Were there any instances of a B-25 Mitchell sinking an Axis ship or destroying an Axis tank with a 75 mm gun?

Question

As you know, there was a variant of the B-25 Mitchell in WW2 armed with a 75 mm cannon. I recall seeing a photo of one in a WW2 book, but it was shown attacking a Japanese oil storage tank. I haven't seen much about that plane though Monogram had that model in the 1970s.

Wow, thanks to everyone who took the time to provide all of those exciting accounts!

Answer 1

This is a long read but should answer your question.

Answer 2

It was called the 'B-25G'. Here's one accounting from, http://www.aviation-history.com/north-american/b25.html

Wednesday, July 28, 1943 was a warm day off the island of New Britain in the Bismarck Sea. Three Japanese destroyers were steaming on course 280° over the flat, mirror like water at 20 knots. Suddenly a lookout called "aircraft, low off the port beam!". Another lookout identified the planes as American B-25 bombers, notorious for their "skip bombing" against destroyers. All guns were trained on the interlopers. Suddenly, while the aircraft were still more than a mile (1.6 km) away, a great geyser of water shot up close by the destroyers. The lookouts began frantically searching the sea; there had to be a ship close by with cannon aboard. But there was none! Suddenly, one of the destroyers was hit. It exploded in flames and sank in just a few minutes. Was it possible these aircraft had some new and diabolical weapon?

On the contrary; it was the very same old 75 mm M-4 field cannon used to rout the Germans in WW1! A few months before the incident, Colonel Paul Gunn of the US Fifth Air Force in Australia, had experimented with the installation of a 20 mm cannon in the nose of a B-25. Colonel Gunn, abetted by a North American Aviation Company Tech Rep named Jack Fox, sent the idea to North American in Inglewood, California where it was promptly taken a step further and worked into the installation of the 75 mm cannon.

Then came the installation of the 75 mm cannon. It required a crewman to load, fire and extract the casing. And when it fired it felt like the aircraft had "hit a brick wall", but with its 2.95 inch (75 mm) projectile, it could turn a tank into scrap metal and punch very large holes in Japanese destroyers and barges at a range of nearly 2 miles. The Japanese paid dearly for the ideas of Kenney and the ingenuity of Gunn.

Another site, http://www.acepilots.com/planes/b25.html , tells why the M4 75mm was replaced.
B-25G - The Big Gun
The "G" model featured a 75mm cannon in the nose, one of the largest weapons ever mounted in an airplane. After extensive testing at a secret base in California, the engineers made the idea work, but the B-25G was not very successful. While it could carry 21 rounds, aiming the big cannon was difficult, and it required a long "straight-in" run at the target. During this run, the aircraft was extremely vulnerable and could only get off four rounds. A number of B-25G's were modified by Pappy Gunn at the Townsville Australia Modification Depot, adding more machine guns and occasionally removing the 75mm cannon.

Answer 3

Very good question Bruce. Unfortunately, my answer is - I don't know. What I do know is that the 75 mm cannon was strictly a Pacific Theater adaptation performed by the plane's flight and ground crews only. Had many more innovative liberties in the Pacific than in Europe. I know that the 75 mm was not a cannon designed for that, or any, aircraft. It was originally a land based weapon. It was fitted in to many B-25s. It was not a rapid fire weapon - just one shot at a time. This would indicate it could pack a punch, but probably couldn't sink a ship in the time allowed for a plane to remain over the target. I interviewed many dozens of WW II Vets for a project in the 1980s. One B-25 crewman told me that in the Pacific, with all the 50 cals they installed firing forward, they could pump 90 pounds of lead in to a target per second. That's impressive.

Answer 4

I agree with Caretaker, but the B-25 with the 75MM gun was replaced with a later production variant of the aircraft B-25J, that actually was a better platform for the weapon, although it was often removed for Air-to-Ground Rockets, which were more accurate, did NOT require a long "run-in" to the target, and were an overall, simpler modification. I am not sure if the 75MM gun sank the Jap ships in the Bismark sea raid, or if (according to most reports) the combined "Skip bombing and multiple .50 caliber Mg's" (up to 10 Forward facing) caused the devastating destruction.
Good question though, and I have never actually seen a photo of any ship HIT by a 75mm aircraft fired weapon, and the B-25's in Europe I do not believe carried the weapon
P.S. the "axis" consisted of Germany, Italy and Japan, not just Germany

Answer 5

I never became very knowledgeable of the B-25. But I am of the B-29. I have the 1973 Monogram 1:40 scale of the 29 and a flying r/c B-29, The Monogram is the Enola Gay, and has the add ons for the Bocks Car

Answer 6

probable no longer. i'm assuming that the theaters of operation could be an identical length? Hitler made dissimilar strategic errors, the biggest of which became his invasion of the U.S. to previous due interior the three hundred and sixty 5 days (comparable mistake Napolean made). The Axis became unfold very skinny, we controlled the sea lines of verbal substitute and had far greater oil and steel. greater ships does no longer have helped them administration the sea, for the reason that they had an extremely limited variety of ports. and you may keep in mind, that Italy had an extremely good military on the beginning up of the conflict, yet they have been bottled up interior the Med. Geography and logistics play a great place in conflict. Oh yeah, and we had nukes till now Hitler could have, dumb pass scaring all the nuclear physicists away.

Answer 7

yes there has been