The Mavis as a ship killer - who knew?

[alesha93]

I'm playing the Japanese and got caught with no LB in or near the Marshalls. The Allies were trying to sneak a landing force in. All I had were 18 Mavis. So, I put them on naval attack and, viola, they played havoc with the Allies. Against a CA, CL, 4 DDs, and 4 AKs the Mavis sank 2 AK and a DD. They also damaged the other 2 AKs.

I had no idea they could be such effective ship killers. Granted the Allies had no air cover; however, the results were still stellar.

I wonder what other non-combat Japanese aircraft are good in this role. Probably the Emily.

Any thoughts or good history?

[paradigmblue]

Patrol planes can be incredibly effective when used on Naval Attack, especially the torpedo-capable Catalinas. However, patrol planes are usually a valuable commodity - the four engine types are very expensive for Japan to produce, and the allied pools are never that great - so many players choose not to use them in the naval attack role.

[Yaab]

ORIGINAL: oreskovich

I'm playing the Japanese and got caught with no LB in or near the Marshalls. The Allies were trying to sneak a landing force in. All I had were 18 Mavis. So, I put them on naval attack and, viola, they played havoc with the Allies. Against a CA, CL, 4 DDs, and 4 AKs the Mavis sank 2 AK and a DD. They also damaged the other 2 AKs.

I had no idea they could be such effective ship killers. Granted the Allies had no air cover; however, the results were still stellar.

I wonder what other non-combat Japanese aircraft are good in this role. Probably the Emily.

Any thoughts or good history?

Read this thread
tm.asp?m=3722974

Now, there seems to be a bug, because patrol aircraft do not use their defensive guns in aerial combat. Put three Hellcats on CAP and fly six Mavis into the CAP, and weep. I have seen several combat animations and NOT ONCE saw a fighter be "driven away by defensive fire".

[crsutton]

Well, they carry two torpedoes and that is what makes them so deadly. But any competent player will just set a CAP trap for them and that will pretty much put an end to their use in that manner. Just too expensive to waste.

[HansBolter]

I always train up 2-3 squads of Cats in torpedo skill.

Even the not so well trained ones can get hits but the loss rates are too high for an airframe type that has low replacement rates.

[spence]

good history?

Not so sure about that part. In the game PBYs seem to do fairly well with their torpedoes (early on especially) but I suspect considerably better than in real life. On the other hand, they seem to almost never launch on night missions with bombs which was historically where they became famous as Black Cats.

All search/patrol types seem pretty vulnerable to fighters.

[PaxMondo]

CATs are good at this as well, and the same defensive maneuver will work.

[Shark7]

The thing with it is that it is a 1 use thing. You probably won't catch another landing force without a carrier escort again (when playing a PBEM game). The AI...well it is the AI, 'nuff said.

As to the historical use. IIRC the IJN did use H8Ks to make a second attack on Pearl Harbor in March of 1942, but it achieved practically nothing. So even though they were occasionally used to attack IRL, it seems to have been a very limited thing.

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: oreskovich


I wonder what other non-combat Japanese aircraft are good in this role. Probably the Emily.

Mavis and Emily, and PBYs for that matter, are not "non-combat" aircraft. They have defensive armament and they will attack enemy shipping and subs, if they spot them.

Is your avatar Teri Hatcher?

[alesha93]

No, the avatar isn't Teri Hatcher. Going off topic and showing my age - the picture is of Alesha Oreskovich, a Playboy playmate from the early 90s. Best ever.