Crash Dive is a World War II film in Technicolor released in 1943. It was directed by Archie Mayo , written by Jo Swerling (from a story by W.R. Burnett ), and starred Tyrone Power , Dana Andrews , and Anne Baxter . The film was the last for Power before assignment to recruit training , as he had already enlisted in the United States Marine Corps .
141-499: Lieutenant Ward Stewart, commanding a PT boat , sinks a U-boat , saving a lifeboat full of survivors. Upon his return to port, he is unwillingly transferred by his uncle, Admiral Stewart, to the submarine USS Corsair as its new executive officer due to a shortage of trained submarine officers. Stewart, USNA Class of 1936 and scion of a Navy family, served in submarines before "surfacing" and getting his PT boat. The Corsair hunts German merchant raiders preying on Allied shipping in
282-500: A 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannon . Propulsion was via a trio of Packard 4M-2500 and later 5M-2500 supercharged gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled V-12 marine engines . Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. Their role
423-610: A stepless cockpit design, without a separate windscreen for the pilots. Manufacturing the B-29 was a complex task that involved four main-assembly factories. There were two Boeing operated plants at Renton, Washington ( Boeing Renton Factory ), and one in Wichita, Kansas (now Spirit AeroSystems ), a Bell plant at Marietta, Georgia , near Atlanta ("Bell-Atlanta"), and a Martin plant at Bellevue, Nebraska ("Martin-Omaha" – Offutt Field ). Thousands of subcontractors were also involved in
564-411: A 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead. These torpedoes were launched by Mark 18 21-inch (530 mm) steel torpedo tubes . Mark 8 torpedoes had a range of 16,000 yards (14,630 m) at 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight 22.5-inch-diameter (570 mm) Mark 13 torpedoes , which weighed 2,216 pounds (1,005 kg) and contained
705-793: A 50-foot (15 m) "Sea Sled" torpedo boat and submitted these to the Navy in hopes of obtaining a contract. While favorably received, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels rejected the proposal since the US was not at war, but Hickman was advised to submit his plans and proposal to the British Admiralty, which was done the following month. The Admiralty found it interesting but thought that "no fast boat of 50' to 60' length would be sufficiently seaworthy", so Hickman built and launched his own privately financed 41-foot (12 m) sea sled capable of carrying
846-601: A 600-pound (270 kg) Torpex -filled warhead. These torpedoes were carried on lightweight Mark 1 roll-off style torpedo launching racks. The Mark 13 torpedo had a range of 6,300 yards (5,800 m) and a speed of 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph). PT boats were also armed with numerous automatic weapons. Common to all US PT boats were the two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. Early PT boats (Elco PT20 through PT44 ) mounted Dewandre plexiglas-enclosed hydraulically-operated rotating turrets. Almost immediately after
987-567: A B-29, damaging it, but was shot down by return fire. One B-29 was lost, possibly the one damaged by Flt Lt Therdsak. On 14 April 1945, a second B-29 raid on Bangkok destroyed two key power plants and was the last major attack conducted against Thai targets. The B-29 effort was gradually shifted to the new bases in the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific , with the last B-29 combat mission from India flown on 29 March 1945. In addition to
1128-535: A commando raid late in the film. It is possible portions of the film were inspired by the actions of the Greenland Patrol , a U.S. Coast Guard unit which patrolled the waters off Greenland, looking for Nazi weather stations and submarines. One such weather station was captured in June, 1941, which among other things impeded accurate German weather forecasting. Its personnel were taken to Boston and interned. The incident
1269-399: A consequence of that requirement, Bell Atlanta (BA) produced a series of 311 B-29Bs that had turrets and sighting equipment omitted, except for the tail position, which was fitted with AN/APG-15 fire-control radar. That version could also have an improved APQ-7 "Eagle" bombing-through-overcast radar fitted in an airfoil-shaped radome under the fuselage. Most of those aircraft were assigned to
1410-604: A contract in 1941 for 8 boats, and later added 10 more. The design was enlarged and modified to meet the new requirements. The first three of the new design ( PT-95 through PT-97 ) were initially kept in the Jacksonville, Florida, area for testing, resulting in several important modifications to the overall design (these boats were later assigned to Squadron 4 in 1942). Huckins ended up building just two squadrons of PT boats during World War II. Five 78-foot (24 m) boats were assigned to Squadron 14 ( PT-98 through PT-102 ) which
1551-422: A full loaded weight of 56,000 lb (25,000 kg), C-378 made a top speed of 37 kn (69 km/h; 43 mph) with 1,400 horsepower (1,000 kW), and maintained an average speed of 34.5 kn (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph) in a winter northeaster storm with 12-to-14-foot (3.7 to 4.3 m) seas, which would still be considered exceptional even 100 years later. The sea sled did not surface again as
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#17328558096181692-513: A fully pressurized fuselage that would have to be de-pressurized prior to opening the bomb bay doors. The solution was to have bomb bays that were not pressurized and a long tunnel joining the forward and rear crew compartments. Crews could use the tunnel if necessary to crawl from one pressurized compartment to the other. In September 1941, the United States Army Air Forces ' plans for war against Germany and Japan proposed basing
1833-428: A greater flow of cooling air into the intakes, which had baffles installed to direct a stream of air onto the exhaust valves. Oil flow to the valves was also increased, asbestos baffles were installed around rubber push rod fittings to prevent oil loss, thorough pre-flight inspections were made to detect unseated valves, and mechanics frequently replaced the uppermost five cylinders (every 25 hours of engine time) and
1974-561: A gross takeoff weight of 155,000 pounds (70,000 kg). Almost a year later, in October 1946, the same B-29 flew 9,422 miles (15,163 km) nonstop from Oahu, Hawaii, to Cairo, Egypt, in less than 40 hours, demonstrating the possibility of routing airlines over the polar ice cap. Although considered for other theaters, and briefly evaluated in the UK, the B-29 was exclusively used in World War II in
2115-534: A major power plant. Bombs fell over two kilometers away, damaged no civilian structures, but destroyed some tram lines, and destroyed both a Japanese military hospital and the Japanese secret police headquarters. On 15 June 1944, 68 B-29s took off from bases around Chengdu, 47 B-29s bombed the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata , Fukuoka Prefecture , Japan . This was the first attack on Japanese islands since
2256-647: A night raid on Omura in Kyushu, Japan, the General H. H. Arnold Special (42-6365) was damaged and forced to divert to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. The crew was interned. On 21 November 1944, Ding Hao (42-6358) was damaged during a raid on an aircraft factory at Omura and was also forced to divert to Vladivostok. The interned crews of these four B-29s were allowed to escape into American-occupied Iran in January 1945, but none of
2397-645: A profit of $ 28.60 on this transaction. In March 1941, during a heavy weather run from Key West to New York by Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRON 2), Elco 70-footers pounded heavily in 8-to-10-foot (2.4 to 3.0 m) waves even at moderate speeds, and seas continuously broke high over the bows. Operating personnel reported extreme discomfort and fatigue. All boats suffered from some sort of structural failure: forward chine guards ripped away, bottom framing under bows broken, side planking cracked [indicating lack of longitudinal strength], and other weaknesses were reported. In April MTBRON 1 reported enthusiasm over
2538-477: A secret island supply base for German raiders like the Q-ship Corsair sank. She has been tasked with locating and destroying it. The Corsair follows a coastal tanker through the harbor anti-submarine net and puts a landing party commanded by Stewart ashore to wreak as much havoc as possible in 30 minutes, while the boat sinks every ship they can in the harbor. Among the members of the landing party are Chief of
2679-474: A single 18-inch Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo . In February 1915, this Hickman sea sled demonstrated 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph) speeds in rough winter seas off Boston to both US and foreign representatives, but again he received no contracts. The Admiralty representative for this sea sled demonstration was Lieutenant G. C. E. Hampden. In the summer of 1915, Lieutenants Hampden, Bremner, and Anson approached John I. Thornycroft & Company about developing
2820-582: A single-shot Army M3 37 mm anti-tank gun that her crew had commandeered; they removed the wheels and lashed it to 2x8 timbers placed on the bow only one night before she was lost. The larger punch of the 37 mm round was desirable, but the crews looked for something that could fire faster than the single-shot Army anti-tank weapon. Their answer was found in the 37 mm Oldsmobile M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P-39 Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal . After having demonstrated its value on board PT boats,
2961-673: A small high speed torpedo boat, and this effort eventually led to the Coastal Motor Boat which first went into service in April 1916. Meanwhile, in August 1915, the General Board of the United States Navy approved the purchase of a single experimental small torpedo boat that could be transportable. This contract for C-250 ended up going to Greenport Basin and Construction Company . When it
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#17328558096183102-547: A speed of one per month. The success and ruggedness of the Huckins' 78-foot seagoing design is demonstrated by Squadron 26's constant ready-boat operations and fleet torpedo boat training in the oceans around Midway and Hawaii during the last two years of the war. Vospers of Great Britain arranged for several boatyards in the United States to build British-designed 70 ft (21 m) motor torpedo boats under license to help
3243-539: A torpedo boat topic until 1939 but continued to be used by both the Army and Navy as rescue boats and seaplane tenders during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1922, the US Navy reconsidered using small internal combustion engine powered torpedo boats. As a result, two types—45-foot (14 m) and 55-foot (17 m)—of British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats were obtained for testing. The larger boat was used for experiments until 1930. In 1938,
3384-476: A view to obtaining one that could be used as a check on the Navy's efforts. While visiting the British Power Boat Company , they purchased a 70-foot (21 m) private venture motor torpedo boat (MTB) design—PV70, later renamed PT-9— designed by the power boat racer Hubert Scott-Paine . PT-9 was to serve as the prototype for all the early Elco PT boats. After the initial competition, in late 1939
3525-577: The Armistice . Design of World War II PT boats continued to exploit some of the advances in planing hull design borrowed from offshore powerboat racing and used multiple lightweight but more powerful marinized aircraft-derived V-12 engines , and thus were able to advance in both size and speed. During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans . Some were converted into gunboats which could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armored barges used by
3666-586: The B-32 ), Lockheed (the Lockheed XB-30 ), and Douglas (the Douglas XB-31 ). Douglas and Lockheed soon abandoned work on their projects, but Boeing received an order for two flying prototypes , which were given the designation XB-29, and an airframe for static testing on 24 August 1940, with the order being revised to add a third flying aircraft on 14 December. Consolidated continued to work on its Model 33, as it
3807-687: The Doolittle raid in April 1942. The first B-29 combat losses occurred during this raid, with one B-29 destroyed on the ground by Japanese fighters after an emergency landing in China, one lost to anti-aircraft fire over Yawata, and another, the Stockett's Rocket (after Capt. Marvin M. Stockett, Aircraft Commander) B-29-1-BW 42-6261, disappeared after takeoff from Chakulia, India, over the Himalayas (12 KIA, 11 crew and one passenger). This raid, which did little damage to
3948-521: The Himalayas , either by transport aircraft or by B-29s themselves, with some aircraft being stripped of armor and guns and used to deliver fuel. B-29s started to arrive in India in early April 1944. The first B-29 flight to airfields in China (over the Himalayas, or " The Hump ") took place on 24 April 1944. The first B-29 combat mission was flown on 5 June 1944, with 77 out of 98 B-29s launched from India bombing
4089-507: The Pacific Theatre . The use of YB-29-BW 41-36393 , the so-named Hobo Queen , one of the service test aircraft flown around several British airfields in early 1944, was part of a "disinformation" program from its mention in an American-published Sternenbanner German-language propaganda leaflet from Leap Year Day in 1944, meant to be circulated within the Reich, with the intent to deceive
4230-661: The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1952. They were attached to the Aircraft Research and Development Unit and used in trials conducted on behalf of the British Ministry of Supply . Both aircraft were placed in storage in 1956 and were sold for scrap in 1957. At the end of WWII, Soviet development of modern four-engine heavy bombers lagged behind the West. The Petlyakov Pe-8 —the sole heavy bomber operated by
4371-553: The Silverplate and successor-name "Saddletree" specifications built for the Manhattan Project with Curtiss Electric reversible pitch propellers. The other differences came through added equipment for varied mission roles. These roles included cargo carriers (CB); rescue aircraft (SB); weather ships (WB); and trainers (TB); and aerial tankers (KB). Some were used for odd purposes such as flying relay television transmitters under
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4512-528: The Silverplate series, being extensively modified to carry nuclear weapons. Early consideration was given to using the British Lancaster as a nuclear bomber, as this would require less modification. However, the superior range and high-altitude performance of the B-29 made it a much better choice, and after the B-29 began to be modified in November 1943 for carrying the atomic bomb, the suggestion for using
4653-642: The Soviet Air Forces —first flew in 1936. Intended to replace the obsolete Tupolev TB-3 , only 93 Pe-8s were built by the end of WWII. During 1944 and 1945, four B-29s made emergency landings in Soviet territory after bombing raids on Japanese Manchuria and Japan. In accordance with Soviet neutrality in the Pacific War , the bombers were interned by the Soviets despite American requests for their return. Rather than return
4794-718: The Yalu River , and for attacks on dams. The aircraft also was used for numerous leaflet drops in North Korea, such as those for Operation Moolah . A Superfortress of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron flew the last B-29 mission of the war on 27 July 1953. Over the course of the war, B-29s flew 20,000 sorties and dropped 200,000 tonnes (220,000 tons) of bombs. B-29 gunners were credited with shooting down 27 enemy aircraft. In turn 78 B-29s were lost; 57 B-29 and reconnaissance variants were lost in action and 21 were non-combat losses. Soviet records show that one MiG-15 jet fighter
4935-545: The atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat . One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin , dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear , and an analog computer -controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $ 3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $ 51 billion in 2022), far exceeding
5076-587: The attack on Pearl Harbor , the Dewandre turrets were replaced on the entire PT boat fleet with open-ring twin mounts. The ring mount was designed by both Elco and Bell and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount. Part of the Mark 17 Mod 1 and Mod 2 ring mount consisted of the Bell Mark 9 twin cradle. Another automatic weapon commonly mounted on PT boats was the 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. On early series of boats,
5217-527: The "Silverplate" modified aircraft of the 509th Composite Group remained the only aircraft capable of delivering the atomic bomb, and so the unit was involved in the Operation Crossroads series of tests, with B-29 Dave's Dream dropping a "Fat Man"-type bomb in Test Able on 1 July 1946. Some B-29s, fitted with filtered air sampling scoops, were used to monitor above-ground nuclear weapons testing by
5358-472: The $ 1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project , made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 with the service name Washington from 1950 to 1954 when
5499-407: The 315th Bomb Wing, Northwest Field, Guam. The crew would enjoy, for the first time in a bomber, full-pressurization comfort. This first-ever cabin pressure system for an Allied production bomber was developed for the B-29 by Garrett AiResearch . Both the forward and rear crew compartments were to be pressurized, but the designers had to decide whether to have bomb bays that were not pressurized or
5640-603: The 77 ft (23 m) Elcos had been found defective, and it was probable the extended 70 ft (21 m) Elco would not be an improvement. The conference recommended a series of comparative tests to evaluate what turned out to be five new designs of motor torpedo boats. The conference strongly recommended that no more Elco 77-footers be ordered until the tests had shown that they were indeed satisfactory. The Board of Inspection and Survey , headed by Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox Jr. , conducted comparative service tests off New London, Connecticut , from 21 to 24 July 1941, using
5781-509: The 81-foot Higgins ( PT-6 ), and with the PT-6 showing such good seakeeping, further purchase of Scott-Paine boats was unnecessary. In early 1941 the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships lent Packard engines to both Huckins and Higgins, which wanted to build competitive boats at their own expense. A Chief of Naval Operations PT Boat Conference convened in May 1941 to discuss future PT characteristics. All PTs prior to
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5922-596: The Air Corps issued a formal specification for a so-called "superbomber" that could deliver 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) of bombs to a target 2,667 mi (4,292 km) away, and at a speed of 400 mph (640 km/h). Boeing's previous private venture studies formed the starting point for its response to the Air Corps formal specification. Boeing submitted its Model 345 on 11 May 1940, in competition with designs from Consolidated Aircraft (the Model 33, which later became
6063-422: The B-29 even if they did attain that altitude. The General Electric Central Fire Control system on the B-29 directed four remotely controlled turrets armed with two .50 Browning M2 machine guns each. All weapons were aimed optically, with targeting computed by analog electrical instrumentation. There were five interconnected sighting stations located in the nose and tail positions and three Plexiglas blisters in
6204-639: The B-29 in Egypt for operations against Germany, as British airbases were likely to be overcrowded. Air Force planning throughout 1942 and early 1943 continued to have the B-29 deployed initially against Germany, transferring to the Pacific only after the end of the war in Europe. By the end of 1943, plans had changed, partly due to production delays, and the B-29 was dedicated to the Pacific Theater. A new plan implemented at
6345-475: The B-29 in many later bombers and transports. Production of the B-29 was phased out after WWII, with the last example completed by Boeing's Renton factory on 28 May 1946. Many aircraft went into storage, being declared excess inventory, and were ultimately scrapped as surplus. Others remained in the active inventory and equipped the Strategic Air Command when it formed on 21 March 1946. In particular,
6486-756: The B-29. Twenty B-29s remain as static displays, but only two, FIFI and Doc , still fly. Before World War II , the United States Army Air Corps concluded that the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which would be the Americans' primary strategic bomber during the war, would be inadequate for the Pacific Theater , which required a bomber that could carry a larger payload more than 3,000 miles. In response, Boeing began work on pressurized long-range bombers in 1938. Boeing's design study for
6627-586: The B-29s were returned after Stalin ordered the Tupolev OKB to examine and copy the B-29 and produce a design ready for quantity production as soon as possible. Because aluminum in the USSR was supplied in different gauges from that available in the US (metric vs imperial), the entire aircraft had to be extensively re-engineered. In addition, Tupolev substituted his own favored airfoil sections for those used by Boeing, with
6768-581: The Boat Mac MacDonnell and Messman Oliver Jones. The Chief has a heart condition he has concealed from the Navy and after figuring this out, Jones has quietly assisted him. Both know that the Chief will be caught out at his next annual physical and medically retired, which is why he turned down a promotion to chief warrant officer . The raid is a success, with the oil tanks supplying fuel to the Q-ships blown up by
6909-654: The Crouch design; to the Philadelphia Navy Yard (PT-7, PT-8) for 81-foot boats designed by the Bureau of Ships. These last two boats were constructed mainly out of aluminum and had 4 engines. Higgins built an additional PT-6 "Prime" redesigned by Andrew Higgins personally using his own methods. Later that same year, Higgins built PT-70 (at their own expense) that incorporated slight improvements over PT-6 Prime . Later, testing revealed shortcomings that had to be fixed before
7050-551: The Elco 77' (PT-20 Class) developed structural failures even under moderate weather conditions prevailing. In the interval between the first and second test periods the PT-70 was repaired and an effort made to eliminate the causes of the structural failures. However, during the second endurance run, which was made in a very rough sea for this size boat, structural failures again occurred in PT-70. PT-69 and PT-21 experienced structural failures during
7191-479: The Elco and Higgins PT boats were similar to the contoured "planing hull" found in pleasure boats of the time (and still in use today): a sharp V at the bow softening to a flat bottom at the stern. A common characteristic of this type of contoured hull is the "rooster tail" in the wake. Unlike the actual "planing hull" Huckins, which planed at 10-11 knots, the Elco and Higgins PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds (PT 71 and PT-103 classes at around 27 knots, and
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#17328558096187332-618: The Germans into believing that the B-29 would be deployed to Europe. American post-war military assistance programs loaned the RAF 87 Superfortresses, to equip eight RAF Bomber Command squadrons. The aircraft was known as the Washington B.1 in RAF service and served from March 1950 until the last bombers were returned in March 1954. Deployment was restricted to long-range training for strategic attacks against
7473-530: The Germans. They were also used during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. Even though only half as many Higgins boats were produced, far more survive (seven hulls, three of which have been restored to their World War II configuration) than the more numerous Elco boats. Of the Elco boats, only three hulls (one restored) were known to exist as of 2016. Huckins and his innovative Quadraconic planing hull design were latecomers to PT boat design. Not invited to participate in
7614-521: The Huckins ( PT-69 ) completed the run. The Huckins withdrew because of a bilge stringer failure. The Higgins 76-footer ( PT-70 ) completed the entire run but also suffered structural failures: attachments between planking and web frames pulled loose and deck fastenings near engine hatches showed extensive failures. PT-21 suffered minor cracks in the deck in the same location, but not to the same extent, as previously observed in PT-26 , PT-30 , and PT-33 . PT-29
7755-588: The Huckins 72-foot (22 m) boat, was third with an average speed of 33.83 kn (62.65 km/h; 38.93 mph); PT-6 , the Higgins 81-footer, with an average speed of 31.4 kn (58.2 km/h; 36.1 mph) was fifth; and PT-8 , the Philadelphia Navy Yard boat, was last, at 30.75 kn (56.95 km/h; 35.39 mph). The other two Elco boats, PT-30 and PT 23 (standby boat), followed PT-31 , placing before PT-69 . The accelerometers ranked
7896-593: The Japanese Showa steel mill in Anshan , Manchuria . On 20 August 1944, Cait Paomat (42-93829), flying from Chengdu, was damaged by anti-aircraft gunfire during a raid on the Yawata Iron Works. Due to the damage it sustained, the crew elected to divert to the Soviet Union. The aircraft crashed in the foothills of Sikhote-Alin mountain range east of Khabarovsk after the crew bailed out. On 11 November 1944, during
8037-463: The Japanese capital since the Doolittle Raid in April 1942, 73rd Bomb Wing wing commander Brigadier General Emmett O'Donnell Jr. acted as mission command pilot in B-29 Dauntless Dotty . The campaign of incendiary raids started with the bombardment of Kobe on 4 February 1945, then peaked early with the most destructive bombing raid in history (even when the later Silverplate -flown nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are considered) on
8178-492: The Japanese for inter-island transport. Several saw service with the Philippine Navy , where they were named " Q-boats ". Primary anti-ship armament on the standard PT boat was four 21-inch Mark 8 torpedoes , each of which had a 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead and a range of 16,000 yards (15,000 m) at 36 knots (67 km/h). Two twin .50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns were mounted for anti-aircraft defense and general fire support. Some boats carried
8319-400: The Lancaster never came up again. The most significant modification was the enlargement of the bomb bay enabling each aircraft to carry either the Thinman or Fatman weapons. These Silverplate bombers differed from other B-29s then in service by having fuel injection and reversible props . Also, to make a lighter aircraft, the Silverplate B-29s were stripped of all guns, except for those on
8460-442: The M4 (and later M9) cannon was installed at the factory. The M4/M9 37 mm auto cannon had a relatively high rate of fire (125 rounds per minute) and large magazine (30 rounds). These features made it highly desirable because of the PT boat's ever-increasing requirement for increased firepower to deal effectively with the Japanese Daihatsu -class barges , which were largely immune to torpedoes because of their shallow draft . By
8601-425: The Marianas. US forces invaded Saipan on 15 June 1944. Despite a Japanese naval counterattack which led to the Battle of the Philippine Sea and heavy fighting on land, Saipan was secured by 9 July. Operations followed against Guam and Tinian , with all three islands secured by August. Naval construction battalions ( Seabees ) began at once to construct air bases suitable for the B-29, commencing even before
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#17328558096188742-508: The Mediterranean on 9 March 1945 and yet returned to base for repairs. PT-167 (Elco) was holed through the bow off Bougainville Island on 5 November 1943 by a torpedo which failed to detonate; the boat remained in action and was repaired the next day. In 1943, an inquiry was held by the Navy to discuss planing, hull design, and fuel consumption issues. This resulted in the November 1943 Miami test trial between two Higgins and two Elco boats, but no major additional modifications were made before
8883-414: The Model 334 was a pressurized derivative of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress with nosewheel undercarriage . Although the Air Corps lacked funds to pursue the design, Boeing continued development with its own funds as a private venture. In April 1939, Charles Lindbergh convinced General Henry H. Arnold to produce a new bomber in large numbers to counter the Germans' bomber production. In December 1939,
9024-422: The Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of PT-9 . On 11 October 1940 an agreement between the Navy and Huckins Yacht Corporation was finalized. The Navy would provide engines and Huckins would build a PT boat at their own expense, with the caveat that the boat (upon completion) would be offered to the Navy for a later sum. This 72-foot (22 m) boat (designated MT-72) later became PT-69 . Huckins reported
9165-473: The North Atlantic. Stewart is granted weekend leave to settle his affairs before taking up his new assignment. At the submarine base in New London, Connecticut , he meets his new captain, Lieutenant Commander Dewey Connors. On a train bound for Washington D.C., Stewart encounters New London school teacher Jean Hewlett and her students. Despite her initial resistance, he charms her and they fall in love. Stewart's infatuation with PT boats irritates Connors, but
9306-494: The PT-265 and 625 classes at around 23 knots). The Elco, Higgins and Huckins companies used varying lightweight techniques of hull construction. Though often said to be made of plywood , the hulls were actually made of two diagonal layered 1 in (25 mm) thick mahogany planks, with a glue-impregnated or lead-painted layer of canvas in between. Holding all this together were thousands of bronze screws and copper rivets. This type of construction made it possible for damage to
9447-425: The Philadelphia Navy Yard to use his patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength, although neither Elco nor Higgins chose to use it on their boats. Most probably due to the lateness in joining the PT boat program and unlike Elco and Higgins, the Huckins yard was not provided government support to construct a larger facility prior to the war. The handcrafted Huckins PT was produced at their civilian facility at
9588-409: The Soviet Union and Great Britain at the beginning of the war, so many of the lower-numbered squadrons in the U.S. Navy were made up exclusively of Elcos. U.S. Navy PT boats were organized into MTBRONs. The first Higgins boats for the U.S. Navy were used in the battle for the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska) as part of Squadrons 13 and 16, and others (MTBRON15 and MTBRON22) in the Mediterranean against
9729-419: The Soviet Union, which was beyond the range of the RAF's Avro Lincolns . The phase-out was occasioned by deliveries of the English Electric Canberra bombers. Three Washingtons modified for ELINT duties and a standard bomber version used for support by No. 192 Squadron RAF were decommissioned in 1958, being replaced by de Havilland Comet aircraft. Two British Washington B.1 aircraft were transferred to
9870-402: The Soviets themselves already having their own Wright R-1820 -derived 18 cylinder radial engine, the Shvetsov ASh-73 of comparable power and displacement to the B-29's Duplex Cyclone radials available to power their design. In 1947, the Soviets debuted both the Tupolev Tu-4 ( NATO ASCC code named Bull), and the Tupolev Tu-70 transport variant. The Soviets used tail-gunner positions similar to
10011-406: The U.S. These were to be provided to the Dutch forces under Lend Lease but were re-requisitioned to the USN as PT 368–371 after the fall of the Netherlands to German forces. PT boats offered accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men. Crews varied from 12 to 17, depending upon the number and type of weapons installed. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons. The hull shapes of
10152-403: The US Navy renewed their investigation into the concept by requesting competitive bids for several different types of motor torpedo boats but excluded Hickman's sea sled. This competition led to eight prototype boats built to compete in two different classes. The first class was for 54-foot (16 m) boats, and the second class was for 70-foot (21 m) boats. The resulting PT boat designs were
10293-591: The US and the USSR by sampling airborne radioactive contamination . The USAF also used the aircraft for long-range weather reconnaissance (WB-29), for signals intelligence gathering (EB-29) and photographic reconnaissance (RB-29). The B-29 was used in 1950–53 in the Korean War . At first, the bomber was used in normal strategic day-bombing missions, although North Korea's few strategic targets and industries were quickly destroyed. More importantly, in 1950 numbers of Soviet MiG-15 jet fighters appeared over Korea, and after
10434-506: The West Coast as part of an experiment and as a proof of concept. Higgins Industries produced 199 78 ft (24 m) boats of the PT-71 / PT-235 , PT-265 and PT-625 classes. The Higgins boats had the same beam, full load displacement, engines, generators, shaft horsepower, trial speed, armament, and crew accommodation as the 80 ft (24 m) Elco boats. Many Higgins boats were sent to
10575-697: The above recommendations and their order of merit. Those are: The newly designed 80 ft (24 m) Elco Naval Division boats were the longest of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy used during World War II. By war's end, more of the Elco boats were built (326 in all) than any other type of motor torpedo boat. While comparable in size to many wooden sailing ships in history, these 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m) beam wooden- hulled craft were classified as boats in comparison with much larger steel-hulled destroyers , destroyer escorts , and corvettes . Five Elco boats were manufactured in knock-down kit form and sent to Long Beach Boatworks for assembly on
10716-445: The advanced bases from Japanese ground attack. The XX Bomber Command , initially intended to be two combat wings of four groups each, was reduced to a single wing of four groups because of the lack of availability of aircraft, automatically limiting the effectiveness of any attacks from China. This was an extremely costly scheme, as there was no overland connection available between India and China, and all supplies had to be flown over
10857-587: The aircraft, the Soviets reverse engineered the American B-29s and used them as a pattern for the Tupolev Tu-4 . On 31 July 1944, Ramp Tramp ( serial number 42-6256), of the United States Army Air Forces 462nd (Very Heavy) Bomb Group was diverted to Vladivostok , Russia , after an engine failed and the propeller could not be feathered . This B-29 was part of a 100-aircraft raid against
10998-499: The background of some shots. For wartime security reasons, no submarine classes used in combat in World War II appear in the film. USS Semmes is seen in one shot; there are probably not many good Technicolor views of a four-stack destroyer available today. Semmes was being used as a sonar testbed at the time. One of the scenes in the film was similar to that in Destination Tokyo (1943) starring Cary Grant , where
11139-565: The best possible V-bottom or hard chine design". Earlier when sea sleds were specifically excluded, Crouch had informed the Bureau of Ships that the sea sled was the best type of vessel for the job. Following the competition, contracts were placed for construction of boats: 25 May 1939 to Higgins Industries for two boats (PT5 and PT6) of the Sparkman & Stephens design, scaled up to an overall length of 81 feet; 8 June 1939 to Fogal Boat Yard (PT-1 and PT-2) and Fisher Boat Works (PT-3 and PT-4) for
11280-767: The boats as follows: first was the Philadelphia Navy Yard PT-8 with the least pounding, second was the Huckins PT-69 , third was the Higgins PT-6 , and last were the Elco 77-footers. Because of the problem with ingot loading, a 185 nmi (343 km; 213 mi) trial with the PTs fully fitted out was conducted on 12 August 1941. Four boats— PT-8 , PT-69 , PT-70 , and MRB—returned and Elco sent two new boats, PT-21 and PT-29 . During this trial, boats faced heavier seas, as high as 16 ft (4.9 m). All except
11421-408: The cannon was mounted on the stern. Later in the war, several more of these 20 mm cannons were added amidships and on the forward deck. Forward of the chart house of some early Elco 77-foot (23 m) boats ( PT20 through PT44 ) were twin .30 cal (7.62 mm) Lewis machine guns on pedestal mounts. Beginning in mid-1943, some boats were fitted with one or two .30 cal Browning machine guns on
11562-401: The central fuselage. Five General Electric analog computers (one dedicated to each sight) increased the weapons' accuracy by compensating for factors such as airspeed, lead , gravity, temperature and humidity. The computers also allowed a single gunner to operate two or more turrets (including tail guns) simultaneously. The gunner in the upper position acted as fire control officer, managing
11703-513: The copper fell into the hull. Nine boats participated in the trial. Six boats completed the trial, while three withdrew: PT-33 suffered structural damage off Block Island; PT-70 was damaged by loose copper ingots; and MRB developed engine trouble at the start of the run. By class, PT-20 , an Elco 77-footer, came in first with an average speed of 39.72 kn (73.56 km/h; 45.71 mph); followed by PT-31 , with an average speed of 37.01 kn (68.54 km/h; 42.59 mph); PT-69 ,
11844-502: The defensive armament and remote-controlled sighting equipment removed from the B-29s under his command. The affected aircraft had the same reduced defensive firepower as the nuclear weapons-delivery intended Silverplate B-29 airframes and could carry greater fuel and bomb loads as a result of the change. The lighter defensive armament was made possible by a change in mission from high-altitude, daylight bombing with high explosive bombs to low-altitude night raids using incendiary bombs. As
11985-471: The designers were asked to submit more detailed plans for both the 54 and 70 foot boats by no later than 7 November. On 21 March 1939 Sparkman & Stephens won the prize in the 70-foot class, and George Crouch (for Henry B. Nevins, Inc. ) had won the design proposal for the 54-foot class. After winning the design competition for the smaller PT boat, Crouch wrote that Hickman's sea sled design would be far superior "in either rough or smooth water to that of
12126-606: The designs could meet performance specifications. As a result, the Navy ordered further investigation and refinement of the existing designs until a satisfactory working design could be obtained. At the same time, Henry R. Sutphen of Electric Launch Company (Elco) and his designers (Irwin Chase, Bill Fleming, and Glenville Tremaine) visited the United Kingdom in February 1939 at the Navy's request to see British motor torpedo boat designs with
12267-535: The direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a promise to China, called Operation Matterhorn , deployed the B-29 units to attack Japan from four forward bases in southern China , with five main bases in India , and to attack other targets in the region from China and India as needed. The Chengdu region was eventually chosen over the Guilin region to avoid having to raise, equip, and train 50 Chinese divisions to protect
12408-474: The distribution of turrets among the other gunners during combat. The tail position initially had two .50 Browning machine guns and a single M2 20 mm cannon . Later aircraft had the 20 mm cannon removed, sometimes replaced by a third machine gun. In early 1945, Major General Curtis Lemay , commander of XXI Bomber Command —the Marianas-based B-29-equipped bombing force—ordered most of
12549-507: The eastern end of Block Island , then around Fire Island Lightship, finishing at Montauk Point Whistling Buoy. At the time, only the Elco 77-footers were loaded with armament. The other competitors had copper ingots added topside (mostly in the turrets) to make up the difference. This resulted in severe conditions for several of the boats during the trial and accounted for the transverse failure in PT-70 ' s deck and subsequent hull failure as
12690-422: The end of ground fighting. In all, five major airfields were built: two on the flat island of Tinian , one on Saipan , and two on Guam . Each was large enough to eventually accommodate a bomb wing consisting of four bomb groups, giving a total of 180 B-29s per airfield. These bases could be supplied by ship and, unlike the bases in China, were not vulnerable to attack by Japanese ground forces. The bases became
12831-480: The end of the 19th century and featured a displacement hull form. These first generation torpedo boats rode low in the water, displaced up to 300 tons, and had a top speed of 25 to 27 kn (46 to 50 km/h). During World War I Italy, the US, and UK developed the first high-performance, gasoline -powered motor torpedo boats (often with top speeds over 40 kn (74 km/h)) and corresponding torpedo tactics, but these projects were all quickly disbanded after
12972-419: The end of the war. During the war, Elco came up with stepped hull designs ("ElcoPlane") which achieved significant increase in top speed. Higgins developed the small and fast 70-foot (21 m) Higgins Hellcat , which was a slight variation on their original hull form, but the Navy rejected them for full production because of increased fuel consumption and other considerations. After the war, Lindsay Lord, who
13113-555: The entire engines (every 75 hours). Pilots, including the present-day pilots of the Commemorative Air Force 's Fifi , one of the last two remaining flying B-29s, describe flight after takeoff as being an urgent struggle for airspeed (generally, flight after takeoff should consist of striving for altitude). Radial engines need airflow to keep them cool, and failure to get up to speed as soon as possible could result in an engine failure and risk of fire. One useful technique
13254-413: The farthest nonstop distance (6,400 miles or 10,300 kilometers) to that date flown by U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft and the first-ever nonstop flight from Japan to Chicago . Two months later, Colonel Clarence S. Irvine commanded another modified B-29, Pacusan Dreamboat , in a world-record-breaking long-distance flight from Guam to Washington, D.C., traveling 7,916 miles (12,740 km) in 35 hours, with
13395-614: The film was shot at Submarine Base New London, Connecticut . A few naval combatants rarely seen in Technicolor are visible in the early part of the film. The PT boats seen near the beginning are the 77-foot Elco type. The submarine primarily featured as Corsair was the experimental USS Marlin , with a conning tower modified to resemble her sister USS Mackerel . A few O-class and R-class submarines, built in World War I and used for training in World War II, are visible in
13536-536: The flight was terminated due to a serious engine fire. On 18 February 1943, the second prototype, flying out of Boeing Field in Seattle, experienced an engine fire and crashed. The crash killed Boeing test pilot Edmund T. Allen and his 10-man crew, 20 workers at the Frye Meat Packing Plant and a Seattle firefighter. Changes to the production craft came so often and so fast that, in early 1944, B-29s flew from
13677-764: The following boats: Each member of the board conducted an independent inspection of every boat class, evaluating them for structural sufficiency, habitability, access, arrangement for attack control, and communication facilities. Boats were also evaluated under two conditions of armament loading: loaded and fully equipped with four 21 in (53 cm) torpedoes and sufficient fuel to operate 500 NM at 20 knots; and fully loaded with two 21 in (53 cm) torpedoes and ten 300 lb (140 kg) depth charges with sufficient fuel to operate 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph). Boats would have their tactical parameters of each design determined by photographs from an airship. Lastly, there
13818-477: The following recommendations: The board also had the following opinion on structural sufficiency: "During the first series of tests (21–24 July) the Huckins design (PT-69), the Philadelphia design (PT-8) and the Higgins design (PT-6) completed the open sea endurance run without structural damage. The Higgins 70' (British) boat did not complete this run because of engine trouble. The Higgins 76' (PT-70) and boats of
13959-399: The forward half of future President John F. Kennedy 's PT-109 (Elco) stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri . PT-323 (Elco) was cut in half by a kamikaze aircraft on 10 December 1944 off Leyte , yet remained floating for several hours. PT-308 (Higgins) had her stern sheared off by a collision with PT-304 during a night mission in
14100-402: The forward torpedo racks on pedestal mounts. Occasionally, some front line PT boats received ad hoc up-fits, where they mounted such weapons as 37 mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars. When these weapons were found to be successful, they were incorporated onto the PT boats as original armament. One such field modification was made to Kennedy's PT-109 , which was equipped with
14241-406: The jet-powered Canberra entered service. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, and trainers. For example, the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter, which was first flown in 1944,
14382-524: The landing party, buildings burned, and enemy ships sunk at anchor. MacDonnell is killed covering the escape of Stewart and Jones. The captain submerges the boat and gets out to sea, despite being wounded by enemy fire. Captain Connors and Exec Stewart make peace after the raid, and Stewart and Jean are married when the Corsair returns to New London. As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified): Part of
14523-521: The launch sites for the large B-29 raids against Japan in the final year of the war. The first B-29 arrived on Saipan on 12 October 1944, and the first combat mission was launched from there on 28 October 1944, with 14 B-29s attacking the Truk atoll. The 73rd Bomb Wing launched the first mission against Japan from bases in the Marianas, on 24 November 1944, sending 111 B-29s to attack Tokyo . For this first attack on
14664-453: The logistical problems associated with operations from China, the B-29 could reach only a limited part of Japan while flying from Chinese bases. The solution to this problem was to capture the Mariana Islands , which would bring targets such as Tokyo , about 1,500 mi (2,400 km) north of the Marianas within range of B-29 attacks. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed in December 1943 to seize
14805-462: The loss of 28 aircraft, future B-29 raids were restricted to night missions, largely in a supply-interdiction role. The B-29 dropped the 1,000 lb (450 kg) VB-3 "Razon" (a range-controllable version of the earlier Azon guided ordnance device) and the 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) VB-13 " Tarzon " MCLOS radio-controlled bombs in Korea, mostly for demolishing major bridges, like the ones across
14946-561: The night of 9–10 March 1945 on Tokyo. From then on, the raids intensified, being launched regularly until the end of the war. The attacks succeeded in devastating most large Japanese cities (with the exception of Kyoto and four that were reserved for nuclear attacks), and gravely damaged Japan's war industries. Although less publicly appreciated, the mining of Japanese ports and shipping routes ( Operation Starvation ) carried out by B-29s from April 1945 reduced Japan's ability to support its population and move its troops. The most famous B-29s were
15087-517: The original design competition, by late 1940, Huckins had a meeting with Captain James M. Irish, Chief of Design, and offered to build a "planing seagoing hull" PT boat, on the condition the Navy loan Huckins engines and agree to look at the Huckins boat. In early July 1941, the Navy accepted PT-69 . After obtaining excellent testing results at the Plywood Derby, the Navy awarded Huckins Yacht Corporation
15228-657: The pilot house of each boat, but the readings were incomplete because the violent motion of the boats made observations difficult and in some cases necessitated abandonment of the observing stations. Further, many of those taken were beyond the normal range of the instruments and were considered inaccurate. Elco boats were found to pound heavily and confirmed previous reports of crew discomfort. The Elco 77-Footer Design Demonstrates: The Huckins 72-Foot Design Demonstrates: The Navy Yard Philadelphia 81-Foot Design Demonstrates: The Higgins 81-Foot Design Demonstrates: The Higgins 76-Foot Design Demonstrates: The board arrived at
15369-439: The prior period, B-29 raids were also launched from China and India against many other targets throughout Southeast Asia , including a series of raids on Singapore and Thailand. On 2 November 1944, 55 B-29s raided Bangkok's Bang Sue marshaling yards in the largest raid of the war. Seven RTAF Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa s from Foong Bin (Air Group) 16 and 14 IJAAF Ki-43s attempted intercept. RTAF Flt Lt Therdsak Worrasap attacked
15510-402: The problem, with production personnel being sent from the factories to the modification centers to speed availability of sufficient aircraft to equip the first bomb groups in what became known as the " Battle of Kansas ". This resulted in 150 aircraft being modified in the five weeks, between 10 March and 15 April 1944. The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures
15651-472: The product of a small cadre of respected naval architects and the Navy. On 11 July 1938 the Navy solicited design proposals for four separate types of boat: a 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat. The winning design proposals would each receive a prize of $ 15,000 with $ 1,500 for designs that reached the final part of the competition each to be given out on 30 March 1939. The larger boat proposal
15792-537: The production lines directly to modification depots for extensive rebuilds to incorporate the latest changes. AAF-contracted modification centers and its own air depot system struggled to handle the scope of the requirements. Some facilities lacked hangars capable of housing the giant B-29, requiring outdoor work in freezing weather, further delaying necessary modification. By the end of 1943, although almost 100 aircraft had been delivered, only 15 were airworthy. This prompted an intervention by General Hap Arnold to resolve
15933-476: The project. The first prototype made its maiden flight from Boeing Field , Seattle , on 21 September 1942. The combined effects of the aircraft's highly advanced design, challenging requirements, immense pressure for production, and hurried development caused setbacks. Unlike the unarmed first prototype, the second was fitted with a Sperry defensive armament system using remote-controlled gun turrets sighted by periscopes and first flew on 30 December 1942, although
16074-514: The railroad shops in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand . Five B-29s were lost during the mission, none to hostile fire. On 5 June 1944, B-29s raided Bangkok , in what is reported as a test before being deployed against the Japanese home islands . Sources do not report from where they launched and vary as to the numbers involved—77, 98, and 114 being claimed. Targets were Bangkok's Memorial Bridge and
16215-826: The second bomb, called Fat Man , on Nagasaki three days later. Bockscar is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force . Following the surrender of Japan, called V-J Day , B-29s were used for other purposes. A number supplied POWs with food and other necessities by dropping barrels of rations on Japanese POW camps. In September 1945, a long-distance flight was undertaken for public relations purposes: Generals Barney M. Giles , Curtis LeMay , and Emmett O'Donnell Jr. piloted three specially modified B-29s from Chitose Air Base in Hokkaidō to Chicago Municipal Airport , continuing to Washington, D.C. ,
16356-547: The second run though these were much more localized as compared with those found on PT-70. The Board is of the opinion that certain changes in design are required to enable PT-69 and boats of the PT-20 Class to carry safely their military loads in rough weather." The board results provided very important benchmarks in the infancy of PT boat development. This type of craft presented design challenges that were still issues decades after, but there are some significant conclusions from
16497-578: The submarines follow an enemy tanker into their naval base through a minefield . Another similar plot device was in the 1954 film Hell and High Water about an island base to be used to launch a Tupolev Tu-4 , a copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress , in U.S. markings for an sneak atomic bomb attack. One interesting feature of the film is the significant role of African-American actor Ben Carter as messman Oliver Cromwell Jones. While most World War II films (particularly those made during
16638-602: The tail. Pilot Charles Sweeney credits the reversible props for saving Bockscar after making an emergency landing on Okinawa following the Nagasaki bombing. Enola Gay , flown by Colonel Paul Tibbets , dropped the first bomb, called Little Boy , on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Enola Gay is fully restored and on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center , outside Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C. Bockscar , piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney , dropped
16779-525: The target, with only one bomb striking the target factory complex, nearly exhausted fuel stocks at the Chengdu B-29 bases, resulting in a slow-down of operations until the fuel stockpiles could be replenished. Starting in July, the raids against Japan from Chinese airfields continued at relatively low intensity. Japan was bombed on: B-29s were withdrawn from airfields in China by the end of January 1945. Throughout
16920-515: The two become friends after they engage a Nazi Q-ship . When Connors is wounded, Stewart takes command and sinks the ship. Connors is in love with Jean, but is putting off marrying her until he is promoted to commander, which would allow him to support her financially. Tension between the two men returns after Connors returns from a briefing in Washington with that promotion, only to discover Stewart and Jean are engaged. The DC briefing has to do with
17061-587: The war effort. The boatyards were located in Annapolis, Bristol, City Island, Miami, and Los Angeles. 146 boats, armed with 18 in (460 mm) torpedoes, were built for Lend Lease , and exported to Allied powers such as Canada, Britain, Norway, and the Soviet Union. These boats were never used by the U.S. Navy, and only about 50 were used by the Royal Navy ; most were passed to other countries. The Canadian Power Boat Company produced four Scott-Paine designed PTs for
17202-663: The war's end, most PTs had these weapons. Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber , designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War . Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress , the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing , but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing , and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped
17343-414: The war) feature few, if any, African-American characters, Crash Dive is a notable exception. Although Carter plays a stereotypical role as a low ranking sailor (at that time, Blacks could only serve as cooks and messmen), his character is more developed than most African-American characters of the time by being shown to be a confidant to a higher ranking crew member. Jones (Ben Carter) also participates in
17484-497: The wingspan dimensions. The wing of the Renton-built B-29A-BN used a different subassembly process and was a foot longer in span. The Georgia-built B-29B-BA weighed less through armament reduction. A planned C series with more reliable R-3350s was not built. Moreover, engine packages changed, including the type of propellers and range of the variable pitch. A notable example was the eventual 65 airframes (up to 1947's end) for
17625-510: The wooden hulls of these boats to be easily repaired at forward operating bases by base force personnel. According to Robert McFarlane, the US Navy built the hulls of some PT boats partially from 3,000-year-old white cedar logs recovered from sphagnum bogs in New Jersey. As a testament to the strength of this type of construction and watertight bulkheads, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. For example,
17766-462: Was a demonstration of seakeeping qualities and hull strength by making a run at maximum sustained speed in the open ocean. An accelerometer was installed in the pilot house of each boat to record "pounding". Conducted on 24 July 1941, this open-water trial, 190 nmi (350 km; 220 mi) at full throttle, was referred to by PT personnel as the "Plywood Derby". The course started from the mouth of New London Harbor, to Sarah Ledge, then led around
17907-503: Was also to be 40 knots, but specified operating radius was to be 120 miles at top speed and 240 miles at cruising speed. Equipped armament for the smaller proposal was to be either two torpedoes and two depth charges, or .50-cal machine guns and a smokescreen generator. By September 1938 the U.S. Navy had received 24 design proposals for the small boat and 13 design proposals for the larger 70-footer. Of those proposals submitted, three 54-ft designs and five 70-ft designs were of interest, and
18048-460: Was assigned as a pace boat with PT-8 in order to generate a pounding comparison. The average speed results from the 185 nmi (343 km; 213 mi) course were: Elco 77-footer ( PT-21 ), 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph); Higgins 76-footer ( PT-70 ), 27.2 kn (50.4 km/h; 31.3 mph); Higgins MRB and Philadelphia Navy Yard boat ( PT-8 ), 24.8 kn (45.9 km/h; 28.5 mph). Accelerometers were again installed in
18189-629: Was classified at the time because the United States was not at war with Germany, but after Pearl Harbor was released to the American public. Fred Sersen and Roger Heman Sr. won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 16th Academy Awards . PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat ) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II . It
18330-680: Was commissioned in early 1943; and ten boats assigned to Squadron 26 (PT-255 thru PT-264) which was commissioned in mid 1943. They were assigned to specific outposts in the Panama Canal Zone , Miami, Florida , the Hawaiian Sea Frontier at Pearl Harbor and Midway, and a training center in Melville, Rhode Island . Although not used in any other PT boat design, Huckins licensed the use of his patented Quadraconic hull in his PT boat construction. He also granted permission for Elco, Higgins, and
18471-451: Was delivered and tested in the summer of 1917, it was not deemed a success, so a second boat (C-378) of the sea sled design was ordered from Hickman in either late 1917 or early 1918 (conflicting dates). Using his previous design from September 1914 and the previous unsuccessful bid for C-250, the C-378 was completed and fully tested just in time to be cancelled as a result of the Armistice . With
18612-797: Was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser . This bomber-to-airliner derivation was similar to the B-17 / Model 307 evolution. In 1948, Boeing introduced the KB-29 tanker, followed in 1950 by the Model 377-derivative KC-97 . A line of outsized-cargo variants of the Stratocruiser is the Guppy / Mini Guppy / Super Guppy , which remain in service with NASA and other operators. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s , an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of
18753-404: Was not to exceed 80 feet and was to carry at least two 21-inch torpedoes, four depth charges, and two .50-cal machine guns. The performance specification was to achieve 40 knots with an operating radius of 275 miles at top speed (550 miles at cruising speed). The smaller boat proposal was to weigh no more than 20 tons so that it could be easily transported by larger cargo ships. Its maximum top speed
18894-569: Was replaced in its primary role during the early 1950s by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet , which in turn was replaced by the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress . The final active-duty KB-50 and WB-50 variants were phased out in the mid-1960s, with the final example retired in 1965. A total of 3,970 B-29s were built. The variants of the B-29 were outwardly similar in appearance but were built around different wing center sections that affected
19035-416: Was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft . At the outbreak of war in August 1914, W. Albert Hickman devised the first procedures and tactics for employing fast maneuverable seaworthy torpedo motorboats against capital ships, and he presented his proposal to Rear Admiral David W. Taylor , the chief of the US Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair . In September 1914, Hickman completed plans for
19176-470: Was seen by the Air Corps as a backup if there were problems with Boeing's design. Boeing received an initial production order for 14 service test aircraft and 250 production bombers in May 1941, this being increased to 500 aircraft in January 1942. The B-29 featured a fuselage design with circular cross-section for strength. The need for pressurization in the cockpit area also led to the B-29 being one of very few American combat aircraft of World War II to have
19317-516: Was shot down by a B-29 during the war. This occurred on 6 December 1950, when a B-29 shot down Lieutenant N. Serikov. With the arrival of the mammoth Convair B-36 , the B-29 was reclassified as a medium bomber by the Air Force. The later B-50 Superfortress variant (initially designated B-29D ) was able to handle auxiliary roles such as air-sea rescue , electronic intelligence gathering, air-to-air refueling , and weather reconnaissance . The B-50D
19458-516: Was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the US Navy they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs). The PT boat was very different from the first generation of torpedo boat , which had been developed at
19599-510: Was stationed in Hawaii during the war, recorded the Navy's planing hull research and findings in Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls . It covers PT boat hull design and construction and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs. The primary anti-ship armament was two to four Mark 8 torpedoes , which weighed 2,600 pounds (1,179 kg) and contained
19740-596: Was the engines. Although the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engines later became a trustworthy workhorse in large piston-engined aircraft, early models were beset with dangerous reliability problems. This problem was not fully cured until the aircraft was fitted with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" in the B-29D /B-50 program, which arrived too late for World War II . Interim measures included cuffs placed on propeller blades to divert
19881-405: Was to check the magnetos while already on takeoff roll rather than during a conventional static engine-runup before takeoff. In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight at altitudes up to 31,850 feet (9,710 m), at speeds of up to 350 mph (560 km/h; 300 kn) ( true airspeed ). This was its best defense because Japanese fighters could barely reach that altitude, and few could catch
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