PBYs too deadly

[rroberson]

When I think of the pacific war I think of kates swooping in and sinking ships. Dauntlesses bringing screaming death from 10K feet. Skip bombing 2 Es reigning fire and depth on japanese transports.

The one thing I dont think about is PBYs being the number one allied torpedo bomber.

Yet they are. It has become ridiculous how effective they are. In one of my games I have had to alter my strategy completly to account for them. WHich is hardly realistic and is rapidly becoming the mining everything anti history problem of AE. And while I dont consider my self a pacific war scholar. I am fairly certain that these beautiful planes were too lumbering to be such an effective anti ship platform.

Am I wrong here?

[Lifer]

I saw a documentary on the Military Channel recently about the PBY and they went through a mission where they were assaulting into anchorages where Japanese convoys were.  The documentary made it sound like a routine mission for the PBY.  Used bombs instead of torps though.  The mission they filmed did get hits on the ships.

[Laxplayer]

Not sure if you are talking about our game, as I know you have many ongoing at the moment. [;)]

I've used them to a limited extent in the PI and at Port Blair. I've found them to be very effective against unprotected convoys, which, IMO, they should be. Even though they are lumbering, the pilots in them are 50+ in torpedo skills. But I've also found even the smallest CAP shreds them and usually can keep them from firing on the ships... which is also as it should be.

Do you have another game going where this is not the case?

I can imagine sticking every torpedo-capable Catalina at a base with plenty of supply and an air HQ and set them all to naval attack might be a bit overpowered, but I haven't seen that, nor would I waste all those search assets in such a way.

[rroberson]

opps, I put this in the wrong forum


You have only started using them LA. Annoying, but its barely a pin prick.

One of my other opps (and he knows who he is ) used them from day one. It reached a situation where I had to route convoys far around the PI because they were so deadly on my shipping. It was insane. The explanition given was that they would only be that deadly until the torpedos ran out, which while certainly was the case, the effectiveness of these planes as a bomber really parallels to where the betty use to be in vanilla. I have spent an inordinate amount of time in that game hunting PBY bases, which, is kinda dumb.

[Oliver Heindorf]

aha, ranting rob is back in town [:'(][;)][:D]

[rroberson]

ORIGINAL: Oliver Heindorf

aha, ranting rob is back in town [:'(][;)][:D]

you miss a good rob rant once in a while and you know it. [:D]

[Cuttlefish]

PBYs actually were fairly capable anti-shipping platforms. They got their biggest use in this role in the Aleutians, I think, where they did quite a bit of damage. But as someone else pointed out they were not often used this way when enemy fighters were present because they were just too vulnerable.

[stldiver]

In the game they are very powerful, in one of my PBEM's we have agreed to a house rule of no using PBY's for torpedo attacks as they will fly against unprotected convoys at long range and as long as you don't send escorts they never will attack a protected (CAP) fleet. Thus to selective of a weapon.

In my other PBEM they are OK to use, but I have to make sure and protect convoys, any CAP and they do not attack. Unless they have escort.

Japan has the same advantage with their torpedo carrying aircraft. Except they must fly from HQ.

[Laxplayer]

PBYs need an Air HQ to carry torpedos as well. And I've had 4 Catalina's take an unescorted run at the Baby KB, as well as other shipping that had LRCAP over it.

[vonTirpitz]

During my first PBEM playing the Japanese, my opponent managed to get what seemed to be every (20+) PBY in the Philippines to coordinate a single torpedo attack the baby KB. My meager CAP just wasn't up to the task. [:(].

It was a rude awakening that luckily only put the CVL into drydock for a long time after nursing her back to port. It was an air battle that was unexpected the day after attacking Pearl (wish I had kept that combat log).

Keep a good CAP flying. As others have said, PBY's do not care much for enemy fighters (they aren't necessarily easy to shoot down but they can be fended against and damaged). [8D]

Now, if I could just figure out how to keep all those pesky Vildebeast and Swordfish torpedo bombers grounded the first week of the war the Pacific would be a cakewalk! [:D]

[wdolson]

PBYs have a low replacement rate and are fairly vulnerable to fighters.  If you use them up in the anti-shipping role early in the game, it will be a long time before your patrol squadrons are back to full strength.

That's the real reason they weren't used in that role, they were too valuable for search and too rare to expend attacking shipping except in special circumstances.

Bill