Operation Tidal Wave

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This photo was taken from one of the low-altitude bombers and shows Ploieşti oil storage tanks on fire after being bombed.

Operation Tidal Wave was a World War II aerial bombardment operation by the United States Ninth Air Force to destroy the oil refineries that surrounded the city of Ploieşti in Romania, on August 1, 1943. The operation was devised by Colonel (later General) Jacob E. Smart, and was conducted by 178 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from five bombardment groups which flew a 2,400-mile round trip from bases near Benghazi in Libya, commanded by Brigadier-General Uzal G. Ent. It was one of the most disastrous operations conducted by the United States Army Air Forces.^[1] An earlier raid by 12 B-24's, the Halverson Project, caused minimal damage in June 1942 but demonstrated that the target was in range.

Unlike the first raid, Operation Tidal Wave was prepared meticulously, including practice raids over a mock-up of the target in the Libyan desert. However the crews were told in advance that losses as high as fifty per cent were expected.^[1] The two heavy bomb groups of the Ninth Air Force were augmented by aircraft from three groups of the Eighth Air Force in the UK, and so 178 took off early on the morning of August 1. The bomber carrying one of the senior navigators crashed into the sea. Many of the bombers turned back with engine problems along the route, across the Mediterranean to Corfu, then over the Pindus mountains of Albania and across southern Yugoslavia. Breaking the mission plan, the formation split into two main groups, and fragmented further on the flight across Romania to the target.

Two lead navigators were shot down, so two bombardment groups drifted off course. Because of heavy cloud, they became lost and circled for twenty minutes, thus falling behind the other aircraft. Navigation was also hampered by the low altitude used. When the two leading groups reached Târgovişte and its railway line, Ent and the group's leader decided that the refinery lay near the line to the south and so they countermanded their navigator. After a while they doubled back, deviating from the plan to attack from the north. Meanwhile the remaining aircraft, now back on track, arrived at the target from the north.^[1] As a result, all the remaining planes found the target virtually simultaneously.

Unfortunately, the Germans had been intercepting and decoding the Ninth Air Force's signals for some weeks, and the Luftwaffe and anti-aircraft troops were alerted along the route for the American attack. Heavy air defences were concentrated around Ploieşti, commanded by German General Alfred Gerstenberg.

The American planes attacked the refineries at very low altitude from two directions. In the confusion, many aircraft dropped their bombs randomly, some duplicating attacks leaving large parts of the refinery untouched. Ent even radioed that the bombers should ignore their orders and attack whatever they could. Another refinery, Steaua Română at Câmpina, was also attacked. Here the anti-aircraft defences were able to fire down from the hills onto the low-flying bombers. Losses were particularly heavy here, and even old Romanian Gloster Gladiators biplanes were able to shoot down American bombers.

The Americans lost 53 aircraft, 44 of them to the Romanian and German defenses. Only 88 aircraft managed to return to base in Libya, though many were severely damaged. The other survivors had to ditch in the Mediterranean, divert to other bases, or fly to neutral Turkey, where the crews were interned. 440 men were killed, and a further 220 were taken prisoner.^[1] Five airmen were awarded the Medal of Honor, three posthumously, the most ever awarded for a single mission by the USAAF.

The attack severely damaged some refineries, but most of the damage was quickly repaired and production was back up to pre-raid levels within weeks. Production was not disrupted again until the plant was bombed heavily in 1944, from bases in Italy. The area was cleared of German troops in August 1944, after Romania switched sides and joined the Allies.

[edit] Ninth Air Force order of battle

Ninth Air Force groups
- 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Col. John R. Kane°
- 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Col. Keith K. Compton°°
Eighth Air Force groups
- 44th Bombardment Greoup (Heavy), Col. Leon W. Johnson°
- 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), Lt.Col. Addison E. Baker°
- 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Col. Jack W. Wood°°