Stukas and HMS Illustrious.

[Csaba B. Stenge]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Just a thought but what about the crutch that swung the bomb outside the airscrew arc when dive-bombing? Might not the strength of that be a limitation?

Good point. There were problems with that device (the normal, not strenghtened one was damaged many times by 500 kg bombs) Perhaps the Bertas used mostly 250 kg bombs on that sortie (I guess, so numerous 500 kg hits would be fatal despite of the armoured deck)