Did the Norden bombsight work?

Under combat conditions the Norden did not achieve its expected precision, yielding an average CEP in 1943 of 1,200 feet (370 m), similar to other Allied and German results. Both the Navy and Air Forces had to give up using pinpoint attacks.

How successful was the strategic bombing campaign on Germany?

The Royal Air Force began bombing military targets in Germany, such as docks and shipyards, in March 1940, and began targeting Berlin in August 1940. In September 1940 the Luftwaffe began targeting British cities in the Blitz….The British later in the war.

Who invented the Norden bombsight?

It paved the way to the development of the now famous Norden bombsight. The U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) decided to develop such a precision bombsight, and in 1920 contracted with Carl L. Norden, a Dutch citizen and recent immigrant with a reputation as a clever designer of gyroscopically stabilized systems.

What was the purpose of the Norden bomber?

First, the Norden was to assist the U.S. Armed Forces in reducing an enemy’s capability for war through precision bombing. Such missions would incorporate large, fast bombers conducting daylight attacks on the enemy’s industrial capacity and transportation infrastructure.

How successful are Norden bombsights on B-17s?

Tests with Norden bombsights mounted in B-17s proved quite successful under ideal weather and visibility conditions. Bombardiers famously claimed they could drop a bomb into a pickle barrel from 20,000 feet, but the reality of combat would be quite different.

How does an autopilot work on a Norden bombsight?

In U.S. Army Air Forces use, the Norden bombsight was attached to its autopilot base, which was in turn connected with the aircraft’s autopilot. The Honeywell C-1 autopilot could be used as an autopilot by the flight crew during the journey to the target area through a control panel in the cockpit,…