16 May 1943
Waxing Gibbous, 89% lit
The Dambusters raid
617 Squadron flew the dams raid at sixty feet in the dark, on a date chosen for moonlight and water level.
The bouncing bomb had to be released at exactly 60 feet and 232 mph, at night, over water, and a 91% moon was the only thing making the surface visible. Two spotlights angled to converge at 60 feet solved the height problem; the Moon had to solve the rest.
- Date
- 16 May 1943
- Moon computed for
- 23:00 local time, UTC+2
- Phase
- Waxing Gibbous
- Illuminated
- 89%
Source: Royal Air Force Museum