Talk:Summer 2017 Event/@comment-31358253-20170819072854/@comment-26082284-20170819090410

Torpedo bombers are still bombers and historically they did carry either torpedoes (used against shipping) or 800kg bombs (used against installations), unlike dive bombers that mostly carried 50kg (and rarely 250kg) AP bombs good agains ships or point targets, but not so much against airfields or harbours. So the idea was:

Opening airstrike - dive bombers attack point targets like AA guns emplacements and fuel tanks with their AP bombs, damaging installation but not really destroying it, while torpedo bombers carrying torpedoes can't attack and need to be rearmed into bombs.

Shelling phase: after returning to the ship torpedo bombers are rearmed with heavy bombs turning them basically into level bombers, and sortie to do strikes against installations destroying them for good, while dive bombers only provide cover because their bombs are too small to really destroy installation.

Well, at least that was true for WWII era japanese naval aircrafts. With introduction of foreign planes (many of which could and did carry heavy payloads against land targets) it doesn't make much sense anymore.