They were chosen specifically for these missions as being more suitable for this role than other available German aircraft; they never attempted to deceive the Allies and always wore full Luftwaffe markings. ", "B-17 Flying Fortress to join CF - the Collings Foundation", "414th Squadron Planes and Crews circa 1943", "Memphis Belle bomber newly restored and unveiled at US Air Force museum", "Going from lucky in love to lucky to be alive in 1943", "The Swoose comes home to roost at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force", "A Higher Call: autographed by JG 27 Bf-109 ace Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown of the B-17 "Ye Olde Pub", "Airpower Classics: B-17 Flying Fortress. [122][124] Actual Japanese fighter losses for the day were seven destroyed and three damaged. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: 'Valor at its Highest'". 0. As the production line developed, Boeing engineers continued to improve upon the basic design. ", 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. To enhance performance at slower speeds, the B-17B was altered to include larger rudders and flaps. Covering 12,000 miles (19,000km) they returned on 27 February, with seven aircraft setting off on a flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, three days later. Launching Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" and Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" from bases in England's eastern countryside, the Americans bombed their targets . As he maneuvered his unarmed B-17 bomber over the island of Oahu, U.S. Army Lt. Robert Thacker was puzzled. These losses were a result of concentrated attacks by over 300 German fighters. All of these modifications made the YB-40 well over 10,000lb (4,500kg) heavier than a fully loaded B-17F. [citation needed] As a result, the B-17s' loss rate was up to 25% on some early missions. [116] A series of disputed discussions and decisions, followed by several confusing and false reports of air attacks, delayed the authorization of the sortie. Gr. [14] The most distinct mount was in the nose, which allowed the single machine gun to be fired toward nearly all frontal angles. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 Thomas, Geoffrey J., and Ketley, Barry, "KG 200 The Luftwaffe's Most Secret Unit", Hikoku Publications Ltd., Crowborough, East Sussex, UK, 2003, Correll, John T. " Rendezvous With the 'Rex'. This. Though the crash of the prototype 299 in 1935 had almost wiped out Boeing, now it was seen as a boon. Before the advent of long-range fighter escorts, B-17s had only their .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns to rely on for defense during the bombing runs over Europe. In January 1938, group commander Colonel Robert Olds flew a Y1B-17 from the U.S. east coast to the west coast, setting a transcontinental record of 13 hours 27 minutes. In contrast, of the nearly 1,100 Cobras delivered to the Army, 300 were lost. [92] It has been alleged that some B-17s kept their Allied markings and were used by the Luftwaffe in attempts to infiltrate B-17 bombing formations and report on their positions and altitudes. Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. [156] The three bombers, which still contained their top secret Norden bombsights, were ferried to Japan where they underwent extensive technical evaluation by the Giken, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force's Air Technical Research Institute (Koku Gijutsu Kenkyujo) at Tachikawa's air field. Nonetheless, this deed made him a celebrated war hero. Originally, the B-17 was also chosen because of its heavy defensive armament, but this was later removed. [176] In a well-publicized mission on 12 May of the same year, three Y1B-17s "intercepted" and took photographs of the Italian ocean liner SS Rex 610 miles (980km) off the Atlantic coast. One of these Taiwan-based B-17s was flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines in mid-September, assigned for covert missions into Tibet. The problem was there was no easy way to hit Germany, as a cross-channel invasion of Europe was still years away. Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Yasuho Izawa. 2012-03-07 01:27:07. Half of the group's B-17s were wiped out on 8 December 1941 when they were caught on the ground during refueling and rearming for a planned attack on Japanese airfields on Formosa. [160] At first, these aircraft operated under their original USAAF designations, but on 31 July 1945 they were assigned the naval aircraft designation PB-1, a designation which had originally been used in 1925 for the Boeing Model 50 experimental flying boat. 2012-04-07 03:53:31. The B-17 was a sturdily built aircraft. They were brave. The bomber was intended from the outset to attack strategic targets by precision daylight bombing, penetrating deep into enemy . Their first operation, against Wilhelmshaven on 8 July 1941 was unsuccessful. While the US had less than 200 at the start of the war, more than 12,000 B-17s were produced by the end and served in every theater. [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. [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. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Rabaul on a Wing and a Prayer". how many b17s were shot down during ww2. During World War II, the B-17 equipped 32 overseas combat groups, inventory peaking in August 1944 at 4,574 USAAF aircraft worldwide. Trescott, Jacqueline. As the war intensified, Boeing used feedback from aircrews to improve each new variant with increased armament and armor. [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. "Operation Pointblank: Evolution of Allied Air Doctrine During World WarII". 223 Squadron, as part of 100 Group, operated a number of Fortresses equipped with an electronic warfare system known as "Airborne Cigar" (ABC). [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]. The Allison V-1710 was allocated to fighter aircraft. The first two ex-USAAF B-17s, a B-17F (later modified to B-17G standard) and a B-17G were obtained by the Navy for various development programs. When bombers crashed in Switzerland. ", "German wonder weapons: degraded production and effectiveness. See answer . Of the 13 YB-17s ordered for service testing, 12 were used by the 2nd Bomb Group of Langley Field, Virginia, to develop heavy bombing techniques, and the 13th was used for flight testing at the Material Division at Wright Field, Ohio. [111], By September 1944, 27 of the 42 bomb groups of the 8th Air Force and six of the 21 groups of the 15th Air Force used B-17s. [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. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, then introduced it into service in 1938. [64][65][66] The final production blocks of the B-17F from Douglas' plants did, however, adopt the YB-40's "chin turret", giving them a much-improved forward defense capability. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: The Quiet Hero.". [160][168] PB-1Ws continued in USN service until 1955, gradually being phased out in favor of the Lockheed WV-2 (known in the USAF as the EC-121, a designation adopted by the USN in 1962), a military version of the Lockheed 1049 Constellation commercial airliner. 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. [20] While the air corps was still enthusiastic about the aircraft's potential, army officials were daunted by its cost;[24] Douglas quoted a unit price of $58,200 (equivalent to $916,000 in 2021) based on a production order of 220 aircraft, compared with $99,620 (equivalent to $1,568,000 in 2021 ) from Boeing. "Smithsonian Panel Backs Transfer of Famed B-17 Bomber.". 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. The loss was not total but Boeing's hopes for a substantial bomber contract were dashed. Assembly Ships", "Polka Dot Warriors > Vintage Wings of Canada", "Excerpts from B-17 Pilot Training Manual (The Story of the B-17). [7] The USAAF bombers attacked by day, with British operations chiefly against industrial cities by night. The Soviets restored 23 to flying condition and concentrated them in the 890th bomber regiment of the 45th Bomber Aviation Division,[153] but they never saw combat. 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. [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. In 1957 the surviving B-17s had been stripped of all weapons and painted black. Lacking a true heavy bomber at the start of World War II, the RAF purchased 20 B-17Cs. Designed by Dr. Sanford Moss, engine exhaust gases turned the turbine's steel-alloy blades, forcing high-pressure ram air into the Wright Cyclone GR-1820-39 engine supercharger. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.034, B-17 Flying Fortress bomber dropping bombs on targets in Europe, 1944-45. 7071, 83, 92, 256, 26869. The operation did not work as expected, with 90 Squadron's Fortresses being unopposed. Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944. [130], B-17s were still used in the Pacific later in the war, however, mainly in the combat search and rescue role. For the film, see, "B-17 Flying Fortress" redirects here. Copy. [75] In the campaign against German aircraft forces in preparation for the invasion of France, B-17 and B-24 raids were directed against German aircraft production while their presence drew the Luftwaffe fighters into battle with Allied fighters.[7]. [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. [91], The USAAF began building up its air forces in Europe using B-17Es soon after entering the war. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Colin Kelly (He was a Hero in Legend and in Fact). Four are airworthy. It was a four engine, heavy bomber which first flew on July 28, 1935. 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. [160][161], The USAF Air Rescue Service of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) operated B-17s as so-called "Dumbo" air-sea rescue aircraft. John Keema of the 390th Bomb Group said, "No matter the target they were defending, they were balls to the wall. "[22][23], The crashed Model 299 could not finish the evaluation, disqualifying it from the competition. Categories Video World War II Related Topics World War II 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. How many B-17s were shot down during the Second World War? [37] Scheduled to fly in 1937, it encountered problems with the turbochargers, and its first flight was delayed until 29 April 1938. Though initially surviving the impact, Hill died within a few hours, and Tower on 19 November. [112], On 7 December 1941, a group of 12 B-17s of the 38th (four B-17C) and 88th (eight B-17E) Reconnaissance Squadrons, en route to reinforce the Philippines, was flown into Pearl Harbor from Hamilton Field, California, arriving while the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was going on. [79][80] On 24 July three B-17s of 90 Squadron took part in a raid on the German capital ship Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen anchored in Brest from 30,000ft (9,100 m), with the objective of drawing German fighters away from 18 Handley Page Hampdens attacking at lower altitudes, and in time for 79 Vickers Wellingtons to attack later with the German fighters refuelling. [98], Operation Pointblank opened with attacks on targets in Western Europe. The B-17's greatest success in the Pacific was in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, in which aircraft of this type were responsible for damaging and sinking several Japanese transport ships. 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. The bombardier essentially took over flight control of the aircraft during the bomb run, maintaining a level altitude during the final moments before release. [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. The YB-40s with their numerous heavy modifications had trouble keeping up with the lighter bombers once they had dropped their bombs, so the project was abandoned and finally phased out in July 1943.
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