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To: CIB-173RDABN

WW II submariners had the highest death rate per capita of ANY branch/division of ANY of the military services.


6 posted on 12/17/2021 9:26:51 AM PST by Az Joe ("Scratch a Liberal, and a Fascist bleeds")
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To: Az Joe

Some bomber crews would like to have a word with you

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/life-and-death-in-bomber-command


22 posted on 12/17/2021 9:55:12 AM PST by Chauncey Gardiner
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To: Az Joe
"WW II submariners had the highest death rate per capita of ANY branch/division of ANY of the military services."

Only because the 8th Air Force (in the European theater) kept increasing the numbers of air crewmen they were sending to Europe once the Allies had air supremacy and there was little threat to American air crews. Which dramatically decreased their overall casualty rate.

But in the early campaigns, their losses were staggering. They lost 60 -- SIXTY -- B-17s in one mission alone, the August 17, 1943 raid on Schweinfurt (with roughly the same number badly damaged). In large part because they (mistakenly & misguidedly) believed the B-17's 13 M2 50-cal machine guns made them invulnerable to fighter attack, so the US committed to daylight missions and left the nighttime raids to the Brits.

Overall the 8th Air Force lost several times more aircraft than the Pacific submarine fleet did submariners.

43 posted on 12/17/2021 3:16:38 PM PST by Paal Gulli
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