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Post by baz62 on Nov 24, 2014 11:45:40 GMT 12
Just been reading this Obituary and was wondering where the Liberator had "4 20mm Hispano cannons" mounted that fired forward? Click here.EDIT: Ah found the answer, in a blister under the forward bombay. Good old Google and Wikipedia! |
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Post by komata on Nov 24, 2014 15:57:51 GMT 12
An innovative response to what must have been an extremely frustrating situation: Lots of 'subs and nothing substantial with which to damage them. The 20mm Hispano's that were used would seem to be similar to those installed in the Sunderland III's and V.'s and intended for AAA suppression when U boats decided remain on the surface and to fight back. In the Lib's case, of course, with no hull, an under-fuselage pack would seem to have been the best option, in a manner similar to those installed earlier in the Blenheim.
They were evidently rather effective...
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Post by alanw on Nov 24, 2014 21:14:16 GMT 12
An innovative response to what must have been an extremely frustrating situation: Lots of 'subs and nothing substantial with which to damage them. The 20mm Hispano's that were used would seem to be similar to those installed in the Sunderland III's and V.'s and intended for AAA suppression when U boats decided remain on the surface and to fight back. In the Lib's case, of course, with no hull, an under-fuselage pack would seem to have been the best option, in a manner similar to those installed earlier in the Blenheim. They were evidently rather effective... The Sunderland Mk III's that had them (only those that flew from bases in Britain did), were fitted with x 4 Browning 0.303 MG's in the bow section as were the Mk V's. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Short_Sunderland_ML824_fixed_bow_guns_at_RAF_Museum_London_Flickr_4607037619.jpgNote the Mk IIIa and Mk V both had the FN Mk 5B-Mk 2 bow turret, which had two 0.303 MG's which were useful, as opposed to the Mk I-III Sunderlands, which only had 1 Bow turret mounted 0.303 MG To my knowledge no Sunderlands were fitted with 20mm cannons in an operational manner. There had been a thought early on in WWII to fit Sunderlands with a possible larger cannon in the bow turret, but nothing ever came of it. Regards Alan |
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Post by komata on Nov 26, 2014 15:01:38 GMT 12
Alan
Thanks for the clarification.
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