… On Japan in 1946.
"America's long-anticipated invasion of Japan ultimately proved unnecessary – the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sure of that. Yet all throughout 1944 and 1945, Allied commanders were drawing up plans for the final assault on the enemy home islands. The campaign, which was codenamed Operation Downfall, would have been several times the size of the D-Day invasion, making it the largest amphibious attack in recorded history. And while much of the military hardware America planned to throw into the fight had already been proven on or above the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific, the U.S. military was also gathering a whole new generation of war machines for the epic onslaught. The arsenal included larger tanks, more powerful artillery, faster fighter planes and more devastating bombers. Here's a glimpse at some of this weaponry that (thankfully) never got the chance to see action in World War Two.
1. The Consolidated B-32 Dominator
Developed in tandem with the Boeing B-29, the B-32 Dominator was a four-engine, heavy bomber roughly equal in performance to that of the Superfortress. Unlike its much more famous cousin, B-32 faced a number of production delays related to its pressurized crew compartment. It only entered service in limited numbers by the summer of 1945. Capable of hauling a 20,000-pound payload nearly 4,000 miles (6,400 km) at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,000 m), the Dominator would certainly have seen action in the Pacific had the war continued into 1946. But with Japan's surrender in August, the manufacturer never got the chance to complete the 1,500 of the aircraft that were ordered by the U.S. military. Only 118 B-32s were ever built. None of them remain.
2. The T-28 Super Heavy Tank
The T-28, dubbed the "Super-Heavy Tank", was originally designed to plow across European battlefields and do battle with Germany's venerable Tiger II . But the Allies also hoped the massive armoured fighting vehicle would take part in the invasion of Japan too. Also known as the T-95 105mm Gun Motor Carriage, the T-28 was 36 feet long and weighed nearly 100 tons (more than three times heavier than the workhorse M4 Sherman tank). But without a rotating turret, it looked more like a self-propelled gun or a tank destroyer than a main battle tank. Due to its immense size and weight, the T-28 had a top speed of only 8 mph (12 km/h), not to mention an impractical combat range of less than 20 miles (32 km). But its heavy 300 mm armour would have made it all but indestructible in the Japanese campaign. Japan surrendered before T-28s could roll off American assembly lines in large numbers. In fact, only two models were finished by VJ day. One was dismantled shortly after Japan surrendered; the other was mothballed at a U.S. army depot in the years after the war. It was restored in 1974 and is now on exhibit at Kentucky's Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor…"
Full article here
link
Amicalement
Armand
's first experience with 1:4800 scale naval models.
