Not every doubtful account describes perfect attack conditions. Stories in which crews succeed despite seas so high that waves are said to top a low-flying aircraft's wings raise the opposite problem. Such conditions should affect both the decision to launch and the bomber's physical survival over the water. Heroic adversity can distort an operational narrative as readily as implausible perfection.
Notable Point · 37:30-38:12
Impossible sea-state stories raise a different warning
The opposite narrative extreme is also suspect when waves supposedly reach a low-flying aircraft's wings without destroying it.