Author(s): Mark Lardas; Jim Laurier (Illustrator)

History

Development of the "gun" bomber, armed with eight fixed forward-firing heavy machine guns, and skip-bombing by the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific Area flipped the momentum of the war in the Pacific in 1943. It finally gave US aircraft an effective means of attacking nimble, fast-moving Japanese destroyers, tasked with protecting vital convoys. The battles fought between USAAF medium bombers and Japanese destroyers were both dramatic and decisive, and had a significant impact on the course of the campaign for New Guinea. The key clash between the B-25 Mitchell and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) came during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, which proved to be one of the most pivotal naval engagements of World War II. In a three-day fight that saw B-25s target an IJN convoy of transports and destroyers, the Japanese suffered 75 percent casualties. This volume examines the mechanics of skip-bombing and strafing in the B-25, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the combatants, the results of the attacks, and the reason why these USAAF tactics were so successful. Book jacket.