XXI Bomber Command Monthly Activity Reports, May 1945

8/8/2019 XXI Bomber Command Monthly Activity Reports, May 1945

1/13

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2/13

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3/13

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XXI l J O I ~ E R CONM.\ND

M0 N TB L C ACT 1 V1 T Y REP 0 R T


4/13

PJ.mI 1 - STUNGTR CD' T".c il: emil-LillI)1. Movement of unitsAll units Assigned o r a tta chod to iieal.quartore XXI !lomberCo..rOla.!l.d and the Brd , 313th and 314.th iJombardoent tTings have now arred in the Theate r. w it h the excep tion o f the 6a:Oth JOBb Squadron schduled to reach Tinian in June and the 509th Cooposito Group in July,and the 627th M.d G90th Chenlcnl. Co;;rooniee schoduled to roaah Guam inMq And June. All f l ight echelons of the 58th \:Ii!lG arc now in thetheater or B::lrOutO. ';Jut the tlovenont of f:,Tound personnol u l l l not "useocploted unt i l June. Ground p e r s o ~ l of t ....o boob and tvo Bonicegroupe and t111l6 Hoadquarters of the }15th ViOlg arc nolr in placo, w ithl:lOTltD8nt of personnel scheduled for coopletion 1)y 30 June. llbe 347tSsntee Group h now at Iva Jloe.. "'1th tba J48th So.n1oa Group .achDduled to arr ive ai:lout 18 May.2. Personnel Strenph

.1; the end of the oonth the litreugth of the Cor::JI.'lllnd in thetheater vaa 6915 officers and 35407 enlisted cent or a total of 43322


5/13

100 ,- ~ H O ~ U ~ R S ~ P : : E a ~ C e ! ' l U . l i ~

~ 1 0 80.088.

nK'_II. USE OF 5:29 AIRCRAFT AND CP.E.WS

Hours flown per ~ i r c r a f t UIri c r ~ w d e o r e a ~ c d ~ l i p ' h L l y infrca the March recorO.,t. As ahO"lfn in the tablc! a t th'J bot.tomof the page} ~ J ~ . ~ hours nerflown per assignbJ. c.lrcrr i ' tdurilli the .:.lonth cocparvi. tl')1l.4.9 haUl's l:urlng March. Tplump-d figure 1m3 110. D:-clU".41ng .ircraft au::! i.ime ofthe 58th Bomb ~ i r ~ } which ~ R not scheduled for operationshut fieri" it:J oun aircraf t thl a s t fe" oay:; 01 tl':r.e zwnth,the April fil:.ure \'16.E ..t..08.5.10% of ~ l . p : r l l flying time wasutll i :Kd fo1' training purposcompared to 9% in ~ . a r c h , 21%in Fao:'uarj nd I7/. in JanU3J'y. A cC:i'lpnrison ofi11ngs 5 h o ( l ~ tLo J1.4th Wing

1. I:ours2o::n :E."r B-29 Ait'Craft an::.. Crews

60

so


6/13

J4

?tAReH APRIL

5

SORTIES PER CREri6,...-.:..:.:..:.:....:.-=7:.,r.:=--2. sorties Per Aircraft ani Crew

2

4

IlARCH APRIL

6

SORTIES PEil Ale8 r : : - - . . . . : . . . . : : . : : . . . . - ; ; ~ c . . : : . . . . . - - ,


7/13

--W I I I I , w.lllI'EtiAWE AS IT AFTlr.'I'S USC OF AIRC!V\FI

20

15

10

The con tinua tion o f th e high uti l ization of aircro.ft d U E ' l ~April , p n v i o u s ~ discussed, is i t se l f evidence of J:Wintemnco ef f i c i -eocy. In addition, the a1rcra.ft abort rata did no t imronse but rema1Ded lfQbetontial1y unchanged {See port IV}. S t i l l another factor liaS thathia utilization wes maintained despite nn increase in the aircraftduage rate to 17.1% of t'.1rcraft bcmbing compa..red to 8.9%, for March.Am further, tho percE:int of airborne ah'C>:"L.ft which aborted for mechaDieel reasons continued i t s stoEl.d;y decline. As shown in th e chart belOWth is per...:entage wns now otll.1 4.6%. a decrease of 14.4% since the beginnir.g of I38.jor operations to the Japanese mnlnJanL

The percent of nasignbd aircraft non-oporntional Q"aiting portroached t l record low of 1.3'; in April ccmparod to 4.2% in March and 4.5%W ; R ~ l = t c ~ C J r J 1 ' 1 l 1 } in Fobruary. Despite th is , hoever, an anlysis of stock leve(sea wSix Months Projection ofCombat Effort and Loglsticnl Rquirements," dated 15 April) rveals that operations may beseriously h i n d ~ r e d in the nearfuture unless required stocklevols are iomediately estnbli

...-0 t.o tnke cor; of tho inc reascombat effort .


8/13

ilARCH APRIL

406080

100 , _ . . . ! : . . = : : : . ; : : : . . : ~

pm IV. IlI7ECT1VENESS OF liIlCRAFT ON M1551016

o ~ : Y l f - : T : : o ; : + r ~ ~ + ' J f L j1 ) 73 J1J J14MARCH APRIL

6080

1 . Percent of A1rborDa Aircraf t Bombigg100 r__ ::.$...:llOIlB:;::;::;;IIIl=-.:Pc::R1IlARI=_-,9".282.8 8).2


9/13

a1. D9,truction cf . 1 Q . . ' ' ' . E ~ ! : fDuring the m o n ~ h the c.: .:.da7l1ght Q . t t l l c k ~ ngainst lnU.i ..... ~ ~ ~ a . l . : : .. p c - r ~ n n n e d four ni"t.t and sevet ta k 1 t Vl..lutl.! .,,OJ J .. t '" tar t thra C 8 o.ga fIB urbnn (l'rec.s t'tu f1 . - ..1....... g: 3 , t10 rt ghttUODJ tho:.: CCGIIUBi conducted 63" ~ ,-,.: t m i n i ~ missions. !n :-.ddor A2$ of thE' total sortte ( j f f o ~ Y /:u;",l...:".a,;,ks, toUline 1 ~ 9 ~ s....rt

t1&lds in Kyushu ani tihikoku 1 0 . . . . 1n t h ll.goihBt vo.rlc'.b Illr-was the f i ra t moDth in the b i S ~ ; u p ~ r : a of tactical operations. Thiproportion of the CCtlbat ef fo r t Y di c Commard in which SUf'b a lnto tho a u p ~ o r t of tact ical o p t . r o . ~ n s . verted i'r(lll straugic ~ b l ~As dE:ltaUed on tha "Hlghli .....t nt h 1 ~ r&port., over 20 G" S page a t the btiglrm1ng ofDeatruetiOIl. to I n t i v i ~ c miles of urOOn areAS were burned out.p r l o r l t ~ .. targets YlnS sa follOfls:6. Mltsubishi C,nglne Plant, Nagoya _ 6,2% d8maed for atotal of 9 1 ~ % to do.to.b. Itorlyuma ~ h ! D i c a l Plnnt - 73% of roof nt'e;}& d 8 1 t . : . ~ l .c. Hodacaya l,,;hl::lmical IndUHtry - 59% damaget:i.d . Shizuokn ~ i r c r n f t Engioo PJant - 49% damaged.e . Rlknjimtl. :.fusllshino Alc Flar..t - 44% damuged for a tu ta lof 48% to date.f . Tachilulri. Aircraft Co. - -.....3ii dc..mngcd . .g. Hakajima Kouumi .I01.rcruft. t:o. _ 10% damaged.


10/13

wi tbiD 1000 fl'Jet of un A l ' - t.. . ~ no nppU hl..s made of ~ u c h .tJr:1etion1u ~ { J l D J , plot tocu o. CONlequently, an nactual lIPI from. the ill'sirn...Vl :.tP!. It wtl.S ll.5certo.ln the detiation 0'the IlMUI.D range c't"ror ras "'JO '". "1 !Ourrl. that for 38 ft ,- , tectivt.>ly. Hence lobe. 3l.!.th IVi hod

too incrtKL6


11/13

I YYh'r ut MISSIPNS.' l WCrIli't ,E ern Lo.S4IiA1rcrcJ't and ..crew 10G8 r a t . ~ s l ~ r c Q s c d in April ani tor the

tu . t ua-, caoro craws were lost during a month thc.n airer&ft. The ac ra t t lo . s Ttlte was 17.J%- of U.E. cOUlpared to 14.l% l.aet JDonth an::\. anAA1 planD1ng fnctor ot 16%. Tho C ~ loss rate "as 19.)% of U.E. CISpared to 1 1 . ~ l a s t month am an AAF pl..anntng fnctor of 15):. The ~ u b stamiaJ. increase in crew losses was due in large: pnrt to rcelnssifleat ion and. reoreanization at lm1v1due.l crw ClOlQOOrs, hospltalblltlotl,aDi transfers to stntr positions.

~ e ~ 8 ~ on a 8 ~ t i e baail:l, 1.6% of nirborne j.ircratt 1JOt9 ~_.-pored to l ' . ~ 1m !lArch ) . 2 j \ , ~ F . h r ~ . ..zrI 5.5l:'tn"Jii\!hcry." T h . 1085 rate was 1.4% in .Il.prh CClmp41't.'C! t.o 1.O,J In Marchi 2.5$ In :et1Zl.lcni " 2 . ~ In Jc.nutlry. The prbbnbillt)i ' 6r- 'dcpletlon of cr'\7 lnvet:torbwith' the b e C i n n 1 u g . ~ o f r o ~ t i c i D . has already been discussed. With e. tr.t ~ more losses of crews t o . r c o r g c n i ~ n t i o n , rclassi!ic&tioD .etc . , i t 16 c..pparent that thEi prest:nt ruto of effort ~ c oot bo ulntaeci for the long tel'll urxier AAF at t r i t ion plannirlg factors. The meret ac t of thes.:.: irr:reascd losses to such reasons, of COt1rs." wtl.S i teelfcvid81lC8 of the tenderry to be expect-ad frOtl tho high uti l ization orcombat crews caused. by the low crew to 'i:-crnft retio.

Enemy action r.aa the chi!:!f cause for :.:.lrcruf't losses duringAprU. Ali sh;"'n in Appetxiix: A, urban areu strikes r ~ s u l . t e d in the la t losses to our aircraf t . A breakdown of causes for i l l 10ti8e6 dm


12/13

C(lMP.-AISOli OJ N t ~ S I O N STaTISTICS ?OR APRIL ACCORDING TO TYPJ: or MISSIon

'l'n>e of :" ". lfumber of llumber :tfumber Bombing Altitude il.ircratt o f Airborne -Mission. '_ l U s s l o n s Airborne ;QQt:>J.!.in.K Lost Aircraft_Lost DBIGlI'l 0ItUll ........ 3 692 641 8250 to 9050 20 2 . D.l.1LIGll'l PBlOlllft ut.am 7 838 759 7975 t . 20500 13 1 . 1IlCH1' PitOUTl 4 366 333 6450 t . 7940 8 2.2j!\JIUUQ 1'"lGB71 5 57 45 5600 to 6980 0bu t 1 ra.ld 26.].00'UC"lIe..t.:. BUfi'OI:r (IUJ) 63 1390 1267 13500 to 18125 12 O . n ~

TO"''' 82 3343 3045 53 1 . 5 9 ~ 16

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13/13

'IX ilj"W-BtMoaJ(f OJ' JlA.DS J'ROM WISSIOJllS TO J.AP.A::J.

HOV DEC JAJI FED !WI A- - - -Ale BOlllbinc Primary Targe ' to Ale Airborne- 21% ~ 8 1l4% 50% 8 Ale Bombing All Targats to A/e Airborne- 19% 82% 8 2 8 1 9 3 9;"/C ~ l . c t 1 Y 8 to Al e Airborne 19% 8 3 8 2 8 1 9 3 9 Ale U O ~ t 1 o c t l T e for ~ Canasa to A/e Airborne 2 1 lr,S 1 8 1 7 ;,.fc 1ioDo-ltNocthil to r Mochnnieal Reason. tl? 4:/0 airborne 19.0% 1 4 . 1 ~ 1 2 . 3 ~ 1 . 4 ~ 4.1% 4I./e Lo.t or JatU. Damaged to A/e Over Target 8.6% 3 2 . ~ 39.1% 26.0% 1 0 . 3 ~ 18Ale Lo.t to Ale Airborne 1 . 4."; 5.1% 3 . 3 ~ 1 . 1Bow. nOVll. per Ale on Hand 58th V1nc 19.8 6(Adju.ted to ba.ia) 73rd \ltIll; 31.8 54.0 60.1 10.1 115.2 11131ath \ 1 1 ~ 23.0 49.0 54.0 105.0 10031 th Wing ~ f 2 121.4 115

I :Oomber Co-.nd 37.8 53.6 5G.1 3 f.iW" 105.C..ba t Sortles per Ale On Hand "58th lling.A4Jullbd to (l 3O-dq baa!") 73rd ~ f 1 n g 3.25 4.34 3.88 3.85 ~ . 2 0 7.3 1 ~ t h 'ling 1.17 '.21 6.31 th \ling . : 6. 77XI ~ o m b e r CoIllZll&.nd 3. 25 4:92 2.90 3.35 . I e lKlll.b1nc prlaar7 t d , . , and a ll t ar ph are compue4 to alrbcrM A/C. uclud...1n hOlllnc and 41vonlonat}" A/c.1fblch vere DOt upected to boab. AlO . . . . inc laI 'pU on Japanese bOltS hlazau 1& taken u ,h e near._' . . .-ur. aTallaUe r4 J.#J Oftf' ,i:arcet

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XXI Bomber Command Monthly Activity Reports, May 1945

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