how many b17s were shot down during ww2

American bomber numbers continued to build in Europe and attacks (and losses) began to build up. [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. 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. [19][20], On 30 October 1935, a test flight determining the rate of climb and service ceiling was planned. How many b17 bombers were lost in ww2? - Answers 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. No traces of the 3 captured Flying Fortresses were ever found in Japan by Allied occupation forces. It was code-named "Tachikawa 105" after the mystery aircraft's wingspan was measured (104-ft.) but never identified. Leonard "Smitty" Smith Humiston, co-pilot on First Lieutenant Robert H. Richards' B-17C, AAF S/N 40-2049, reported that he thought the U.S. Navy was giving the flight a 21-gun salute to celebrate the arrival of the bombers, after which he realized that Pearl Harbor was under attack. "Boeing's Battle Wagon: The B-17 Flying Fortress An Outline History". [178] During the war, the largest offensive bombing force, the Eighth Air Force, had an open preference for the B-17. Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944. As the Americans flew further into Europe and Germany, the missions became deadlier. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.082. 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]. [37] Scheduled to fly in 1937, it encountered problems with the turbochargers, and its first flight was delayed until 29 April 1938. 21 never had a major effect on the combat box formations of Fortresses. [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. He finished the war with 9 enemy planes destroyed. How many B-17s were lost during the Second World War? Peak USAAF inventory (in August 1944) was 4,574 worldwide.[76]. 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. [12] She was featured in a USAAF documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. 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. How many helicopters were shot down in Vietnam? [15], Boeing was quick to see the value of the name and had it trademarked for use. [78] While the Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax became its primary bombers by 1941, in early 1940, the RAF entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army Air Corps to acquire 20 B-17Cs, which were given the service name Fortress I. The bomber's topside surfaces were repainted a dark olive drab, but retained its light gray under wing and lower fuselage surfaces. Crashed Model 299. Between 1 March and 4 August 1937, 12 of the 13 Y1B-17s were delivered to the 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field in Virginia for operational development and flight tests. "Boeing Model 299 (B-17 Flying Fortress).". [92], The U.S. did not offer B-17s to the Soviet Union as part of its war materiel assistance program, but at least 73 aircraft were acquired by the Soviet Air Force. However, B-17s were operating at heights too great for most A6M Zero fighters to reach. "[22][23], The crashed Model 299 could not finish the evaluation, disqualifying it from the competition. The plane was pulled out of front-line service and used as a transport plane and even drones. Four are airworthy. 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. 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. The Americans, on the other hand, were proponents of daylight, precision bombing using their state-of-the-art and top-secret Norden bomb-sight. 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. 1, 17 August 1942", "How Allied Air Attacks Evolved During World War II", "Combat Chronology of the U.S. Army Air Forces: April 1945.". Of the surviving aircraft, 17 were so badly damaged that they were scrapped. coast. [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]. How many B-17s were shot down during the Second World War? Yenne, Bill, "B-17 at War": p. 16; Zenith Press; 2006: B-17 Erection and Maintenance Manual 01-20EE-2. These losses amounted to 25 percent of the attacking force. [164] One hundred and seven B-17s were converted to drones. Many had dozens of aerial victories; some had over 100. 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. Tragically, the plane stalled and spun into the ground soon after takeoff, bursting into flames. 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. ", Frisbee, John L. "Valor: A Point of Honor. How many B-17s were shot down? - Wise-Answer 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. 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. Yes, for instance, M/SGT Michael Arooth shot down 17 enemy aircraft to reach triple "Ace" status. [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. Browne, Robert W. "The Rugged Fortress: Life-Saving B-17 Remembered.". 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. Blast damage was caused over a radius of 5 miles (8.0km). Date: American aircraft struck targets in Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17, 1943. . The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s. [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. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.034, B-17 Flying Fortress bomber dropping bombs on targets in Europe, 1944-45. [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. 2012-04-07 03:53:31. [114], By 1941, the Far East Air Force (FEAF) based at Clark Field in the Philippines had 35 B-17s, with the War Department eventually planning to raise that to 165. By 1944, a further upgrade to Rheinmetall-Borsig's 30mm (1.2in) MK 108 cannons mounted either in the wing, or in underwing, conformal mount gun pods, was made for the Sturmbock Focke-Wulfs as either the /R2 or /R8 field modification kits, enabling aircraft to bring a bomber down with just a few hits.[103]. in 1970, and in Memphis Belle with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, and Harry Connick Jr. in 1990. [165] The last operational mission flown by a USAF Fortress was conducted on 6 August 1959, when a DB-17P, serial 44-83684 , directed a QB-17G, out of Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, as a target for an AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missile fired from a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo. [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. 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 resulting "Combined Bomber Offensive" weakened the Wehrmacht, destroyed German morale, and established air superiority through Operation Pointblank's destruction of German fighter strength in preparation for a ground offensive. The first Eighth Air Force units arrived in High Wycombe, England, on 12 May 1942, to form the 97th Bomb Group. [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. After Dallas airshow crash, how many B-17s are still flying? It was a four engine, heavy bomber which first flew on July 28, 1935. [67], By the time the definitive B-17G appeared, the number of guns had been increased from seven to 13, the designs of the gun stations were finalized, and other adjustments were completed. In 1964, the latter film was made into a television show of the same name and ran for three years on ABC TV. B-17's Shot Down During Raid - YouTube ", "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. The B-17s were primarily involved in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign against German targets ranging from U-boat pens, docks, warehouses, and airfields to industrial targets such as aircraft factories. The B-17F also carried light gray flash letters "RD" and "I" on either side of the fuselage's Swiss national insignia. Although initially deemed repairable, 40-2049 (11th BG / 38th RS) received more than 200 bullet holes and never flew again. 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. 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 "D" model, later deemed an obsolescent design, was used in Japanese training and propaganda films. Though initially surviving the impact, Hill died within a few hours, and Tower on 19 November. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. These turbo-superchargers were incorporated into the B-17B. Japanese fighter pilots machine-gunned some of the B-17 crew members as they descended and attacked others in the water after they landed. It also developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. Post accident interviews with Tower and Putt determined the control surface gust lock had not been released. 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. 0. [101] While the attack was successful at disrupting the entire works, severely curtailing work there for the remainder of the war, it was at an extreme cost. 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. [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. [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. [105] German fighters needed to respond, and the North American P-51 Mustang and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters (equipped with improved drop tanks to extend their range) accompanying the American heavies all the way to and from the targets engaged them. All were Allison powered. The B-17F variants were the primary versions flying for the Eighth Air Force to face the Germans in 1943 and had standardized the manned Sperry ball turret for ventral defense, also replacing the earlier, 10-panel framed bombardier's nose glazing from the B subtype with an enlarged, nearly frameless Plexiglas bombardier's nose enclosure for improved forward vision. [154], During the Allied bomber offensive, U.S. and British bombers sometimes flew into Swiss airspace, either because they were damaged or, on rare occasions, accidentally bombing Swiss cities. 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. They were also used to provide search and rescue support for B-29 raids against Japan. 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. These aircraft were primarily used for agent drop missions over the People's Republic of China, flying from Taiwan, with Taiwanese crews. Gr. The aircraft went through several alterations in each of its design stages and variants. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Crisis in the Cockpit". The Coast Guard PB-1Gs served throughout the 1950s, the last example not being withdrawn from service until 14 October 1959. [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. It was a very effective weapons system, dropping more bombs during the . Given German Balkenkreuz national markings on their wings and fuselage sides, and "Hakenkreuz" swastika tail fin-flashes, the captured B-17s were used to determine the B-17's vulnerabilities and to train German interceptor pilots in attack tactics. [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]. Later on footage shows German paratroopers and American P-51 mustangs. Footage from Twelve O' Clock High was also used, along with three restored B-17s, in the 1962 film The War Lover. 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. The Allison V-1710 was allocated to fighter aircraft. [73] A squadron of B-17s from this force detached to the Middle East to join the First Provisional Bombardment Group, thus becoming the first American B-17 squadron to go to war against the Germans. [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. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Gauntlet of Fire". [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. Borth 1945, pp. Other factors such as combat effectiveness and political issues also contributed to the B-17's success. It is part of the USAAC World War II Memorial Flight and makes dozens of appearances across the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. The idea of a pilot's checklist spread to other crew members, other air corps aircraft types, and eventually throughout the aviation world. The B-17 was designed by the Boeing Aircraft Company in response to a 1934 Army Air Corps specification that called for a four-engined bomber at a time when two engines were the norm. [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. Gift of Austin Loree, 2011.160.029, Flying Fortresses dropping bombs and smoke markers over Goppingen, Germany in 1945. It should have been a peaceful Sunday morning in Hawaii. This articleis part of an ongoing series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II made possible by Bank of America. 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. [70] Initially designated SB-17G, a number of B-17Gs were also converted for search-and-rescue duties, later to be redesignated B-17H. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.022, B-17 Flying Fortresses in formation over Europe, 1944-45. "The Battle of the Bismarck Sea", pp. At the same time, the German nightfighting ability noticeably improved to counter the nighttime strikes, challenging the conventional faith in the cover of darkness. [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. Tora! [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. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, each producing 750hp (600kW) at 7,000ft (2,100m). ", "Why Use Colourful Camouflage in World War 2? While the US Fifteenth Air Force also had B-17s, the most famous group to fly them during the war was the US Eighth Air Force based out of England. They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2,000mi (3,200km) and a speed of 250mph (400km/h). 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. Some SB-17s had their defensive guns removed, while others retained their guns to allow use close to combat areas. 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. In theory, in the words of British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin,the bomber will always get through. The Americans believed the B-17, with the Norden bomb sight, could be that bomber. [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. 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. 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. [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. [18] His opinions were shared by the air corps procurement officers, and even before the competition had finished, they suggested buying 65 B-17s. Their first operation, against Wilhelmshaven on 8 July 1941 was unsuccessful. 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. 7071, 83, 92, 256, 26869. On landing, the aircraft overran the runway and ran into a ditch, where it was then strafed. the B-17 Flying Fortress were equipped with lots of machine guns for self-defense against single-seat fighter aircraft. As sufficient Consolidated Liberators finally became available, Coastal Command withdrew the Fortress from the Azores, transferring the type to the meteorological reconnaissance role. "Operation Pointblank: Evolution of Allied Air Doctrine During World WarII". [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. the Germans broke off to refuel having shot down 15 B-17s. How many B-17s were shot down during World War 2? - Answers The B-17G was the final version of the Flying Fortress, incorporating all changes made to its predecessor, the B-17F,[57] and in total, 8,680 were built,[68] the last (by Lockheed) on 28 July 1945. 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. Posted on . ", "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.

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