[fso301]

Thanks. Here's one of a Japanese ship being converted into an artificial reef by B-25s.

Looks like the deck guns have been silenced. Note the lack of return fire and barrels not pointing towards the airplanes. Crewmen are laying dead, wounded or standing under whatever shelter they can get. Next pass will probably be skipbombing

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I assumed the bulk of the damage done to Japanese ships was by dive bombers and torpedo bombers and that traditional horizontal bombing was of little use against ships. Now I realize the innovative thinking helped turn the medium and heavy bombers into instruments of destruction against the IJN. I read about the skip-bombing (and will post an excerpt of same tomorrow) but it didn’t sink in until now. I wonder what I forgot in order to make room for this new knowledge.

[Stonewall Jackson]

The Australian Beaufighters and American B-25's and A-20's would go in, simulating torpedo attacks. When the Japanese ships turned toward them (a standard tactic to avoid incoming torpedoes) they would open fire with their cannon and machine guns, taking out most of the anti-aircraft guns and their crews.

Here's some footage of the battle, taken by an RAAF Beaufighter. They get the stats wrong at the start of the film, but this was quite often the case throughout the war, on both sides.