"Emmanuel Gustin" wrote in message
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"Leadfoot" wrote in message
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What are some of the greatest strategic air missions?

Depends on what you criterion for "greatest" is. The attacks on the
Paul Doumer bridge, the Tirpitz, and the Japanese carriers at Midway
can't really be described as strategic; I would also rule out the
assasination of Yamamoto from that category.

The lgb attack on Paul Doumer knocked it out for a considerable time. This
was a vital artery for munitions from China.

Tirpitz tied down a considerable number of capitol ships

Without aircraft carriers the Japanese decided not to take Midway

A great deal of thought went into Yamamoto. One, was it legal to target a
particual individual in war? Two, did Japan have anyone better? Three, was
he worth risking the breaking of JN-25 cypher being revealed?

Let me ask the question another way. How many of you can name his
replacement off the top of your head?

Scroll down for the answer


























Admiral Mineichi Koga, who took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial
Navy after Yamamoto's assassination said it very simply:


There was only one Yamamoto, and no one can replace him.





If impact on the course of the war (regardless of risk, losses, or
size of the operation) makes an operation "great", then Hiroshima and
Nagasaki must take first place. Followed, perhaps, by the Doolittle
raid, which had an impact on Japanese strategy entirely out of
proportion with the damage done or the size of the force involved. But
these were of course very much exceptional missions, hard to compare
with anything else.

If the criterion for a "great" operation is large, bloody battle with
lots of opportunity to demonstrate personal valour, then it is hard to
overlook the attacks on Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Ploesti. These
cannot be called really successful,

I thought of them and decided not to list them for that very reason


and their impact on the course of
the war was not what had been hoped, but they were certainly events in
which a lot of courage was displayed and a lot of people died, and
deserve to be remembered. On a smaller scale, 617's attack on the dams
also belongs in this category, if you consider the survival rate on
this operation.

On the whole the problem with "great strategic missions" is that as a
rule, single missions had little value. Factories, power plants,
railway installations, etc. would be repaired after an attack, and
often surprisingly quickly. To keep them disabled repeat attacks were
always necessary. But then you are talking about a strategic campaign,
not a mission. The campaign against the German transport network was
probably the most significant and successful of all, followed by the
campaign against the German oil industry.

Operation "Point Blank" the destruction of the Luftwaffe was pretty good
too. I considered listing it. maybe if we see "greatest strategic air
campaigns"


Emmanuel Gustin