As sufficient Consolidated Liberators finally became available, Coastal Command withdrew the Fortress from the Azores, transferring the type to the meteorological reconnaissance role. ", "Army Bomber Flies 2,300 Miles In 9 Hours, or 252 Miles an Hour; New All-Metal Monoplane Sets a World Record on Non-Stop Flight From Seattle to Dayton, Ohio. And of those 276,000 planes, 68,000 were lost. [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. Categories Video World War II Related Topics World War II On landing, the aircraft overran the runway and ran into a ditch, where it was then strafed. Smith and LeSchack parachuted from the B-17 and searched the station for several days. [115] When the FEAF received word of the attack on Pearl Harbor, General Lewis H. Brereton sent his bombers and fighters on various patrol missions to prevent them from being caught on the ground. 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. 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.
AFA Statement on Loss of Historic B-17: Painful Reminder of the Ramsey, Winston G. "The V-Weapons". 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.
Captured B-17 Bombers in World War II - warhistoryonline . Three squadrons undertook Met profiles from airfields in Iceland, Scotland and England, gathering data for vital weather forecasting purposes. 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! 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. [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. The B-17 saw early action in the Pacific War, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. AFA Statement on Loss of Historic B-17: Painful Reminder of the Sacrifices of WWII Airmen The tragic crash of a historic B-17 Oct. 2 cost the nation an enduring symbol of the sacrifices and heroism displayed by American Airmen in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: The Quiet Hero.". As the Americans flew further into Europe and Germany, the missions became deadlier. [11] It combined features of the company's experimental XB-15 bomber and 247 transport. Most of the escorts turned back or missed the rendezvous, and as a result, 60 B-17s were destroyed. However, the use of this rigid formation meant that individual aircraft could not engage in evasive maneuvers: they had to fly constantly in a straight line, which made them vulnerable to German flak. On 1 June, Seigrist and Price returned and picked up Smith and LeSchack using a Fulton Skyhook system installed on the B-17. Four are airworthy. The Americans believed the B-17, with the Norden bomb sight, could be that bomber. ", "German wonder weapons: degraded production and effectiveness. As the raids of the American bombing campaign grew in numbers and frequency, German interception efforts grew in strength (such as during the attempted bombing of Kiel on 13 June 1943[96]), such that unescorted bombing missions came to be discouraged. The first Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid occurred during >World War II (1939-1945). [95] The raid helped allay British doubts about the capabilities of American heavy bombers in operations over Europe. It was code-named "Tachikawa 105" after the mystery aircraft's wingspan was measured (104-ft.) but never identified. ", "Giant Bomber Flies Four Miles Per Minute. The first Eighth Air Force units arrived in High Wycombe, England, on 12 May 1942, to form the 97th Bomb Group. [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. [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. This B-17F-27-BO (41-24585; PU-B) was crash-landed near Melun, France by a crew from the 303d Bombardment Group on December 12, 1942 and repaired by Luftwaffe ground staff. Some SB-17s had their defensive guns removed, while others retained their guns to allow use close to combat areas. Posted on . 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. [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. 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. [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. [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. [38] The aircraft was delivered to the army on 31 January 1939. While models A through D of the B-17 were designed defensively, the large-tailed B-17E was the first model primarily focused on offensive warfare. Though the crash of the prototype 299 in 1935 had almost wiped out Boeing, now it was seen as a boon. 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. [166] Perhaps the most famous B-17, the Memphis Belle, has been restored with the B-17D The Swoose under way to her World War II wartime appearance by the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Later on footage shows German paratroopers and American P-51 mustangs. Forty-five planes survive in complete form [1] [a], including 38 in the United States. Of the surviving aircraft, 17 were so badly damaged that they were scrapped.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress - The National WWII Museum [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. [140], After the first Y1B-17s were delivered to the Army Air Corps 2nd Bombardment Group, they were used on flights to promote their long range and navigational capabilities. World War 2 . [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]. How many B-17s were shot down during World War 2? "[22][23], The crashed Model 299 could not finish the evaluation, disqualifying it from the competition. [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. [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]. 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 bomber's topside surfaces were repainted a dark olive drab, but retained its light gray under wing and lower fuselage surfaces. The pilots flying the ME-109s and FW-190s were professionalsthe best in the world. Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944. [105] The 8th Air Force alone lost 176 bombers in October 1943,[106] and was to suffer similar casualties on 11 January 1944 on missions to Oschersleben, Halberstadt, and Brunswick. The bombardier essentially took over flight control of the aircraft during the bomb run, maintaining a level altitude during the final moments before release. [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. [clarification needed] Stories circulated of B-17s returning to base with tails shredded, engines destroyed and large portions of their wings destroyed by flak.
What was the life expectancy of a B-17 crewman flying over - Quora 1, 17 August 1942", "How Allied Air Attacks Evolved During World War II", "Combat Chronology of the U.S. Army Air Forces: April 1945.". Answer (1 of 12): Yes but the kill ratio generally favored attacking fighters. M/SGT Michael Arooth shot down 17 enemy aircraft to reach triple "Ace" status. Later that year, two groups moved to Algeria to join Twelfth Air Force for operations in North Africa. 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. John Keema of the 390th Bomb Group said, "No matter the target they were defending, they were balls to the wall. [98], Operation Pointblank opened with attacks on targets in Western Europe. the Germans broke off to refuel having shot down 15 B-17s. ", 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. [9] Requirements were for it to carry a "useful bombload" at an altitude of 10,000ft (3,000m) for 10 hours with a top speed of at least 200mph (320km/h).[10]. The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. These aircraft had landed with mechanical trouble during the shuttle bombing raids over Germany or had been damaged by a Luftwaffe raid in Poltava. [19][20], On 30 October 1935, a test flight determining the rate of climb and service ceiling was planned. [225][226], "B-17" redirects here. [71], Late in World WarII, at least 25 B-17s were fitted with radio controls and television cameras, loaded with 20,000lb (9,100kg) of high explosives and dubbed BQ-7 "Aphrodite missiles" for Operation Aphrodite. All were Allison powered. Forty-five planes survive in complete form, 38 in the United States. Yenne, Bill, "B-17 at War": p. 16; Zenith Press; 2006: B-17 Erection and Maintenance Manual 01-20EE-2. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: 'Valor at its Highest'". The aircraft went through several alterations in each of its design stages and variants. It carried Swiss national white cross insignia in red squares on both sides of its rudder, fuselage sides, and on the topside and underside wings. Although the conversion was not complete until mid-1943, B-17 combat operations in the Pacific theater came to an end after a little over a year. From then on, red and white neutrality bands were added to the wings of Swiss aircraft to stop accidental attacks by Allied aircraft. [33] The mission was successful and widely publicized. The Americans, on the other hand, were proponents of daylight, precision bombing using their state-of-the-art and top-secret Norden bomb-sight. The B-17 was reported as shot down by observers, but it survived and brought its crew home without injury. [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. [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. However, B-17s were operating at heights too great for most A6M Zero fighters to reach. [17], At the fly-off, the four-engined Boeing's performance was superior to those of the twin-engined DB-1 and Model 146. During a bombing mission on July 5, 1943, Warner shot down 7 German fighters, for which he was given the Distinguished Service Cross. How many B-17 were shot down over Germany? [116] A series of disputed discussions and decisions, followed by several confusing and false reports of air attacks, delayed the authorization of the sortie. 7071, 83, 92, 256, 26869. [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. Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139. 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. [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. 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 only prototype XB-38 to fly crashed on its ninth flight, and the type was abandoned. [133] Defensive armament increased from four 0.50in (12.7mm) machine guns and one 0.30in (7.62mm) nose machine gun in the B-17C, to thirteen 0.50in (12.7mm) machine guns in the B-17G. 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. [citation needed] After the defeat in Java, the 19th withdrew to Australia, where it continued in combat until it was sent home by General George C. Kenney when he arrived in Australia in mid-1942. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). "The Battle of the Bismarck Sea", pp. The four-engine plane typically carried a crew of 10, several of whom. [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. These modifications resulted in a 20% increase in aircraft weight. 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. ", "Second-Generation Norden Bombsight Vault", "Aviation Photography: B-17 Flying Fortress. B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 398th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, taking fire from flak over Germany, 1944-45. In contrast, of the nearly 1,100 Cobras delivered to the Army, 300 were lost. Gr. 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.
List of surviving Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses - Wikipedia "Operation Pointblank: Evolution of Allied Air Doctrine During World WarII". 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. 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. This production rate was, however, surpassed by that of the, This is a commonly misreported error. in 1970, and in Memphis Belle with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, and Harry Connick Jr. in 1990. Losses were relatively low - below the 5% threshold that was the. 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. Trescott, Jacqueline. [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. ", "Why Use Colourful Camouflage in World War 2? [91], The USAAF began building up its air forces in Europe using B-17Es soon after entering the war. [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. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. 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. "Boeing's Battle Wagon: The B-17 Flying Fortress An Outline History". 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. The B-17s attracted a number of Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, which were in turn attacked by the P-38 Lightning escorts. 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. The Me 262, however, had moderate success against the B-17 late in the war. ", "Langley B-17s paved way for independent Air Force", "World War II General Electric Turbosupercharges", "Flying Fortress (B-17G): A Survey of the Hard-hitting American Heavy Weight. She was featured in a USAAF documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. Nonetheless, this deed made him a celebrated war hero. [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. It also developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. 2. 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. 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. 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. 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. [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. 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. 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. [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. [144], After examining wrecked B-17s and B-24s, Luftwaffe officers discovered that on average it took about 20 hits with 20 mm shells fired from the rear to bring them down. These losses amounted to 25 percent of the attacking force. See answer . 0. Only 33 bombers landed without damage. Arriving over the target, LeMay's bombers encountered little flak and were able to place approximately 300 tons . [178] During the war, the largest offensive bombing force, the Eighth Air Force, had an open preference for the B-17. How many B-17 Crews died?
The Eighth Air Force vs. The Luftwaffe - The National WWII Museum ", "Question How many bomber flight crews completed their 25 missions to go home?". [70] Initially designated SB-17G, a number of B-17Gs were also converted for search-and-rescue duties, later to be redesignated B-17H. American bomber numbers continued to build in Europe and attacks (and losses) began to build up. [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. Even though it was the Japanese who attacked the Americans at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the official policy of the United States and its allies was to defeat Germany first.
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