Most improbable V1 kill

[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

[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.html

PS. 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.

[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...

[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.

[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!

[dcunning30]

Rocket, jet, rocket, jet......

Sometimes we slip up with our terms.  Ever pondered JATO?

[Hagar]

[quote]Rocket, jet, rocket, jet......

Sometimes we slip up with our terms.

[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)

[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.

[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...

[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.

[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).

[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...

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

...but Charlie, you're neglecting the fact that its at St. John's!




A.

[C]

...but Charlie, you're neglecting the fact that its at St. John's!




A.

Ah yes, so I am!