A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance .
47-685: The Avro 604 Antelope was a British light bomber which was designed and built in the late 1920s to meet a requirement for a light bomber to equip the Royal Air Force , competing against the Hawker Hart and the Fairey Fox II . It was unsuccessful, the Hart being preferred. The Avro 604 Antelope was designed to meet the requirements of Air Ministry Specification 12/26 , for a single-engine light, high-speed day bomber. One prototype
94-676: A medium bomber ) each had variants with 8 or more forward-firing machine guns for ground strafing missions. Later variants of the Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber were adapted to the role of ground attack against tanks armed with 37 mm cannon , and the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver (a U.S. Navy dive bomber adopted later in World War II when that design role was beginning to disappear) also was assigned to ground attack sorties using its cannon , bombs and rockets . The light bomber, as
141-596: A RAeC meeting that also awarded licences to the pioneer naval aviators Wilfred Parke and Arthur Longmore . He completed flying training at Eastchurch before being appointed Officer Commanding Naval Air Station Eastchurch in October 1911. In January 1912 he was promoted to acting Commander. The following April he was appointed Officer Commanding the Naval Flying School at Eastchurch. Samson took part in several early naval aviation experiments, including
188-626: A bomb load of 50–400 kg. Two of the most famous were the Airco DH.4 designed by Geoffrey de Havilland , and the Breguet 14 designed by Louis Breguet . The same type often also served as reconnaissance aircraft; examples include the Albatros C.III , Avro 504 , DFW C.V , LVG C.II , Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 , Rumpler C.I and Voisin III . The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was even modified as
235-541: A cadet in 1896, before becoming a midshipman in the Royal Navy in 1898. In the 1901 Census he is listed as a midshipman aboard the battleship HMS Victorious . He was promoted Sub-Lieutenant in 1902 and the following year served on HMS Pomone in the Persian Gulf and Somaliland . He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 September 1904 while serving as an officer on boys' training ships. In 1906 Samson
282-575: A discrete aircraft type, began to be superseded as World War II opened. The growth of engine power from the 1,000 hp to the 2,000 hp class during the war produced single-engine fighters with greater performance, offensive and defensive capabilities than the light bombers of only a few years earlier. This gave rise to the fighter-bomber type, notably the Fw 190 F and G models, Hawker Typhoon and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt . Multirole twin-engine designs capable of hauling bomb loads greater than 2,000 lbs such as
329-639: A few years). During the early stages of World War II , the above-mentioned designs of the late 1930s often saw considerable action. In some cases, they became the basis of newer, faster light bombers, such as the Martin Baltimore ( U.S. designation A-23/A-30 developed from the Maryland), as well as medium bombers with more powerful engines and heavier payloads . Twin-engine light bombers were successful when converted into airborne radar -equipped night fighters during World War II; examples include
376-666: A month most of Samson's cars had been armed and some armoured. These were joined by further cars which had been armoured in Britain with hardened steel plates at Royal Navy workshops. The force was also equipped with some trucks which had been armoured and equipped with loopholes so that the Royal Marines carried in them could fire their rifles in safety. This was the start of the RNAS Armoured Car Section . Aggressive patrolling by Samson's improvised force in
423-684: A permanent commission in the RAF with the rank of Group Captain . Samson was married in Colombo on 7 April 1917 to Miss Honor Oakden Patrickson Storey, the only daughter of Herbert Lushington Storey, and his wife, Emily Muriel Storey. They had one daughter. Samson was granted a decree nisi against his wife by the Divorce Court in London in December 1923. Their divorce became final in 1924. He
470-529: A pioneering night fighter in attempts to shoot down German Zeppelins . By the early 1930s many air forces were seeking to replace their older biplane aircraft (for example, the RAF 's Hawker Hart and VVS 's Polikarpov R-5 ) with more modern and higher performance monoplane designs. Specialised light bomber designs were single-engine or twin-engine aircraft with a bomb load of about 500–1,000 kg. Typical single-engine light bombers of this era included
517-491: A self-defense measure; even the bomb load was minimised towards this design goal. Early examples were the Bristol Blenheim and Dornier Do 17 (both introduced in 1937). A weakness of the fast bomber design concept was that improvements in the speed of bombers were, in most cases, quickly matched in subsequent fighter designs (which would additionally eclipse the load -carrying ability of light bomber aircraft within
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#1732772184114564-511: A similar bomb load as the Invader) medium bomber. The substantial increases in performance, load -carrying ability, and multirole versatility of new combat aircraft designs (including the advent of jet aircraft ) by the end of World War II signaled the end of the dedicated light bomber type. Attack aircraft , strike fighters , counter-insurgency aircraft and combat UAVs are types which today carry out technologically enhanced equivalents of
611-549: A six-day bombing campaign. After silencing Turkish guns at Perim , Ben My Chree headed to Jidda where on 15 June, her aircraft operated in support of an attack by Arab forces led by Faisal , son of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca ; Samson lost the heel of his boot as well as various pieces of his seaplane to ground fire. The Turks surrendered the next day. Further operations off the coast of Palestine followed; on 26 July, Samson and his observer, Lieutenant Wedgewood Benn destroyed
658-549: A target. During World War I some air forces began to distinguish between light bombers and the earliest purpose-built attack aircraft which carried out ground attack, close air support , anti-shipping and similar missions. After World War I, attack aircraft were typically identifiable by their ability to carry multiple fixed machine guns , automatic cannons and rockets in addition to bombs . Light bombers have often served as attack aircraft and vice versa. Purpose-built light bombers disappeared from military aviation by
705-550: A temporary airstrip was constructed at Cape Helles; Samson became well known for waving cheerily to the Allied troops in the trenches below. On one occasion, he bombed a Turkish staff car but only succeeded in breaking the windscreen; one of the occupants was Mustafa Kemal , the charismatic Turkish commander and later founder of the Turkish Republic. In August, Samson's wing was moved to a new airfield at Imbros where it
752-657: A train carrying 1,600 troops with a 16 lb bomb. In almost continuous action through the rest of 1916, Samson received a signal from the Admiralty asking why Ben-my-Chree had used so much ammunition; he replied "that there was unfortunately a war on". In January 1917 he sailed to Castellorizo to carry out joint operations with the French, and in the harbour there the Ben My Chree was sunk on 11 January by Turkish gunfire. A subsequent Court-martial acquitted Samson and
799-577: The Breda Ba.65 , Ilyushin Il-2 Šturmovík , Northrop A-17 , and Vultee V-11 initially differed little in armament and operational role from light bombers. As World War II progressed, specialised attack designs became increasingly focused on low altitude strafing of surface targets, armed with automatic cannons , heavy machine guns and newly-developed rockets ; the A-20 and B-25 Mitchell (type-classed as
846-454: The Bristol Blenheim , Douglas A-20 Havoc (as the P-70), and Dornier Do 17 . Light bombers were selected as a basis for night fighters during this time because early airborne radar systems, used to find and track targets in the dark, were bulky and often required a dedicated operator in the crew ; most smaller day fighters of that era were unsuited to such extra weight and personnel. Conversely,
893-645: The Fairey Battle , Kawasaki Ki-32 (later known by the Allied reporting name "Mary"), Mitsubishi Ki-30 ("Ann"), Mitsubishi Ki-51 ("Sonia"), PZL.23 Karaś , and Sukhoi Su-2 . Contemporaneous twin-engine light bombers included the Bristol Blenheim , Douglas B-23 Dragon , Kawasaki Ki-48 ("Lily"), Martin Maryland (also known as the A-22), Lockheed Hudson , Tupolev SB , and Mitsubishi G3M ("Nell"). While
940-564: The Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8 , both built in 1913. The T.B.8 was a single engine biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company . It was fitted with a prismatic bombsight in the front cockpit and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying 12 x 10 lb (12 x 4.5 kg) bombs, which could be dropped individually or all together. The T.B.8
987-593: The Lockheed P-38 Lightning , Junkers Ju 88 and de Havilland Mosquito also supplanted earlier 1930s-era light bomber designs during the war. One of the last light bombers to be introduced in World War II, the U.S. Douglas A-26 Invader , replaced the earlier A-20 Havoc type and also was designated by the USAAF as a replacement for its Martin B-26 Marauder (which had the same engines and
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#17327721841141034-512: The North Sea , during which time his group shot down five Zeppelins . In order to bring fighter aircraft into action near the enemy coasts, he developed with John Cyril Porte an adapted seaplane lighter which could be towed behind naval vessels and used as a take-off platform by fighter aircraft. This system led to the destruction of Zeppelin L53 on 11 August 1918 by Lieutenant S. D. Culley, who
1081-752: The Petlyakov Pe-3 , which had been designed as a night fighter, was often used a light bomber. Many other aircraft which originally had been designed as fighters or other mission-specific bombers but fit the size, performance and payload requirements for the light bomber role would also be adapted to perform such missions during World War II. Most dive bombers , such as the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka and Vultee Vengeance were light bombers by definition, as these aircraft typically carried bomb loads of one ton or less. Likewise, many torpedo bombers were light bombers according to their size and warload and it
1128-523: The Zeppelin sheds at Düsseldorf and Cologne , and by the end of 1914, when mobile warfare on the Western Front ended and trench warfare took its place, his squadron had been awarded four Distinguished Service Orders , among them his own, and he was given a special promotion and the rank of commander . He spent the next few months bombing gun positions, submarine depots, and seaplane sheds on
1175-522: The Belgian coast. In March 1915 Samson was sent to the Dardanelles with No 3 Squadron (later No 3 Wing); it was based on the island of Tenedos and, together with seaplanes from HMS Ark Royal , initially provided the only Allied air cover. On arrival, it was found that out of 30 aircraft that had been sent in crates, only 5 were serviceable ( B.E.2s and a Nieuport 10 ). His squadron pioneered
1222-592: The Mitsubishi G3M was classified by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a medium bomber , it was a land-based day bomber with bomb loads as small as 800 kg (1,800 lb) and had a secondary role as a torpedo bomber . Many of these aircraft were also used in other non-offensive roles, such as reconnaissance and maritime patrol . A sub-type of light bomber also emerged in the 1930s, the fast bomber (German Schnellbomber ), which prioritised speed as
1269-875: The Royal Navy separated the Naval Wing from the Royal Flying Corps, naming it the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In July Samson was appointed Officer Commanding the Eastchurch (Mobile) Squadron which was renamed No. 3 Squadron RNAS by September 1914. In 1914, while Samson was in command of the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastchurch, he led a flight in the Naval Review at Spithead. In an effort to increase
1316-624: The area between Dunkirk and Antwerp did much to prevent German cavalry divisions from carrying out effective reconnaissance, and with the help of Belgian Post Office employees who used the intact telephone system to report German movements, he was able to probe deeply into German-occupied territory. Closer to Dunkirk, Samson's force assisted Allied units in contact with the Germans, and at other times made use of their mobility and machine guns to exploit open flanks, cover retreats, and race German forces to important areas. Samson's aircraft also bombed
1363-605: The battleship HMS Hibernia during the 1912 Naval Review in Weymouth Bay . He repeated the feat on 4 July 1912, this time from the battleship HMS London while London was under way. When the Royal Flying Corps was formed in May 1912 Samson took command of its Naval Wing, and led the development of aerial wireless communications, bomb and torpedo-dropping, navigational techniques, and night flying. In 1914
1410-566: The crew of all responsibility and commended them for their behaviour. His two escort ships, already equipped to carry a few seaplanes, were fitted out for independent air operations, and from Aden and later Colombo , he patrolled the Indian Ocean for enemy commerce raiders. From November 1917 until the end of the War, Samson was in command of an aircraft group at Great Yarmouth responsible for anti-submarine and anti-Zeppelin operations over
1457-404: The development of navigation lights and bomb sights . He was the first British pilot to take off from a ship, on 10 January 1912, flying a Short Improved S.27 from a ramp mounted on the foredeck of the battleship HMS Africa , which was at anchor in the river Medway . On 9 May 1912 he became the first pilot to take off from a moving ship, using the same ramp and aircraft, now fitted to
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1504-486: The end of World War II, as advancements in propulsion and aeronautical design enabled newer attack/strike aircraft, fighter-bombers , and multirole aircraft types to deliver equal or greater bomb loads while also having superior performance, range and defensive capabilities. Modern aircraft carrying out similar missions include light attack aircraft , strike fighters , and counter-insurgency aircraft . The first aircraft purposely designed for bombing missions were
1551-455: The first British armoured vehicles used in combat. Transferring to the Royal Air Force on its creation in 1918, Samson held command of several groups in the immediate post-war period and the 1920s. Samson was born in Crumpsall , Manchester , on 8 July 1883, the son of Charles Leopold Samson, a solicitor , and his wife Margaret Alice (née Rumney). Samson entered HMS Britannia as
1598-407: The former light bomber role. Charles Rumney Samson Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson , CMG , DSO & Bar , AFC (8 July 1883 – 5 February 1931) was a British naval aviation pioneer. He was one of the first four officers selected for pilot training by the Royal Navy and was the first person to fly an aircraft from a moving ship. He also commanded
1645-803: The performance requirements of the specification, it showed poor low-speed handling and spinning characteristics, and was rejected in favour of the Hart owing to the ease of maintenance of the Hart. After rejection for operational service, the prototype Antelope was fitted with dual controls and used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment as an engine and propeller test bed, remaining in use until September 1933. Data from Avro Aircraft since 1908 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Light bomber The earliest light bombers were intended to drop their bombs in level flight over
1692-552: The popularity of flying in the navy, Samson had his pilots offer rides to anyone who was interested. When the First World War broke out, Samson took the Eastchurch RNAS Squadron to France, where it supported Allied ground forces along the French and Belgian frontiers. In the late summer of 1914, with too few aircraft at his disposal, Samson instead had his men patrol the French and Belgian countryside in
1739-472: The privately owned cars some of them had taken to war. The first patrol comprised two cars, nine men, and one machine gun. Inspired by the success of the Belgians' experience of armoured cars , Samson had two RNAS cars, a Mercedes and a Rolls-Royce, armoured. These vehicles had only partial protection, with a single machine gun firing backwards, and were the first British armoured vehicles to see action. Within
1786-553: The use of radio in directing the fire of battleships and photo-reconnaissance . Samson flew many missions himself and on 25 April at the Landing at Cape Helles , he reported that "the sea was absolutely red with blood to 50 yards out" at Sed-el-Barr ("V Beach"). On 27 May, Samson attacked the German submarine U-21 , which had just sunk HMS Majestic ; when he ran out of bombs he resorted to firing his rifle at it. In June,
1833-650: Was appointed Officer Commanding of Torpedo Boat No. 81 and in February 1908 he was posted to HMS Commonwealth . The following year he was appointed first lieutenant on HMS Philomel serving in the Persian Gulf and in the autumn of 1910 he transferred to HMS Foresight , again serving as the ship's First Lieutenant. In 1911 he was selected as one of the first four Royal Navy officers to receive pilot training, and obtained his Royal Aero Club certificate on 25 April 1911, after only 71 minutes flying time, at
1880-672: Was awarded the Military Cross . The Sopwith Camel flown by Culley in the attack can be seen at the Imperial War Museum . In October 1918 the group became 73 Wing of the new No. 4 Group based at the Seaplane Experimental Station , Felixstowe as part of the Royal Air Force . Samson became commanding officer of this group, and in August 1919 gave up his naval commission and received instead
1927-558: Was common for these aircraft to also be used for level bombing missions. The Bristol Beaufort , Nakajima B5N and Grumman TBF Avenger , while designed as torpedo bombers, saw some action purely in the light bomber role. Types designed before the war as heavy fighters were also frequently adapted as light bombers, including the Messerschmitt Bf 110 , Potez 633 , Fokker G.I , Kawasaki Ki-45 , Bristol Beaufighter , and Lockheed P-38 Lightning . Light attack aircraft such as
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1974-477: Was given command of HMS Ben-my-Chree , a former Isle of Man passenger steamer which had been converted into a seaplane carrier. Based at Port Said , he patrolled the coasts of Palestine and Syria , sending his aircraft on reconnaissance missions and bombing Turkish positions, often flying himself on operations. On 2 June, Samson took his ship through the Suez Canal to Aden , where he personally led
2021-514: Was joined by No 2 Wing under the overall command of Colonel Frederick Sykes . who had been given the naval rank of Wing Captain with three years' seniority. Sykes had previously written a critical report of the Gallipoli air operations, which had caused Samson to lobby against Sykes; however, Samson loyally served under Sykes until he was recalled to London in November. On 14 May 1916, Samson
2068-543: Was married again, in 1924, to Winifred Reeves, the daughter of Mr and Mrs Herbert K. Reeves, who survived him. They had two children, John Louis Rumney born 19 June 1925 and Priscilla Rumney born after her father's death on 24 March 1931. During 1920 Samson served as Chief Staff Officer in the Coastal Area, and in 1921 became Air Officer Commanding for RAF units in the Mediterranean, based at Malta . In 1922 he
2115-647: Was ordered by the Air Ministry, which first flew in July 1928, powered by a 480 hp (360 kW) Rolls-Royce F.XI B (later known as the Kestrel ) engine. The prototype Antelope, which was a single-bay biplane with all-metal construction, was evaluated at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A & AEE) at Martlesham Heath against the Hawker Hart and Fairey Fox II . While it easily met
2162-500: Was promoted to air commodore and given command of 6 Fighter Group at RAF Kenley (S London). In June 1926 he became Chief Staff Officer of the RAF's Middle East Command , in September 1926 he led a flight from Cairo to Aden: the flight left Cairo on 15 September 1926 and was flown by two Vickers Victoria biplanes and returned to Cairo on 29 September. He later flew an RAF formation of four Fairey III biplanes from Cairo to
2209-508: Was purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The Eastbourne RNAS Squadron , operating the T.B.3, carried out the first bombing attack of World War I: on 25 November 1914, under the command of Charles Rumney Samson , the squadron attacked coastal gun batteries operated by German Empire forces, at Middelkerke , Belgium . Most bombers used on World War I battlefields were in fact light bombers: typically single- engine biplanes with
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