Escort missions at night

[Chris21wen]

I've never used or even attampted to use the night escort mission. I've just tried it and the fighter never fly. Number of related questions.

Can escort really fly this missions at night.
Has anybody done it.
Was it ever done irl.

[Yaab]

The manual says:

Night air missions

Air operations at Night are limited to CAP and certain Offensive Missions. Escort is not flown at Night, and unlike during the Day, there is only one Air Phase. Each Air Group may be ordered to fly its Missions at Night instead of during the Day (the default).
Air units are not given Secondary Missions if flying at Night. In order to launch an Offensive Mission at Night, an air unit must have at least 6 ready aircraft and morale of at least 50. Target selection at Night is similar to the way it is done during the Day. It is much harder for CAP to intercept enemy airstrikes at Night. Night fighters are better than other plane types at intercepting enemy airstrikes at Night.

[Chris21wen]

Thanks, Appears I've got a reading problem

[JanSako]

I don't think 'escort missions' like daytime ones were a thing in WW2, but apparently a Search & Destroy type of missions flown just ahead of the bomber streams yes, at least over Germany.

It would be an equivalent of a night sweep, I imagine.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/ ... ever_used/

Japanese night interception doctrine & tech was... less advanced... than the German one so I would imagine this was a rare thing to do in the PTO.

[Sardaukar]

So called Night Intruders, that were hunting enemy night fighters, especially in Europe:

https://www.flightjournal.com/wp-conten ... unters.pdf

[Marauder11]

So called Night Intruders, that were hunting enemy night fighters, especially in Europe:

https://www.flightjournal.com/wp-conten ... unters.pdf

The RAF intruders would also fly in the bomber stream providing a kind of an escort. But your right, the most effective intruder missions were when the night fighters would ambush the Luftwaffe landing or taking off.

[Sardaukar]

https://www.amazon.com/Princes-Darkness ... 1903223954

Princes of Darkness is a unique illustrated account of the careers of Heinrich Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prince zur Lippe-Weissenfeld - two aristocrats who served with the Luftwaffe's night fighter force and whose lives were often interconnected.

Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (79 night fighter kills) was killed by night intruder Mosquito.

Interesting book anyways.

[Platoonist]

Frankly, since Allied bombers like the B-17 and B-24 do such a wonderful job of shooting their way through most Japanese fighters flying night CAP I've never seen the need for an escort.