Murphy was one of a very small number of volunteer pilots who, with their flight crews, started bombing at low altitudes in B-17 flying fortresses in the Southwest Pacific. The aircraft were flown at a 200-foot altitude and at 250 miles per hour at night. One-thousand pound bombs, equipped with four-to-five second fuses, were dropped from the B-17s. On March 3, 1943, the Japanese made a desperate move to re-supply their forces on New Guinea. Twenty-two cargo, transport, and war ships proceeded toward New Guinea using bad weather for cover. They were found in the Bismarck Sea. The Allied Air Forces--using skip bombing--sank all twenty-two Japanese ships. Murphy was credited with sinking nine Japanese ships during his year of combat, including one in the Bismarck Sea battle. Skip bombing became a tactic that helped the U.S. win the war in the South Pacific.

Book Information
ISBN 9780275945404
Author James T. Murphy
Format Hardback
Page Count 200
Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
Publisher ABC-CLIO