Martin Marauder Mk.II - Pirates of the Mediterranean (iii)

Suggestions Aircraft
1
Would you like to see the Marauder Mk.II in game?
  • Yes, as a tech tree vehicle
  • Yes, as a premium vehicle
  • Yes, as an event vehicle
  • Yes, as a squadron vehicle
  • No, I would not like to see the Marauder Mk.II in game.
0 voters

🇬🇧 Marauder Mk.II 🇬🇧

Given caption: “Two Marauder Mark IIs, ‘39’ and ‘40’, of No.70 Operational Training Unit, based at Shandur, Egypt, in flight, 1944.” (source)

Martin Marauder Family in British Service

 

TL;DR

  • The third of the B-26 variants taken into RAF service
  • Advanced fast medium bomber/torpedo bomber of the Second World War
  • More or less identical to the B-26B/C in game
  • The last of the Marauders fit to carry British torpedoes

Why it should be in the game: To be completely honest, I probably wouldn’t be suggesting this aircraft (the Mk.II) besides for completeness’s sake. I think it could be made to work, but as a bog standard B-26C, the Marauder Mk.II is the least interesting of its siblings in RAF service. The B-26C is still a fine plane and would be useful to players at the very least. As far as medium bombers go, bringing this to support the mid rank British ground lineup wouldn’t be a bad choice.


History

Given caption: “Marauder Mark II, FB346, on the ground at Eastleigh, Southampton, where it was retained for test flying at Cunliffe Owen Aircraft Ltd.” (source)

      The Marauder Mk.II seems to have completely passed the public eye by during its tenure as a minelayer, bomber, and reconnaissance aircraft in the Mediterranean. It is worth talking about what made the Marauder II different compared to the Mk.Is the RAF was using to this point. As a B-26C-30, the Marauder Mk.II incorporates several improvements. The defensive armament and its layout were improved compared to the early B-26B, with a center-mounted .50 machine gun replacing the old .30 in the nose and a Bell M-6 powered turret in the tail with two .50s. It also had five .50s mounted for the pilot’s use, with one protruding through the bombardier’s window and two on each side of the fuselage. Armor plating was added to the cockpit and the ventral gunner of earlier models was replaced with waist gunner positions. All these extra features were adding up to make the Mk.II much slower than the Mk.I’s 300+ miles/hour speeds.

1/72 scale Marauder Mk.II by user diamant on Britmodeller Forums. This model represents FB485 in Egypt, 1944.

      As for the Marauder Mk.II’s use in RAF service, it is said to have been issued to 14 Squadron, who were using Marauder Mk.Is, in mid-late 1943. As a B-26C-30, the Marauder Mk.II still had torpedo mountings, but at the time it was introduced, 14 Squadron would have ceased torpedo-bombing operations. Of the one hundred Mk.IIs ordered by the RAF, just over half were given to the SAAF for use by 12 and 24 Squadron. Several of these aircraft were lost in combat or accidents. Overall the Mk.II’s history is not well recorded in sources available to me, and the Mk.III began supplementing/supplanting it in service by mid-1944.


Specifications

Marauder Mk.II

Dimensions:

  • Length: 56 ft 1 in (17.09 m)
  • Span: 71 ft 0 in (21.64 m)
  • Height: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)

Weight:

  • 24,000 lb (10,886 kg) empty
  • 37,000 lb (16,783 kg) maximum

Propulsion: 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43 Double Wasp

  • 2,000 hp each; 4,000 hp total (takeoff)

Maximum speed:

  • 282 mph (454 km/h) @ 15,000 ft (4,572 m)

Armament:

  • Guns:
    • 5 x 1 .50 caliber AN/M2 Browning fixed forward firing machine guns (200-250 rds./gun; 1,100 total)
    • 1 x 1 .50 caliber AN/M2 Browning machine gun in a flexible nose mount (270 rounds)
    • 2 x 1 .50 caliber AN/M2 Browning machine gun on waist gunner mounts (240 rds./gun; 480 total)
    • 1 x 2 .50 caliber AN/M2 Browning machine gun in powered tail turret (800 rds./gun; 1,600 total)
    • 1 x 2 .50 caliber AN/M2 Browning machine gun in powered dorsal turret (400 rds./gun; 800 total)
  • Bombs:
    • Up to 2 x 2,000 lb American bomb
    • Up to 4 x 1,000 lb American bomb
    • Up to 8 x 500 lb American bomb
    • Up to 16 x 300 lb American bomb
    • Up to 30 x 100 lb American bomb
  • Torpedoes:1
    • Up to 1 x Mk XII 2,000 lb torpedo
    • Up to 1 x Mk XV 2,000 lb torpedo
  • Fuel:
    • Up to 2 x 250 gallon fuel tank in the aft bomb bay

Crew: 7 (pilot, copilot, bombardier, radio operator/navigator, upper turret gunner/camera operator, waist gunner, tail gunner)

Additional equipment:

  • Bomb sight
  • EFS

Notes:

  1. I’ve not seen a photograph of the Marauder Mk.II using British torpedoes, but considering the B-26C-30 had torpedo racks as standard equipment, I am assuming the Mk.II could use the same ordnance as the Mk.I.

Sources

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Pirates of the Mediterranean was a mid movie change my mind…

+1

1 Like