A 312th Bomb Group B-25 Mitchell banks away after a low-level attack on a Japanese vessel, its bombs having struck near or amidships in a plume of smoke and spray. Fifth Air Force B-25 squadrons in the Southwest Pacific pioneered 'skip bombing' and mast-height attack tactics beginning in 1943, releasing bombs at wave-top altitude to strike enemy ships along the waterline where damage was most devastating. Missions like this one, flown against Japanese shipping supporting garrisons in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Philippines, were extraordinarily hazardous, exposing aircrews to intense anti-aircraft fire at point-blank range. Project: 218558