Up until the late-'80s, most air-dropped bombs were unguided ‘iron bombs’. Though there were guided bombs before (going back to German ones in WWII), they seemed to gain prominence during the Gulf War. There was quite a bit of ‘Wow factor’ accompanying the constantly-shown ‘bomb’s eye view’ video.
The thing I’m not sure about are the attachment points. I have a 100-pound practice bomb (empty, so it doesn’t actually weigh 100 pounds at the moment) that has two eyes on it for attaching to a bomb rack. I’d have to dig it out and measure the distance between the mounting points. I think they’d be too close together for a 2,000-pound bomb, but for all I know the spacing is the same. We had a large stockpile of bombs leftover from WWII. We may still have a number of them waiting to be used. So it’s a good bet that WWII bombs would fit right on the racks. I’d assume that the racks are adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of ordnance.
Of course ‘iron bombs’ are not as accurate as ‘smart bombs’. But the delivery platforms are much more accurate than most of the WWII types (dive-bombing was very accurate) and they modes of operation make them less vulnerable to attack. AAA is AAA, so they’re not invincible; but the aircrafts’ speed and ability to attack from deck-level to 40,000 feet gives the pilots some latitude.
Given how much we used in Vietnam, I suspect that any remaining WWII stocks were quickly expended there, and the oldest stuff in our arsenal by the '80s dated from the early '70s.
Interesting thread. Haven’t seen mentioned yet though the problem for the IJN of how they’re going to find the Nimitz to shoot at it. IJN radar detection was essentially non-existant in 1941. All the IJN is going to know is that their ships keep getting hit by these incredibly loud things that seemingly come from nowhere. Any recon airplane or ship is going to be detected by the E-2 at ranges way beyond possible IJN eyesight. Once detected, the recon platform will rapidly die from a Phoenix/Sparrow or Harpoon.
I-boats are a possible exception, if they’re not on the surface–as they would’ve been the vast majority of the time, if the E-2 doesn’t pick up the periscope on radar, and if the S-3’s sonobuoys don’t pick them up first. I don’t know—and it’s too long since I’ve played Harpoon—if S-3s were useful for searching for submarines 24/7, as opposed to using them to pin down a bearing-only contact from your ASW screen. For one, I think the S-3s would run out of sonobuoys rapidly if used to constantly search for subs. Certainly the Brits were supposed to have had one hell of a time tracking down some of the 1945-era SSKs used by the Argentine Navy in 1982. Then again, the SSKs weren’t able to hit or get a shot off on the British task force so I think that helps prove my point.
Otherwise, I don’t see much stopping Nimitz from running all over the Pacific and stomping the IJN at will. Save the GBUs for heavy cruisers and above, and you’d need to have a few tankers loaded with kerosene and beans, but otherwise, I don’t see anything stopping her from making the IJN ineffective to resist the rest of the Allied navy.
The Yorktowns and Essex classes were fitted with a hanger deck catapult. This ran across the ship and the aircraft would come out an opening in the side. Fine in theory but almost useless in real life. Only six of the Essex had them and all except Hornet had them removed by 45.
The Nimitz could sink the whole IJN strike force before it could get all its planes off the carrier decks. It would be a very short war in the Pacific.
I would have thought the most useful bit would be things like yes the A bomb will work, bombers with escort fighters during the day might be a good way to go, yes the Pershing will be worthwhile for D-Day, etc etc. Oh and btw breaking all those codes they have? No worries. Ploesti? Lets get rid of it now rather than waiting till 44. Etc etc.
Hindsight in this situation could have helped an awful lot across all areas, ie strategic, tactical, logistical etc. The most powerful thing overall would be information.
This is an interesting point. It also raises the question of how to maximize their information. After all, in the beginning you’d have a hard time be believed, but the more you changed things, the less acurate their endgame knowledge would be.
How to make the most of the Nimitz’s historical data is almost a whole 'nother thread.
Another thing the IJN ruled the night until late 43 when the Enterprise started doing night attacks. With the a modern carrier they operate day and night 24/7.
What you have to remember is that WWII submarines were, in comparison to modern subs, mere submersibles–spending most of their time on the surface, and then submerging for approach/attack. They could stay under for, at most, a day or three, and couldn’t travel very far underwater, instead remaining underwater mostly for the final attack/escape, or while waiting for a target to approach into firing range.
So even if (ignoring the S-3s and helos), a WWII sub could effectively make a submerged attack on a modern carrier, it wouldn’t be able to remain submerged during the whole (or even most of) the time it needed to travel from beyond the range of air-based surface search radar to close enough to attack.
So our sub would be detected while a ways away from the Nimitz, if the Nimitz was paying any attention to the environment around it. And once the sub is detected by the Nimitz, it will receive either (1) a F-18 with a bomb or two and a full cannon load, (2) a S-3 with a couple of homing torpedoes, or (3) those same WWII DEs, with an exact fix on the sub. End of sub.
Let’s broaden the question somewhat. In the movie, the nimitz has launched the package and is gonna deal with the IJN, when the warp storm reappears, forcing the captain to recall the planes.
The ship goes through the warp storm and reappears in present day. Cue the funky music and half the pacific battle fleet arriving.
But what if for some reason, nothing happens, the warp storm is one way and the Nimitz sails through, and it’s still 41. The attack on Pearl has happened and the battle line is sunk as history is kept the same at that point.
Does the Capt and executive officer face charges for failing to do a whole bunch of things, starting with not giving warning that the Japanese fleet is that close to Pearl, and hi we are a navy ship from the future, take us to your leaders.
I think we could handle having a warship from the 22 century show up, but how would they have dealt with that.
The Nimitz doesn’t have it’s own sonar, except what is on its aircraft. Sonobouys are going to run out sooner or later, so its ASW power will be significantly reduced. Plus homing torpedos may run out, though I believe the first generation of those were invented in late 1943 or early 1944.
The plus side is that the Japanese mavy made terrible use of its submarines during rhe war and they did very little damage.
I saw the film at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Society in L.A. I don’t think it had been released yet. When permission was given to ‘splash the Zekes’ and the Tomcats tucked their wings, the whole audience cheered.
I can’t imagine for a minute that a 1940’s battle group could put up any defense against a 1980’s era aircraft carrier. The ability to see and defend way way further out than anyting in the 40’s makes a huge difference. The IJN would never know what hit them.
Project Power.
It looks like the Tomcats don’t carry much in the way of air to ground (or ship). But just the strafing alone from Vulcan cannons would have to give the IJN pause. The Tomcat is much faster than anything in the air at the time (x4), and has much greater range.
Fish in a barrel. The Nimitz could decide when to attack, have lunch, play cards and then do it again if they got bored.
This is incorrect. By the time the card game was done, the only items left floating from the IJN would be oil slicks and small pieces of scrap.
Not worth attacking.
Thinking about this, if the Nimitz was serious they would hit the IJN attack fleet as they were preparing the first strike. Deck loads of bombs, and av gas. A good strafing run could put a carrier out of action and maybe even sink it under these conditions.
Which means the US would be launching a first strike against a country they were not at war with. And the story the officers would tell? “Hey, we’re from the future so we knew what was about to happen.”
