Operation Tidal Wave
US bombing raid on Ploiești refineries, 1 August 1943; 53 of 177 bombers lost.
Operation Tidal Wave was the US low-level raid on Ploiești's refineries on 1 August 1943; 53 of 177 B-24s were lost and output recovered within weeks. Ukraine claimed on 4 October 2026 to have disabled 51% of Russian refining.
Last refreshed: 12 October 2026
Timeline for Operation Tidal Wave
Mentioned in: Ukraine strikes Yandex AI data centres
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
Operation Tidal Wave was the US Army Air Forces' low-level raid on the oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania, on 1 August 1943. The Ninth Air Force led it, with three extra bomb groups from the Eighth, flying 177 B-24 Liberators from airfields near Benghazi, Libya. 53 bombers were lost and 55 more damaged. 310 aircrew were killed or missing and 190 captured or interned. Five Medals of Honor were awarded, three of them posthumously.
The raid failed to stop Romanian fuel. Most of the damage was repaired within weeks, and net fuel output then rose above its pre-raid level.
That outcome is why the raid is the counter-case to Ukraine's 2026 refinery campaign. A single blow gives repair crews time; repeated strikes on the same plants do not. Kyiv's drones have returned to refineries such as Omsk, and its Defence Ministry claimed on 4 October that 51% of Russian refining capacity was out of action.