that these are Disney Bomb.
This specific picture is unknown to me, but I can identify the South and North moles of the harbour of Ijmuiden, The Netherlands.
As the 92nd BG carried out only two missions to IJmuiden with Disney Bombs, on February 10th and March 14th 1945, this picture must have taken on one of those two dates. Other photographic evidence in my collection suggests that 14th March would be the most likely date of the posted picture.
Strange enough (as far as I know) only the 407th BS carried out this kind of missions. As Harry Spila was in 326th BS I doubt if he was actually on the Disney Bomb missions.
Anyhow, it may be useful to find out more details and I would be very interested if there are more pictures in this album which may have a relation to these specific Disney Bom attacks.
Bill, would you please get into contact with me at hnautaATquicknetDOTnl. Please replace AT and DOT for the obvious symbols.
Thanks in advance and best regards,
Hans Nauta
The Netherlands
With regard to my study on the destruction of the E-boat pens (Schnellbootbunkers) of IJmuiden by the RAF and USAAF I can confirm the statement of Dik that these are Disney Bomb.
This specific picture is unknown to me, but I can identify the South and North moles of the harbour of Ijmuiden, The Netherlands.
As the 92nd BG carried out only two missions to IJmuiden with Disney Bombs, on February 10th and March 14th 1945, this picture must have taken on one of those two dates. Other photographic evidence in my collection suggests that 14th March would be the most likely date of the posted picture.
Strange enough (as far as I know) only the 407th BS carried out this kind of missions. As Harry Spila was in 326th BS I doubt if he was actually on the Disney Bomb missions.
Anyhow, it may be useful to find out more details and I would be very interested if there are more pictures in this album which may have a relation to these specific Disney Bom attacks.
Bill, would you please get into contact with me at hnautaATquicknetDOTnl. Please replace AT and DOT for the obvious symbols.
Thanks in advance and best regards,
Hans Nauta
The Netherlands