Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Courage and Conviction". Its famous nickname came from the fact it carried 13 .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns for protection, and had a legendary toughness for carrying its crew home on one engine or even with the tail shot away. 206 Squadron RAF sank U-627 on 27 October 1942, the first of 11 U-boat kills credited to RAF Fortress bombers during the war.[86]. ", Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 16:26, "intercept" and photograph the Italian ocean liner, List of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress variants, a gunner's position was added in the new tail, the campaign against German aircraft forces, raid on the German capital ship Gneisenau, National Museum of the United States Air Force, List of surviving Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Aircraft in fiction B-17 Flying Fortress, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, B-17 Flying Fortress units of the United States Army Air Forces, Accidents and incidents involving the B-17 Flying Fortress, List of military aircraft of the United States, "Army's Biggest Bomber Has Rotating Nose. Sakai, Saburo with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito. 2. 2012-03-07 01:27:07. All of these modifications made the YB-40 well over 10,000lb (4,500kg) heavier than a fully loaded B-17F. The bombers were assumed either lost by various means or scrapped late in the war for their vital war materials. General Ira C. Eaker and the Eighth Air Force placed highest priority on attacks on the German aircraft industry, especially fighter assembly plants, engine factories, and ball-bearing manufacturers. One B-17 broke up in the air, and its crew was forced to take to their parachutes. He finished the war with 9 enemy planes destroyed. Moreover, German fighter aircraft later developed the tactic of high-speed strafing passes rather than engaging with individual aircraft to inflict damage with minimum risk. In years following World War I, the United States was heavily influenced by Italian air-power theorist Giulio Douhet who called for heavy investment in a force of bombers to fly over the front-lines, destroy an enemys infrastructure, and break their will to fight. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances[4][5] but from its inception, the USAAC (later, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon. info@nationalww2museum.org 60 Of the 291 attacking Fortresses, 60 were shot down over Germany, five crashed on approach to Britain, and 12 more were scrapped due to damage - a loss of 77 B-17s. [168], Thirty-two B-17Gs[169] were used by the Navy under the designation PB-1W, the suffix -W indicating an airborne early warning role. [157], Following the end of World War II, the B-17 was quickly phased out of use as a bomber and the Army Air Forces retired most of its fleet. The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s. [37] Scheduled to fly in 1937, it encountered problems with the turbochargers, and its first flight was delayed until 29 April 1938. How many B-17s were shot down during World War 2? [39] Once service testing was complete, the Y1B-17s and Y1B-17A were redesignated B-17 and B-17A, respectively, to signify the change to operational status. Wikipedia says: Defensive armament increased from four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and one 0.30 in (7.62 mm) nose machine gun in the B-17C, to thirteen 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the B-17G. Date: American aircraft struck targets in Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17, 1943. . Most of the escorts turned back or missed the rendezvous, and as a result, 60 B-17s were destroyed. [152] According to these allegations, the practice was initially successful, but Army Air Force combat aircrews quickly developed and established standard procedures to first warn off, and then fire upon any "stranger" trying to join a group's formation. [38] The aircraft was delivered to the army on 31 January 1939. A large radome for an S-band AN/APS-20 search radar was fitted underneath the fuselage and additional internal fuel tanks were added for longer range, with the provision for additional underwing fuel tanks. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: One Turning and One Burning. [140] Despite an inferior performance and smaller bombload than the more numerous B-24 Liberators,[179] a survey of Eighth Air Force crews showed a much higher rate of satisfaction with the B-17. Later versions carried four or even six MG 151/20 cannon and twin 13mm machine guns. ", "Durable B-17s hard for pilots to forget: Love for plane outweighs bitter memories of war", "World War II War Production Why Were the B-17 and B-24 Produced in Parallel? [143] This durability, together with the large operational numbers in the Eighth Air Force and the fame achieved by the Memphis Belle, made the B-17 a key bomber aircraft of the war. How many B-17s were shot down during the Second World War? [citation needed] It was subsequently used in various films and in the 1960s television show 12 O'Clock High before being retired to the Planes of Fame aviation museum in Chino, California. Borth 1945, pp. National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 2870 / Local Identifier 18-C-406-2 - AIR WAR IN EUROPE - War Department. "[22][23], The crashed Model 299 could not finish the evaluation, disqualifying it from the competition. No products in the cart. The operation did not work as expected, with 90 Squadron's Fortresses being unopposed. The Ball turret itself has inspired works like Steven Spielberg's The Mission. [97], The two different strategies of the American and British bomber commands were organized at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. The current total of surviving B-17 bombers located in the United States stands at 40: Nine (9) B-17 planes are airworthy, such as "Texas Raiders", "Sentimental Journey" and "Aluminum Overcast". As he maneuvered his unarmed B-17 bomber over the island of Oahu, U.S. Army Lt. Robert Thacker was puzzled. On 3 March 1943, 13 B-17s flying at 7,000ft (2,000m) bombed the convoy, forcing the convoy to disperse and reducing the concentration of their anti-aircraft defenses. The German fighters found that when attacking from the front, where fewer defensive guns were mounted (and where the pilot was exposed and not protected by armor as he was from the rear), it took only four or five hits to bring a bomber down. Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944. In July 1940, an order for 512 B-17s was issued,[43] but at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, fewer than 200 were in service with the army. More than 250 aircraft crashed or made emergency landings in Switzerland during the Second World War. [158][159] Strategic Air Command (SAC), established in 1946, used reconnaissance B-17s (at first called F-9 [F for Fotorecon], later RB-17) until 1949. Ten of the 12 Fortresses survived the attack. [122] Five of the Japanese fighters strafing the B-17 aircrew were promptly engaged and shot down by three Lightnings, though these were also then lost. Serial number 44-85784 is the last airworthy B-17 in the United Kingdom and is based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. The electrical systems were less vulnerable to damage than the B-24's hydraulics, and the B-17 was easier to fly than a B-24 when missing an engine. The Germans shot down 36 aircraft with the loss of 200 men, and coupled with a raid earlier in the day against Regensburg, a total of 60 B-17s were lost that day. The Name [128], At their peak, 168 B-17 bombers were in the Pacific theater in September 1942, but already in mid-1942 Gen. Arnold had decided that the B-17 was unsuitable for the kind of operations required in the Pacific and made plans to replace all of the B-17s in the theater with B-24s (and later, B-29s) as soon as they became available. For many, the B-17 is the iconic bomber of the war, and the Flying Fortress"remains a symbol of American might. [76] The British heavy bombers, the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax, dropped 608,612 long tons (681,645 short tons) and 224,207 long tons (251,112 short tons)[77] respectively. [118] Wagner, Ray, "American Combat Planes of the 20th Century", Reno, Nevada, 2004, Jack Bacon & Company, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 16:26. [103] Pilots of average ability hit the bombers with only about two percent of the rounds they fired, so to obtain 20 hits, the average pilot had to fire one thousand 20mm (0.79in) rounds at a bomber. [155], Official Swiss records identify 6,501 airspace violations during the course of the war, with 198 foreign aircraft landing on Swiss territory and 56 aircraft crashing there. The iconic bomber of the European theater, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, carried the fight to the Germans in the skies over Europe. Originally, the B-17 was also chosen because of its heavy defensive armament, but this was later removed. Japanese activity forced them to divert from Hickam Field to Bellows Field. During World War II, the B-17 equipped 32 overseas combat groups, inventory peaking in August 1944 at 4,574 USAAF aircraft worldwide. Four B-17s were shot down in these operations.[171]. Flight crews ferried the bombers back across the Atlantic to the United States where the majority were sold for scrap and melted down, although significant numbers remained in use in second-line roles such as VIP transports, air-sea rescue and photo-reconnaissance. [103] Early versions of the Fw 190, one of the best German interceptor fighters, were equipped with two 20mm (0.79in) MG FF cannons, which carried only 500 rounds when belt-fed (normally using 60-round drum magazines in earlier installations), and later with the better Mauser MG 151/20 cannons, which had a longer effective range than the MG FF weapon. With its usual nose-mounted armament of four MK 108 cannons, and with some examples later equipped with the R4M rocket, launched from underwing racks, it could fire from outside the range of the bombers' .50in (12.7mm) defensive guns and bring an aircraft down with one hit,[147] as both the MK 108's shells and the R4M's warheads were filled with the "shattering" force of the strongly brisant Hexogen military explosive. [163] They were used primarily in the "Dumbo" air-sea rescue role, but were also used for iceberg patrol duties and for photo mapping. B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 398th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, taking fire from flak over Germany, 1944-45. [citation needed], In July 1945, 16 B-17s were transferred to the Coast Guard via the Navy; these aircraft were initially assigned U.S. Navy Bureau Numbers (BuNo), but were delivered to the Coast Guard designated as PB-1Gs beginning in July 1946. A number of B-17Gs, redesignated B-17Hs and later SB-17Gs, were used in the Pacific during the final year of the war to carry and drop lifeboats to stranded bomber crews who had been shot down or crashed at sea. [34][35] The 13th Y1B-17 was delivered to the Material Division at Wright Field, Ohio, to be used for flight testing. And by 27 April 1945, 2 days after the last heavy bombing mission in Europe, the rate of aircraft loss was so low that replacement aircraft were no longer arriving and the number of bombers per bomb group was reduced. In 1946 (or 1947, according to Holm) the regiment was assigned to the Kazan factory (moving from Baranovichi) to aid in the Soviet effort to reproduce the more advanced Boeing B-29 as the Tupolev Tu-4. German ground-based antiaircraft artillery and 300 fighters shot down 60 of the aircraft, with 600 crewmen killed or taken prisoner, the largest Army Air Force loss of the war to date. As sufficient Consolidated Liberators finally became available, Coastal Command withdrew the Fortress from the Azores, transferring the type to the meteorological reconnaissance role. It had a crew of ten and could carry 6,000 pounds of bombs at 300 miles per hour for a range of 2,000 miles. [222], The Flying Fortress has also been featured in artistic works expressing the physical and psychological stress of the combat conditions and the high casualty rates that crews suffered. During World War II approximately 40 B-17s were captured and refurbished by Germany after crash-landing or being forced down, with about a dozen put back into the air. This was operated by German-speaking radio operators who were to identify and jam German ground controllers' broadcasts to their nightfighters. On 28 May 1962, N809Z, piloted by Connie Seigrist and Douglas Price, flew Major James Smith, USAF and Lieutenant Leonard A. LeSchack, USNR to the abandoned Soviet arctic ice station NP 8, as Operation Coldfeet. [57] The B-17's turbocharged Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 engines were upgraded to increasingly more powerful versions of the same powerplants throughout its production, and similarly, the number of machine gun emplacement locations was increased.[61]. Gift of Austin Loree, 2011.160.029, Flying Fortresses dropping bombs and smoke markers over Goppingen, Germany in 1945. The British had been bombing from the air, but heavy losses forced them to switch to nighttime area bombing, greatly reducing its effectiveness. Of 2,900 men in the crews, about 650 did not return, although some survived as prisoners of war. [36] Experiments on this aircraft led to the use of a quartet of General Electric turbo-superchargers, which later became standard on the B-17 line. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. Designating the aircraft Fortress Mk I, the aircraft performed poorly during high-altitude raids in the summer of 1941. From then on, red and white neutrality bands were added to the wings of Swiss aircraft to stop accidental attacks by Allied aircraft. The first raid on 17 August 1943 did not result in critical damage to the factories, with the 230 attacking B-17s being intercepted by an estimated 300 Luftwaffe fighters. See answer . They also believed they had an aircraft which could fight its way in and out of the target area, unescorted, and return home safely. [91], The USAAF began building up its air forces in Europe using B-17Es soon after entering the war. [18] His opinions were shared by the air corps procurement officers, and even before the competition had finished, they suggested buying 65 B-17s. Forty-five planes survive in complete form, 38 in the United States. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: A Tale of Two Texans.". Hess, William N. and Jim Winchester. Work on using B-17s to carry airborne lifeboats had begun in 1943, but they entered service in the European theater only in February 1945. By the end of the war, the B-17 was an obsolete aircraft which had been surpassed by another Boeing bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. Additionally, 122 bombers were damaged and needed repairs before their next flights. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.082. Later that year, two groups moved to Algeria to join Twelfth Air Force for operations in North Africa. The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. 7375, 15859. In 1964, the latter film was made into a television show of the same name and ran for three years on ABC TV. [28][31][note 2] In one of their first missions, three B-17s, directed by lead navigator Lieutenant Curtis LeMay, were sent by General Andrews to "intercept" and photograph the Italian ocean liner Rex 610 miles (980km) off the Atlantic coast. Those who survived the initial onslaught and did not manage to flee, had to eke out a living on a battleground ravaged by incessant bombardment and street fighting. The B-17 was reported as shot down by observers, but it survived and brought its crew home without injury. ", "Giant Bomber Flies Four Miles Per Minute. His views were supported by Eighth Air Force statisticians, whose mission studies showed that the Flying Fortress's utility and survivability was much greater than those of the B-24 Liberator. The ammunition load was over 11,000 rounds. Tragically, the plane stalled and spun into the ground soon after takeoff, bursting into flames. The RAF's No. "Boeing's Battle Wagon: The B-17 Flying Fortress An Outline History". [81][82][83], By September, the RAF had lost eight B-17Cs in combat and had experienced numerous mechanical problems, and Bomber Command abandoned daylight bombing raids using the Fortress I because of the aircraft's poor performance. Of the 291 attacking Fortresses, 60 were shot down over Germany, five crashed on approach to Britain, and 12 more were scrapped due to damage - a loss of 77 B-17s. The Air Corps was looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska. [221] Both films were made with the full cooperation of the United States Army Air Forces and used USAAF aircraft and (for Twelve O'Clock High) combat footage. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: The Quiet Hero.". [160][163] Coast Guard PB-1Gs were stationed at a number of bases in the U.S. and Newfoundland, with five at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, two at CGAS San Francisco, two at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, one at CGAS Kodiak, Alaska, and one in Washington state. A 14th aircraft, the YB-17A, originally destined for ground testing only and upgraded with the turbochargers,[57] was redesignated B-17A after testing had finished.[39][40]. The prototype B-17, with the Boeing factory designation of Model 299, was designed by a team of engineers led by E. Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells, and was built at Boeing's own expense. Also on board were Wright Field test observer John Cutting, and mechanic Mark Koegler. in 1970, and in Memphis Belle with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, and Harry Connick Jr. in 1990. Fewer than 10 are airworthy . [36], A 14th Y1B-17 (37-369), originally constructed for ground testing of the airframe's strength, was upgraded by Boeing with exhaust-driven General Electric turbo-superchargers, and designated Y1B-17A. In the infamous "Black Thursday" raid of 14 October 1943, B-17 gunners claimed 288 German fighter aircraft kills whereas in actuality about 40 were shot down. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: 'I Am the Captain of My Soul'". It had a crew of ten and could carry 6,000 pounds of bombs at 300 miles per hour for a range of 2,000 miles. As the war intensified, Boeing used feedback from aircrews to improve each new variant with increased armament and armor. Yes, for instance, M/SGT Michael Arooth shot down 17 enemy aircraft to reach triple "Ace" status. Noted Japanese ace Sabur Sakai is credited with this kill, and in the process, came to respect the ability of the Fortress to absorb punishment.[119]. A retirement ceremony was held several days later at Holloman AFB, after which 44-83684 was retired. The RAF entered World War II with no heavy bomber of its own in service; the biggest available were long-range medium bombers such as the Vickers Wellington, which could carry up to 4,500 pounds (2,000kg) of bombs. Of the 12,731 B-17s built, about 4,735 were lost during the war. Of the 291 B-17s in the attack force, 60 were lost, 17 were heavily damaged and most of the others incurred some damage, but were repairable. The 19th Bombardment Group had deployed to Clark Field in the Philippines a few weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as the first of a planned heavy bomber buildup in the Pacific. The. [175] Six bombers of the 2nd Bombardment Group took off from Langley Field on 15 February 1938 as part of a goodwill flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The small force of B-17s operated against the Japanese invasion force until they were withdrawn to Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory. It was a very effective weapons system, dropping more bombs during the . Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Battle Over Bougainville". Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. The bomber was intended from the outset to attack strategic targets by precision daylight bombing, penetrating deep into enemy . One of the most significant weapons of World War II would be ready, but only by a hair. Air Corps doctrine dictated bombing runs from high altitude, but they soon found only 1% of their bombs hit targets. Although initially deemed repairable, 40-2049 (11th BG / 38th RS) received more than 200 bullet holes and never flew again. Their first operation, against Wilhelmshaven on 8 July 1941 was unsuccessful. Operational History. Lieutenant General James Doolittle, commander of the 8th, had ordered the second Schweinfurt mission to be cancelled as the weather deteriorated, but the lead units had already entered hostile air space and continued with the mission. These turbo-superchargers were incorporated into the B-17B. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: A Rather Special Award. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber used by the United States Army Air Forces and other Allied air forces during World War II. [11] It combined features of the company's experimental XB-15 bomber and 247 transport. Footage of a B-17 bombing raid that was attacked by German flak and Bf-109's in which bombers are hit and shot down. Army Air Forces. This. The two "E"s were used to develop B-17 air combat counter-tactics and also used as enemy aircraft in pilot and crew training films. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, then introduced it into service in 1938. "Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress: Queen of the Skies". In fact, he wasn't a pilot at all . Lacking a true heavy bomber at the start of World War II, the RAF purchased 20 B-17Cs. "Smithsonian Panel Backs Transfer of Famed B-17 Bomber.". [177][note 5], Many pilots who flew both the B-17 and the B-24 preferred the B-17 for its greater stability and ease in formation flying. (06/2. These losses were a result of concentrated attacks by over 300 German fighters. The B-17 was a sturdily built aircraft. This aircraft, now restored to its original B-17G configuration, was on display in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon until it was sold to the Collings Foundation in 2015. The "D" model, later deemed an obsolescent design, was used in Japanese training and propaganda films. As the production line developed, Boeing engineers continued to improve upon the basic design. By the time the B-17s and escorting Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters were about to get airborne, they were destroyed by Japanese bombers of the 11th Air Fleet. [44][note 3] The aircraft went on to serve in every World WarII combat zone, and by the time production ended in May 1945, 12,731 aircraft had been built by Boeing, Douglas, and Vega (a subsidiary of Lockheed).[45][46][47][48]. 223 Squadron, as part of 100 Group, operated a number of Fortresses equipped with an electronic warfare system known as "Airborne Cigar" (ABC). The bomber's topside surfaces were repainted a dark olive drab, but retained its light gray under wing and lower fuselage surfaces. All were Allison powered. Blast damage was caused over a radius of 5 miles (8.0km). The project came to a sudden end with the unexplained midair explosion over the Blyth estuary of a B-24, part of the United States Navy's contribution as "Project Anvil", en route for Heligoland piloted by Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., future U.S. president John F. Kennedy's elder brother. It was not until the advent of long-range fighter escorts (particularly the North American P-51 Mustang) and the resulting degradation of the Luftwaffe as an effective interceptor force between February and June 1944, that the B-17 became strategically potent. Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, each producing 750 hp (600 kW) at 7,000 ft (2,100 m). However, the USAAF continued using the B-17 as a day bomber, despite misgivings by the RAF that attempts at daylight bombing would be ineffective. Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139. The B-17F also carried light gray flash letters "RD" and "I" on either side of the fuselage's Swiss national insignia. The Allison V-1710 was allocated to fighter aircraft. An early model YB-17 also appeared in the 1938 film Test Pilot with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, and later with Clark Gable in Command Decision in 1948, in Tora! [99], Since the airfield bombings were not appreciably reducing German fighter strength, additional B-17 groups were formed, and Eaker ordered major missions deeper into Germany against important industrial targets. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). 2012-04-07 03:53:31. [127] On the morning of 4 March 1943, a B-17 sank the destroyer Asashio with a 500lb (230kg) bomb while she was picking up survivors from Arashio. The problem was there was no easy way to hit Germany, as a cross-channel invasion of Europe was still years away. It is the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. Best Answer. One of the worst days of the war for the B-17 and its crewmen was the second raid on German ball bearing production in Schweinfurt, Germany on October 14, 1943. [140] Making it back to base on numerous occasions, despite extensive battle damage, the B-17's durability became legendary;[138][139] stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage were widely circulated during the war. Arriving over the target, LeMay's bombers encountered little flak and were able to place approximately 300 tons .

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