Targets!

This is coolbert:

From the previous blog entry regarding those supposed FLAK towers that might have been guarding the Dodge Chicago plant during the Second World War [WW2]:

"Closer examination seems to suggest and I am able to reasonably infer that THESE TOWERS MAY HAVE BEEN ACTUAL FLAK EMPLACEMENTS!"

"I am sure those towers giving from the top a total unobstructed 360 degree view of the surroundings, unimpeded!"

 "I am not sure but have my suspicions that at one time BOFORS 40 mm AAA guns sat atop these structures!"

American AAA [anti-aircraft-artillery] guarding that facility perhaps only second in priority to the Manhattan Project during WW2!

Guarding against what exactly? The German during WW2 did possess a long-range bomber aircraft that was capable of hitting targets within the continental United States - - the contiguous forty-eight states?

Such warplanes did exist in the inventory of the Luftwaffe and did pose a threat to targets such as Dodge Chicago [engines for the B-29 bomber] or the Metallurgical Research Laboratory at the University of Chicago [Manhattan Project]?

And the answer is EMPHATICALLY NO! All throughout WW2 the German DID NOT POSSESS SUCH A LONG-RANGE BOMBER AIRCRAFT!!

That is not to say that the senior commanders of the Luftwaffe did not appreciate the NEED for such a warplane, concepts, plans, projects, prototypes indeed having been developed - -  working and flying prototypes - - four and six engine long-range bomber aircraft of advanced designed having been flown during the war.

During the entire duration of the war, however, nothing more than that, concepts, plans, designs and some working and flying prototypes, but NOT a specific and imminent threat.

Warplanes, flying prototypes or projects on paper - - four and six engine long-range bombardment Luftwaffe aircraft:: "Heinkel He 277, Junkers Ju 290, and the Messerschmitt Me 264" - - all existing under the scheme known as: Amerika bomber.

A strategic long-range bombing force of four and six engine bomber aircraft NOT a part of Luftwaffe doctrine as developed PRIOR to the outbreak of WW2?

The Luftwaffe was conceptualized by senior commanders as a force the primary mission of which was to provide support for army units during a blitzkrieg attack. Flying artillery able to deliver bomb loads in support of those ground units in actual contact with the enemy, all done in furtherance of the operational art!!

[the Soviet Air Force during WW2 also functioned in a similar manner!!]

It is also worth noting that if and when the German at an earlier stage of the game [WW2], had indeed been able to "field" a force of four and six engine strategic long-range bomber aircraft capable of hitting North American targets, such missions as flown WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE-WAY ONLY!!

That range available without mid-air refueling would not have allowed for the German aviators to return to home base or any other airfields friendly or neutral.

[missions as flown from the Azores Islands were feasible for two-way missions if an when Portugal entered the war on the Axis side?? But only as a CONCEPT!]

Such long-range strategic bombardment missions of American targets being unfeasible DID NOT preclude the Luftwaffe high command from compiling a list of those American targets as perceived by the German as being most critical to the war effort - - the destruction of which would render the American war machine impotent and relatively harmless!

From the wiki that list of American targets is:

"Potential targets"

"Included in the plan was a list of 21 targets of military importance. Of these, 19 were located in the United States and the remaining two in Vancouver, Canada and the southern tip of Greenland. Nearly all were companies that manufactured parts for aircraft, so the goal for Nazis was likely to cripple American production of aircraft. The 19 targets are listed below by company and location."

* Aluminum Corp. of America in Alcoa, Tennessee
* Aluminum Corp. of America in Massena, New York
* Aluminum Corp. of America in Badin, North Carolina
* Wright Aeronautical Corp. in Paterson, New Jersey
* Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Connecticut
* Allison Division of G.M. in Indianapolis, Indiana
* Wright Aeronautical Corp. in Cincinnati, Ohio
* Hamilton Standard Corp. in E. Hartford, Connecticut
* Hamilton Standard Corp. in Pawcatuck, Connecticut
* Curtiss Wright Corp. in Beaver, Pennsylvania
* Curtiss Wright Corp. in Caldwell, New Jersey
* Sperry Gyroscope in Brooklyn, New York
* Cryolite Refinery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* American Car & Foundry in Berwick, Pennsylvania
* Colt Manufacturing in Hartford, Connecticut
* Chrysler Corp. in Detroit, Michigan
* Allis-Chalmers in La Porte, Indiana
* Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York
* Bausch & Lomb in Rochester, New York

NOT on the list is the Dodge Chicago plant or any facilities associated with the Manhattan Project. Luftwaffe intelligence and German planners woefully informed or negligent or a combination of both regarding those American targets of the highest priority, those THAT MATTERED THE MOST!!

coolbert.