I think they fizzle because they start to detonate before the “bullet” reaches the base of the gun. So only part of the plutonium gets consumed.
Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
- Thread starter fester
- Start date
- Status
Part of the problem, iirc, is that there are multiple Pu isotopes is a bomb. But, yeah, the result is what you said.
The plutonium would begin to react before they attained a critical mass. I think they would end up with a huge pulse of radiation and a molten puddle of plutonium.
You can't get the sub critical mass down the gunbarrel fast enough to stop the whole thing chucking out lots of neutrons before it becomes a critical mass.
I think it isn't so much a bomb and more of an air dropped industrial accident.
Story 2785
Strasbourg, France March 11, 1945
Anna Marie smiled as a clerk handed her a letter. The writing was obvious. It was her brother. He was still at the front but he found time to write at least a few lines twice a week to her. The last one had complained about the food and mud, but the knitted wool cap he had acquired from a GI who was looking for something that tasted better than a D ration had served him well. He always had a way with words that made her smile and giggle.
The clerk coughed ever so softly. There was another letter for her. She did not recognize the writing as she took the American victory mail envelope. She pushed it into the pocket of her long sweater and forgot about it as she went back to work sorting through the tremendous amount of paperwork that the French rail network generated as it supplied two Allied Army Groups. There was a challenge in getting a switching yard properly repaired in Metz which occupied several dozen messages that she needed to sort out for the engineers and technical experts. Another problem was cropping up in the repair yards as the engines were being run hard and the Allied bombing campaign the previous spring and summer had destroyed any slack in the system. A marshalling yard had backed up enough to keep ten divisions in supply over a fifty mile advance. That, as the Americans were fond of saying, needed to be un-fubared immediately. They had a way with words as well that made her grimace at their simple truths.
As she made her way home that evening, her hand brushed against the envelope. It made her curious so when she found some light, she carefully opened the envelope and found that it was written in school boy French asking if she remembered him as he was thinking about her... The name meant nothing until she realized that this was the American lieutenant that had been fighting with her brother. She smiled. She had not thought about him in months but now she just might.
Anna Marie smiled as a clerk handed her a letter. The writing was obvious. It was her brother. He was still at the front but he found time to write at least a few lines twice a week to her. The last one had complained about the food and mud, but the knitted wool cap he had acquired from a GI who was looking for something that tasted better than a D ration had served him well. He always had a way with words that made her smile and giggle.
The clerk coughed ever so softly. There was another letter for her. She did not recognize the writing as she took the American victory mail envelope. She pushed it into the pocket of her long sweater and forgot about it as she went back to work sorting through the tremendous amount of paperwork that the French rail network generated as it supplied two Allied Army Groups. There was a challenge in getting a switching yard properly repaired in Metz which occupied several dozen messages that she needed to sort out for the engineers and technical experts. Another problem was cropping up in the repair yards as the engines were being run hard and the Allied bombing campaign the previous spring and summer had destroyed any slack in the system. A marshalling yard had backed up enough to keep ten divisions in supply over a fifty mile advance. That, as the Americans were fond of saying, needed to be un-fubared immediately. They had a way with words as well that made her grimace at their simple truths.
As she made her way home that evening, her hand brushed against the envelope. It made her curious so when she found some light, she carefully opened the envelope and found that it was written in school boy French asking if she remembered him as he was thinking about her... The name meant nothing until she realized that this was the American lieutenant that had been fighting with her brother. She smiled. She had not thought about him in months but now she just might.
Story 2786
Yellow Sea, March 12, 1945
Two freighters were low in the water. They had just zigged five minutes ago. A coal fired escort kept on chugging ahead. The sonar had been pinging aggressively for the past four hours. Its attention was ahead and to the immediate flanks of the small convoy. The technique was good, but a single escort only had so much capacity. USS Seadragon had been on the surface for two hours and had snuck up to torpedo range from the rear port quarter. Soon six torpedoes were in the water. Four exploded , three against the lead merchant ship and one ruining the bow of the rear ship. The reinforcements needed to keep the 3rd Tank Division up to strength would never arrive.
Two freighters were low in the water. They had just zigged five minutes ago. A coal fired escort kept on chugging ahead. The sonar had been pinging aggressively for the past four hours. Its attention was ahead and to the immediate flanks of the small convoy. The technique was good, but a single escort only had so much capacity. USS Seadragon had been on the surface for two hours and had snuck up to torpedo range from the rear port quarter. Soon six torpedoes were in the water. Four exploded , three against the lead merchant ship and one ruining the bow of the rear ship. The reinforcements needed to keep the 3rd Tank Division up to strength would never arrive.
Story 2787
Freising , Germany March 13, 1945
The cathedral of the ancient town was in ruins. Heavy bombers had flattened the center of the city in half a dozen raids over the past three years. Three air divisions of B-17s and B-24s had targeted the city just the evening before. They had come in low, only 8,000 feet. Fighter bombers armed with rockets and napalm had swept ahead of the bomber streams at every flak battery that had been identified in thousands of feet of photographic films analyzed over the past three weeks. Even more fighters had sought battle all over Southern Germany. Half a dozen American fighter pilots would claim kills in the barely opposed skies. Deconflicting the aerospace was more dangerous than the few German Focke-Wulfes that were able to take off. It did not matter. Strings of light cannon shells reached for the sky as the bombers rumbled to the town. Soon hundreds of tons of bombs destroyed defensive works and civilian lives.
The tall redheaded captain sitting closest to the door of one of the lead Dakotas did not care. He looked at the men in his stick. They were ready to jump over the Isar and secure the distant side of the river beach head that the 3rd Army would want as they moved to screen Munich and southern Bavaria. The company was ready. They had been in reserve for months now and the replacements were no longer replacements but part of the company. He knew, again, every man's name and whether or not they were the oldest, youngest or only as well as all of their siblings now.
The load master held up his fingers. Five minutes to the jump zone. The paratroopers waddled up. Each man checked their partners' gear one last time. All chutes were ready. All weapons were secure and then they clipped into the static line. One last look to make sure everything was set and then the door opened. He stepped into the slipstream and soon the air was filled with paratroopers from two brigades descending on the landing zone defended by a militia of pensioners.
The cathedral of the ancient town was in ruins. Heavy bombers had flattened the center of the city in half a dozen raids over the past three years. Three air divisions of B-17s and B-24s had targeted the city just the evening before. They had come in low, only 8,000 feet. Fighter bombers armed with rockets and napalm had swept ahead of the bomber streams at every flak battery that had been identified in thousands of feet of photographic films analyzed over the past three weeks. Even more fighters had sought battle all over Southern Germany. Half a dozen American fighter pilots would claim kills in the barely opposed skies. Deconflicting the aerospace was more dangerous than the few German Focke-Wulfes that were able to take off. It did not matter. Strings of light cannon shells reached for the sky as the bombers rumbled to the town. Soon hundreds of tons of bombs destroyed defensive works and civilian lives.
The tall redheaded captain sitting closest to the door of one of the lead Dakotas did not care. He looked at the men in his stick. They were ready to jump over the Isar and secure the distant side of the river beach head that the 3rd Army would want as they moved to screen Munich and southern Bavaria. The company was ready. They had been in reserve for months now and the replacements were no longer replacements but part of the company. He knew, again, every man's name and whether or not they were the oldest, youngest or only as well as all of their siblings now.
The load master held up his fingers. Five minutes to the jump zone. The paratroopers waddled up. Each man checked their partners' gear one last time. All chutes were ready. All weapons were secure and then they clipped into the static line. One last look to make sure everything was set and then the door opened. He stepped into the slipstream and soon the air was filled with paratroopers from two brigades descending on the landing zone defended by a militia of pensioners.
Driftless
Donor
That's a lot further to the East than I expected.... Northeast of Munich. What's the strategic goal for this big mission?
Slice off southern Bavaria from the German armies, link up with the combined UK/Yugoslavian forces coming from the south and then force the Germans to commit whatever reserves they might have left before the 21st Army Group starts moving in the north.
Story 2788
Osaka, Japan March 14, 1945
The center of the city was a pyre. Almost four hundred bombers had come in fast and relatively low just after midnight. The anti-aircraft batteries were active and the gunners had claimed kills. No wreckage had been found after dawn. Fire brigades were still struggling to build breaks between districts and neighborhoods that may still be saved.
The center of the city was a pyre. Almost four hundred bombers had come in fast and relatively low just after midnight. The anti-aircraft batteries were active and the gunners had claimed kills. No wreckage had been found after dawn. Fire brigades were still struggling to build breaks between districts and neighborhoods that may still be saved.
Once across the Isar East to Passau, cross the Inn river the follow the Danube valley south of the Danube to Vienna, and or South to Salzburg and the passes South in the Alps.
Story 2789
Near Minden, Germany March 15, 1945
The hundreds of amphibious craft had been carefully hoarded and moved to the front. Now they were advancing along the west flats of the Weser River. Every gun in the 1st Canadian Army including the Army Group Royal Artillery that typically supported XXX Corps was firing. The divisional guns of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division were laying down thick smoke. The other divisions' guns were walking lines up and down the far side of the river bank. Corps and army controlled guns were seeking out command posts, concentration points and reserves that the Germans counted on to deliver a rapid counter-attack after the thin crustal defense of militia manning machine guns covering too thin minefields on the east bank were destroyed.
The first assault craft entered the water and began to churn their way forward as bullets struck the water and occassionally pinged against just thick enough steel armor. A few mortars began to land in the river, scattering scything shrapnel at the the shoulders and heads of the few men acting as machine gunners and spotters for the drivers.
By mid-morning, five battalions in relatively good order were across the river and the pioneers had already started their race to build pontoon bridges to allow the armored divisions to cross.
The hundreds of amphibious craft had been carefully hoarded and moved to the front. Now they were advancing along the west flats of the Weser River. Every gun in the 1st Canadian Army including the Army Group Royal Artillery that typically supported XXX Corps was firing. The divisional guns of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division were laying down thick smoke. The other divisions' guns were walking lines up and down the far side of the river bank. Corps and army controlled guns were seeking out command posts, concentration points and reserves that the Germans counted on to deliver a rapid counter-attack after the thin crustal defense of militia manning machine guns covering too thin minefields on the east bank were destroyed.
The first assault craft entered the water and began to churn their way forward as bullets struck the water and occassionally pinged against just thick enough steel armor. A few mortars began to land in the river, scattering scything shrapnel at the the shoulders and heads of the few men acting as machine gunners and spotters for the drivers.
By mid-morning, five battalions in relatively good order were across the river and the pioneers had already started their race to build pontoon bridges to allow the armored divisions to cross.
Story 2790
Cloppenburg, Germany March 16, 1945
Half a dozen tanks started up again. A trio of light tanks darted out ahead. A handful of halftracks overloaded with riflemen and machine gunners who had overrun the roadblock that had been manned by a few dozen teenagers stiffened by a handful of recovering veterans from half a dozen different fronts followed the light tanks. The Shermans then followed. They expected contact as contact was being initiated every hamlet and town over the past several days.
The advance guard bounded up the road. The light tanks would sprint forward for several hundred yards, find an overwatch position and then cover the half tracks and medium tanks for throughout the morning. Bangalore torpedoes were used to clear a single minefield just before noon. After that, the spearhead cleared the next hamlet of a dozen villages with an intersecting cow path before stopping for lunch. As they were policing the area before heading east again, two quarter master trucks arrived minutes after another company of infantry broke out their rations. Fuel tanks were refilled and a few additional boxes of ammunition were loaded into the half tracks before the spearhead sought to take another ten miles before dark.
Fifteen miles the rear, brigade and divisional staffs were busy. They finally had a breakthrough and the complex art of passing the Guards Armoured Division through the lines of an infantry heavy corps had started.
Half a dozen tanks started up again. A trio of light tanks darted out ahead. A handful of halftracks overloaded with riflemen and machine gunners who had overrun the roadblock that had been manned by a few dozen teenagers stiffened by a handful of recovering veterans from half a dozen different fronts followed the light tanks. The Shermans then followed. They expected contact as contact was being initiated every hamlet and town over the past several days.
The advance guard bounded up the road. The light tanks would sprint forward for several hundred yards, find an overwatch position and then cover the half tracks and medium tanks for throughout the morning. Bangalore torpedoes were used to clear a single minefield just before noon. After that, the spearhead cleared the next hamlet of a dozen villages with an intersecting cow path before stopping for lunch. As they were policing the area before heading east again, two quarter master trucks arrived minutes after another company of infantry broke out their rations. Fuel tanks were refilled and a few additional boxes of ammunition were loaded into the half tracks before the spearhead sought to take another ten miles before dark.
Fifteen miles the rear, brigade and divisional staffs were busy. They finally had a breakthrough and the complex art of passing the Guards Armoured Division through the lines of an infantry heavy corps had started.
Last edited:
Story 2791
Aboard YAMATO, Inland Sea, Japan March 17, 1945
Sailors moved ammunition to the ready lockers again. More sailors were removing the still warm bronze cases to the collection points where the material could be recycled for eventual reuse. Dozens of American heavy bombers had mined the outer approaches to the port. Those mines were almost inconsequential as the four remaining battleships of the Imperial Navy had not left port in weeks. They each had almost full bunkers but the tanks ashore were almost empty. Enough fuel had come from the pitiful domestic protection to keep one or two destroyers available for guardship duties, but the fleet seldom moved more than thirty feet a day as hawsers were let in and let out to accommodate tides and storms.
An hour later, the Admiral's staff had been called to a meeting. New intelligence had come in. Decisions would soon need to be made in coordination with the Fleet Command and the government in Tokyo. By the end of the month, fuel would no longer be a concern for the Imperial Fleet.
Sailors moved ammunition to the ready lockers again. More sailors were removing the still warm bronze cases to the collection points where the material could be recycled for eventual reuse. Dozens of American heavy bombers had mined the outer approaches to the port. Those mines were almost inconsequential as the four remaining battleships of the Imperial Navy had not left port in weeks. They each had almost full bunkers but the tanks ashore were almost empty. Enough fuel had come from the pitiful domestic protection to keep one or two destroyers available for guardship duties, but the fleet seldom moved more than thirty feet a day as hawsers were let in and let out to accommodate tides and storms.
An hour later, the Admiral's staff had been called to a meeting. New intelligence had come in. Decisions would soon need to be made in coordination with the Fleet Command and the government in Tokyo. By the end of the month, fuel would no longer be a concern for the Imperial Fleet.
Story 2792
Gulf of Mexico, March 18, 1945
USS Ranger slowed and turned out of the wind.
The single destroyer that had acted as a plane guard and the two escorting Cost Guard gunboats resumed their stations as the sun started to dip below the horizon. Four hundred touch and go's were performed for the new trainees that were moving through the pipeline at Pensacola. A few had approaches that needed to be hurriedly waved off. Most of the approaches were acceptable. The last flight evolution of the day was a single Avenger taking off, heavily laden with film canisters and coaching tips from one of the training officers. The nuggets would soon see their performance with very detailed critiques before they would be allowed to try this again in a few days.
Tomorrow, like yesterday, was another full day of aiding in the education of the next wave of naval aviators.
USS Ranger slowed and turned out of the wind.
The single destroyer that had acted as a plane guard and the two escorting Cost Guard gunboats resumed their stations as the sun started to dip below the horizon. Four hundred touch and go's were performed for the new trainees that were moving through the pipeline at Pensacola. A few had approaches that needed to be hurriedly waved off. Most of the approaches were acceptable. The last flight evolution of the day was a single Avenger taking off, heavily laden with film canisters and coaching tips from one of the training officers. The nuggets would soon see their performance with very detailed critiques before they would be allowed to try this again in a few days.
Tomorrow, like yesterday, was another full day of aiding in the education of the next wave of naval aviators.
- Status