A poignant photo of a Japanese merchant ship that was attacked by an American fighter plane during World War II. Bullet impacts can be seen in the water next to the ship. Smaller sailboats (junks) sail further away. Two other planes from the same attack are visible on the horizon. The silhouette of these aircraft is that of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The P-38 was was the first military aircraft to fly faster than 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight. Although it was used with only limited success in Europe, it triumphed in the Pacific, where its sheer speed allowed it to outclass the Japanese A6M Zero, which had dominated the skies before its arrival. The P-38 became the primary fighter of the Pacific theatre and created more aces than any other USAAF aircraft.

The technical comments and vignetting in the image add extra drama to this moving war photo.

Gelatine silver print ca. 10,9 x 16,7 cm, vintage notes in red pencil on the image.
ca. 1944

Last photo for reference only. We added contrast to make the silhouettes of the planes more visible.