Page 1 of 2
Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:44 am
by gryshnak
This should have been posted yesterday but I forgot ::)
1944: Most improbable V1 rocket kill is scored by turret gunner of an RAF Grumman "Avenger" on anti-E-boat patrol over the English Channel - at night!
Gryshnak
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:55 am
by Hagar
Not heard that one before.
1944: Most improbable V1 rocket kill is scored by turret gunner of an RAF Grumman "Avenger" on anti-E-boat patrol over the English Channel - at night!
The V1 was not a rocket.
http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/V1_into.htmlPS. The Avenger was operated by the Royal Navy & originally known as the Tarpon. I can't find any record of it serving with the RAF.
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:17 am
by Flt.Lt.Andrew
....it used a pulse jet!
And the Wildcat was better known in the RN as the Martlet, yes?
A.
P.S thats pretty improbable...
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:17 pm
by HawkerTempest5
And the Wildcat was better known in the RN as the Martlet, yes?
A.
P.S thats pretty improbable...
Yes it was called the Martlet. It is true about the Tarpon and the V1. It flew over the Tarpon and the turret gunner shot it down. Just out of interest, the first USAAF aircraft to shoot down a V1 was a P-47 on ASR patrol.
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:43 pm
by C
....it used a pulse jet!
And the Wildcat was better known in the RN as the Martlet, yes?
...and the Hellcat was called the....
Hellcat...

I can't find any record of it serving with the RAF.
Should've done though... A beast of an aeroplane. Not quite RAF material though!

Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:27 pm
by dcunning30
Rocket, jet, rocket, jet......
Sometimes we slip up with our terms. Ever pondered JATO?

Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:42 pm
by Hagar
[quote]Rocket, jet, rocket, jet......
Sometimes we slip up with our terms.
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:47 am
by H
My point was that it would have been impossible for anyone to shoot down a rocket during WWII. There was no defence against the V2 at the time.
To be technical, that's too emphatic: it would have been highly improbable or, as a 19th century billiard player would say, a fluke shot (basically, accidental). 
8)
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:42 am
by Hagar
To be technical, that's too emphatic: it would have been highly improbable or, as a 19th century billiard player would say, a fluke shot (basically, accidental).

Not at all. I still say it was impossible.
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:43 pm
by C
Not at all. I still say it was impossible.
I agree. I can think of no defence against the
V2 in its time. Of course we now live in an age where missile can down missiles...
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:53 pm
by Hagar
I agree. I can think of no defence against the V2 in its time. Of course we now live in an age where missile can down missiles...
To elaborate for my pedantic friend H. However unlikely it might have been that they would even hit it, anyone bringing down a V1 was presumably aiming at it. Being a comparatively slow cruise missile it would be plainly visible & the engine made a terrible racket. This would not be possible in the case of the V2 rocket as it would have reached its target before anyone saw it or heard it coming.
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:59 am
by H
To elaborate for my pedantic friend H. However unlikely it might have been that they would even hit it, anyone bringing down a V1 was presumably aiming at it. Being a comparatively slow cruise missile it would be plainly visible & the engine made a terrible racket. This would not be possible in the case of the V2 rocket as it would have reached its target before anyone saw it or heard it coming.
...speaking of pedantic. If I'm aiming at something and hit it, it's no accident. No matter how my TI claimed my shots were lucky or that I must have had help, every shot found the target I was aiming at -- it was no accident; it is not the aim for an accidental shot to have struck it's unintended target. If it was decided to continually fire AA over London with the hope that a shot took out a V2 and such happened, it would not have been an accident, however unlikely (and a huge waste of dwindling resources).
To elaborate, we are not disagreeing about your ad-lib point that there was no sure defense against an in-flight V2. Even with today's technology, however, it is not impossible for a rocket to get past anti-missile defenses any more than it's impossible for said rocket to intersect the flight path of a cannonball shot at the steeple of St. John of the Improbable (or whatever). 
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:30 pm
by C
Even with today's technology, however, it is not impossible for a rocket to get past anti-missile defenses any more than it's impossible for said rocket to intersect the flight path of a cannonball shot at the steeple of St. John of the Improbable (or whatever). 
The displaced airflow of the rocket would probably make it unlikely that the cannonball would get close the the very fast moving rocket...
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:08 am
by Flt.Lt.Andrew
...but Charlie, you're neglecting the fact that its at St. John's!
A.
Re: Most improbable V1 kill

Posted:
Sat Jul 15, 2006 3:53 am
by C
...but Charlie, you're neglecting the fact that its at St. John's!
A.
Ah yes, so I am!
