Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

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Richard2020
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Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

#1

Post by Richard2020 » 19 Sep 2021, 21:38

In 1945 Kobe was attacked multiple times by US B-29 bombers, much of the city was destroyed. In was a prime target with naval shipyards, aircraft industry and railway repair shops. This was combined with a dense population, fire prevention with fire breaks was not enough to stop the fires started by massive incendiary attacks . This video shows the scale of destruction and it's aftermath. https://youtu.be/HMbJ1GMTMoE

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fontessa
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Re: Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

#2

Post by fontessa » 20 Sep 2021, 00:45

Richard2020 wrote:
19 Sep 2021, 21:38
In 1945 Kobe was attacked multiple times by US B-29 bombers, much of the city was destroyed. In was a prime target with naval shipyards, aircraft industry and railway repair shops. This was combined with a dense population, fire prevention with fire breaks was not enough to stop the fires started by massive incendiary attacks . This video shows the scale of destruction and it's aftermath.
https://youtu.be/HMbJ1GMTMoE
Kobe was bombed by b-29s and carrier-boarded aircrafts on a total of 83 days between the "Doolittle Raid" on April 18, 1942 and August 14, 1945, when the Potsdam Declaration was accepted.
Large scales:
March 17, 70 B-29s
March 25, 75 B-29s
May 11th 70 B-29s
June 5th, 350 B-29s
June 15th, 200 B-29s
June 26, 100 B-229s
July 7, 80 B-29s
July 24, 150 + 150 carrier-boarded aircrafts
July 25, 150 carrier-boarded aircrafts
Number of damaged houses 141,983
Confirmed dead 7,491, injured 17,002

The reds in the below map shows the bombed area of Kobe. The entire city was thoroughly destroyed.

神戸.jpg
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fontessa


Richard2020
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Re: Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

#3

Post by Richard2020 » 12 Oct 2021, 12:26

Interesting map, only a few scattered buildings remained in those "red areas", one of them the Kobe Tower.

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fontessa
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Re: Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

#4

Post by fontessa » 01 Jan 2022, 10:49

Does anyone know it?

神戸空襲_リトモザイク.jpg
神戸空襲_リトモザイク.jpg (105.3 KiB) Viewed 3348 times

It was called Litho Mosaic (probably spelled correctly, I know only Japanese リト・モザイク) and was used by US Air Force in WWII to probably communicate bombing targets to the crew.
What I know about it;
(1) It indicates the four bombing targets of the Kobe Air Raid on an unknown day.
(2) The numbers of the vertical axis represent latitude, and the horizontal axis represents longitude.
(3) The four white circles were added later for the explanations. Their center points show bombing targets.
(4) Litho Mosaics were created for the bombings of any city.

I'm interested in how it was used. I don't think the current position of the B-29 was shown like the monitor of a car navigation system. I guess it was used to enter the target point into the Norden bombsight... only my guess. No details are given on the Japanese website. I would be very happy if someone could let me know on the U.S. website that explains it.
TIA for any help.

fontessa

OpanaPointer
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Re: Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

#5

Post by OpanaPointer » 01 Jan 2022, 14:58

Have you inquired at the USAF historical site?
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

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fontessa
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Re: Kobe Japan and the B-29 raids

#6

Post by fontessa » 01 Jan 2022, 22:21

OpanaPointer wrote:
01 Jan 2022, 14:58
Have you inquired at the USAF historical site?
Thanks for the advice. I will try.

fontessa

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