RP-3 Rocket equipped Mosquito Targets

[Krupi]

Regarding the RP-3 Rocket I know that they were used effectively by Costal Command Mosquitos against shipping, were they ever historically used against targets on the mainland? 

I have yet to find any evidence that Mosquitos were employed in Cab Rank systems like the Typhoons were (flights of up to four aircraft lingering around the front waiting to be called on to attack targets by the army). 

The main mission seems to prominently ranger missions, these were carried out at night and occasionally during daylight however I have only read reports of them using Bombs and not rockets. 

My current assumption are as follows:

1) The vast majority of Mosquito missions took place at night, so visibility was not great especially without the aid moonlight. Also the last thing I imagine a pilot flying at night would want is to be blinded by the flame coming from four rockets (I imagine the cannon placement was great, did the 303 cause problems). 

2) With 18 Squadrons of Typhoons in the 2nd TAF (I am not sure how many were Rocketphoon's vs Bombphoon's) I imagine logistically it made sense to keep the supply  following these squadrons across Europe. The Costal Commands preference was for the 25lb opposed to the 60lb favoured by the 2nd TAF so logistics perhaps wasn't a factor for them. 

The main benefit I could see of using the RP-3 on Mosquitos would be it's ability to linger for longer than the Typhoon, however like I mentioned previously I have yet to find any evidence that they were used in this role. 

[Bozon]

5 hours ago, Krupi said:

Regarding the RP-3 Rocket I know that they were used effectively by Costal Command Mosquitos against shipping, were they ever historically used against targets on the mainland? 

I have yet to find any evidence that Mosquitos were employed in Cab Rank systems like the Typhoons were (flights of up to four aircraft lingering around the front waiting to be called on to attack targets by the army). 

The main mission seems to prominently ranger missions, these were carried out at night and occasionally during daylight however I have only read reports of them using Bombs and not rockets. 

My current assumption are as follows:

1) The vast majority of Mosquito missions took place at night, so visibility was not great especially without the aid moonlight. Also the last thing I imagine a pilot flying at night would want is to be blinded by the flame coming from four rockets (I imagine the cannon placement was great, did the 303 cause problems). 

2) With 18 Squadrons of Typhoons in the 2nd TAF (I am not sure how many were Rocketphoon's vs Bombphoon's) I imagine logistically it made sense to keep the supply  following these squadrons across Europe. The Costal Commands preference was for the 25lb opposed to the 60lb favoured by the 2nd TAF so logistics perhaps wasn't a factor for them. 

The main benefit I could see of using the RP-3 on Mosquitos would be it's ability to linger for longer than the Typhoon, however like I mentioned previously I have yet to find any evidence that they were used in this role. 

 

Hi Krupi,

there was a bit of a discussion about this with important information from Robi-wan that looked at 2nd TAF mosquito squadron logs. I found only one mention in “Mosquito” by Sharp and Bowyer of mosquitoes using rockets against ground targets.
 

The conclusion we reached was that these were experimental sorties and that 2nd TAF FB.VI hardly ever used rockets. The reason is most likely related to the missions division between Mossies and the single engine fighter-bombers - the Typhoons and American FBs were doing most of the work during the day and mosquitoes operated mostly at night. The single engine FB could not effectively operate at night, while the Mossies could, and during the day the Mossie did not have any special advantage over the single engine FB - so this division makes tactical sense. At night, as you mentioned, rockets are blinding the pilot and so bombs were preferable. 
 

Coastal command FB.VIs were operating during daylight and thus loved the rockets.

[Morat]

IIRC the 25lb rockets were the armour piercing variant and therefore probably more suitable for anti-shipping work. The 60lb rockets were HE or Blast/Frag warheads. Didn't they use the same body and motor?

Edited October 27, 2021 by Morat