how many b17s were shot down during ww2

Also on board were Wright Field test observer John Cutting, and mechanic Mark Koegler. The command pilot was Major Ployer Peter Hill, Wright Field Material Division Chief of the Flying Branch, his first flight in the Model 299. 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. Army Air Forces. [173], The B-17, a versatile aircraft, served in dozens of USAAF units in theaters of combat throughout World WarII, and in other roles for the RAF. The bombers were assumed either lost by various means or scrapped late in the war for their vital war materials. 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]. Post accident interviews with Tower and Putt determined the control surface gust lock had not been released. 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. Britain in WW2 . 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. With a renewed focus and power, the Allies finally achieved the air supremacy needed over Normandyfor the D-Day landings in June 1944. 0. The authors of a photo book about the planes and . 2. 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. [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. [57] The B-17E was an extensive revision of the Model 299 design: The fuselage was extended by 10ft (3.0m); a much larger rear fuselage, vertical tailfin, rudder, and horizontal stabilizer were added; a gunner's position was added in the new tail;[note 4] the nose (especially the bombardier's framed, 10-panel nose glazing) remained relatively the same as the earlier B through D versions had; a Sperry electrically powered manned dorsal gun turret just behind the cockpit was added; a similarly powered (also built by Sperry) manned ventral ball turret just aft of the bomb bay replaced the relatively hard-to-use, Sperry model 645705-D[60] remotely operated ventral turret on the earliest examples of the E variant. [134] To address this problem, the United States developed the bomb-group formation, which evolved into the staggered combat box formation in which all the B-17s could safely cover any others in their formation with their machine guns. 12962; History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons: Volume 2: The History of VP, VPB, VP(HL) and VP(AM) Squadrons, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boeing_B-17_Flying_Fortress&oldid=1141348576. It is part of the USAAC World War II Memorial Flight and makes dozens of appearances across the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. It was a four engine, heavy bomber which first flew on July 28, 1935. 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. Donald, David. This articleis part of an ongoing series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II made possible by Bank of America. Subjects > Humanities > History. 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. [clarification needed] Stories circulated of B-17s returning to base with tails shredded, engines destroyed and large portions of their wings destroyed by flak. 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. [150][151] One B-17 of KG200, bearing the Luftwaffe's KG 200 Geschwaderkennung (combat wing code) markings A3+FB, was interned by Spain when it landed at Valencia airfield, 27 June 1944, remaining there for the rest of the war. These aircraft were primarily used for agent drop missions over the People's Republic of China, flying from Taiwan, with Taiwanese crews. [15], Boeing was quick to see the value of the name and had it trademarked for use. [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. 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. ", 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. [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]. 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. Eighty years ago, the Red Army managed to stop, contain, and ultimately defeat the largest German army on the Eastern Front. [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][170], B-17s were used by the CIA front companies Civil Air Transport, Air America and Intermountain Aviation for special missions. [103], To rectify the Fw 190's shortcomings, the number of cannons fitted was doubled to four, with a corresponding increase in the amount of ammunition carried, creating the Sturmbock bomber destroyer version. Arriving over the target, LeMay's bombers encountered little flak and were able to place approximately 300 tons . 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. He finished the war with 9 enemy planes destroyed. 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. That aircraft was the Boeing B-17, better known as the Flying Fortress. 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. Copilot was Lieutenant Donald Putt, while Boeing chief test pilot Leslie R. Tower was behind the pilots in an advisory role. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.041, B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 398th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, in-flight above cloud level in Europe, 1944-45. . 21 never had a major effect on the combat box formations of Fortresses. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Crisis in the Cockpit". The aircraft went through several alterations in each of its design stages and variants. [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. [41], Opposition to the air corps' ambitions for the acquisition of more B-17s faded, and in late 1937, 10 more aircraft designated B-17B were ordered to equip two bombardment groups, one on each U.S. [citation needed], Two additional groups arrived in Britain at the same time, bringing with them the first B-17Fs, which served as the primary AAF heavy bomber fighting the Germans until September 1943. And of those 276,000 planes, 68,000 were lost. The B-17, for all its armor and firepower, was simply unable to continue to fly unescorted against swarms of German fighter aircraft and their sophisticated air defense system. the B-17 was a fourengine heavy bomber aircraft used by the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. The FEAF lost half its aircraft during the first strike,[117] and was all but destroyed over the next few days. How many b-17s were shot down during World war II? 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. [107][108], A third raid on Schweinfurt on 24 February 1944 highlighted what came to be known as "Big Week",[109] during which the bombing missions were directed against German aircraft production. [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 bombardier essentially took over flight control of the aircraft during the bomb run, maintaining a level altitude during the final moments before release. The SB-17 served through the Korean War, remaining in service with USAF until the mid-1950s. Horrific WWII Statistics [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. ", "WWII gunner 'Babe' Broyhill dies: Set record for downing Nazi jets", "100th Bomb Group Foundation Personnel LT COL Robert ROSENTHAL", "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944). These included B-17G 44-85531, registered as N809Z. For other uses, see, "Flying Fortress" redirects here. One of the two "E" Flying Fortresses was photographed late in the war by U. S. aerial recon. ", "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. Nonetheless, this deed made him a celebrated war hero. [71][162][163], In 1946, surplus B-17s were chosen as drone aircraft for atmospheric sampling during the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests, being able to fly close to or even through the mushroom clouds without endangering a crew. The B-17 saw early action in the Pacific War, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. The problem was there was no easy way to hit Germany, as a cross-channel invasion of Europe was still years away. 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. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. Fewer than 10 are airworthy . National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 2870 / Local Identifier 18-C-406-2 - AIR WAR IN EUROPE - War Department. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. [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. 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. The Eighth Air Force vs. The Luftwaffe - The National WWII Museum 1, 17 August 1942", "How Allied Air Attacks Evolved During World War II", "Combat Chronology of the U.S. Army Air Forces: April 1945.". [103] The Luftwaffe also fitted heavy-caliber Bordkanone-series 37, 50 and even 75mm (2.95in) cannon as anti-bomber weapons on twin-engine aircraft such as the special Ju 88P fighters, as well as one model of the Me 410 Hornisse but these measures did not have much effect on the American strategic bomber offensive. [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. Did the gunners aboard B-17 bombers in WWII manage to shoot down enemy 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. Copy. [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. [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. The first B-17 raid in Europe took place on August 17, 1942, when 12 planes attacked the railroad marshaling yards in Rouen, France. Wixley, Ken. During World War II, the B-17 equipped 32 overseas combat groups, inventory peaking in August 1944 at 4,574 USAAF aircraft worldwide. 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. The B-17s attracted a number of Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, which were in turn attacked by the P-38 Lightning escorts. It should have been a peaceful Sunday morning in Hawaii. The pilots flying the ME-109s and FW-190s were professionalsthe best in the world. [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. The B-17 was a sturdily built aircraft. [121] While there, the Fifth Air Force B-17s were tasked with disrupting the Japanese sea lanes. Unlike the fighter pilots, individual bomber gunners did not receive official credit for any of their shootdowns. Clearly, something had to be done because the bomber was not getting through. 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. Sakai, Saburo with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito. Frisbee, John L. "Valor: Battle Over Bougainville". Also, the Y1B-17A's new service ceiling was more than 2 miles (3.2km) higher at 38,000 feet (12,000m), compared to the Y1B-17's 27,800 feet (8,500m). "Operation Pointblank: Evolution of Allied Air Doctrine During World WarII". 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. All of these modifications made the YB-40 well over 10,000lb (4,500kg) heavier than a fully loaded B-17F. Gift of Peggy Wallace, 2010.308.082. [163] They were used primarily in the "Dumbo" air-sea rescue role, but were also used for iceberg patrol duties and for photo mapping. 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. Many had dozens of aerial victories; some had over 100. To enhance performance at slower speeds, the B-17B was altered to include larger rudders and flaps. The first Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid occurred during >World War II (1939-1945). 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]. German Me 262s Gun Down B-17s | Military.com 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. These aircraft had landed with mechanical trouble during the shuttle bombing raids over Germany or had been damaged by a Luftwaffe raid in Poltava. [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]. Create. In 1957 the surviving B-17s had been stripped of all weapons and painted black. There are very few films left in existence showing the Me 262 in action, especially shooting down allied bombers with P-51 escorts. 21) rocket mortar by the Luftwaffe in mid-August 1943 promised the introduction of a major "stand-off" style of offensive weapon one strut-mounted tubular launcher was fixed under each wing panel on the Luftwaffe's single-engine fighters, and two under each wing panel of a few twin-engine Bf 110 daylight Zerstrer aircraft.

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