Operation Tidal Wave

Uncommon card · No. 142845

Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania, on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the "oil campaign" to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis powers. The mission resulted in "no curtailment of overall product output but a drastic reduction in spare capacity". Due to the number of aircraft available and the long distance, the mission was conceived as low level attack using Consolidated B-24 Liberator with the advantage of surprise against relatively undefended targets. However the aircraft were not designed for low level use and the targets were well defended by many anti-aircraft guns and German and Romanian fighter squadrons. As a result the operation was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater, with 53 aircraft - about a third of those committed - and 500 aircrewmen lost. It was proportionally the most costly...

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