Ship killing

Preferable loads in AB for ship and boat kills (forget about torpedoes!):

• Heavy cruiser: Two 1,000 lb or 500 kg bombs
• Light cruiser: One 1,000 lb or 500 kg bomb
• Destroyer: Two 127 mm rockets or one 500 lb bomb or one 250 kg bomb
• Cargo ships, Landing ships: One 127 mm rocket or one 100 kg bomb 
• Patrol boats: Use of autocannons or heavy machineguns, horizontally
• Landing craft: Use of autocannons or heavy machineguns

A fine bomb-dropping technique is simply to aim with the aiming circle in "F4" view and to drop in a shallow dive (20-40°) at the bow, on the ship's centreline. The ship is moving forward, and will often be hit dead centre by the time the bomb arrives.

My rocket attacks are typically the required amount of rockets + sometimes one additional one, fired from low altitude (rather horizontally).

In either case, watch out! Destroyers have masts that must not be rammed. The bomb explosions can hit your plane if you fly too low as well.

Groups of four or five destroyers (as on the "Crater" map) have great AAA firepower. Avoid flying in a straight line or flying slowly. Reload your bombs behind a nearby mountain (particularly on the "Crater" map). Three destroyers can be hit with reasonable accuracy in one pass, turn a few seconds after this pass for a second pass if you have enough bombs.

The best ship killer aside from bombers and attackers with their quick bomb reload is the P-47D series: A P-47D can have up to 2x 1,000 lb bombs, 1x 500 lb bomb and 10x 127 mm (5") rockets. This can kill an amazing up to eight destroyers without a reload. An AD-2 carries more, but it's slower. A F6F comes close (2x 1,000 lb + 6x 127 mm ~ five destroyers).

This is enough for any group of ships other than on the "Merchant Fleet" map.

The "Merchant Fleet" map is a challenging one for ship killing, since the stationary convoy is right below the reds' fighter spawn point. I advise to use the P-47D with a good load (3x 500 lb + 10x rockets), climb and avoid the main fighter clash. When spawning in the south, climb westward. When spawning in the North, climb to South-West. Pretend you're a fighter, and in case a fighter intercepts you, signal your attention and accept a head-on fight. Once close to the fleet, dive and drop one bomb on a destroyer each, then turn around to deliver each one rocket to a cargo ship.