Beaufighter vs ship Embla, April 1944

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

At 09.30H she was suddenly again attacked by between 10-12 B-26 Marauders (sic) from 14 Sq (sic) of Coastal Command with very heavy gunfire and possibly also rockets during appx 12 minutes. The vessel was hit very hard and both fire and leakage broke out.

Culprits identified as 14 Squadron RAF Marauders? This is surprising. The Marauder was sleek and also very fast with the original short wing and vertical fin; but those were the same features that caused control problems at low altitude. For that reason the Marauder, especially the short-winged variety used by the RAF, was not well suited to strafing (or landing, for that matter).