Targets for WW2 Air Raids on US

kernals12

Banned
Just for fun, I've decided to list the places that would get hit if the Nazis somehow completed their Amerika Bomber with the range to hit any target in the continental US. Tell me if I missed anything.

2 Most Obvious
New York City- Center of Population, Shipping, Industry, and Communications, Symbolic Status, Home to Major Corporations
Washington DC- Center of Government and Military

Everything Else
Chicago- Industrial Center, Center of Grain Shipping
Detroit- Manufacturing of Aircraft, Tanks, Motor Vehicles, and Armaments
Los Angeles- Maritime Shipping, Aircraft Production
Houston- Oil Refining, Chemical Production
St Louis- Railroad Center
Philadelphia- Shipbuilding
Pittsburgh- Steel Production
Atlanta- Railroad Center
Boston- Shipbuilding, Scientific Research
Seattle- Maritime Shipping, Aircraft Production
San Diego- Naval Bases
Denver- Buckley Air Force Base, Ordinance Production
San Francisco- Maritime Shipping
Baltimore- Shipbuilding
Buffalo- Steel Production, Aircraft Production
Kansas City- Aircraft Production
New Orleans- Maritime Shipping
Minneapolis- Center of Iron Ore Shipping
Hartford, CT- Aircraft Engine Production
Providence, RI- Shipbuilding
Charleston, SC- Naval Bases
Gary, IN- Steel Production
Newark, NJ- Maritime Shipping, Machine Tools Production
Oklahoma City- Railroad Center, Oil Production
Wilmington, DE- Chemical Production
Colorado Springs- Military Installations
Dayton, OH- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Charleston, WV- Synthetic Rubber Production, Coal Shipping
Erie, PA- Steel Production
Norfolk/Newport News, VA- Naval Bases, Shipbuilding, Aircraft Production

And for any Dambuster raids
Las Vegas- Hoover Dam
Grand Coulee, Washington- Grand Coulee Dam
Niagra Falls, New York

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Any plausible Amerika bomber would be carrying a very small load in exchange for the expense and effort of building it, and probably would be of questionable accuracy. It would most likely be a one way mission, too. So, the ability to inflict serious damage is minimal.
To get the most out of the raid, it must have maximum propaganda value. A high body count is significant, but the destruction of something important in the minds of the population is even more important. I'd try for the Empire State Building, and ideally, try to find a pilot that was so fanatical that he'd be willing to fly into it. Germany didn't accept volunteers for premeditated near suicide missions until very late.

A more feasible version would be submarines. Perhaps work with Japan before the way to build a submarine aircraft carrier, which would appeal to the mania for super complex secret weapons.

A more practical alternative during Paukenschlag would be to shell the US coast from U-Boats. Risky, but perhaps a way to get damage done to American cities--enough for propaganda, and demands all along the coast for help agaist the U-Boat menace.
 

kernals12

Banned
Any plausible Amerika bomber would be carrying a very small load in exchange for the expense and effort of building it, and probably would be of questionable accuracy. It would most likely be a one way mission, too. So, the ability to inflict serious damage is minimal.
To get the most out of the raid, it must have maximum propaganda value. A high body count is significant, but the destruction of something important in the minds of the population is even more important. I'd try for the Empire State Building, and ideally, try to find a pilot that was so fanatical that he'd be willing to fly into it. Germany didn't accept volunteers for premeditated near suicide missions until very late.

A more feasible version would be submarines. Perhaps work with Japan before the way to build a submarine aircraft carrier, which would appeal to the mania for super complex secret weapons.

A more practical alternative during Paukenschlag would be to shell the US coast from U-Boats. Risky, but perhaps a way to get damage done to American cities--enough for propaganda, and demands all along the coast for help agaist the U-Boat menace.
As a matter of fact, a bomber did fly into the Empire State Building, a B-25 Mitchell that had lost control and crashed into the building. Obviously, the building is still standing. To fell a skyscraper, the plane would need to be bigger and a lot faster than what was available at the time.
 
As a matter of fact, a bomber did fly into the Empire State Building, a B-25 Mitchell that had lost control and crashed into the building. Obviously, the building is still standing. To fell a skyscraper, the plane would need to be bigger and a lot faster than what was available at the time.

I don't believe that plane had a bomb load, and a Condor, if the range can be stretched, is a lot bigger. Perhaps hit the Statue of Liberty instead. Any non ASB Amerika Bomber will be expensive and provide little material return, but I suspect that, with planning and LOTS of money, it could be done. The resources wasted will help the allies enormously.
 
Nothing buildable in WWII could reach anything inland from the US coast without absolutely being a one-way mission from continental Europe. If the Germans manage to build an Amerika bomber, can they keep its existence secret - let's assume they can. They get one raid, I don't think there was any air defense radar along the US coast, and limited AAA at best. After the first raid, that changes. IMHO if the Germans build enough Amerika bombers to run simultaneous attacks on the USA, say Boston/New York/DC I don't see their existence being secret.
 

kernals12

Banned
Nothing buildable in WWII could reach anything inland from the US coast without absolutely being a one-way mission from continental Europe. If the Germans manage to build an Amerika bomber, can they keep its existence secret - let's assume they can. They get one raid, I don't think there was any air defense radar along the US coast, and limited AAA at best. After the first raid, that changes. IMHO if the Germans build enough Amerika bombers to run simultaneous attacks on the USA, say Boston/New York/DC I don't see their existence being secret.
This is purely hypothetical. I just wanted to show what would happen if Americans had to experience WW2 like the people of Britain, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union. Although, the prospect of air raids on American cities was taken very seriously. in 1942, AA guns in Los Angeles fired at an unidentified flying object that was later identified as a weather balloon.
 
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This is purely hypothetical. I just wanted to show what would happen if Americans had to experience WW2 like the people of Britain, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union. Although, the prospect of air raids on American cities was taken very seriously. in 1942, AA guns in Los Angeles fired at an unidentified flying object that was later identified as a weather balloon.
I like these mental execises, but we need to know what kind of payload, to judge what targets makes sense. Are we talking nukes (suicide mission unless A LOT is changed, but not exactly impossible), Sarin, anthrax spores or just regular bombs (i.e. the latter beeing for symbolic impact only).
 

kernals12

Banned
I like these mental execises, but we need to know what kind of payload, to judge what targets makes sense. Are we talking nukes (suicide mission unless A LOT is changed, but not exactly impossible), Sarin, anthrax spores or just regular bombs (i.e. the latter beeing for symbolic impact only).
regular bombs
 

Don Quijote

Banned
The Germans drew up a list of around twenty key North American targets, mostly in the US but also a couple in Canada and Greenland. I'll see if I can find it somewhere.
 
Best done from the other direction; if you can get Kido Butai ( the Combined Fleet of the IJN) to realize replenishment at sea is a real thing, then carrier strikes on the West Coast become an outside possibility- and for my money the most effective prime targets are the industrial seed corn. Boeing, Convair, Lockheed, Douglas, NAA- all within reach of the coast.

Bomb the aircraft plants, kill the draftsmen, kill the designers, burn the archives, you go a long way to knocking America's sword out of her hands and making Axis victory more practical. A lot of the existing types it is too late to prevent, but halting development and troubleshooting could be done, trapping them with the early marks.
 

GarethC

Donor
North Kingstown, RI - NAS Quonset Point - home port for Atlantic Fleet carriers, aircraft repair and flight training facilities, and the engineers of the Naval Construction Battalion down the road.
 

kernals12

Banned
In that case, having an actual impact is quite far-fetched. New York, aim for Empire State building, and Washington, aim for the White house would be the obvious targets.
The Empire State Building is not getting destroyed, it has a structure that is able to redistribute both vertical and horizontal stresses. It is in fact heavier than the old Twin Towers were.
 

kernals12

Banned
If Hoover Dam was breached, the city of Las Vegas would become uninhabitable for lack of drinking water and the effects on downstream reservoir would be very disruptive to Southern California.
 
Interesting target list, actually not stupid. Of course given WWII technology, you'd need to put a lot of bombers over any one of those targets with B-17 size loads to have a shot at doing significant damage. Among the things Skippy the ASB would need to give the Germans would be good aerial photos of all of those targets so the bombardiers might have a shot at aiming at them. Good luck aiming at Sperry Gyroscope in Brooklyn even if you know the street address - reading street signs from 15,000' does not work. The same applies for almost everything else.

As far as a KB raid on the West Coast, assuming you can get the fleet in range of the West Coast undetected, the same issue applies - true aircraft factories are more visible, but finding them still will mean good photos available. Once the first raid hits, everybody and his brother will be after the KB which now has to run away from scores of land based aircraft, US naval forces from the West Coast and Hawaii. If the KB can approach the US West Coast and raid the LA/San Diego area for a few days and really do damage, then motor up to Seattle and do the same and make it home with massive losses Japan has already won the war.

In 1940 the population of Las Vegas was approximately 8,500. Who cares if the whole town goes away.
 

kernals12

Banned
Interesting target list, actually not stupid. Of course given WWII technology, you'd need to put a lot of bombers over any one of those targets with B-17 size loads to have a shot at doing significant damage. Among the things Skippy the ASB would need to give the Germans would be good aerial photos of all of those targets so the bombardiers might have a shot at aiming at them. Good luck aiming at Sperry Gyroscope in Brooklyn even if you know the street address - reading street signs from 15,000' does not work. The same applies for almost everything else.

As far as a KB raid on the West Coast, assuming you can get the fleet in range of the West Coast undetected, the same issue applies - true aircraft factories are more visible, but finding them still will mean good photos available. Once the first raid hits, everybody and his brother will be after the KB which now has to run away from scores of land based aircraft, US naval forces from the West Coast and Hawaii. If the KB can approach the US West Coast and raid the LA/San Diego area for a few days and really do damage, then motor up to Seattle and do the same and make it home with massive losses Japan has already won the war.

In 1940 the population of Las Vegas was approximately 8,500. Who cares if the whole town goes away
.
It was 16000 for Clark County and growing rapidly, they all would've needed to be evacuated within 3 days and sent to cities that already were facing dire housing shortages from influxes of workers from the South. Also Vegas was home to the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School. And as I mentioned, the damage would not be limited to Nevada, Southern California would have water shortages.
 
The Germans might be interested in hitting Portland, Maine. Doesn't seem impressive now but it was the closest major American port to Europe.
 
The Empire State Building is not getting destroyed, it has a structure that is able to redistribute both vertical and horizontal stresses. It is in fact heavier than the old Twin Towers were.
You may be right, but it would be target nevertheless. As a fan of the movie, Hitler would try to do what King Kong could not.
 
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