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139-635: In response to the rapid emergence in Europe of twin-engine heavy fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110 , the army ordered development of a twin-engine, two-seat fighter in 1937, and assigned the proposal by Kawasaki Shipbuilding the designation of Ki-38 . This only went as far as a mock up, but by December of that year the army ordered a working prototype as the Ki-45 , which first flew in January 1939. Results from

278-574: A Yak-11 kill. The Twin Mustang was increasingly out-classed by jet aircraft, and was eventually replaced in Korea by Republic F-84 Thunderjets and North American F-86 Sabres . The F-82 would end its life as the last operational American piston-engined interceptor. Primarily stationed in Alaska out of Adak Island (and later out of Ladd Air Force Base ) as part of the 449th Fighter (All-Weather) Squadron (F(AW)S),

417-496: A bomber destroyer , and was comparable to early models of the German Messerschmitt Bf 110. The G.I was formidably armed relative even to other early heavy fighters; with twin 23 mm (.91 in) Madsen cannons, and a pair of 7.9 mm (.31 in) Madsen machine guns (later up-armed to eight machine guns) in the nose. For defensive purposes, a single Madsen 7.9 mm machine gun was mounted in a rear-facing turret, manned by

556-625: A suicide plane attempt to crash the nearby Crosley  (APD-87) . Bunch secured from general quarters at 0655 and, after being detached from the night retirement group's screen, moved to cover the fire support units off the main invasion beaches. That assignment occupied her through the afternoon watch and into the first dog watch. At about 1635, the warship left the fire support units for Kerama Retto where she assumed patrol station R-16 off Mae Shima. At 2314 on 28 March, lookouts sighted enemy planes on Bunch ' s starboard beam at extreme range, and she immediately went to general quarters. Still,

695-515: A 37 mm (1.46 in) Type 94 tank gun, to counter B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. While the firepower was devastating, manual reloading meant that typically only two rounds could be fired on each gunnery pass. The next type ( Hei ) restored the 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon, and this time placed an automatic 37 mm (1.46 in) gun in the nose. A later addition in the Tei type were twin obliquely-firing 20 mm (0.79 in) Ho-5 cannons behind

834-528: A German mechanized column near Tongeren . Six to eight were shot down by German flak, two more 693s were lost while attempting to return to base, and of those that made it home safely, one was written off (most of the twenty four crewmen survived or were captured alive, although three died during the attack and some of the survivors were badly wounded). As the fighting drew to a close the French attempted to fly as many 693s as possible to North Africa, but only three made

973-472: A UDT-21 passenger to Mendocino  (APA-100) . From there, she returned to Kerama Retto with Crosley and Loy  (APD-56) and anchored there for the night with her engines on half-hour standby and with an armed watch posted against suicide swimmers . Underway again at 0254 on 1 April, Bunch cleared Kerama Retto with TG 52.13 and headed east toward the transport area off the Hagushi beaches. Once there,

1112-481: A conference on board Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner 's flagship, Eldorado . The staff returned from that meeting just before 1800, and Bunch resumed screening station about an hour later. Another conference – this one on board Panamint  (AGC-13) – took her away from the screening station on the 9th, and she returned to Kerama Retto on the 10th to transfer the idle UDT-21 out of harm's way to Appling  (APA-58) while it waited for another mission. She spent

1251-412: A contingent from Crosley – succeeded in getting gasoline-driven handy-billies in operation to battle them. Bunch passed a towline and three fire hoses across to Dickerson and began to tow her, while men cut away Dickerson ' s port-side boats to lessen the list. Soon, however, the towline and hoses parted, and the salvagers lost their hard-won gains when the fires broke out with renewed vigor as

1390-727: A costly mistake. In practice the Bf 110 was capable of using this combination of features for only a short time, until the late summer of 1940. It served well against the Hawker Hurricane during the Battle of France , but was easily outperformed by – and up to 50 km/h (31 mph) slower in top speed than – the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain. Eventually Bf 110s were converted to interceptors , and were particularly successful in

1529-418: A fast light bomber. Although not always contemporaneously referred to explicitly as “heavy fighters,” nearly every single combatant of WWII fielded or experimented with twin-engine multi-role combat aircraft . The Fokker G.I was a private venture design by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in 1936. The G.I was designed to serve on the heavier end of the spectrum of heavy fighters, as a jachtkruiser or

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1668-426: A flexible mount in the rear cockpit Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Heavy fighter A heavy fighter is a historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine, and many had multi-place crews; this

1807-550: A fuel run to Taluga  (AO-62) just before midday, Bunch remained at anchor off Okinawa on the 15th. However, she received a report of enemy aircraft in the vicinity at 1830 and went to battle stations. Opening fire with her 5-inch and 40-millimeter battery, she join a barrage of fire that splashed an enemy plane off the beach. Securing from general quarters at 2000, she again manned battle stations an hour later; and sporadic enemy air activity kept her on alert until 2220. Air attacks on Yontan airfield, however, continued throughout

1946-474: A larger number of air-to-air missiles than their smaller brethren. They typically also have more capable and complex radar and electronic systems, with the result that in older air-superiority fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II or Grumman F-14 Tomcat , a second dedicated crew member was carried to manage radar and weapon-systems. USS Bunch USS Bunch (DE-694)

2085-673: A long-ranged fighter. Prior to the war, it was considered by the German Luftwaffe more important than their single-engine fighters. Many of the best pilots were assigned to Bf 110 wings , specifically designated as Zerstörergeschwader ("destroyer squadron", Zerstörer being the same word as used for naval destroyers ) wings. While lighter fighters were intended for defense, the destroyers were intended for offensive missions: to escort bombers on missions at long range, then use its superior speed to outrun defending fighters that would be capable of outmaneuvering it. This doctrine proved to be

2224-436: A patrol area to await their return, while LCI(G)s gave close fire support for the demolition operations. The "Orange" beach charges went off at 1137, and Bunch recovered her boats by 1225. After standing by for further orders, she distributed passengers from the command ship Estes  (AGC-12) among several other high-speed transports, which then transferred them to ships of the main northern and southern attack forces early

2363-511: A rearward-facing machine gun for defensive purposes. This was relatively very heavy armament for a fighter in 1934, with most contemporary aircraft mounting one or two light machine guns. In response, French aircraft manufacturer Potez developed the Potez 63 series . The basic design was close to the original specification; that of either a 2 or 3 seat, dual-engine heavy fighter, armed with two 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons in gondolas under

2502-657: A requirement for a fighter with 40mm cannon, got no further than the prototype. Due to the different requirements for naval fighter aircraft, the British put into service some heavyweight single-engine fighters such as the Fairey Firefly . The US military never officially designated an aircraft as a "heavy fighter," but from the 1930s through to the immediate post-WWII period there were a slew of American designs that were twin-engined, relatively heavy in weight, and designed in line with other nations’ heavy fighter philosophy. During

2641-434: A result. To make matters worse, a freshening wind made getting another hawser across to her even more difficult. Eventually, Arikara  (ATF-98) arrived, took Dickerson in tow, put out her fires, and brought her into Kerama Retto. After screening Arikara and Dickerson to Kerama Retto and transferring 61 survivors to PCE-852 , Bunch returned to station A-20 where the rest of the day passed mercifully quietly. On

2780-549: A single mockup. Another bomber destroyer was the Beechcraft Model 28, also bearing a 75 mm cannon, with twin turrets mounting .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning AN/M2 heavy machine guns for defence. The design was re-designated the XA-38 Grizzly and was repurposed as a ground attack aircraft intended to be able to defeat enemy tanks and ground fortifications with its heavy cannon. However, for reasons including need of

2919-399: A small boat, 2,200 yards away on the port bow, and Bunch rang up full speed and altered course to investigate. After identifying the boat as enemy, she opened fire with .50-caliber, 20- and 40-millimeter batteries and destroyed it 500 yards away. At 0631, Bunch detected a second suicide motorboat – later judged to have come from Mae Shima, which was still in enemy hands – bearing down upon

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3058-512: A small minesweeping and mine disposal unit of three motor minesweepers and two submarine chasers in clearing Japanese mines from a channel twelve miles long and a mile wide. After completing this mission, she departed Hangzhou Bay on 15 November and set course for Okinawa, arriving at Buckner Bay on the 20th. Though she reported to the Commander, Minecraft, Okinawa, Bunch did not remain there for long. After loading cargo, she set out for Formosa on

3197-489: A standby role. Inclement weather and an excellent combat air patrol (CAP) took care of enemy planes, and Bunch remained at anchor during the night and forenoon. A pair of approaching typhoons, though, compelled the assault group to get underway and seek shelter in the lee provided by a small bay north of the Motobu Peninsula . Returning to Iheya Shima with the assault group the following morning, Bunch started out for

3336-604: A station 20 miles south of Mae Shima. That duty lasted until 1045 on 5 April when Bunch rushed to another meeting with Estes . At 1230, she joined the Eastern Islands Bombardment Group, comprising Estes , West Virginia  (BB-48) , and Arikara . While Bunch screened that unit, the embarked staff of TG 52.11 supervised UDT reconnaissance and demolition operations at the eastern islands and in Nakagusuku Wan (Buckner Bay). Bunch continued her duties in

3475-628: A torpedo. Although Grumman designed and developed the aircraft during World War II, it entered service too late to see action before VJ Day . It served in the Korean War and retired in 1954. During the interwar period the USSR set about developing heavily armed twin-engine fighters to function in the heavy-fighter role, particularly as interceptors and bomber destroyers. Uniquely, the Soviets experimented with recoilless rifles as primary armament, but abandoned

3614-509: A twin-engine dedicated zerstörer (eschewing the usual German wartime practice of assigning multiple roles to heavy fighters), designed with a relatively unique push-pull configuration , which placed its fuselage-mounted twin DB 603 engines' propellers on opposing ends of the fuselage, and potentially allowed much better maneuverability, while essentially using the same engines as the conventional-layout twin-engine Me 410. The centre-line thrust design of

3753-532: A winterized variant, known as the F-82H was developed specifically for this task. The winterized Twin Mustang would perform long-range aerial patrols over the extremes of American airspace around Alaska, with the area being viewed as a possible ‘back door’ for Soviet strategic bombers. The F-82H was slowly supplemented by the Lockheed F-94 Starfire all-weather interceptor , and by 1953, it had completely replaced

3892-649: Is currently on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center , alongside a Nakajima J1N and Aichi M6A , but the rest of the aircraft is in storage at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility . Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War General characteristics Performance Armament 1 × 37 mm (1.457 in) Ho-203 cannon , 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Ho-3 cannon , 1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Type 98 machine gun on

4031-551: The Boston Navy Yard , the warship moved to New York whence she began her escort work on 1 November by shepherding the New York section of Convoy UGS-23 out of coastal waters. That same day, she made a sonar contact and attacked it with two " Hedgehog " patterns, though she later evaluated it as "non-submarine." Released the following day, Bunch proceeded to Hampton Roads , where she reported for duty with Task Force (TF) 23. Over

4170-547: The Heinkel He 177 Greif heavy bomber . Twelve airframes, designated " He 177 A-1/U2", carried twin 30 mm MK 101 cannon in an enlarged ventral gondola and was intended for ground attack, train busting, and possibly long-range anti-shipping raids. They also were intended for use in a bomber destroyer role, intercepting Allied long-range bombers and maritime patrol aircraft threatening the Kriegsmarine ' s submarines. In

4309-575: The Kerama Retto group of the Ryukyus. Detached at 0500, she and Hopping escorted the attack transport Natrona  (APA-214) to her rendezvous with the control boat, SC-1328 , in Area "Jig." Relieved of that task at 0600, the pair took up screening stations in the transport area and spent the remainder of the day screening the troopships. That night, she experienced a couple of desultory air attacks. At 0130 on

Kawasaki Ki-45 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4448-576: The Luftwaffe after the German invasion of the Netherlands. Before the war the British sought both twin-engined fighters with turret-mounted and nose-mounted (cannon) armament. The former because it was expected to give greater opportunity for attack at higher speeds compared to the biplane era; the latter because of loss of accuracy expected with heavy weapons installed in wings. One example of an aircraft to meet

4587-512: The Luftwaffe on Dutch airfields, and overwhelming German air superiority, the G.I suffered heavy losses. At the conclusion of hostilities , several G.Is were captured by the Germans, and utilized as heavy-fighter trainers for Bf 110 crews at Wiener Neustadt . For the next two years, Flugzeugführerschule (B) 8 flew the G.I until attrition grounded the fleet. On 5 May 1941, a Fokker test pilot, Hidde Leegstra, accompanied by engineer (and member of

4726-474: The "Five-day War", the available G.I fighters were mainly deployed in ground attack missions, strafing advancing German infantry units, but were also used to attack Junkers Ju 52 transports . Although reports are fragmentary and inaccurate as to the results, G.I fighters were employed over Rotterdam and the Hague, contributing to the loss of 167 Ju 52s, scoring up to 14 confirmed aerial kills. With relentless attacks by

4865-424: The 13th, UDT 21 carried out its reconnaissance of the beach and returned on board Bunch , reporting having met only small arms fire in the course of their work. After yet another conference on board Panamint that night, Bunch returned to Ie Shima the next morning, and UDT-21 resumed its pre-invasion work. That night, the warship retired to Okinawa, and another conference, that time on board Eldorado . Except for

5004-607: The 14th, conducted tactical exercises in Leyte Gulf early on the 15th, and then joined TG 52.13 in practice lowering and recovering LCP(R)s off Cabugan Grande Island. After a final conference on the upcoming landings on the 20th, Bunch set out for the Ryukyu Islands on the 21st, screening Transport Group "Easy," Western Islands Attack Force (TG 51.1). At 0330 on 26 March 1945, Bunch went to general quarters and proceeded into Transport Area "Easy," five miles west of Kube Shima in

5143-563: The 19th, and reached Hagushi on the 22nd. She remained at anchor off Hagushi until the 25th, when she moved to Kerama Retto for a four-day availability to make repairs to her sonar which had failed during the voyage back from Guam. On the 30th, the high-speed transport received orders for her next mission, the occupation of Iheya Shima . Though scheduled to begin early on the 31st, the Iheya Shima operation had to be postponed because of foggy weather. The action finally began on 2 June with Bunch in

5282-559: The 26th and then went on to visit Wakayama and Kobe before leaving on 21 February to return to the United States. Steaming by way of Eniwetok and Oahu , Bunch returned to the United States at San Francisco on 14 March 1946. Three days later, she sailed south to San Diego , arriving there on the 20th. Bunch was decommissioned at San Diego on 31 May 1946 and was placed in reserve in July 1947. She never returned to active service. Her name

5421-465: The 26th. The warship reached Keelung , Formosa, the next day and remained there through the end of the month. Returning to sea on 1 December, Bunch escorted YMS-72 to Shanghai for hull repairs. The ships encountered gale force winds and heavy seas en route but succeeded in weathering the passage. Bunch remained at Shanghai until early on 6 December when she headed back to Kiirun with six motor minesweepers and an LCS . After making her destination on

5560-403: The 27th, Bunch fired on a single enemy plane, which soon disappeared out of range. Securing from battle stations at 0210, the high-speed transport nevertheless remained on the alert. At 0338, she opened fire with her 40-millimeter battery on another intruder approaching on the port quarter. Although the ship went to general quarters, no attack developed, and she stood down at 0400. Released from

5699-484: The 8th, she remained until setting out to support the occupation of Aguni Shima just after midnight on the 9th. Bunch sailed for Aguni Shima at 0115 on 9 June, taking some shots at an enemy plane during the passage. The assault group arrived off the objective around 0445, and the landings proceeded against little or no resistance. At 0600, Bunch joined PCE(R)-855 to escort Oak Hill  (LSD-7) and LST-95 to Hagushi, returning to Aguni Shima once that brief mission

Kawasaki Ki-45 - Misplaced Pages Continue

5838-596: The 9th, she arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 15th. Bunch then exercised at Maui 's Ma'alaea Bay with Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) 18 and 21. With UDT-21 remaining on board, Bunch sailed for the Marshall Islands on 14 February, arriving at Eniwetok on the 22nd. After fueling, the high-speed transport put to sea the next day in the screen of a convoy of which part was bound for the Western Carolines and

5977-467: The 9th, she moved to the naval port of Takao , Formosa, on the 11th. There, she discharged cargo until the 12th, when she shifted back to Kiirun. She spent several days there supporting the motor minesweepers actually carrying out the sweep. Her prime function was to provide navigational assistance to the motor minesweepers by lying to about 20 miles north of the harbor entrance and directing them by radar and voice radio. Completing that task on 18 December,

6116-589: The Airacuda was plagued with design flaws; only 13 prototypes were built, none of which participated in World War II. The US would enter WWII with one of the most effective heavy fighters in history, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning . It was designed as a twin-engine bomber interceptor to climb quickly and carry heavy armament at high speed, with the lighter Bell P-39 Airacobra meeting the single-engine version of

6255-612: The Beaufighter was potent in the anti-ship and ground attack role in the Pacific and Europe. With the addition of radar , it was one of the Royal Air Force 's main night fighters. Similarly, the successful de Havilland Mosquito fast bomber was simultaneously adapted for both day and night fighter use. A parallel single-seat twin Merlin engine fighter the de Havilland Hornet entered service in

6394-616: The Bf 110, but also could not outrun contemporary single-engine fighters, with the Me 210 having serious aerodynamic problems from mistakes in the design of its wing planform and the initial design of its rear fuselage. Aside from the Bf 110 and Me 210/410, the Luftwaffe also utilized various light bombers , medium bombers , and Schnellbombers (German; literally "fast bomber") in the heavy fighter role. Due to their relatively large size, these were mostly used as night fighter-bomber destroyers, as there

6533-523: The Do 335, the first-ever front-line combat fighter to use it, did allow dramatically higher speeds (just over 750 km/h or 465 mph) than many other twin-piston-engine aircraft of its era, but was never produced in quantity. Following the example set by the Bf 110, the Japanese built the broadly similar Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu . Likewise neutral Netherlands built the twin-boom Fokker G.I, only to be seized by

6672-598: The F-4 and F-5 variants of which over 1,200 were built), night fighter (as the radar -equipped P-38M variant), and as a fighter-bomber . In the escort fighter role, the P-38 accompanied Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress raids deep into German-held Europe. The P-38 and the much lighter North American P-51 Mustang were the first two American fighters over Berlin in March 1944. The only other American heavy fighter to serve in great numbers during WWII

6811-504: The Fokker Board of Directors) Dr. Piet Vos, managed to fly a G.I to England from the occupied Netherlands . After landing in England, the G.I was conscripted by Phillips and Powis Aircraft . The company had designed an all-wooden fighter-bomber, and was interested in the G.I wing structure and its resistance to the rigours of a British climate. Despite being left outdoors for the remainder of

6950-623: The French government, or via use of captured aircraft. In French service the series saw action during the Battle of France , and post- armistice within both the Vichy French Armée de l'air de l'Armistice , and the Free French Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres . On 20 May 1940, the light bomber variant, the Potez 633, took part in a ground attack against German troops near Arras . Three 633s took part in

7089-567: The German night bombing raids of Moscow in 1941, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union (NKO) sought to rapidly correct this deficiency. In order to create a fighter that would fill the needed specifications quickly, it was determined that it would utilize a pre-existing airframe. The NKO selected the Petlyakov Pe-2 – a twin-engined light bomber – to be modified, and within 4 days

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7228-595: The Grushin Gr-1, Mikoyan-Gurevich DIS , Polikarpov TIS , and the Tairov Ta-3 ; were proposed, but never moved beyond test stages. Like other military types, piston-engine heavy fighters such as the de Havilland Hornet and Sea Hornet , as well as the North American F-82 Twin Mustang continued in service in the years immediately after the war. All were developed at the end of World War II for use in

7367-593: The Pacific theatre, though none reached operational squadrons until after VJ day, the Hornet in 1946, the Sea Hornet in 1947 and the Twin Mustang in 1948. 4th-generation and 5th-generation air superiority fighters are designed to wrest air superiority from the enemy in hostile territory, and thus usually have greater range than tactical fighters or interceptors. They therefore typically have two engines, and often carry

7506-646: The Petlyakov Design Bureau switched production over to a Pe-3bis with further minor modifications; no name or designation change was made. A reconnaissance variant, with an onboard camera system and greater range was also produced in small numbers; This variant was often referred to as either the Pe-3R or Pe-3F. The Pe-3 and Pe-3bis would serve as the only widely fielded heavy fighter of the Soviet Air Forces during WWII . Other heavy fighter designs; such as

7645-636: The Potez 631 was the Flottille F1C of the French Naval Air Arm . Between 10 and 21 May 1940, aircraft of the flottille shot down 12 enemy aircraft in exchange for 8 of their own losses prior to its withdrawal from active combat. The reconnaissance variants, the Potez 637 and 63.11, equipped numerous Groupes de Reconnaissance of the French Air Force, with more than 700 reconnaissance Potez 63.11s having been delivered. The Potez 63.11 suffered

7784-573: The RAF's first night fighters. More successful was the Bristol Beaufighter , started in 1938 as an interim aircraft to cover for delays in introduction of a cannon-armed fighter (the Westland Whirlwind). The Beaufighter design reused major portions of the earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber . Armed with six .303 inch (7.7 mm) machine guns, four 20 mm cannon and rockets, bombs or torpedoes,

7923-660: The St. Helena Annex, Bunch departed Norfolk on 20 December 1944 in company with Hopping  (APD-51) to escort the transports Anne Arundel  (AP-76) , Dorothea L. Dix  (AP-67) and Lyon  (AP-71) , to the Canal Zone. Arriving in Panama on Christmas Day 1944, she transited the canal the following day, reported to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, for duty and ultimately reached San Diego on 3 January 1945. Underway for Hawaii on

8062-624: The Standard Shipbuilding yard in San Pedro . She was just finishing those repairs in mid-August when the war with Japan ended . The warship completed post-repair trials late in August, fueled and provisioned early in September and set sail for the western Pacific in company with five other fast transports on the 6th. At 0130 on 10 September, Bunch' s air search radar picked up emergency signals, and

8201-442: The Twin Mustang. Apart from the P-38 and P-61, other mid-WWII projects included the proposed Curtis XP-71 . It was an exceptionally large heavy fighter, intended to serve as a long-range escort fighter and bomber destroyer. Its design was based around a 75 mm cannon capable of destroying large heavy bombers with one hit, but interest in the project waned and the 83 ft (25 m)- wingspan aircraft did not progress beyond

8340-408: The USAAF to compete for the contract ; the Curtiss-Wright XP-87 Blackhawk and the Northrop XP-89 Scorpion . While the XP-89 would eventually emerge as the winner, due to multiple issues with both competing aircraft, the first Scorpions would not reach operational Air Defense Command interceptor units until 1951. With no other night interceptors to call on from 1945 to 1951, the P-61 Black Widow

8479-417: The United States. The Twin Mustang, while appearing to be simply a ‘ twinned ’ P-51 Mustang, actually only shared less than 20% commonality of parts with the original Mustang. Initially intended as a long-range escort fighter for Boeing B-29 Superfortress strategic bombers attacking the Japanese home islands , it would become operational only after the Japanese surrender . Originally designed in 1943, it

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8618-431: The afternoon of 29 March, she carried out a reconnaissance of the "White" beaches the results of which indicated no need for demolition work there. Accordingly, Bunch retired to seaward and resumed screening until needed elsewhere. At 0645 on 30 March, the high-speed transport left that duty and steamed toward the "Orange" beaches. Lying 5,800 yards off the objective, Bunch put her boats in the water at 0905 and retired to

8757-408: The afternoon of 4 April, Bunch steamed to Kerama Retto where she relieved Gilmer  (APD-11) as flagship for TG 52.11 comprising all fast transports present in the Okinawa area. At 1600, the warship departed Kerama Retto to rendezvous with Estes  (AGC-12) east of Okinawa for a conference on board the command ship. Bunch then screened Estes until 2300 when she received orders to patrol

8896-422: The aircraft's forward-facing armament at night temporarily blinded the pilots, crews complained about a lack of frontal armor, and heavier armament in general was requested. Ground crews would rectify two of these issues on their own; flash-hiders were installed on the forward armament, and RS-82 and RS-132 rocket launchers were sometimes mounted for ground-attack missions, while a DAG-10 aerial grenade launcher

9035-430: The army ordered continued improvements such as switching to 805 kW (1,080 hp) Mitsubishi Ha-102 engines. This craft, designated Ki-45 Kai , was completed in September 1941 and was officially adopted for use by the army in February 1942 as the "Type 2 two-seat fighter". The prototype of a single-seat fighter variant, the Ki-45 II , was also built; development continued under the designation Ki-96 . The Ki-45

9174-413: The attack. This was the type's only operational mission over France as two days later the 633 was withdrawn from front-line service. The day/night fighter variant, the Potez 631, had quickly proved to be an ineffectual interceptor; it was slower than some German bomber aircraft and 130 km/h (81 mph) slower than the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-variant fighter. Perhaps the most successful unit operating

9313-557: The belief that " The bomber will always get through ", Britain lagged behind in heavy fighter development. Apart from the Westland Whirlwind and the high-altitude Welkin , both built only in modest numbers (the former due to lack of engines, the latter due to changed requirement), the Royal Air Force 's wartime twin-engined fighters were all adapted from contemporary bombers . During the Battle of Britain, Bristol Blenheim bombers were fitted, as an interim measure and in utmost secrecy, with radars and ventral gun packs, turning them into

9452-517: The chosen powerplant for B-29 bombers it did not enter service. Post-war, the Grumman F7F Tigercat was the first twin-engine fighter aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy, using two Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp radial engines, achieving a top speed of 460 mph (740 km/h). It was among the fastest piston-engine aircraft ever built, and heavily armed with four 20mm M2 cannon and four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning AN/M2 heavy machine guns, with hard points for bombs or

9591-544: The cockpit, and often propulsive exhaust stacks. Soon after entering service, the Ki-45 was assigned to home defense, and several were dispatched against the Doolittle raid , though they did not see action. The craft's heavy armament proved to be effective against the B-29 Superfortress raids which started in June 1944 . However, its performance was insufficient to counter B-29s flying at 10,000 m (32,800 ft). Modifications such as reduction of fuel and ordnance were attempted to raise performance, to little avail, and in

9730-404: The convoy near the western beaches of Okinawa and set sail for Ulithi. The convoy reached Ulithi just after noon on the 30th, but Bunch returned to sea on 1 May and made Guam early on the 2nd. There, the warship disembarked UDT-21 and then enjoyed an availability between the 3rd and the 17th, while her crew enjoyed recreation parties ashore whenever the work allowed. Bunch sailed for Okinawa on

9869-491: The decision was made by the Air Force to re-designate the Bréguet 690 as the Bréguet 691, and to utilize it as a ground-attack aircraft. The 691's engines proved unreliable in testing, and the decision was made to mount new engines on the design, which was finally designated as the Bréguet 693. Few 693s were completed before the Nazi German invasion , however, enough were completed to see some action. The 693 made its combat debut on 12 May 1940 when twelve 693s were sent to attack

10008-500: The early 1950s. There is sometimes a confusion in the different subtypes. The information below is based on Japanese work, not on usual 'western' data. Even the NASM claims that the Ki-45 on display is a hei (c) type whereas Japanese press would read it is a tei (d) type nightfighter version with dorsal armament. Total production : 1,691 or 1,701 units. Only one Ki-45 KAIc remains today. It

10147-680: The effort as impractical in the late 1930s. Twin-engine designs such as the Tupolev ANT-29 or Petlyakov VI-100 were proposed, but never made it past the prototype stage, and the USSR entered World War II without a viable heavy fighter. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Soviet Air Forces were caught off-guard; with only lighter, single-engined, relatively lightly armed fighters to intercept Luftwaffe bombers, and no dedicated night fighters (a role typically filled by heavy fighters). After

10286-413: The end aircraft were used effectively in aerial ramming attacks. They were also used in kamikaze attacks, such as the attack on USS  Dickerson on 2 April 1945 off Okinawa. The commanding officer and 54 crew were killed when a Toryu clipped the stacks from astern, and rammed the bridge. A second Toryu hit the foredeck, opening a 7 m (23 ft) hole in the deck. The ensuing fires demolished

10425-409: The end of the month. On 1 July, the high-speed transport sailed from Okinawa, screening Auburn  (AGC-10) to Saipan , where the pair arrived on 5 July. From there, Bunch continued on alone via Eniwetok and Hawaii to the west coast of the United States. She made port at Oceanside, California , on 24 July and disembarked UDT-21 and its gear there. She then shifted berths to begin an overhaul at

10564-431: The fact that they were just out of range. One crashed the attack transport Henrico  (APA-45) , and the other started a run on Bunch but turned away when she opened fire. Instead, he tried to bomb Dickerson  (APD-21) but missed. At that point, he turned and crashed Dickerson . The fire on board Dickerson grew rapidly as Bunch maneuvered to help but was "fairly well under control" by 1930. Seeing that she

10703-471: The fast transport spent the week from 15 to 22 June at Ie Shima conducting demolition work. Bunch next participated in the assault on Kume Shima on 26 June. Once again, no enemy opposed the landings; and, after UDT-21 concluded its mission getting the LSTs safely into the bay and unloaded, the high-speed transport returned to Hagushi. She then resumed the demolition work at Ie Shima and remained so engaged through

10842-468: The fast transport unloaded cargo to be distributed to the variety of minesweeping craft operating there. She also made voyage repairs while her crew enjoyed liberty in the fabled Far Eastern city. Underway for Okinawa on 16 October, she returned to Buckner Bay on the 18th. In the next few days, Bunch assisted in the salvage of ships grounded by a succession of typhoons over the past weeks and loaded cargo for her return to Shanghai. Her LCPRs came in handy in

10981-444: The field, a small number of He 177 A-3s were also equipped with the 50 mm Rheinmetall BK-5 cannon in the undernose gondola. This unofficial modification was intended for use in flak -suppression attacks. A never-built A-3/R5 variant was also planned to mount a 75 mm Bordkanone BK 7,5 cm cannon. Five A-5 variants were built, armed with up to 33 spin-stabilized 21 cm (8¼ in) calibre rockets obliquely mounted (firing upwards) in

11120-458: The fighter under fire at a range of 700 yards and soon disintegrated his tail. The "Zeke" then went out of control, splashing into the sea 100 yards from the warship on her port beam. After returning passengers to Estes during the first dog watch, Bunch resumed screening and remained with Estes through the 7th and into the 8th. Leaving the screen at 1000 on the 8th, she delivered the TG 52.11 staff to

11259-569: The flight, and none were used by the Vichy Air Force in North Africa. In November 1942 with the German occupation of Vichy France , the remaining Bréguets were seized. Some had their engines removed for use in German aircraft, while others were passed on to the Italians, who used them as training aircraft. The Messerschmitt Bf 110 was a pre-war German fighter design to meet a RLM specification for

11398-452: The formation dissolved at 0500, and Bunch steamed to the line of departure to transfer UDT-21 liaison personnel to the "White" beach control vessel, PC-578. Passing south of the transport area and north of the LST area, she accomplished the transfer at 0616 and then cleared the area rapidly to avoid the waves of landing craft forming for the run to the beach. The warship screened the transports for

11537-505: The fuselage and a rearward-facing machine gun for defense. Numerous variants and sub-variants of the 63 series would be designed and produced, including day fighter , night fighter, reconnaissance , and light bomber variants. While the 63 series was primarily developed for the French Air Force and French Naval Air Arm , they would serve with numerous other nations, both Axis and Allied powers , via either pre- armistice sales by

11676-457: The fuselage, designed to break up and destroy the combat box defensive formations used by USAAF daylight bombers over Germany. Limited operational test flights were conducted with this variant, but they never made contact with the enemy; with the ever-increasing threat of Allied escort fighters, the variant was abandoned. Towards the end of the war, the Dornier Do 335 Pfeil was developed as

11815-403: The group carried out a search for the imperiled plane until receiving word of its safe return from the Commander, Hawaiian Sea Frontier . Bunch reached Pearl Harbor on the afternoon of 12 September. The following day, Bunch reported to Commander, Mine Force, Pacific (ComMinPac) for duty. Soon thereafter, she began loading five LCPRs equipped to sweep shallow-water moored mines and taking on

11954-546: The high-speed transport did not commence firing – on a plane that she identified as a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" twin-engined bomber – until 0110 on the 29th. Even then, the plane fell to gunfire from the ships astern, and Bunch secured from battle stations soon thereafter. Going back to general quarters for the dawn alert at 0525 on the 29th, Bunch spotted planes at 0605, but they remained out of range. Just seven minutes later, however, danger approached from an entirely different quarter. Her lookouts and SL radar operator picked up

12093-461: The high-speed transport sailed for Shanghai on the 19th in company with Velocity  (AM-128) , Threat  (AM-124) , YMS-259 , LCS(L)-58 and two other landing vessels – LC(FF)-45 and LCS(L)-22 – under tow by the larger minesweepers. Bunch served as convoy guide for the passage, which was undertaken to permit the two craft in tow to receive repairs. The high-speed transport and her charges reached Shanghai on 22 December, and Bunch spent

12232-509: The immediate post-war period and served until 1955. When there appeared to be a threat from German high-altitude bombers, the Westland Welkin was developed. This was a twin engine design with wide wings (70 ft (21 m)) to be able to intercept at 45,000 ft (14,000 m). The threat never materialised and Welkins did not see combat service. A contemporary design the six cannon armed Vickers Type 432 , which itself descended from

12371-576: The large-scale use of jet aircraft becoming commonplace, the United States Army Air Forces put forward technical specifications to the US aerospace industry, requesting both day and night interceptors . While the night interceptor technical specification did not specifically require jet power, it did place a minimum speed requirement of 503 mph (810 km/h) on the project, effectively necessitating jet power. By 1946, two aircraft were chosen by

12510-487: The late 1930s, Bell Aircraft of the United States designed the YFM-1 Airacuda "bomber destroyer". The design was heavily armed, particularly for a pre-WWII design, mounting two 37 mm (1.46 in) M4 cannons as her primary armament along with two .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns and two .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns for defense. A very large and unique airframe,

12649-556: The later marks of the Bf 110G series from 1942 to 1943 onwards as night fighters, serving as the primary aircraft of the Luftwaffe Nachtjagdgeschwader night fighter wings, using various versions of the Lichtenstein radar for nocturnal interception of RAF Bomber Command heavy bombers, as well as finding some use as ground-attack aircraft. The Me 210 and Me 410 Hornisse were all-new aircraft designs meant to replace

12788-514: The latter was the Gloster F.9/37 ; later development into a night-fighter was curtailed in 1941 so that Gloster's design team could concentrate on British jet fighter projects . The limitations of pure turret fighters (though the single engine Boulton Paul Defiant was successfully adapted as a nightfighter) and aerodynamics of multiple cannon installations in turrets (such as Boulton Paul P.92 ) curtailed introduction of designs into service. Perhaps in

12927-615: The men assigned to carry out the minesweeping operations. On 15 September, she embarked on the voyage via Eniwetok back to the Ryukyus. Bunch arrived off Okinawa on the 28th, just in time to rendezvous with Bibb (AGC-31) off Buckner Bay and form part of a typhoon sortie group. The high-speed transport remained at sea with that group until 1 October, when she finally dropped anchor in Buckner Bay. After loading more minesweeping gear and obtaining fuel and stores, Bunch sailed for Chinese waters on 6 October. Reaching Shanghai on 10 October,

13066-400: The more losses than any other French type. One factor contributing to the high losses was the near-complete lack of spares, rendering 70 63.11s unserviceable even prior to the German invasion; many aircraft were destroyed on the ground by enemy bombing and strafing attacks, and entire units were wiped out without conducting a single mission. In addition to the Potez 63 series, another aircraft

13205-631: The newly minted Petlyakov Pe-3 took flight. Numerous issues were identified with the Pe-3, primarily stemming from the added gun and cannon armament. Various improvements, workarounds, and modifications were tested to address these issues. The aircraft was placed under further scrutiny when it was issued on a trial-basis to the 95th High-Speed Bomber Regiment within the Moscow Military District in late 1941. The Regiment's experiences revealed further deficiencies not found during initial testing; Firing

13344-620: The next day. Completing the task at 1700, she cleared Kerama Retto at 1930 and took up patrol station R-7. Still patrolling her station 17 minutes into the mid-watch on the 31st, Bunch received word of an incoming air raid and reduced speed to 10 knots to hide her wake in the darkness. Not long thereafter, an enemy twin-engined bomber passed along her port side, some 150 yards away. Bunch opened fire with her .50-caliber and 40-millimeter batteries and went to general quarters, but no enemy plane attacked her at that time. Finally, her relief arrived at 0550, and Bunch proceeded with TG 52.13 to transfer

13483-521: The next eight months, the destroyer escort made six round-trip voyages across the Atlantic escorting convoys between New York and Derry , punctuating that work with refresher training at Casco Bay , Maine, and availabilities at Boston. On 28 July, Bunch began conversion to a high speed transport at the Naval Frontier Base, Tompkinsville, Staten Island . Redesignated APD-79 on 31 July 1944, she

13622-454: The next few days, retiring nightly to Okinawa to anchor, and finally wrapping up post-assault demolition work at Ie Shima on the 20th. After concluding the Ie Shima operation, the high-speed transport resumed screening duty off the Hagushi beaches on the 21st. That assignment lasted until the 25th when she received orders to join a Ulithi-bound convoy. Early the next day, Bunch rendezvoused with

13761-493: The night. Early the next day, Bunch returned to Ie Shima where she transferred some UDT-21 men to the beach control vessel, USS  PC-1603 , for duty guiding the assault boats to their assigned beaches. She then stood out to screen the transports. At 0811, she went to battle stations when she overheard reports of radar picket destroyers to the northwest battling heavy enemy aircraft attacks. At 0935, Bunch spotted two Nakajima B5N Type 97 "Kate" carrier attack planes closing

13900-460: The northern part of the island only to be re-deployed to the assault area where she remained at anchor through the night. The next day, she carried out the reconnaissance of the northern beaches, finding that heavy equipment could be landed there without any demolition work by the UDTs. On 7 June, the high-speed transport escorted a local convoy to Hagushi where, except for a fuel run to Kerama Retto early on

14039-410: The objective. She retired from the scene at 1637 to permit the other ships of TG 52.13 to do their own reconnoitering. After spending the night with the fire support night retirement unit, Bunch went to general quarters for the dawn alert at 0555 on 28 March. From her ringside seat, the fast transport observed Henry A. Wiley  (DM-29) splash two Aichi D3A "Val" carrier dive bombers and watched

14178-535: The remainder of the first day of the Okinawa landings and, after being relieved of that duty the following dawn, visited "White" beach for a conference between UDT-21's commanding officer and the beachmaster on post-assault demolition needs. Bunch then left the beachhead at 1500 and took up night screening station A-20. Around dusk, however, she went to general quarters after observing a small convoy under attack by five enemy planes. Bunch took two of them under fire despite

14317-545: The remainder of the month at moored to a succession of buoys in the port. In January 1946, Bunch moved to Taizhou , China, where she carried out minesweeping duties in cooperation with YMS-338 , YMS-329 , and YMS-366 before shifting to Wenzhou Bay to do a minesweep radar plot. At the completion of these tasks, the high-speed transport set out by way of Hong Kong to return to Okinawa. She entered Buckner Bay on 20 January and began loading Japan-bound minesweeping gear. Bunch reached her first Japanese port of call, Sasebo , on

14456-735: The rest for the Philippines . The convoy's Ulithi -bound portion parted company on 28 February, but Bunch remained with the Leyte -bound part and arrived in Tarraguna Anchorage near San Pedro Bay on 4 March. At Leyte, the warship began preparations to carry out her part in the invasion of Okinawa . After UDT-21 received a briefing on the mission ahead on the 7th, Bunch spent the period 9 to 13 March engaged in exercises at nearby Homonhon Island with seven other high-speed transports and some landing craft. Later, she took part in landing rehearsals on

14595-428: The rest of the 10th on an auxiliary radar picket station. That same day, Bunch received her orders for the scheduled capture of Ie Shima . On the 11th, she rejoined Panamint to deliver the TG 52.11 staff to confer on the Ie Shima operation and then reembarked UDT-21. Preparations for the Ie Shima mission continued on the 12th, but Bunch finally set out for the objective early on the 13th. Between 0830 and 1100 on

14734-451: The salvage operations despite the effort required to remove and then replace their specialized minesweeping gear. After nearly a week engaged in salvage duty, Bunch got underway for Shanghai on 26 October. She reached her destination on the 28th and spent the rest of October and the first week of November undergoing voyage repairs alongside Dixie  (AD-14) . On 8 November 1945, Bunch departed Shanghai for Hangzhou Bay , where she led

14873-486: The same requirement. An advanced design crewed by a lone pilot, the P-38 performed best in the Pacific theater where its long-range proved a pivotal advantage. This range allowed a team of sixteen early P-38 models to intercept and kill Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto while he was traveling aboard a transport aircraft. The P-38 proved adaptable enough to undertake multiple roles including escort fighter, reconnaissance (as

15012-448: The same round with minimal change in weight or size) compared to the AN/M2's 750-850 rounds per minute, a roughly 60% increase in rounds per minute. The first XP-82 prototype was equipped with a removable centerline gun pod housing eight additional .50 caliber M3 Brownings, but this did not feature on production aircraft. A separate centerline gun pod containing a 40 mm (1.6 in) cannon

15151-471: The screen into the 6th, when she received orders to rendezvous with Eldorado  (AGC-11) off Okinawa's western beaches for a conference on board that ship. She remained close by during the conference and, at 1605, received a report of enemy planes in the area. While anti-aircraft fire blossomed in the sky on her port quarter, Bunch spotted a Mitsubishi A6M5 "Zeke" carrier fighter on her starboard quarter at long range. Her starboard 40-millimeter guns took

15290-472: The second crew-member. Prior to the Nazi German invasion of the Netherlands , the G.I was actively involved in air-border patrols in order to ensure neutrality and the integrity of Dutch airspace. On 20 March 1940, a G.I forced down an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley from No. 77 Squadron RAF when it strayed into Dutch air space. On 10 May 1940, when Nazi Germany invaded, 23 G.I aircraft were serviceable. In

15429-487: The ship, and after the surviving crew was rescued by fellow fast transports, destroyer escort Bunch and destroyer-transport Herbert , the ship was towed out to sea and scuttled. In 1945, the forward and upward-firing guns showed some results with the commencement of night time bombing raids, but the lack of radar was a considerable handicap. By the spring of 1945, the advent of American carrier-based fighters and Iwo Jima -based P-51s and P-47s escorting B-29s over

15568-454: The ship. Machine gun fire from the fast transport stopped the craft dead in the water, however, and its crew jettisoned the explosive charge which immediately blew up. Bunch altered course to capture the suicide boat's crew, but a nearby destroyer "eradicated" both boat and swimmers with a well-placed 5-inch shell. After reporting the incident, Bunch resumed patrolling until detached at 0730 to await word to execute her pre-landing mission. In

15707-679: The skies of Japan brought the Ki-45's career to an end. The next version, the Kawasaki Ki-45 KAId , was developed specifically as a night fighter , which was supposed to be equipped with centimetric radar in the nose; due to production difficulties, this did not occur. The aircraft took part in night defense of the Home Islands and equipped four sentais from the autumn of 1944 to the war's end. They obtained notable successes, and one Ki-45 sentai claimed 150 victories, including eight USAAF B-29 Superfortresses in their first combat. The Ki-45

15846-686: The strategic bomber force, the 27th FEW was to fly these missions in F-82Es. During the start of the Korean War , the F-82 replaced the F-61 Black Widow as the USAF's night interceptor in the Far East Air Forces . The Twin Mustang was utilized in the night fighter-interceptor and fighter-bomber role early in the war, and it scored the first US aerial victory, with Lt. William G. "Skeeter" Hudson, USAF, scoring

15985-446: The test flights, however, did not meet the army's expectations. The Ha-20 Otsu engine was underpowered and failure-prone, while the airframe suffered from nacelle stall . The Ki-45 did not enter service, but the army, insistent on having a working twin-engine fighter, ordered Kawasaki to continue development. Kawasaki responded by replacing the engines with the proven Nakajima Ha-25 . Flight tests were promising. In October 1940,

16124-402: The transport area at low speed. One approached from the northeast, and Bunch joined the nearby transports in splashing that attacker promptly. Thereupon, the second "Kate" fled to the south but fell victim to a Vought F4U Corsair . The warship retrieved the men from UDT-21 late in the afternoon watch and then returned to the Hagushi anchorage. Bunch continued to support UDT-21's operations for

16263-406: The transport screen later in the day, Bunch left TG 52.13's formation early in the first dog watch for a high-speed observation sweep of the objective beaches – White 1, 2, and 3 – on Okinawa . Delays in sweeping the waters off the beaches for mines and the consequent crowding of heavy fire support units on the outer edge of the unswept area prevented Bunch from getting closer than five miles to

16402-740: The war, the G.I survived only to be eventually scrapped after 1945. There are no surviving G.Is today, although a replica has been built, and is now displayed at the Dutch Nationaal Militair Museum (National Military Museum). In 1934, the French Ministry of Air issued a specification for a new two or three-seat multi-role fighter, capable of functioning as a bomber escort and night fighter, as well as providing fighter direction (leading formations of single-engine fighters to their targets). The specification also required, at minimum, two forward-facing 20 mm cannons, as well as

16541-483: The wings. 1,675 Ki-45s of all versions were produced during the war. The first production type ( Ko ) was armed with two 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Ho-103 machine gun in the nose, a single Type 97 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon in the belly offset to the right, and a trainable 7.92 mm (0.312 in) machine gun in the rear cabin; this was followed by the Otsu with the lower 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon replaced by

16680-456: Was "receiving considerable structural damage" alongside the stricken ship, Bunch pulled away but sent a fire and rescue party over in one of her LCPRs. In the meantime, UDT-21 swimmers used their rubber boats to rescue many of the Dickerson survivors forced over the side by the flames. Back on board Dickersion where the fire had burst forth again, Bunch ' s fire and rescue party – aided by

16819-950: Was a Buckley -class destroyer escort of the United States Navy , named after Kenneth Cecil Bunch, killed in action on 6 June 1942 while flying as radioman-gunner in an SBD Dauntless dive bomber during the Battle of Midway . Bunch was a native of Norman County , Minnesota . Bunch was launched on 29 May 1943, by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company , in Bay City, Michigan , sponsored by Mrs. Kenneth C. Bunch, widow of Aviation Radioman Kenneth Cecil Bunch ; and commissioned on 21 August 1943. After fitting out, Bunch departed Southwest Pass on 12 September 1943. She proceeded via Key West, Florida , and carried out her shakedown training near Bermuda until 15 October when she set course for Boston . Following post-shakedown availability at

16958-557: Was also fitted out as a flagship during the 11 weeks of modifications. She completed conversion on 12 October and departed New York on the 13th. Steaming first to Hampton Roads and thence up the Chesapeake Bay , Bunch briefly visited Annapolis, Maryland , before she began training duty in the Bay. Between 23 October and 10 December, Bunch helped to prepare 11 other crews for their service in high-speed transports. Following an availability at

17097-451: Was ample room to install airborne intercept radar systems as well as heavy armament. Bombers utilized in such a role included the Junkers Ju 88 and Ju 388 ; the Heinkel He 219 ; and the Dornier Do 215 and Do 217 . In addition to light and medium bombers, the Luftwaffe experimented with the concept of a Grosszerstörer ("large destroyer"). Different armament packages were tested on

17236-489: Was charged with protecting American airspace from the growing threat of Soviet strategic bombers . The P-61 would be re-designated as the F-61 in 1948. With F-61s no longer in production post-war, they were usually replaced with the newer F-82 Twin Mustang once they became unserviceable. The F-82 Twin Mustang was America's last heavy fighter design as well as being the last American piston-engined fighter ordered into production by

17375-401: Was completed. She remained there until the 11th when she and survey ship Pathfinder  (AGS-1) conducted a reconnaissance of Naha Harbor , followed by the necessary charting and demolition operations. She completed that assignment on the 14th and then shifted to Kerama Retto for logistics before starting similar work at Ie Shima. Except for a trip to Hagushi on the 19th for more explosives,

17514-540: Was considered, but was never built. The outer wings were reinforced to allow the addition of hard points for carrying additional fuel or 1,000 lb (450 kg) of ordnance. The F-82E was the first operational model and its initial operational assignment was to the Strategic Air Command 27th Fighter Wing (later re-designated the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, or 27th FEW) at Kearney Air Force Base , Nebraska in March 1948. With no long-range jet fighters to escort

17653-512: Was developed from the original 1934 heavy fighter specification. This was the Bréguet 690 , designed and manufactured originally by Bréguet Aviation . While the Bréguet 690 was not selected to serve as France's primary heavy fighter, the French Air Force's command staff was still intrigued by the sturdy and versatile design. By 1938, with France falling behind in ground-attack/close-air support aircraft,

17792-484: Was in contrast to light fighters, which were typically single-engine and single-crew aircraft. In Germany, these larger fighters were known as Zerstörer ("destroyers"). The heavy fighter was a major design class during the pre- World War II period, conceived as long-range escort fighters or heavily-armed bomber destroyers . Most such designs failed in this mission, as they could not maneuver quickly enough against single-engine fighters. Most notable among such designs

17931-539: Was initially used as a long-range bomber escort. The 84th Independent Flight Wing (Dokuritsu Hikō Chutai) used them in June 1942 in attacks on Guilin , where they encountered, but were no match for, Curtiss P-40s flown by the Flying Tigers . In September of the same year, they met P-40s over Hanoi with similar results. It became clear that the Ki-45 could not hold its own against single-engine fighters in aerial combat. It

18070-621: Was occasionally mounted in the tail. Most of the problems found during trials and operational field-testing would be rectified by the Petlyakov Design Bureau with the introduction of the Pe-3bis (Pe-3 'Improved'). Pe-3bis production began in April 1942, although 207 standard Pe-3s were produced in the intervening months. However, additional issues were again discovered with the Pe-3bis, and in May 1942

18209-409: Was officially accepted into USAAF service in August 1945. The design carried six .50  in (12.7 mm) heavy machine guns (HMGs) on the ‘center’ wing, between each fuselage, with three on each outboard wing as on the original Mustang design. The HMGs were also AN/M3s instead of the original Mustang's AN/M2 HMGs. The AN/M3 increased the rate of fire to around 1,200-1,300 rounds per minute (firing

18348-630: Was one of about 145 Japanese aircraft brought to the United States aboard the USS Barnes for evaluation after World War II. It underwent an overhaul at Middletown Air Depot , Pennsylvania, and was test-flown at Wright Field , Ohio, and Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C.. The United States Army Air Forces donated the Toryu to the Smithsonian Institution in June 1946. The fuselage only

18487-569: Was one of the most heavily armed aircraft in American service during the WWII-period. The P-61 was unofficially credited with the last Allied air victory before VJ Day . The P-61 was also modified to create the unarmed F-15 Reporter , a specialized photo-reconnaissance aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces and subsequently used by the United States Air Force . The F-15 Reporter

18626-556: Was subsequently deployed in several theaters in the roles of interception, attack (anti-ground as well as anti-shipping) and fleet defense. Its greatest strength turned out to be as an anti-bomber interceptor , as was the case with the Bf 110 in Europe. In New Guinea , the IJAAF used the aircraft in an anti-ship role, where the Ki-45 was heavily armed with one 37 mm (1.46 in) and two 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons and could carry two 250 kg (550 lb) bombs on hard points under

18765-574: Was the Messerschmitt Bf 110 , which suffered great losses during the Battle of Britain . An exception was the American Lockheed P-38 Lightning , which proved an effective heavy fighter; even against smaller, lighter, single-engine aircraft and particularly in the Pacific theater . Many twin-engine heavy fighters found their niche as night fighters , especially in the bomber-destroyer role; or as fighter-bombers , roughly analogous to modern strike fighters . Among such conversions

18904-585: Was the Northrop P-61 Black Widow , which was also the United States’ first dedicated night fighter, in addition to being the first aircraft designed to utilize radar . Armed with four forward-firing 20 mm (.79 in) AN/M2 cannons mounted in the lower fuselage and four .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning AN/M2 machine guns mounted in a remote-controlled dorsal gun turret (capable of firing forwards as well as rearwards for defense), it

19043-454: Was the Bf 110, which served as a relatively successful night fighter, ground attacker , and fighter-bomber for most of the war; and the Bristol Beaufighter , which emerged as a major anti-shipping strike fighter of the Royal Air Force . Some heavy fighters did find success; the de Havilland Mosquito , simultaneously developed as a light bomber , twin-engine fighter and photo-reconnaissance aircraft, excelled in its originally proposed role as

19182-493: Was the last piston-powered photo-reconnaissance aircraft designed and produced for the United States Air Force. The Reporter was also responsible for producing most of the aerial reconnaissance photographs of North Korea during the Korean War . The P-61 — redesignated as the F-61 in June 1948 — would also serve as a night/all-weather interceptor with the USAF's Air Defense Command (ADC) until 1951. In 1945, with

19321-531: Was to be replaced in the ground-attack role by the Ki-102 , but was not wholly supplanted by the war's end. Three Ki-45s fell into communist Chinese hands after World War II . Unlike most captured Japanese aircraft, which were employed in the training role, the three Ki-45s were assigned to the 1st Squadron of the Combat Flying Group in March 1949 and were used in combat missions. These aircraft were retired in

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