| Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu circles to avoid bomb hits from Flight 92, a Boeing (Lockheed-built) B-17E Flying Fortress composite group of the the 31st and 431st Bomb Squadrons, 38th Bomb Group, Seventh Air Force; led by USAAF Lieutenant Colonel Walter C. Sweeney, Junior. The enthusiastic but unexperienced B-17E crews claimed several hits, despite attacking without coordination and splitting up their fifteen planes against three targets. While they had several near-misses they did not score any hits. Aerial reconnaissance photos like this one were critical to identifying targets for later attack missions throughout the war. Only the heavy bombers like the B-17 and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator had the range in the Pacific to make long distance flights to gather intelligence. While high hopes were placed in this B-17 attack, high level bombing against ships was shown to not be an effective method. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1316.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.53 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 2747 |
| Photographer | Unknown |
| Photographer Title | 7th United States Army Air Froce |
| Caption Author | Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 04, 1942 |
| Location | 20,000 Feet Over Soryu |
| City | 20,000 Feet Over Soryu |
| State or Province | Battle of Midway |
| Country | Oceania |
| Archive | Library of Congress |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2007, ©2024 MFA Productions LLC Image in the Public Domain |
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