German submarine aircraft carrier; attack on East Coast

The Kriegsmarine in early 1939 started development of the submarine aircraft carrier - submarines capable to launching aircraft which would be able to have a crew of 110 men and carrying a single Arado Ar 231 floatplane. What if development of this submarine [and better version of OTL submarine floatplane] was successful and Kriegsmarine during ATL World War II had a few [maybe even few tens] submarine aircraft carriers? Would be strike on West Coast with bombs or gas possible?
 

Don Quijote

Banned
You'd be better off suggesting the Amerika Bomber project produced results before the end of the war:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_Bomber

Probably not, given that the Amerika Bomber never even went into production, whereas submarine launched aircraft did strike at the US, although they were Japanese and not German. I don't think a German project would be any more successful than the Japanese one was (zero casualties and a few minor fires), but it's no more impractical than a bomber with a range of 6000 miles.
 
The Japanese sub I-25 launched a Yokosuka "Glen" twice off the coast of Oregon. Incendiary bombs were dropped, but only one was noticed and a small fire extinguished. It had rained the day before.
 

Deleted member 1487

Probably not, given that the Amerika Bomber never even went into production, whereas submarine launched aircraft did strike at the US, although they were Japanese and not German. I don't think a German project would be any more successful than the Japanese one was (zero casualties and a few minor fires), but it's no more impractical than a bomber with a range of 6000 miles.
My point was that the IJN 'carrier subs' were so pointless that the Amerika Bomber idea was better. They're both bad ideas in the end before something like the B-36, or at least the German version of it, could get into service.
 
Probably not, given that the Amerika Bomber never even went into production, whereas submarine launched aircraft did strike at the US, although they were Japanese and not German. I don't think a German project would be any more successful than the Japanese one was (zero casualties and a few minor fires), but it's no more impractical than a bomber with a range of 6000 miles.

That is politics only as the Luftwaffe was a tactical ground support airforce from the start, while such an intercontinental bomber would be a departure of such a fightingforce, besides making it a difficult aircraft to be used as a divebomber anyway. A B-29 sized aircraft cannot be considdered a good precission divebomber, like the Ju-87.
 

Deleted member 1487

That is politics only as the Luftwaffe was a tactical ground support airforce from the start, while such an intercontinental bomber would be a departure of such a fightingforce, besides making it a difficult aircraft to be used as a divebomber anyway. A B-29 sized aircraft cannot be considdered a good precission divebomber, like the Ju-87.
The Luftwaffe wasn't against strategic bombing ever, it just didn't like that technical options on offer with the Ural Bomber and then when the Bomber A prototype was being worked up Udet screwed it up and historically they spent until 1943 fixing it. Now if say Udet dies in a test flight and Wever lives then when the Bomber A prototype is ready it doesn't get the order to rework as a dive bomber; without Udet nothing dive bombs but for the Ju87, as it was designed from the ground up for that. By 1940 you could have the Amerika Bomber worked on and ready in 1944 perhaps.
 
The Luftwaffe wasn't against strategic bombing ever, it just didn't like that technical options on offer with the Ural Bomber and then when the Bomber A prototype was being worked up Udet screwed it up and historically they spent until 1943 fixing it. Now if say Udet dies in a test flight and Wever lives then when the Bomber A prototype is ready it doesn't get the order to rework as a dive bomber; without Udet nothing dive bombs but for the Ju87, as it was designed from the ground up for that. By 1940 you could have the Amerika Bomber worked on and ready in 1944 perhaps.

Nice to hear all this. One question remains: Why does the Luftwaffe need such a specialized aircraft, which was not useful as a tactical support aircraft? Private projects were still designing long range strategic bombers, which I agree on, though politcally there was not role for such aircraft as the main purpose fo the Luftwaffe from the start on was to assist in a conquering war on the ground, close to the own borders. Since the USA are not bordering with Germany, why go this way still?

More logically and indeed historically accurate was the long range rocket, or space program, which resulted in the short range A-4 (same as V-2) ballistic missile, which was also beign developped into the much larger A-10 Amerika Rakete, which was to be armed with the future nuclear warhead as well. Yes, Germany was developping nuclear capability in the WW2 period, though lacked the knowlegde to develop it as the first one, due to a different approach and less resources available comapred to the USA. This A-10 project was far more likely than either submarine launched aircraft, or the Amerika Bomber project.

A second, equally likley form was the towed missile launching platform, towed by a U-Boot, using the existing A-4 missile in a seatravel capabel towed raft. It too could in theory be fitted with a nuclear warhead, if that became available.
 

Deleted member 1487

Nice to hear all this. One question remains: Why does the Luftwaffe need such a specialized aircraft, which was not useful as a tactical support aircraft? Private projects were still designing long range strategic bombers, which I agree on, though politcally there was not role for such aircraft as the main purpose fo the Luftwaffe from the start on was to assist in a conquering war on the ground, close to the own borders. Since the USA are not bordering with Germany, why go this way still?

More logically and indeed historically accurate was the long range rocket, or space program, which resulted in the short range A-4 (same as V-2) ballistic missile, which was also beign developped into the much larger A-10 Amerika Rakete, which was to be armed with the future nuclear warhead as well. Yes, Germany was developping nuclear capability in the WW2 period, though lacked the knowlegde to develop it as the first one, due to a different approach and less resources available comapred to the USA. This A-10 project was far more likely than either submarine launched aircraft, or the Amerika Bomber project.

A second, equally likley form was the towed missile launching platform, towed by a U-Boot, using the existing A-4 missile in a seatravel capabel towed raft. It too could in theory be fitted with a nuclear warhead, if that became available.

Your understanding of Luftwaffe doctrine is way off:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Luftwaffe-Creating-Operational-1918-1940/dp/0700609628


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaffe#The_Wever_years.2C_1933.E2.80.9336
Nevertheless, Wever recognised the importance of strategic bombing. In newly introduced doctrine, The Conduct of the Aerial Air War in 1935, Wever rejected the theory of Douhet[27] and outlined five key points to air strategy:
1. To destroy the enemy air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories, and defeating enemy air forces attacking German targets.
2. To prevent the movement of large enemy ground forces to the decisive areas by destroying railways and roads, particularly bridges and tunnels, which are indispensable for the movement and supply of forces
3. To support the operations of the army formations, independent of railways, i.e, armoured forces and motorised forces, by impeding the enemy advance and participating directly in ground operations.
4. To support naval operations by attacking naval bases, protecting Germany's naval bases and participating directly in naval battles
5. To paralyse the enemy armed forces by stopping production in the armaments factories.[28]
Wever began planning for a strategic bomber force and sought to incorporate strategic bombing into a war strategy. He believed that tactical aircraft should only be used as a step to developing a strategic air force. In May 1934, Wever initiated a seven-year project for the "Ural Bomber", the bomber that would take the Luftwaffe's bombing campaign into the heart of the Soviet Union. In 1935, this led to the Dornier Do 19 and Junkers Ju 89 prototypes, although both were underpowered. In April 1936, Wever ordered a requirement for 'Bomber A' which would have a range of 6,700 km (4,163 mi) with a 900 kg (1,984 lb) bomb load. However Wever's vision of a "Ural" bomber was never realised,[29] and his emphasis on strategic aerial operations was lost,[30] with the only design submittal for Wever's 'Bomber A' that would reach production being Heinkel's Projekt 1041, which became officially known on 5 November 1937 as the Heinkel He 177.[31]


By the late 1930s the Luftwaffe had no clear purpose. The air force was not subordinated to the army support role, and it was not given any particular strategic mission. German doctrine fell between the two concepts. The Luftwaffe was to be an organisation capable of carrying out broad and general support tasks rather than any specific mission. Mainly, this path was chosen to encourage a more flexible use of air power and offer the ground forces the right conditions for a decisive victory. In fact, on the outbreak of war, only 15% of the Luftwaffe's aircraft was devoted to ground support operations, exposing a long-held myth that the Luftwaffe was designed for only tactical and operational missions.[32]

The Luftwaffe was disordered by the death of its Chief of Staff, who was the guy who was in effect its real commander, as Goering was an absentee leader. Walter Wever was the guy to formulated doctrine and then he died in an accident in June 1936, which led to a rotation of several replacements that couldn't get along with Goering and Milch, so had to be replaced in turn until a FAR too junior office, Hans Jeschonnek too over because he would do whatever Hitler or Goering told him to instead of working for the best interests and with in the capabilities of his organization. So doctrine effectively went out the window, especially as Udet was elevated to wrestle away production planning from Erhard Milch, who Goering got in a fight with. Udet did whatever he wanted without direction from anyone, which led to the dive bombing modification to everything and the mishandling of the Bomber A/He177 project. Ultimately his repeated failures and effective destruction of the Luftwaffe from within led to his suicide in late 1941 and the return of Erhard Milch as head of production planning and technical development. By then it was really too late to fix things in time to alter the course of the war. By the time the problems were getting worked out it was already 1944.

At that point Hitler was ordering crazy stuff like the terror bombing of Operation Steinbock, which killed off the last strategic bombing unit in the Luftwaffe, one that was supposed to hit Soviet industry in 1944 with the first working He177s. Then Goering ordered the remaining He177s to carpet bomb Soviet spearheads at low level on the Eastern Front later in 1944, which pretty much wiped out the only operational He177 unit due to ground fire and getting jumped by a bunch of Soviet fighters.

Having someone like Wever live and continue to develop the Luftwaffe professionally and be willing to stand up to Hitler and Goering to get his way would have not mishandled projects like the He177 and Amerika Bomber, it was his early death and rise of the incompetent political appointments that doomed the Luftwaffe both in terms of technical development, but also combat operations
 
Probably not, given that the Amerika Bomber never even went into production, whereas submarine launched aircraft did strike at the US, although they were Japanese and not German. I don't think a German project would be any more successful than the Japanese one was (zero casualties and a few minor fires), but it's no more impractical than a bomber with a range of 6000 miles.

wikipedian_protester.png
 
Unless Hitler and Co were willing to use chemical or biological bombs, then scenario would be of little effect.
 
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