Battle of Darwin: P-40 vs Zero

[@joetexas1546]

Thank You Seniors for showing these fine presentations! Mr. Hertberg is awesome-I could listen to him all-day.

[@northernlight696]

I spent some time in Darwin back in 2015 and used to walk daily down to the bluffs overlooking the harbour. They have a nice memorial to this battle. Before going there, I never even knew of the Battle of Darwin.

[@bobbrooks80]

The P-40, Fought in all theaters for the whole war. A great plane.

[@767bob]

And yes to giving the credit the P-40 deserves.....if we did not have the P-40, we would have lost the war pretty early or the war would have lasted a lot longer......it played a major role in Berma, AVG, Pacific, North Africa and in the Mediterrean....check out how many planes it shot down.....a lot of pilots became aces on this plane....and remember they faught pilots who were combat trained and were out numbered not like how it was late into the war.....I have never met a WW II pilot who have flown the P-40 ever say anything bad about it....and they always appreciated the toughness of this plane...it brought them home and the plane did its job.....to me this plane is probably the most important plane the allies needed until the later planes showed up.

[@dukecraig2402]

Greatest entrance of a movie character EVER!!!, Captain "Wild Bill" Kelso, 1941(the movie), Death Valley California, High Noon... that P40 lands and pulls into gas station and out climbs John Belushi, if you were a 14 year old kid in America at the time it didn't get any cooler than that, (although James Bonds parachute stunt at the beginning of The Spy Who Loved Me comes in a very close 2nd!!!)

[@MurrayJoe]

I love when he talked about his granddaughter and why her picture was up there, ... "Three reasons, 1/. There my slides, I get to put whatever I want on them, 2/. she's awesome and she digs me, 3/. when your chasing her, she is like the Zero, long range and highly manoeuvrable."

[@nikonmark37814]

Great video, why doesn't anyone mention the ground crew? They were the one's working their butts off maintaining the P40 and all of the other allied aircraft.

[@jamescreswell9037]

Because there's no glamour attached to them. Who's interested in the mechanics who have slogged all day and possibly half the night preparing or repairing at a car race? Certainly not Joe Public. The *stars* receiving all the attention are the driver and the car. Some ie. moi, -but not all, pilots do greatly appreciate their ground crews and treat them with courtesy and respect where they deserve it.

[@gsr4535]

I fancy myself knowledgeable about WW2 Japanese aircraft. Rob Hertberg is spot on correct. He knows his stuff. The history of how Japanese aircraft were designed is quite interesting. Well done Rob! And not to slight Tom - he is very knowledgeable about American aircraft of the period as well. It's just that finding information about Japan's warplanes is more difficult. Great job both of you gentlemen!

[@Dacman767]

I looooooooove these videos. You guys do an incredible job building an aviation history library.

[@jamescreswell9037]

There are some error holes in the narrative. The Zero was certainly designed to be light, but not for "range" per se other than to allow provision to uplift sufficient fuel (weight) for said range within structural and performance MTOW constraints. Although the weight of fuel required to be carried for extended range was taken into account in the design, the primary reason the Zero was so light was because of the technical limitation of power available from Japanese aero engines (development) of the time exacerbated by (low) octane rating of the available fuels produced by the Japanese industry. As for the P-40E vs A6M2b or A6M3 Model 32 later in PNG, I've known personally enough P-40E drivers who flew in active service in PNG shortly after the Darwin attacks whose only praise for it was how much of a flogging its Allison engine could take from a terrified Aussie pilot with a Zero on his tail to keep the windmill turning, and how many hits the airframe could absorb and still keep flying. "Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run....."

[@dessertfox3263]

Thanks so much for another great video. Col Hertberg and Mr. Nightengale did a great job of explaining the history of the a/c development and operations of these two amazing airplanes. I am certainly guilty of thinking that the P-40 was a waste of aluminum and this video exposed my ignorance. I also find it interesting that a former F-16 pilot actually enjoys flying these planes which must be very underpowered compared to the F-16.

[@thegreatdominion949]

It was amazing that the P-40s were able to effectively combat the Zeros and Bettys which typically came in to the Darwin area at altitudes (usually 20,000-25,000 feet) well above those at which the Kittyhawks were able to comfortably operate. By contrast with the P-40E which began staggering above 15,000 feet, the Zero had little trouble operating at 30,000 feet.

[@shahboy68]

Great video. I’ve always been a big fan of the P40. That great big tiger shark mouth is awesome

[@PeterKrauss1963]

Thank you for this fascinating video. We in Australia are sadly ignorant about our own history. One comment about pronunciation: The island of Timor is pronunced Tee-more.

[@davidgillman1962]

My Grandpa served in Darwin as a leading aircraftman first class in the R.A.A.F. He used to complain about the Australian Government employing Kittyhawks to defend Darwin. They were okay against dive bombers but really suffered if a pilot was bounced by a Zero

[@Ebergerud]

When the SpitVs first arrived at Darwin in early 43 they had very serious problems. The units were inexperienced - even though they included North African aces like Caldwell (the war's top P-40 ace) and struggled for weeks. The Spit was not a rugged plane via weather conditions and "trop" models (needed in Queensland) mad them arguably less effective than P-40s. When the war moved into its offensive stage with allied B-24s attacking Japanese oil fields in SEA the Aussies were using Spit IXs which helped. I've interviewed RAAF pilots in the SW Pacific area and they found their P-40s very good planes for the theater. When the theater expanded into the PI it was the lack of range that crippled the P-40, it had already gained the edge over Zeros. The 38s were became boss in the SW Pacific but the USAAF never gave them to the RAAF. (They did eventually get P-51s though - even built them in Oz.) The KIWIs started with P-40s but because they got stuff from the Navy were given Corsairs - after there were no more Japanese planes in the area. The result was the idiot air war against the bypassed Japanese at Rabaul, Kavieng and other dumps.

[@matthayward7889]

Superb video as always, absolutely fascinating!

[@Seveneleven44]

My great uncle, Joseph H. Buckley, died in 2001. He was a captain in the army air corps, and one of the first men to ever to pilot a B29 in a combat role. He was stationed in Guam, and flew a lot of firebombing sorties on Tokyo. He passed when I was 13, but his stories were legendary. I’ll never forget him saying “Stevie, if I could go back, I’d bomb those sons of bitches 6 days a week and twice on Sunday.” He was a mans man, and was also a savant. He worked for Rutgers university until his retirement. One last story that he always told, which I don’t know if is true, but regardless it made for a great story...he was approached alone by a significant player in the war, and asked if he would like to be trained/briefed on a program that was selecting pilots and crews for a top secret mission...he said no because they meant his crew would be split up. That mission was to be the crew of the eventual B29, the Enola Gay.

[@56hueycobra]

Great 👍 Job With Both Pilots On the P-40 & Zero 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@foowashere]

Great lecture and presentations, I'm much obliged! Do we get to see the walk-arounds too? :)

[@prreith]

30:20 - the P40F did not have the same engine as the Mustang, it was an earlier variant and did not have the same 2 stage supercharger.

[@richardrichard5409]

Earlier F's used Packard 'Merlins' and were single stage but later F builds used 2 stage blowers based on Merlin 60 series as I understand it, could be wrong of course.

[@raymondmpierce311]

Yes it did in the first mustang the Allison used in the first mustang

[@767bob]

Great video but I do have to say something about the P-40F.....The P-40F did not use the same engine from the Mustang.....the P-40F's Packard V1650-1 were pretty much the same engine used in the Hawker Hurricane Mk. II....which was the series 20 Merlin, this engine used a single-stage, two-speed supercharger....the Spitfire Mk. V used series 40's...a hopped up version of the series 20 and the Spitfire Mk. IX used series 60's, this engine used a two-stage, two-speed supercharger.... Packard V1650 -3/-7 were almost copies of the Merlin series 60's built for the P-51 B/C/D/K.....there was a performance increase in the P-40F by using the Packard V1650-1 .....the Americans made sure they got the P-40F's for the North African and Mediterrean campaign because of this engine.....I would have loved to see how the P-40 would have performed if it was fitted with the same engine the Spitfire Mk. V used....the Merlin series 40's.....

[@deanwilliams4365]

OK expert. When the american government refused to sell the brits anymore P40s and the brits were really hanging out for more single engine ground attack or interdiction airframes. they approached everyone in the US asking if they could build P40s under licence. the P51 was offered as an option but it had a chin radiator. ad the british internal radiators and a bleeding edge scoop. powered by the allison!!!! the brits where happy, 30mph faster than the P40 a bit more range and the 50cal. remember ground attack. so strong with thick wings, * NB the P51 has NOT a true laminar flow wing) so when the commentator stated the P51 had the same motor as the P40 he is correct. It was in NAfrica when merlin's were shue horned into both the P40 and P51. actually done by RNZAF staff. due to the lack of parts to maintain the allisons at that time. * a bit like the first stuart tanks purchased from the USA, delivered with no motors!!!) NB i say again the P40 and P51 were initially used as interdiction airframes. the hurricane and spitfire handles aircover! NB the P51 was never a completely american designed airframe. if it was then the USA government could control its manufacture and who it was sold to! the P51 was 61% officially british designed. a bit like when the brits approached Mr Ford to make merlins. he said FO you will lose and i will not get paid, lol he didn't get paid by hitler so guess who was the sucker lol

[@mitchellcarter1654]

When north american offered first p51 prototype to u.k. it had I believe the allison engine. The plane was tested by a veteran brit. Test pilot (forget his name) and he was favorably impressed with the plane's good speed (better than expected with allison) and the plane's nuanced maneuverability. Also, I like the book by Martin Caiden called "the ragged, rugged warriors" about the avg and even air skirmishes in China before avg.

[@F_Tim1961]

Massive confusion from Mr Hertberg around 40:00. Rabaul is in the New Hebrides. Nothing to do with New Cal which was Vichy French and then signed up with De Gaulle. The US was in New Cal. The Japanese never got there (but it was probably close). The Australians were principally trying to stop invasion of Nth Australia. Timor was lost as far as they were concerned. There was very little ferrying of arms to the DE. Indes -there was no lend lease arrangement as Holland had fallen a year before. They were on their own. The Dutch military in Indonesia fought the Japanese slightly and then, if able, decamped to Australia. Protection of Darwin was nothing do do with Pacific supply routes (air). Those came down from US WC to Tonga and Fiji and then on to NZ and mainly Brisbane , which is thousands of kilometres from the action. Apart from that , the description was accurate.

[@cinewillp6391]

Living history, could many cultures support such a thing

[@MililaniJag]

Great vid!! 25:31....the "Northrup" (Vought) V-141 took off from California made a left turn over the ocean and disappeared never to be seen again?!?!?! Wasnt the V-141/143 sold to Japan? Thx!

[@Stiglr]

Very informative!!! Thank you!!!!

[@thegreatdominion949]

Unfortunately, the RAAF and RAF Spitfires that replaced the P-40s in the defence of Darwin had a relatively poor record of kills mostly due to the poor tactics that the commander of the Fighter Wing (RAAF fighter ace Clive Caldwell) chose to employ to combat the intruders. The Spitfire was definitely superior to the P-40 in this role, but the way it was used over Darwin clearly left a lot to be desired.

[@Idahoguy10157]

What type of physique do it take to fly a zero? Height and weight?

[@Rampant_Colt]

the type 99 20mm (copy of Oerlikon FF) had low velocity, low rate of fire, and was unreliable. Their H.E. shells didn't pack a lot of explosives either, however was very light weight

[@identitydixie1061]

Same with the mgff s on the bf109s e's and f1

[@chitlika]

Interesting video I would have liked a bit less restoration talk and more about the actual battle worthwhile non the less.

[@flyus747]

He kept saying IGN, it's IJN right?

[@TitaniumCountess]

Sounded like he was pronouncing it properly to me... it's a California accent thing.

[@ncktbs]

they made more p-40s than 737's i know its not a fighter but that tells most people how many they made easily

[@Quokka666]

the ija never had full power over png

[@tertommy]

Confederate Air Force was cool, Commemorative Air Force PC run amok.