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135-620: The following is an extensive catalogue of the variants and specific unique elements of each variant and/or design stage of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , a heavy bomber used by the United States Army Air Forces and other Allied air forces during World War II . The Model 299 was the original aircraft built by Boeing to fulfill an August 1934 requirement by the United States Army Air Corps for

270-556: A combat radius of 4,480 miles (7,210 km). During World War II, mass production techniques made available large, long-range heavy bombers in such quantities as to allow strategic bombing campaigns to be developed and employed. This culminated in August 1945, when B-29s of the United States Army Air Forces dropped atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The arrival of nuclear weapons and guided missiles permanently changed

405-626: A 100 ft (30 m) crater in Britain and another circled an English port out of control. The program was cancelled in early 1945. The U.S. Navy (USN) received 48 B-17s towards the end of World War II, renamed PB-1 and used for maritime patrol missions. Post-war, the USN acquired 31 more B-17Gs, renamed PB-1W, and fitted with AN/APS-20 radar for Airborne Early Warning equipment and procedure development. The Naval Air Material Center's Naval Aircraft Modification Unit (NAMU) at Johnsville, Pennsylvania modified

540-428: A bomber capable of carrying 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs 2,000 mi (3,200 km) at 200 mph (320 km/h). The 299 was powered by four 750 hp (560 kW) Pratt & Whitney S1EG Hornet radial engines , giving a maximum speed of 236 mph (380 km/h) and a maximum gross weight of 38,053 lb (17,261 kg). It carried a bomb load of up to eight 600 lb (270 kg) bombs, with

675-468: A building at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to the Executive Mansion , part of a complex of four matching brick Georgian/Federal style buildings for Cabinet departments with War in the northwest, Navy in the southwest and to the other side: State to the northeast and Treasury in the southeast. The War Department building was supplemented in the 1850s by a building across the street to

810-497: A defensive armament of five .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns, with one in a nose turret and one each in dorsal and ventral mounts and two in waist blisters. In 1935, Boeing's Model 299 competed with entries from other aircraft companies at an evaluation at Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio, USA. On its flight from Seattle , Washington to Wright Field for the competition, the 299 set a nonstop speed record of 252 mph (406 km/h). Though it crashed and burned on takeoff during

945-504: A demonstration, the crash was due to flight-crew error, when unreleased gust locks prevented flight surfaces from moving, not from any technical flaw in the aircraft. Subsequently, a mandatory pre-flight checklist prior to take-off was required. Despite the crash and its much higher unit cost, the Army Air Corps leaders was impressed by its performance, so Boeing was awarded a development contract. The aircraft has since been referred to as

1080-578: A few landed safely at RAF bases in Cyprus and some in Turkey, where they were interned. Only 33 were undamaged. Damage to the refineries was soon repaired and oil production actually increased. By October 1942, a new Ford Motor Company plant at Willow Run Michigan was assembling Liberators. Production reached a rate of over one an hour in 1944 helping the B-24 to become the most produced US aircraft of all time. It became

1215-426: A flight in a thunderhead , Army Air Corps leaders decided that there would be no need for static testing. Instead, it was used as a testbed for improving engine performance. After studying a variety of configurations, use of a ventral-nacelle-mount turbocharger was chosen for each of its four engines. A successive series of General Electric -manufactured turbochargers would equip B-17s as standard items, starting with

1350-663: A lot to Sikorsky's ideas; of similar size, it used just two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines and could carry up to 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs. The O/100 was designed at the beginning of the war for the Royal Navy specifically to sink the German High Seas Fleet in Kiel: the Navy called for “a bloody paralyser of an aircraft” Entering service in late 1916 and based near Dunkirk in France, it

1485-558: A national militia. These committees were consolidated into the Board of War and Ordnance in 1776, operated by members of Congress. A second board was created in 1777, the Board of War, to operate separately from Congress. The Congress of the Confederation eventually replaced the system of boards with the Department of War. Only five positions were created within the department upon its creation:

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1620-540: A primary school, and injured 432 in East London. Initially, defence against air attack was poor, but by May 19, 1918, when 38 Gothas attacked London, six were shot down and another crashed on landing. German aircraft companies also built a number of giant bombers, collectively known as the Riesenflugzeug . Most were produced in very small numbers from 1917 onwards and several never entered service. The most numerous were

1755-457: A range of 2,530 miles (4,070 km), while the B-29 (1944) delivered payloads in excess of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) and had a range of 3,250 miles (5,230 km). By the late 1950s, the jet -powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress , travelling at speeds of up to 650 miles per hour (1,050 km/h) (more than double that of a Lancaster), could deliver a payload of 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg), over

1890-508: A squadron of 10 was bombing German positions on the Eastern Front and by summer 1916 there were twenty. It was well-armed with nine machine guns, including a tail gun and initially was immune to German and Austro-Hungarian air attack. The Sikorsky bomber had a wingspan just a few feet shorter than that of a World War II Avro Lancaster , while being able to carry a bomb load of only 3% of the later aircraft. The Handley Page Type O /100 owed

2025-413: A war. This was certainly vindicated by the firebombing of Japanese cities and the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, as Japan's fragile housing and cottage industry made themselves easily vulnerable to attack, thus completely destroying Japanese industrial production (see Air Raids on Japan ). It was less evident that it held true for the bombing of Germany. During

2160-638: Is currently undergoing restoration at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton , Ohio . This B-17D was later renamed " The Swoose " by her last pilot Col. Frank Kurtz , who after the war, kept the Fortress from being scrapped; he later named his daughter, actress Swoosie Kurtz , after the bomber. The B-17E (299O) was an extensive redesign of the previous B-17D. The most obvious change

2295-656: The Allies on August 15, and the Japanese government subsequently signed the official instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945. After World War II, the name strategic bomber came into use, for aircraft that could carry aircraft ordnances over long distances behind enemy lines. They were supplemented by smaller fighter-bombers with less range and lighter bomb load, for tactical strikes. Later these were called strike fighters , attack aircraft and multirole combat aircraft . When North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950

2430-633: The Armistice with Germany). The Vimy's intended use was to bomb industrial and railway targets in western Germany, which it could reach with its range of 900 miles (1,400 km) and a bomb load of just over a ton. The Vickers Vimy is best known as the aircraft that made the first Atlantic crossing from St John's Newfoundland to Clifden in Ireland piloted by the Englishman John Alcock and navigated by Scot Arthur Whitten Brown on June 14, 1919. Between

2565-691: The B-1 , B-52 and B-2 have been retained for the role of carpet bombing in several conflicts. The most prolific example (in terms of total bomb tonnage) is the U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress during the 1960s–early 1970s Vietnam War era, in Operation Menu , Operation Freedom Deal , and Operation Linebacker II . In 1987 the Soviet Tu-160 —the heaviest supersonic bomber/aircraft currently in active service—entered service; it can carry twelve long-range cruise missiles. The 2010 New START agreement between

2700-855: The Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force later joined the Department of the Navy under the United States Department of Defense in 1949. The Department of War traces its origins to the committees created by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to oversee the Revolutionary War . Individual committees were formed for each issue, including committees to secure ammunition, to raise funds for gunpowder, and to organize

2835-981: The Heinkel He 177 which saw only limited use against the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom ) was published. After Wever's death, Ernst Udet , development director at the Air Ministry steered the Luftwaffe towards dive bombers instead. When Britain and France declared war on Germany in September 1939, the RAF had no heavy bomber yet in service; heavy bomber designs had started in 1936 and ordered in 1938. The Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster both originated as twin-engine "medium" bombers, but were rapidly redesigned for four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and rushed into service once

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2970-802: The Himalaya to the base for the B-29 Superfortress in Chengdu , China . It proved a difficult aircraft to maintain, due to lack of spares for the Cyclone engines, and was returned to the United States, where it was based in Bangor, Maine, and flew a cargo route to Scotland until the end of the war. It was sold to a local dealer for scrap, but the airframe survived, and is currently being restored in Illinois. A final aircraft

3105-532: The Junkers Ju 88 . Heavy bombers still needed defensive armament for protection, even at night. The Stirling's low operational ceiling of just 12,000 ft (3,700 m)—also caused by the thick wing—meant that it was usually picked on by night fighters; within five months, 67 of the 84 aircraft in service had been lost. The bomb bay layout limited the size and types of bombs carried and it was relegated to secondary duties such as tug and paratrooper transport. Due to

3240-463: The Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for more effective control over the department and its bureaus. Secretary of War Elihu Root (1899–1904) sought to appoint a chief of staff as general manager and a European-type general staff for planning, aiming to achieve this goal in a businesslike manner, but General Nelson A. Miles stymied his efforts. Root enlarged

3375-574: The Supermarine Spitfire had very limited endurance. An early raid on Rouen-Sotteville rail yards in Brittany on August 17, 1942, required four Spitfire squadrons outbound and five more for the return trip. The USAAF chose to attack aircraft factories and component plants. On August 17, 1943, 230 Fortresses attacked a ball-bearing plant in Schweinfurt and again two months later, with 291 bombers, in

3510-460: The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI of which 13 saw service, bombing Russia and London: four were shot down and six lost on landing. The R.VIs were larger than the standard Luftwaffe bombers of World War II. The Vickers Vimy , a long-range heavy bomber powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, was delivered to the newly formed Royal Air Force too late to see action (only one was in France at time of

3645-639: The second raid on Schweinfurt . The works was severely damaged but at a huge cost: 36 aircraft lost in the first raid, 77 in the second. Altogether 850 airmen were killed or captured; only 33 Fortresses returned from the October raid undamaged With the arrival of North American P-51 Mustangs and the fitting of drop tanks to increase the range of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt for the Big Week offensive, between February 20–25, 1944, bombers were escorted all

3780-547: The "C/D" section below) installed, replacing their lower, teardrop-shaped gun blisters. Crew locations were rearranged, and the original pneumatic brakes were replaced with hydraulic brakes . In October 1942 all in-service B-17B aircraft were redesignated RB-17B, the "R" indicating "Restricted" and these aircraft were now used only for training and transport duties. The "R" prefix designated combat obsolescence. Many of these RB-17B aircraft, along with at least one still-airworthy YB-17, were stationed at Sebring Airfield, where

3915-614: The "State, War, and Navy Building" (now the Old Executive Office Building , and later renamed to honor General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower ), built in the same location as its predecessors. By the 1930s, the Department of State squeezed the War Department from its office space, and the White House also desired additional office space. In August 1939, Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring and Acting Chief of Staff of

4050-512: The 10-ton Grand Slam could be carried. Barnes Wallis , deputy chief aircraft designer at Vickers , spent much time thinking about weapons that might shorten the war. He conceived his “Spherical Bomb, Surface Torpedo” after watching his daughter flip pebbles over water. Two versions of the ' bouncing bomb ' were developed: the smaller Highball was to be used against ships and attracted essential British Admiralty funding for his project. A 1,280 lb (580 kg) flying torpedo, of which half

4185-560: The 20 aircraft had been destroyed by September, half to accidents. Their guns froze-up at altitude and were unable to protect the Fortresses from attack and their effectiveness as bombers was also limited, largely because of problems with achieving an adequate level of bombing accuracy. Though changes in the design made the Army Air Force decide that the B-17D was worthy of a new sub designation,

List of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress variants - Misplaced Pages Continue

4320-616: The American South, and the last Republican state governments in the region ended. The Army comprised hundreds of small detachments in forts around the West, dealing with Indians, and in coastal artillery units in port cities, dealing with the threat of a naval attack. The United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000. Temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought

4455-513: The Army Air Corps from operating more than a hundred miles from America's coastline. After three years of flight, no serious incidents occurred with the B-17s. In October 1940, they were transferred to the 19th Bombardment Group at March Field . The aircraft that became the sole Y1B-17A was originally ordered as a static test bed. However, when one of the Y1B-17s survived an inadvertent violent spin during

4590-462: The Army Air Forces gained virtual independence in every way from the rest of the army. After World War II, the Department of War abandoned Marshall's organization for the fragmented prewar pattern while the independent services continually parried efforts to reestablish firm executive control over their operations. The National Security Act of 1947 split the War Department into the Department of

4725-744: The Army George C. Marshall moved their offices into the Munitions Building , a temporary structure built on the National Mall during World War I. In the late 1930s, the government constructed the War Department Building (renamed in 2000 as the Harry S Truman Building ) at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom , but upon completion, the new building did not solve the space problem of the department, and

4860-516: The Army and the Department of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Air Force served as operating managers for the new Secretary of Defense. In the early years, between 1797 and 1800, the Department of War was headquartered in Philadelphia ; it moved with the other federal agencies to the new national capital at Washington, D.C. , in 1800. In 1820, headquarters moved into

4995-517: The Azores and were fitted with radar before being reused by meteorological survey squadrons. The rest were operated as Fortress Mk.III (SD) (Special Duties) from February 1944 by two squadrons of Bomber Command 's No. 100 Group RAF , where they carried out electronic countermeasures to confuse or jam German radar in support of bombing missions. These carried an extensive array of electronic equipment including airborne Grocer air-interception jammers,

5130-474: The B-17C and B-17D were very similar. In fact, both were given the same sub designation (299H) by Boeing. Minor changes were made, both internally and externally. Outside, the engines received a set of adjustable cowl flaps for improved cooling, and the externally-mounted bomb racks were removed. On the interior, the electrical system was revised, and another crew position was added, bringing the total number to ten. In

5265-542: The B-17C/D production standard. While the new nose glazing still used only a single .30 in (7.62 mm) caliber machine gun, two additional ball-sockets were installed in the nose, one in the upper left panel and another in a lower right. This configuration was continued up through the B-17E series. During Army Air Corps service, the bulged teardrop-shaped machine gun blisters were replaced with flush-mounted Perspex side windows of

5400-502: The B-17F also proved almost immediately to have inadequate defensive protection when being attacked directly from the front. Various armament configurations of two-to-four flexible machine guns were added to the plexiglass nose cone and side window positions (the starboard position was placed further forward). Late production "F" series aircraft received substantially-enlarged bulged "cheek" mounts for their .50 caliber machine guns, on each side of

5535-451: The B-17F's design, the starboard "cheek" machine gun mount was moved rearward and the port side mount was moved forward, just behind the edge of the bombardier's nose glazing to avoid interference with the storage of the chin turret's control yoke when it was not in use. For late production blocks of the G-series, the tail gun turret was revised. Referred to as the "Cheyenne" configuration (after

List of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress variants - Misplaced Pages Continue

5670-531: The B-17G model. In order to assemble combat boxes of several aircraft, and later combat wings formed of a number of boxes, assembly ships were used to speed up formation. Even this extra firepower, which increased empty weight by 20% and required more powerful versions of the Wright Cyclone engine, was insufficient to prevent serious losses in daylight. Escort fighters were needed but the RAF interceptors such as

5805-519: The B-17s to PB-1W specification by sealing up the bomb bay doors and installing 300 gallon drop tanks on each wing, in addition to the "Tokyo Tanks" mounted in the outer wings, holding a total of 3,400 gallons of fuel, giving the PB-1W an endurance of 22+ hours. Initially PB-1W's retained the natural metal finish with a protective wax coat, but later the PB-1Ws were painted gloss Navy Blue overall. The scanner for

5940-501: The BQ-7, aim to at the target and set its controls for a collision course, before itself returning. The normal cockpit lost its roof and the fairing behind it was removed. Because the remote-control hardware was inadequate, Operation Aphrodite was riddled with problems. Between August 1944 and January 1945, 15 BQ-7s were launched against Germany, but none hit their targets, and several crew were killed, many in parachuting accidents. One BQ-7 left

6075-564: The Department of State ultimately used it. Coming into office with World War II raging in Europe and Asia, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson faced with the situation of the War Department spread through the overcrowded Munitions Building and numerous other buildings across Washington, D.C., and suburban Maryland and Virginia . On July 28, 1941, Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington, Virginia , which would house

6210-542: The Department of War. Many agencies still fragmented authority, burdening the chief of staff with too many details, making the whole Department of War poorly geared toward directing the army in a global war. General Marshall described the chief of staff then as a "poor command post." President Roosevelt brought in Henry L. Stimson as Secretary of War; after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , Stimson supported Marshall in reorganizing

6345-572: The Italian liner Rex . Coming into contact with the liner while it was still 610 mi (980 km) out at sea, the demonstration was meant to prove the range and capabilities of the B-17. It also showed that the bomber could attack a naval invasion force before it could reach land. The Navy was furious about the Army's intrusion into their mission, and forced the War Department to issue an order restricting

6480-412: The Jostle VHF jammer, Monica tail-warning receiver , Gee and LORAN for navigation, and an H2S radar which replaced the chin turret. They were also used as decoys during night bombing attacks. Fortress Mk.IIIs were operational until the units disbanded in July 1945. About 130 B-17Gs were converted for air-sea rescue missions for the USAAF, carrying an airborne lifeboat . Of these, twelve received

6615-482: The Mk.IIA in its intended role but instead they were operated by the Coastal Command for anti-submarine patrols. The B-17F was an upgrade of the B-17E. Outwardly, both types were distinguished primarily by the extensively framed nose glazing on the "E" series being replaced with a molded, one-piece or two-piece all plexiglas nose cone on the "F" series and later. Fully-feathering paddle-blade propellers were also adopted. Many internal changes were also made to improve

6750-502: The RAF, were upgraded to the B-17D configuration, although one of these crashed on a ferry flight in the US. With the passage of the Lend-lease Act in 1941, the Royal Air Force requested B-17s. At that time, the US Army Air Corps was suffering from shortages, but supplied 20 to the RAF. Though the Air Corps hadn't cleared the B-17 for combat, they were desperately needed in Britain. The 20 ferried bombers were production B-17Cs (company designation Model 299T), designated Fortress Mk I by

6885-402: The RAF. The aircraft's single .30 caliber nose-mounted machine guns were replaced with 0.5 in (13 mm) Brownings. Following delivery, the 20 Fortress Mk.Is went almost immediately into frontline service, however they performed poorly. By September 1941, 39 sorties had only resulted in 22 missions, with nearly half of the sorties aborted due to mechanical and electrical problems. Eight of

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7020-447: The Secretary at War, an assistant, a secretary, and two clerks. Shortly after the establishment of a government under President George Washington in 1789, Congress reestablished the War Department as a civilian agency to administer the field army under the president (as commander-in-chief ) and the secretary of war. Retired senior General Henry Knox , then in civilian life, served as the first United States Secretary of War . When

7155-503: The Tirpitz on November 12, 1944. Upkeep, the larger version of the bouncing bomb , was used to destroy the Mohne and Eder dams by Lancasters from the specially recruited and trained No. 617 Squadron RAF , often known as "the Dam Busters", under Wing Commander Guy Gibson . In March and April 1945, as the war in Europe was ending, Lancasters dropped Grand Slams and Tallboys on U-boat pens and railway viaducts across north Germany. At Bielefeld more than 100 yards (91 m) of railway viaduct

7290-442: The USAF responded with daylight bomber raids on supply lines through North Korea. B-29 Superfortresses flew from Japan on behalf of the United Nations , but the supply line for North Korea's army from the Soviet Union was physically and politically out of reach: North Korea for the most part lacked worthwhile strategic targets of its own. The Soviet-backed Northern forces easily routed the South Korean army. The distance to North Korea

7425-405: The United States Department of Defense. On the same day this act was signed, Executive Order 9877 assigned primary military functions and responsibilities with the former War Department split between the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force. In the aftermath of World War II, the American government (among others around the world) decided to abandon the word 'War' when referring to

7560-402: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and established the United States Army War College and the General Staff. He changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line. Concerned about the new territories acquired after the Spanish–American War, Root worked out

7695-477: The United States of America and the Russian Federation defined a "heavy bomber" by two characteristics: Some notable heavy bombers are listed below United States Department of War The Secretary of War , a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed the War Department throughout its existence. The War Department existed from August 7, 1789 until September 18, 1947, when it split into

7830-410: The Vega-built aircraft was later converted to the XB-38 Flying Fortress , which remained a single prototype. Four examples of B-17Es still exist in museums, none of which are currently known to be airworthy. In the middle of 1942, 45 B-17Es were transferred to the RAF, where they served under the designation Fortress Mk.IIA . Because of the shortcomings experienced with the Mk.I, the RAF did not use

7965-426: The War Department building with its records and files was consumed by fire. The United States Military Academy at West Point and the Army Corps of Engineers were established in 1802. The Department of War was reduced in size following the end of the Quasi-War in 1802, but it was subsequently expanded in the years leading up to the War of 1812 . To accommodate this expansion, sub-departments were created within

8100-439: The XB-17, but this designation was not contemporary or official. Though still enthusiastic about the Boeing design, despite it being disqualified from the fly-off contest following the crash of the Model 299 prototype, the Army Air Corps cut its order from 65 service test YB-17s to just 13. On November 20, 1936, the bomber's normal acquisition funding was changed to "F-1", indicating funding outside of normal annual allocations, and

8235-403: The XB-38 made its first flight on 19 May 1943. While it showed a slightly higher top speed, after just a few flights it had to be grounded due to a problem with engine manifold joints leaking exhaust gases. Following this problem being resolved, testing continued until the ninth flight on 16 June 1943 when the inboard starboard engine caught fire, and the crew bailed out. The XB-38 was destroyed and

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8370-467: The Y1B-17's upper nose blister was replaced with a .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun, its barrel run through a ball-socket in the heavily framed Perspex nose glazing. The Y1B-17's separate triangular-shaped bombardier's aiming window, located further back in the lower nose in an indent, was eliminated, and was replaced with a framed window panel in the lower portion of the nose glazing. All B-17B aircraft were later modified at Boeing, being brought up to

8505-401: The absence of British heavy bombers, 20 United States Army Air Corps Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses were lent to the RAF, which during July 1941 commenced daylight attacks on warships and docks at Wilhelmshaven and Brest. These raids were complete failures. After eight aircraft were lost due to combat or breakdown and with many engine failures, the RAF stopped daylight bombing by September. It

8640-435: The aft-dorsal radio compartment was a new overhead twin-.50s machine gun mount; in the central-aft section's ventral "bathtub" gun position, twin .50s were also added, as was additional armor plating. Nose gun ball sockets were added to the side windows for the first time, in a longitudinally staggered layout (the starboard ball socket was further forward than the port-side ball socket). The number of machine guns aboard brought

8775-399: The aircraft but the most important development was the use of a detailed checklist reviewed by the pilot and copilot prior to each takeoff. It was hoped that this procedure would prevent further accidents. In May 1938, the Y1B-17s (now redesignated as B-17) of the 2nd Bombardment Group, led by the lead bombers' navigator Curtis LeMay , took part in a demonstration in which they intercepted

8910-443: The aircraft to be unreliable, under-powered and hastened its withdrawal from service. Reaching squadrons early in 1942, the redesigned bomber with four Merlin engines and longer wings was renamed Avro Lancaster ; it could deliver a 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) load of bombs or up to 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) with special modifications. The Lancaster's bomb bay was undivided, so that bombs of extraordinary size and weight such as

9045-485: The army under the War Powers Act of 1941 . He divided the Army of the United States (AUS) into three autonomous components to conduct the operations of the War Department: the Army Ground Forces (AGF) trained land troops; the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) developed an independent air arm; and the Services of Supply (later Army Service Forces ) directed administrative and logistical operations. The Operations Division acted as general planning staff for Marshall. By 1942,

9180-419: The bombardier's clear nose glazing as "cheek" positions, or midway along the rear fuselage sides as "waist" positions. U.S. bombers carried .50 caliber machine gun , and dorsal (spine/top of aircraft) and ventral (belly/bottom of aircraft) guns with powered turrets . All of these machine guns could defend against attack when beyond the range of fighter escort; eventually, a total of 13 machine guns were fitted in

9315-417: The bomber laterally, allowing the waist gunners to alternate bursts at enemy fighters. For better visibility the waist gunner teardrop sliding panels were replaced by rectangular windows. In the first production run, the ventral gunner's "bathtub" from the B-17D was replaced by a remotely-sighted Bendix turret. It was similar to the one used in the B-25B through -D Mitchell bombers, but was difficult to use and

9450-407: The bomber's defensive armament to thirteen .50 in (12.70 mm) machine guns. The waist gun windows were staggered to improve the gunner's freedom of movement, another carryover from the YB-40 "gunship" variant. The earliest B-17Gs lacked the "cheek" machine gun mounts, as it was believed that the chin turret provided sufficient forward firepower; they were quickly reintroduced. In a reversal of

9585-608: The bombers were restricted to night interdiction and concentrated on destroying supply routes, including the bridges over the Yalu river into China. By the 1960s, manned heavy bombers could not match the intercontinental ballistic missile in the strategic nuclear role. More accurate precision-guided munitions ("smart bombs"), nuclear -armed missiles or bombs were able to be carried by smaller aircraft such as fighter-bombers and multirole fighters . Despite these technological innovations and new capabilities of other contemporary military aircraft , large strategic bombers such as

9720-589: The bombers were then switched to low-level, nighttime incendiary attacks for which they had not originally been designed (one variant, the B-29B was specially modified for low altitude night missions by removal of armament and other equipment). Japan burned furiously from the B-29 incendiary raids. On August 6, 1945, B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, B-29 Bockscar dropped another on Nagasaki. The war ended when Japan announced its surrender to

9855-598: The civilian leadership of their military. One vestige of the former nomenclature is the names of the service was colleges: the Army War College, the Naval War College , and the Air War College , which still train U.S. military officers in battlefield tactics and the strategy of war fighting. The date "MDCCLXXVIII" and the designation "War Office" are indicative of the origin of the seal. The date (1778) refers to

9990-549: The defensive armament was kept. An uncertain number of additional airframes were converted to a similar configuration to the F-9, but differed in minor details of their cameras, and received the designation F-9A . Some of these, along with more B-17Fs, received further camera alterations and became the F-9B . The final model was the F-9C , which was given to ten B-17G , converted in a similar fashion to

10125-535: The department and the army fell to Secretary Knox, while direct field command of the small Regular Army fell to President Washington. In 1798, Congress authorized President John Adams to create a second provisional army under the command of former President Washington in anticipation of the Quasi-War , but this army was never utilized. The Department of War was also responsible for overseeing interactions with Native Americans in its early years. On November 8, 1800,

10260-493: The department was created, the president was authorized to appoint two inspectors to oversee the troops. Congress created several additional offices over the course of the 1790s, including the major general , brigadier general , quartermaster general , chaplain , surgeon general , adjutant general , superintendent of military stores, paymaster general , judge advocate , inspector general , physician general, apothecary general, purveyor, and accountant. Forming and organizing

10395-449: The department, with each one led by a general staff officer . These sub-departments were reformed into a modern system of bureaus by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun in 1818. Secretary Calhoun created the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824, which served as the main agency within the War Department for addressing the issues regarding Native Americans until 1849, when Congress transferred it to

10530-412: The effectiveness, range, and load capacity. Once placed in combat service, however, the "F" series was found to be tail-heavy. The combined weight, when fully combat-loaded, of the four rear gunners and their heavy .50 caliber ammunition, moved the bomber's center of gravity rearward. This forced the constant use of the bomber's elevator trim tab , stressing that component to eventual failure. In combat

10665-414: The end of the bomber's "F-1" procurement program. The commander of Army General Headquarters (Air Force), Major General Frank Andrews , assigned twelve Y1B-17s to the 2nd Bomb Group located at Langley Field , Virginia to develop heavy bombing techniques. Of the thirteen Boeing aircraft built, one was assigned for stress testing. Most of the time spent with the bombers entailed eliminating problems with

10800-706: The entire department under one roof. When construction of the Pentagon was completed in 1943, the Secretary of War vacated the Munitions Building and the department began moving into the Pentagon. The United States Secretary of War, a member of the United States Cabinet, headed the War Department. The National Security Act of 1947 established the National Military Establishment , later renamed

10935-530: The exterior scenes were filmed for the Warner Bros. war drama Air Force (1943), directed by Howard Hawks , and starring (among others) John Garfield , Arthur Kennedy , Gig Young , and Harry Carey . The film's real star, however, was an RB-17B. It passed as a later model B-17D Flying Fortress, having had its machine gun blisters replaced and a lower "bathtub" ventral gun turret installed. Many of these aircraft can be seen in both ground and aerial scenes during

11070-566: The famous Memphis Belle . Three examples of the B-17F remain in existence, including the restored Memphis Belle . 19 B-17Fs were transferred to the RAF, where they served with RAF Coastal Command as the Fortress Mk.II . All changes made to the Flying Fortress were incorporated into the final production version, the B-17G. These included the Bendix remotely-operated chin turret, bringing

11205-499: The film. The "B" series Flying Fortress first flew on 27 June 1939. Thirty nine were built in a single production run, but Army Air Corps serial numbers were scattered over several batches. This was because of limited government funding: The Army Air Corps could only afford to purchase a few B-17Bs at a time. The B-17C introduced a number of improvements over the B-17B, including more powerful Wright R-1820-65 engines. To improve crew safety,

11340-509: The first production model, allowing it to fly higher and faster than the Y1B-17. When testing was completed, the Y1B-17A was reconfigured as a B-17A . The B-17B (299M) was the first production model of the B-17 and was essentially a B-17A with a slightly larger rudder , larger flaps , a redesigned nose and 1,200 hp (890 kW) R-1820-51 engines. The small, globe-like, machine gun turret used in

11475-688: The following changes: Heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs ) and longest range ( takeoff to landing ) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the largest and most powerful military aircraft at any point in time. In the second half of the 20th century, heavy bombers were largely superseded by strategic bombers , which were often even larger in size, had much longer ranges and were capable of delivering nuclear bombs . Because of advances in aircraft design and engineering — especially in powerplants and aerodynamics —

11610-543: The general staff on the pattern of his American Expeditionary Force (AEF) field headquarters, which he commanded. The general staff in the early 1920s exercised little effective control over the bureaus, but the chiefs of staff gradually gained substantial authority over them by 1939, when General George C. Marshall assumed the office of Army Chief of Staff . During World War II , General Marshall principally advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on military strategy and expended little effort in acting as general manager of

11745-663: The general staff to few members before America entered World War I on April 6, 1917. President Woodrow Wilson supported Secretary of War Newton D. Baker , who opposed efforts to control the bureaus and war industry until competition for limited supplies almost paralyzed industry and transportation, especially in the North. Yielding to pressure from Congress and industry, Secretary Baker placed Benedict Crowell in charge of munitions and made Major General George W. Goethals acting quartermaster general and General Peyton C. March chief of staff. Assisted by industrial advisers, they reorganized

11880-406: The heavy YB-17 bomber was redesignated "Y1B-17", as a result. Unlike the first example, which had used Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines, the Y1B-17 used the more powerful Wright R-1820 Cyclone that would be the standard power plant for all subsequent B-17s. Changes were also made in the armament, and the crew was reduced from seven to six. Most changes were minor: the most notable

12015-487: The heavy bomber's once-central role in strategic warfare by the late 20th century. Heavy bombers have, nevertheless, been used to deliver conventional weapons in several regional conflicts since World War II (for example, B-52s in the Vietnam War ). Heavy bombers are now operated only by the air forces of the United States, Russia and China. They serve in both strategic and tactical bombing roles. The first heavy bomber

12150-609: The initial design suitable for bombing and it was first used on a variety of VIP transport and maritime patrol missions. Its long range, however, persuaded the USAAF to send 177 Liberators from Benghazi in Libya to bomb the Romanian oilfields on August 1, 1943, in Operation Tidal Wave . Due to navigational errors and alerted German flak batteries and fighters, only half returned to base although

12285-537: The last 65 (86 according to some sources) B-17Fs built by Douglas, from the B-17F-70-DL production block — directly derived from its debut on the YB-40 experimental "gunship" version. With reinforced landing gear, the maximum bomb capacity increased from 4,200 lb (1,900 kg) to 8,000 lb (3,600 kg). Though this modification reduced cruising speed by 70 mph (110 km/h), increased bomb-carrying capacity

12420-481: The late stages of the war, the department took charge of refugees and freedmen (freed slaves) in the American South through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands . During the Reconstruction era , this bureau played a major role in supporting the new Republican governments in the southern states. When military Reconstruction ended in 1877, the U.S. Army removed the last troops from military occupation of

12555-546: The logistics (including transport of fuel for the B-29 fleet over the Himalayan range ) of flying from these remote, primitive airfields were complicated and costly. The island of Saipan in the Marianas was assaulted to provide Pacific air bases from which to bomb Japanese cities . Initial high-level, daylight bombing raids using high-explosive bombs on Japanese cities with their wood and paper houses produced disappointing results;

12690-532: The major decisions. In 1911, Secretary Henry L. Stimson and Major General Leonard Wood , his chief of staff, revived the Root reforms. The general staff assisted them in their efforts to rationalize the organization of the army along modern lines and in supervising the bureaus. The Congress reversed these changes in support of the bureaus and in the National Defense Act of 1916 reduced the size and functions of

12825-562: The modification center where it was introduced, the United Airlines Modification Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming ), its guns were mounted in a new turret with a reflector sight and a much greater field of fire. Some 8,680 were built, and dozens were converted for several different uses: Eighty-five B-17Gs were transferred to the RAF, where they received the designation Fortress Mk.III . Three were assigned to Coastal Command in

12960-423: The nature of military aviation and strategy . After the 1950s intercontinental ballistic missiles and ballistic missile submarines began to supersede heavy bombers in the strategic nuclear role. Along with the emergence of more accurate precision-guided munitions ("smart bombs") and nuclear -armed missiles , which could be carried and delivered by smaller aircraft, these technological advancements eclipsed

13095-506: The new designation B-17H, with five B-17Hs becoming TB-17Hs. The B-17H and TB-17H were redesignated SB-17G in 1948. The XB-38 was a modification undertaken by the Vega division of Lockheed on the ninth B-17E built. It was to test the feasibility of using liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 -89 engines, if the Wright R-1820 engine became scarce. Completing the modifications took less than a year, and

13230-544: The newly founded Department of the Interior . The U.S. Soldiers' Home was created in 1851. During the American Civil War, the War Department responsibilities expanded. It handled the recruiting, training, supply, medical care, transportation and pay of two million soldiers, comprising both the regular army and the much larger temporary volunteer army. A separate command structure took charge of military operations. In

13365-416: The nose. These replaced the previous side window-mounted .50s. These "cheek" mounts allowed for firing more directly ahead. An overhead astrodome was also added for the navigator on top of the nose. The problem of head-on defense was not adequately addressed until the introduction of a powered, Bendix-designed, remotely operated "chin" turret in the final production blocks of F-series Fortresses, starting with

13500-506: The one-megawatt AN/APS-20 Seasearch S-band Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR), manufactured by Hazeltine Corporation / General Electric , was ventrally mounted in a bulbous housing below the redundant bomb bay, with the RADAR relay transmitter, Identification friend or foe (IFF), Radio Direction Finder (RDF), Instrument Landing System (ILS), and LOng RAnge Navigation (LORAN) also being installed during conversion. The conversion introduced

13635-510: The powerplant seriously delayed the B-29's operational service debut. The aircraft had four remotely operated twin-gun turrets on its fuselage , controlled through an analog computer sighting system; the operator could use any of a trio of Perspex ball stations. Only the tail gunner manually controlled his gun turret station in the rear of the airplane. B-29s were initially deployed to bases in India and China, from which they could reach Japan; but

13770-719: The previous aircraft. Those surviving in 1948 were initially redesignated RB-17G ( R indicating 'reconnaissance'). Late in World War II, at least 25 B-17s were fitted with radio controls as BQ-7 drones for Operation Aphrodite . Loaded with 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) of Torpex high explosive and enough fuel for 350 mi (560 km), they were to be used to attack Nazi U-boat pens, V-1 flying bomb sites, and bomb-resistant fortifications . The BQ-7s would be taken up to 2,000 ft (610 m) by two volunteers before transferring control to another B-17 and bailing out while still over England. The controlling B-17 would follow

13905-598: The procedures for turning Cuba over to the Cubans, wrote the charter of government for the Philippines, and eliminated tariffs on goods imported to the United States from Puerto Rico. Root's successor as Secretary of War, William Howard Taft , returned to the traditional secretary-bureau chief alliance, subordinating the chief of staff to the adjutant general, a powerful office since its creation in 1775. Indeed, Secretary Taft exercised little power; President Theodore Roosevelt made

14040-510: The project was cancelled. The gains in modification were minimal and would have been disruptive to the existing Flying Fortress production. Allison engines were also considered to be more badly needed for fighters. Prior to the introduction of the P-51 Mustang , a B-17 "gunship" escort variant called the YB-40 was trialled. This aircraft differed from the standard B-17 in that a second dorsal turret

14175-416: The reinforcing joint between the inner and outer wing spars. With an extra 1,080 US gal (4,100 L) to the 1,700 US gal (6,400 L) available on the first B-17Fs, the "Tokyo tanks" added approximately 900 mi (1,400 km) to the bomber's target capability. 3,405 "F" series Flying Fortresses were built: 2,300 by Boeing, 605 by Douglas, and 500 by Lockheed (Vega). This includes

14310-406: The same type used in the B-17C/D series. Various aircraft had different levels of upgrades performed. Some of the "B" series Fortresses had only their bulged side blisters replaced with slide-out flush windows, while others also had their bulged upper blister changed to a much flatter, more aerodynamic Perspex window panel. In addition, some "B" series Fortresses also had ventral "bathtub turrets" (see

14445-616: The size of payloads carried by heavy bombers has increased at rates greater than increases in the size of their airframes. The largest bombers of World War I , the Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge of Germany, could carry a payload of up to 4,400 pounds (2,000 kg) of bombs; by the latter half of World War II , the Avro Lancaster (introduced in 1942) routinely delivered payloads of 14,000 pounds (6,400 kg) (and sometimes up to 22,000 lb (10,000 kg)) and had

14580-604: The standard heavy bomber in the Pacific and the only one used by the RAAF. The SAAF used Liberators to drop weapons and ammunition during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The Avro Manchester was a twin-engine bomber powered by the ambitious 24-cylinder Rolls-Royce Vulture , but was rapidly redesigned for four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines due to technical problems with the Vulture which caused

14715-493: The supply system of the army and practically wiped out the bureaus as quasi-independent agencies. General March reorganized the general staff along similar lines and gave it direct authority over departmental operations. After the war, the Congress again granted the bureaus their former independence. The Commission on Training Camp Activities addressed moral standards of the troops. In the 1920s, General John J. Pershing realigned

14850-641: The technical problems of the larger Rolls-Royce Vulture emerged in the Avro Manchester . The Halifax joined squadrons in November 1940 and flew its first raid against Le Havre on the night of 11–12 March 1941. British heavy bomber designs often had three gun turrets with a total of 8 machine guns . In January 1941, the Short Stirling reached operational status and first combat missions were flown in February. It

14985-409: The total armament to seven: one portable nose .30 in (7.62 mm) and six .50 in (12.70 mm). The B-17D also featured more extensive armored plate protection. A total of 42 "D" series were built, and the 18 remaining B-17Cs were converted to Boeing's new B-17D standard. The sole-surviving example of the "D" series (originally built in 1940 and nicknamed Ole Betsy by her original aircrew)

15120-525: The waist-mounted machine gun blisters were replaced with teardrop-shaped, slide-out Perspex window panels flush with the fuselage, and the ventral blister was replaced by a lower metal gondola housing dubbed a "bathtub turret". The most important additions made to the "C" series were self-sealing fuel tanks and armor plate. The first of the B-17C series flew in July 1940, with 38 being built. The 18 remaining in Army Air Forces service, after 20 had been transferred to

15255-518: The war, German industrial production actually increased , despite a sustained Allied bombing campaign. As the German Luftwaffe 's main task was to support the army, it never developed a successful heavy bomber. The prime proponent of strategic bombing, Luftwaffe Chief of Staff General Walther Wever , died in an air crash in 1936 on the very day that the specification for the Ural bomber (later won by

15390-469: The war, bombers continually managed to strike their targets, but suffered unacceptable losses in the absence of careful planning and escort fighters . Only the later de Havilland Mosquito light bomber was fast enough to evade fighters. Heavy bombers needed defensive armament for protection, which reduced their effective bomb payload. The second tenet was that strategic bombing of industrial capacity, power generation, oil refineries, and coal mines could win

15525-512: The wars, aviation opinion fixed on two tenets. The first was that “ the bomber will always get through .” The speed advantage of biplane fighters over bombers was insignificant, and it was believed that they would never catch them. Furthermore, there was no effective method of detecting incoming bombers at sufficiently long range to scramble fighters on an interception course. In practice, a combination of new radar technology and advances in monoplane fighter design eroded this disadvantage. Throughout

15660-543: The way to the target and back. Losses were reduced to 247 out of 3,500 sorties, still devastating but accepted at the time. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator and later version of the Fortress carried even more extensive defensive armament fitted into Sperry ball turrets . This was a superb defensive weapon that rotated a full 360 degrees horizontally with a 90-degree elevation. Its twin M2 Browning machine guns had an effective range of 1,000 yards (910 m). The Liberator

15795-574: The west known as the Annex and became very important during the Civil War with President Abraham Lincoln visiting the War Office's telegraph room for constant updates and reports and walking back and forth to the "Residence". The original 1820 structures for War and Navy on the west side of the now famous White House was replaced in 1888 by construction of a new building of French Empire design with mansard roofs,

15930-501: Was Torpex torpedo explosive, it was developed specifically to sink the Tirpitz which was moored in Trondheim fjord behind torpedo nets. Development delays in the 'bouncing bomb' meant that another Barnes Wallis invention, the 5-ton Tallboy was deployed instead; two Tallboys dropped by Avro Lancasters from 25,000 ft (7,600 m) altitude hit at near- supersonic speed and capsized

16065-468: Was a B-17E partially stripped of military equipment and outfitted for passengers. It served as a V.I.P. transport for General Douglas MacArthur . A similar conversion was made on a B-17F, designated YC-108 . The third plane, designated XC-108A , was made to test the feasibility of converting obsolete bombers to cargo aircraft. The B-17E chosen for the conversion was based in India , where it ferried supplies over

16200-559: Was a failure in combat. This resulted in remaining B-17E (and following F and G) aircraft being fitted with a manned Sperry ball turret . As many as 512 were built based on the USAAC's July 1940 order for B-17s.) The B-17E production order was too large for Boeing alone, so Douglas and the Vega division of Lockheed joined Boeing in B-17 production. Boeing also built a new production plant, and Douglas added one specifically for building B-17s. One of

16335-532: Was based on the successful Short Sunderland flying boat and shared its Bristol Hercules radial engines, wing, and cockpit with a new fuselage. It carried up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of bombs—almost twice the load of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress —but over just a 300-mile (480 km) radius. Due to its thick, short wing it was able to out-turn the main German night fighters, the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and

16470-428: Was built under the designation XC-108B , and was used as a tanker to transport fuel from India to Chengdu. Several B-17s were converted to long-range photographic reconnaissance aircraft , designated F-9 Flying Fortress . (The F was for 'foto' and is not to be confused with the use of F for 'fighter'.) The first F-9 aircraft were sixteen B-17Fs , with bombing equipment replaced by photographic equipment. Some of

16605-642: Was clear that the B-17C model was not combat ready and that its five machine guns provided inadequate protection. Combat feedback enabled Boeing engineers to improve the aircraft; when the first model B-17E began operating from English airfields in July 1942, it had many more defensive gun positions including a vitally important tail gunner. Eventually, U.S. heavy bomber designs, optimized for formation flying, had 10 or more machine guns and/or cannons in both powered turrets and manually operated flexible mounts to deliver protective arcs of fire. These guns were located in tail turrets , side gun ports either just behind

16740-651: Was designed as an airliner . Igor Sikorsky , an engineer educated in St Petersburg, but born in Kiev of Polish-Russian ancestry designed the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets to fly between his birthplace and his new home. It did so briefly until August 1914, when the Russo-Balt wagon factory converted to a bomber version, with British Sunbeam Crusader V8 engines in place of the German ones in the passenger plane. By December 1914

16875-447: Was destroyed by Grand Slams creating an earthquake effect, which shook the foundations. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a development of the Fortress, but a larger design with four Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone engines of much greater power, enabling it to fly higher, faster, further and with a bigger bomb load. The mammoth new Wright radial engines were susceptible to overheating if anything malfunctioned, and technical problems with

17010-466: Was favored over speed. A number of other modifications were made, including reinstalling external bomb racks, but because both rate-of-climb and high-altitude flight performance suffered, these were rarely used and were removed. Range and combat radius were extended with the installation in mid-production of additional fuel cells in the wings. Called " Tokyo tanks ", nine self-sealing rubber-composition fuel tanks were mounted inside each wing on each side of

17145-419: Was installed atop the radio operator's position between the forward dorsal turret and the waist guns, where only an upward firing single or double Browning M2 had been mounted; and a single .50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun at each waist station was replaced by a pair of .50 in (12.7 mm) guns, of basically the same twin-mount design used for the tail guns. In addition, the bombardier 's equipment

17280-516: Was replaced with twin .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in a remotely operated "chin" turret directly under the bombardier's position, augmenting the existing "cheek" machine guns; and the bomb bay was converted to a .50 caliber magazine . The YB-40 would provide a heavily armed gunship escort capable of accompanying the bombers all the way to a target and back. The aircraft was deemed a failure, however, because it could not keep up with standard B-17s once they had dropped their heavy bomb loads. It

17415-490: Was switching from double-wishbone to single-arm landing gear for ease of maintenance. On 7 December 1936, five days after the first flight of the Y1B-17, the brakes fused during landing, and it nosed over. Though damage was minimal, the cumulative impact of this event, combined with the crash of the Model 299, triggered a Congressional investigation. Following the crash, the Army Air Corps was put on notice and another crash would mean

17550-569: Was the larger, completely new vertical stabilizer, originally developed for the Boeing 307 Stratoliner , and the addition of a tail gunner. Experience had shown the Flying Fortress was vulnerable to attack from behind. The redesign added a tail gunner's position and a powered, dorsal turret located just behind the cockpit. Each of these positions were armed with a pair of Browning AN/M2 .50 cal. machine guns ). Until these modifications, specific maneuvers were needed against attacks from behind, including yawing

17685-455: Was the result of a proposal to assemble Fortresses in Consolidated plants, with the company returning with its own design of a longer-range, faster and higher-flying aircraft that could carry an extra ton of bombs. Early orders were for France (delivered to the RAF after the fall of France) and Britain, already at war, with just a batch of 36 for the USAAF. Neither the USAAF nor the RAF judged

17820-530: Was too great for fighter escorts based in Japan, so the B-29s flew alone. In November, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s flown by Soviet pilots started to intercept the US bombers over North Korea. The MiG-15 was specifically designed to destroy US heavy bombers; it could out-perform any fighter deployed by United Nations air forces until the capable F-86 Sabre was produced in greater numbers and brought to Korea. After 28 B-29s were lost,

17955-453: Was used for daylight raids on naval targets, damaging a German destroyer. But after one was lost, the O/100 switched to night attacks. The uprated Handley Page Type O /400 could carry a 1,650 lb (750 kg) bomb, and wings of up to 40 were used by the newly formed, independent Royal Air Force from April 1918 to make strategic raids on German railway and industrial targets. A single O/400

18090-642: Was used to support T. E. Lawrence 's Sinai and Palestine Campaign . The Imperial German Air Service operated the Gotha bomber, which developed a series of marques. The Gotha G.IV operated from occupied Belgium from the Spring of 1917. It mounted several raids on London beginning in May 1917. Some reached no further than Folkestone or Sheerness on the Kent Coast. But on June 13, Gothas killed 162 civilians, including 18 children in

18225-425: Was withdrawn from service after just fourteen missions. (Twenty-six were built: one XB-40 prototype, 21 YB-40 pre-production aircraft, four TB-40 training aircraft.) Four B-17s were converted to serve as cargo carriers and V.I.P. transports under the designation C-108 Flying Fortress . Many more served in the same roles under the designations CB-17 and VB-17, respectively. The first of them, designated XC-108 ,

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