Frisbee, John L. "Valor: A Rather Special Award. Four B-17s were shot down in these operations.[171]. 504-528-1944, Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, Black Volunteer Infantry Platoons in World War II, Kasserine Pass: German Offensive, American Victory, Gallantry against Great Odds: LTC George Marshall and Operation RESERVIST, Prelude to Liberation: Genesis of American Amphibious Assault in the ETO, Black Thursday October 14, 1943: The Second Schweinfurt Bombing Raid, An Exercise in Depravity: The Establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, Unsung Witnesses of the Battle of Stalingrad, Stalingrad: Experimentation, Adaptation, Implementation. All were Allison powered. [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. These aircraft had landed with mechanical trouble during the shuttle bombing raids over Germany or had been damaged by a Luftwaffe raid in Poltava. For this reason, he wanted B-17 bombers and P-51 fighters for the Eighth. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Battle Over Bougainville". Did the gunners aboard B-17 bombers in WWII manage to shoot down enemy The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s. A sobering statistic: Out of 1,419 Loaches built, 842 were destroyed in Vietnam, most shot down and many others succumbing to crashes resulting from low-level flying. coast. [10] The B-17's armament consisted of five .30 caliber (7.62mm) machine guns, with a payload up to 4,800lb (2,200kg) of bombs on two racks in the bomb bay behind the cockpit. The Ball turret itself has inspired works like Steven Spielberg's The Mission. She was featured in a USAAF documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. The B-17F also carried light gray flash letters "RD" and "I" on either side of the fuselage's Swiss national insignia. The FEAF lost half its aircraft during the first strike,[117] and was all but destroyed over the next few days. Memphis Belle (aircraft) - Wikipedia [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. 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. [citation needed] As a result, the B-17s' loss rate was up to 25% on some early missions. B-17 Flying Fortresses The B-17 Flying Fortress became a symbol of the power of the United States and its air force. ", "Question How many bomber flight crews completed their 25 missions to go home?". 'Black Thursday': The bleakest day for U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II ", "890th Bryanskiy Bomber Aviation Regiment", "The Surprising Story of Japan's B-17 Fleet", "Warbird Registry Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress", "US Coast Guard Aviation History: Boeing PB-1G 'Flying Fortress'. The B-17 was reported as shot down by observers, but it survived and brought its crew home without injury. B-17 Flying Fortress - Top Facts About the WWII American Bomber Depends on when they flew. Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139. Over 5,000 B-17 bombers were lost in combat missions in world war II. It also developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. "Anniversary talks: Battle of the Bismarck Sea, "B-17 Pilot Training Manual (Formation). Its main use was in Europe, where its shorter range and smaller bombload relative to other aircraft did not hamper it as much as in the Pacific Theater. Almost all of the other bombers suffered some level of damage. B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II - ThoughtCo Only 33 bombers landed without damage. [citation needed], Another early World War II Pacific engagement, on 10 December 1941, involved Colin Kelly, who reportedly crashed his B-17 into the Japanese battleship Haruna, which was later acknowledged as a near bomb miss on the heavy cruiser Ashigara. [1][13] The day before, Richard Williams, a reporter for The Seattle Times, coined the name "Flying Fortress" when observing the large number of machine guns sticking out from the new airplane he described it as a "15-ton flying fortress" in a picture caption. Three squadrons undertook Met profiles from airfields in Iceland, Scotland and England, gathering data for vital weather forecasting purposes. Trescott, Jacqueline. The first bomber to hit Japan after Pearl Harbor, the B-25 Mitchell was found in every theater of the war and was a rugged, multipurpose bomber beloved by her aircrew for its survivability and ease to fly. In early 1942, the 7th Bombardment Group began arriving in Java with a mixed force of B-17s and LB-30/B-24s. [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. [7] Attacks began in April 1943 on heavily fortified key industrial plants in Bremen and Recklinghausen. Subjects > Humanities > History. The 8th Air Force then targeted the ball-bearing factories in Schweinfurt, hoping to cripple the war effort there. [178] During the war, the largest offensive bombing force, the Eighth Air Force, had an open preference for the B-17. In October 1943 the Swiss interned Boeing B-17F-25-VE, tail number 25841, and its U.S. flight crew after the Flying Fortress developed engine trouble after a raid over Germany and was forced to land. 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. "[22][23], The crashed Model 299 could not finish the evaluation, disqualifying it from the competition. 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. These aircraft were painted dark blue, the standard Navy paint scheme which had been adopted in late 1944. The B-17 saw early action in the Pacific War, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. [38] The aircraft was delivered to the army on 31 January 1939. Clearly, something had to be done because the bomber was not getting through. 60 B-52s Shot Down In One Day? Today's U.S. Air Force Can - Forbes This type replaced the vulnerable twin-engine Zerstrer heavy fighters which could not survive interception by P-51 Mustangs flying well ahead of the combat boxes in an air supremacy role starting very early in 1944 to clear any Luftwaffe defensive fighters from the skies. Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. As the Americans flew further into Europe and Germany, the missions became deadlier. 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]. [104], Such high losses of aircrews could not be sustained, and the USAAF, recognizing the vulnerability of heavy bombers to interceptors when operating alone, suspended daylight bomber raids deep into Germany until the development of an escort fighter that could protect the bombers all the way from the United Kingdom to Germany and back. The Name The first combat use of the B-17 came not with the USAAC (U.S. Army Air Forces after 1941), but with the Royal Air Force. 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). [11] It combined features of the company's experimental XB-15 bomber and 247 transport. [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. The operation did not work as expected, with 90 Squadron's Fortresses being unopposed. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: The Quiet Hero.". Lacking a true heavy bomber at the start of World War II, the RAF purchased 20 B-17Cs. The XB-38 was an engine testbed for Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engines, should the Wright engines normally used on the B-17 become unavailable. [135] In order to more quickly form these formations, assembly ships, planes with distinctive paint schemes, were utilized to guide bombers into formation, saving assembly time. "Operation Pointblank: Evolution of Allied Air Doctrine During World WarII". Of the 12,731 B-17s built, about 4,735 were lost during the war. Kelly's B-17C AAF S/N 40-2045 (19th BG / 30th BS) crashed about 6mi (10km) from Clark Field after he held the burning Fortress steady long enough for the surviving crew to bail out. Special airdrop B-17s supported Australian commandos operating near the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, which had been the primary B-17 target in 1942 and early 1943. A New Orleans native, James Linn first became involved with the institution then known as The National D-Day Museum in 2001 as an eighth-grade volunteer on weekends and during the summer. At the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington, DC, from December 24, 1941 to January 14, 1942, the Western Allies agreed to a Germany First policy to govern global strategy, but the question where to engage Germany, and when, remained unsettled. For the video game, see. Wixley, Ken. 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. [97], The two different strategies of the American and British bomber commands were organized at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. Gr. 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. [163] They were used primarily in the "Dumbo" air-sea rescue role, but were also used for iceberg patrol duties and for photo mapping. [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. Many had dozens of aerial victories; some had over 100. The bombardier essentially took over flight control of the aircraft during the bomb run, maintaining a level altitude during the final moments before release. "Boeing Model 299 (B-17 Flying Fortress).". Of the 291 attacking Fortresses, 60 were shot down over Germany, five crashed on approach to Britain, . The AAF's worst accident rate was recorded by the A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering 274 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. This production rate was, however, surpassed by that of the, This is a commonly misreported error. London: Arakaki and Kuborn 1991, pp. Copy. Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944 - EyeWitness to History It is part of the USAAC World War II Memorial Flight and makes dozens of appearances across the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. 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 Eighth Air Force vs. The Luftwaffe - The National WWII Museum The B-17 finally had a fighter which could escort them in and out of Germany, and began to overwhelm German defenses and industry. [20] The YB-17 incorporated a number of significant changes from the Model 299, including more powerful Wright R-1820-39 Cyclone engines. It was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. [62][63], The YB-40 was a heavily armed modification of the standard B-17 used before the North American P-51 Mustang, an effective long-range fighter, became available to act as escort. [28], A total of 155 B-17s of all variants were delivered between 11 January 1937 and 30 November 1941, but production quickly accelerated, with the B-17 once holding the record for the highest production rate for any large aircraft. Over 5,000 B-17 bombers were lost in combat missions in world war II. During a bombing mission on July 5, 1943, Warner shot down 7 German fighters, for which he was given the Distinguished Service Cross. 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. John Keema of the 390th Bomb Group said, "No matter the target they were defending, they were balls to the wall. ", "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. [72], The B-17 began operations in World WarII with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941, and in the Southwest Pacific with the U.S. Army. Arriving over the target, LeMay's bombers encountered little flak and were able to place approximately 300 tons . AFA Statement on Loss of Historic B-17: Painful Reminder of the In contrast, of the nearly 1,100 Cobras delivered to the Army, 300 were lost. One of the two "E" Flying Fortresses was photographed late in the war by U. S. aerial recon. The B-17's armament consisted of five .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns, with a payload up to 4,800 lb (2,200 kg) of bombs on two racks in the bomb bay behind the cockpit. Yenne, Bill, "B-17 at War": p. 16; Zenith Press; 2006: B-17 Erection and Maintenance Manual 01-20EE-2. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: The Right Touch". It was a four engine, heavy bomber which first flew on July 28, 1935. See answer . "Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress: Queen of the Skies". Instead of building models based on experimental engineering, Boeing had been hard at work developing their bomber and now had versions ready for production far better than would have been possible otherwise. [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 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. [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. The Air Corps was looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska. It was a four engine, heavy bomber which first flew on July 28, 1935. How many B-17s were shot down during the Second World War? 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. 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]. The Fortress came under fire from Japanese fighter aircraft, though the crew was unharmed with the exception of one member who suffered an abrasion on his hand. This was operated by German-speaking radio operators who were to identify and jam German ground controllers' broadcasts to their nightfighters. Most of the escorts turned back or missed the rendezvous, and as a result, 60 B-17s were destroyed. Four are airworthy. On 1 June, Seigrist and Price returned and picked up Smith and LeSchack using a Fulton Skyhook system installed on the B-17. [12] They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2,000mi (3,200km) and a speed of 250mph (400km/h). On 2 March 1943, six B-17s of the 64th Squadron flying at 10,000ft (3,000m) attacked a major Japanese troop convoy off New Guinea, using skip bombing to sink Kyokusei Maru, which carried 1,200 army troops, and damage two other transports, Teiyo Maru and Nojima. [138][139][140] Wally Hoffman, a B-17 pilot with the Eighth Air Force during World WarII, said, "The plane can be cut and slashed almost to pieces by enemy fire and bring its crew home. "Books of The Times; How Both Sides' Artists Saw World War II" (review). Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.048, The B-17 was legendary for its toughness as this photo shows a bomber that survived its nose being crushed and returned to its base in England, 1944-45. As of November 2022, four aircraft remain airworthy, none flown in combat. American bomber numbers continued to build in Europe and attacks (and losses) began to build up. Smith and LeSchack parachuted from the B-17 and searched the station for several days. Answer (1 of 12): Yes but the kill ratio generally favored attacking fighters. The problem was there was no easy way to hit Germany, as a cross-channel invasion of Europe was still years away. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Crisis in the Cockpit". Frisbee, John L. "Valor: 'Valor at its Highest'". How effective was WWII bombers self defense anti-air armament? Though initially surviving the impact, Hill died within a few hours, and Tower on 19 November. 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. Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle wrote about his preference for equipping the Eighth with B-17s, citing the logistical advantage in keeping field forces down to a minimum number of aircraft types with their individual servicing and spares. [136][137] Luftwaffe fighter pilots likened attacking a B-17 combat box formation to encountering a fliegendes Stachelschwein, "flying porcupine", with dozens of machine guns in a combat box aimed at them from almost every direction. Kelly was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Losses were so heavy on the mission it became known as Black Thursday." How many b17s were shot down? Though many were shot down, many more severely damaged aircraft were able to return their crews safely to base. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. Categories Video World War II Related Topics World War II [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. [75], Three damaged B-17s, one "D" and two "E" series, were rebuilt during 1942 to flying status by Japanese technicians and mechanics, using parts salvaged from abandoned B-17 wrecks in the Philippines and the Java East Indies. Browne, Robert W. "The Rugged Fortress: Life-Saving B-17 Remembered.". Additional armament included an additional dorsal turret in the radio room, a remotely operated and fired Bendix-built "chin turret" directly below the bombardier's accommodation, and twin .50in (12.7mm) guns in each of the waist positions. The iconic bomber of the European theater, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, carried the fight to the Germans in the skies over Europe. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 [25] Army Chief of Staff Malin Craig cancelled the order for 65 YB-17s, and ordered 133 of the twin-engined Douglas B-18 Bolo, instead.[19][20]. One B-17 broke up in the air, and its crew was forced to take to their parachutes. [note 1] Boeing also claimed in some of the early press releases that Model 299 was the first combat aircraft that could continue its mission if one of its four engines failed. Did any American B-17 crewman ever shoot down a German fighter plane while flying over Germany during World War II? 223 Squadron, as part of 100 Group, operated a number of Fortresses equipped with an electronic warfare system known as "Airborne Cigar" (ABC). [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. They were brave. How many German fighters did the B17 and B24 shoot down during - Quora To enhance performance at slower speeds, the B-17B was altered to include larger rudders and flaps. Hess, William N. and Jim Winchester. The ammunition load was over 11,000 rounds. This. After Dallas airshow crash, how many B-17s are still flying? 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. . [125][126] The remaining seven transports and three of the eight destroyers were then sunk by a combination of low level strafing runs by Royal Australian Air Force Beaufighters, and skip bombing by USAAF North American B-25 Mitchells at 100ft (30m), while B-17s claimed five hits from higher altitudes. Later on footage shows German paratroopers and American P-51 mustangs. During World War II, the B-17 equipped 32 overseas combat groups, inventory peaking in August 1944 at 4,574 USAAF aircraft worldwide. [93][94] The operation, carried out in good visibility, was a success, with only minor damage to one aircraft, unrelated to enemy action, and half the bombs landing in the target area. How many b17 bombers were lost in ww2? Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.022, B-17 Flying Fortresses in formation over Europe, 1944-45. The adoption of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer-derived Werfer-Granate 21 (Wfr. The prototype B-17 Bomber was built at the company's own expense and was a fusion of the features of Boeing XB-15 and Boeing 247 Transport Aircraft. Also on board were Wright Field test observer John Cutting, and mechanic Mark Koegler. Borth 1945, pp. [21] Doyle notes, "The loss of Hill and Tower, and the Model 299, was directly responsible for the creation of the modern written checklist used by pilots to this day. Date: American aircraft struck targets in Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17, 1943. . The command pilot was Major Ployer Peter Hill, Wright Field Material Division Chief of the Flying Branch, his first flight in the Model 299. 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! [180], Many B-17 crew members received military honors and 17 received the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration awarded by the United States:[197], Data from The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft[38], Hollywood featured the B-17 in its period films, such as director Howard Hawks' Air Force starring John Garfield and Twelve O'Clock High starring Gregory Peck. How many b-17 bombers were shot down during World War 2? 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. In 1942, when Eighth Air Force heavy bombers based in Britain first went operational in Europe, they mostly flew what were termed "milk runs" over France, accompanied by fighter escorts. Forty-five planes survive in complete form, 38 in the United States. Posted on . 1, 17 August 1942", "How Allied Air Attacks Evolved During World War II", "Combat Chronology of the U.S. Army Air Forces: April 1945.". Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Yasuho Izawa. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Rabaul on a Wing and a Prayer". [122][124] Actual Japanese fighter losses for the day were seven destroyed and three damaged. [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. 0. 11,846 helicopters According to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, a total of 11,846 helicopters were shot down or crashed during the war, resulting in nearly 5,000 American pilots and crew killed. [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. Later versions carried four or even six MG 151/20 cannon and twin 13mm machine guns. [121] While there, the Fifth Air Force B-17s were tasked with disrupting the Japanese sea lanes. As the war intensified, Boeing used feedback from aircrews to improve each new variant with increased armament and armor. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: A Tale of Two Texans.". Japanese fighter pilots machine-gunned some of the B-17 crew members as they descended and attacked others in the water after they landed. But help soon arrived when the North American P-51 Mustang began to reach the beleaguered Eighth Air Force in large enough numbers to make a difference. [116] A series of disputed discussions and decisions, followed by several confusing and false reports of air attacks, delayed the authorization of the sortie. The largest of the ghettos where Eastern European Jews were first confined and, later, deported to extermination camps by the Nazis was set up in Warsaw, Poland. Craven, Wesley Frank, James Lea Cate and Richard L. Watson, eds. [16] On 20 August 1935, the prototype flew from Seattle to Wright Field in nine hours and three minutes with an average cruising speed of 252 miles per hour (406km/h), much faster than the competition. How many B-17s were shot down during World War 2? [129] Surviving aircraft were reassigned to the 54th Troop Carrier Wing's special airdrop section and were used to drop supplies to ground forces operating in close contact with the enemy. But he wasn't a fighter pilot. [50] The B-17C changed from three bulged, oval-shaped gun blisters to two flush, oval-shaped gun window openings, and on the lower fuselage, a single "bathtub" gun gondola housing,[51] which resembled the similarly configured and located Bodenlafette/"Bola" ventral defensive emplacement on the German Heinkel He 111P-series medium bomber.
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