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Line 38: − Boeing itself built 2766 B-29s at its plants in [[Wichita]], [[Kansas]], and [[Renton]], [[Washington]]. Two other aircraft builders, in addition to Boeing, would take part in building B-29s. They were [[Bell Aircraft]] (668 B-29s) and the [[Glenn L. Martin Company]] (536 aircraft).<ref name=Boeing1/> The total cost of the program was $3 billion US.<ref name=Lewis>Lewis, P. "[http://history.sandiego.edu/GEN/st/~plewis/0%7Eindex.html The B-29 Superfortress]." University of San Diego, 1995. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>+ + + − Two XB-29s were built, and the first of these was delivered on September 21, 1942. Fourteen YB-29 service-test planes were delivered beginning in 1943. Finally, in April of 1944, the first 130 operational B-29s began to arrive in India for the Twentieth Air Force.+ − + − Then-[[Major General]] [[Curtis LeMay]] then gave a series of seemingly draconian orders: to strip out the guns and ammunition, ground the gunnery crews, and fly all missions at low altitudes. It was a fearsome gamble, but it paid off in increased bombing accuracy and lower casualties in men and aircraft.<ref name=Swinhart>[http://www.aviation-history.com/swinhart.htm Swinhart, Earl]. "[http://www.aviation-history.com/boeing/b29.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." [http://www.aviation-history.com/index.html Aviation-history.com]. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Line 87:
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add details and bibliog
== Development ==
== Development ==
The [[United States Army Air Forces]] recognized the need for a very high altitude, long-range bomber late in the 1930s.<ref name=NASM>Willie, S., and Lee, R.E. "[http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/boeing_b29.htm Boeing B-29]." [http://www.nasm.si.edu/ National Air and Space Museum], Smithsonian Institution, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2007.</ref> In February of 1940, the Army issued a specification for a bomber that could carry 2,000 [[bomb]]s at 400 mph for at least 5000 [[mile]]s.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace>Authors unknown. "[http://www.acepilots.com/planes/b29.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." ''[http://www.acepilots.com/index.html#top AcePilots.com]''. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref><ref name=Baugher>Baugher, Joseph. "[http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Elevon/baugher_us/b029i.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." ''Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft.'' May 29, 1998. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>
The Air Corps recognized the need for a very high altitude, long-range bomber late in the 1930s.<ref name=NASM>Willie, S., and Lee, R.E. "[http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/boeing_b29.htm Boeing B-29]." [http://www.nasm.si.edu/ National Air and Space Museum], Smithsonian Institution, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2007.</ref> In February of 1940, the Army issued a specification for a bomber that could carry 2,000 [[bomb]]s at 400 mph for at least 5000 miles.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace>Authors unknown. "[http://www.acepilots.com/planes/b29.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." ''[http://www.acepilots.com/index.html#top AcePilots.com]''. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref><ref name=Baugher>Baugher, Joseph. "[http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Elevon/baugher_us/b029i.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." ''Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft.'' May 29, 1998. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>
Four aircraft builders submitted proposals to the army. [[Boeing]], with its Model 345, won the contest.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=Boeing1>Authors unknown. "[http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b29.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." [http://www.boeing.com/ Boeing Group], product history section. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>
Four aircraft builders submitted proposals to the army. [[Boeing]], with its Model 345, won the contest.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=Boeing1>Authors unknown. "[http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b29.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." [http://www.boeing.com/ Boeing Group], product history section. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>
* Advanced radar systems for aid in navigation, targeting, and air-to-air defense.<ref name=NASM/>
* Advanced radar systems for aid in navigation, targeting, and air-to-air defense.<ref name=NASM/>
Two XB-29s were built, and the first of these was delivered on September 21, 1942. Fourteen YB-29 service-test planes were delivered beginning in 1943. Finally, in April of 1944, the first 130 operational B-29s began to arrive in India for the Twentieth Air Force.
===Technology===
The B-29 represented the highest achievement of traditional (pre-jet) aeronautics. Its four 2,200 horsepower Wright R-3350 supercharged engines could carry six tons of bombs 3,500 miles at 33,000 feet (high above Japanese flak or fighters). Computerized fire-control mechanisms made its 12 50-cal. machine guns (and one 20mm cannon) lethal against fighters. It carried a crew of 10, and weighed 140,000 pounds loaded.
Boeing itself built 2766 B-29s at its plants in [[Wichita]], [[Kansas]], and [[Renton]], [[Washington]]. In addition, [[Bell Aircraft]] built 668 planesand the [[Glenn L. Martin Company]] built 536.<ref name=Boeing1/> The total cost of the program was $3 billion US.<ref name=Lewis>Lewis, P. "[http://history.sandiego.edu/GEN/st/~plewis/0%7Eindex.html The B-29 Superfortress]." University of San Diego, 1995. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>
== Deployment ==
== Deployment ==
=== Conventional Bombing of Japan ===
=== Conventional Bombing of Japan ===
The first missions of the B-29 took place beginning in June 5, 1944. Here the B-29 groups tried to duplicate the results of [[daylight precision bombing]] that had produced such good results in [[Europe]]. But their results were very poor, though combat losses were minimal at first. Even when the AAF acquired bases much closer to Japan with the capture of several strategic islands in the Mariana chain, results did not improve.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace/><ref name=Baugher/><ref name=Lewis/>
The first missions of the B-29 took place beginning in June 5, 1944 from bases in China in the [[CBI]] theater. All the supplies and fuel had to be flown in "over the hump" (that is over the Himalayan Mountains) at fantastic cost.
Here the B-29 groups tried to duplicate the results of [[daylight precision bombing]] that had produced such good results in [[Europe]]. But their results were very poor, though combat losses were minimal at first. Even when the AAF acquired bases much closer to Japan with the capture of several strategic islands in the Mariana chain, results did not improve.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace/><ref name=Baugher/><ref name=Lewis/>
In early 1945, General [[Curtis LeMay]] ordered a radical change in tactics: remove the fire control gear and machine guns, fly in low, and fly at night. (Much fuel was used to get to 30,000 feet; it could now be replaced with more bombs.) It was a fearsome gamble, but it paid off in increased bombing accuracy and lower casualties in men and aircraft.<ref name=Swinhart>[http://www.aviation-history.com/swinhart.htm Swinhart, Earl]. "[http://www.aviation-history.com/boeing/b29.html Boeing B-29 Superfortress]." [http://www.aviation-history.com/index.html Aviation-history.com]. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref>
===Fire bombing of Japanese cities===
In March of 1945, General LeMay changed the orders again. From then on, the B-29s flew low-altitude (5,000 feet) night strikes with incendiary bombs.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace/> LeMay reasoned that because the Japanese economy depended largely on [[cottage industry|cottage industries]] spread out over a large number of cities (and because many of the buildings in Japanese cities were still built of wood), massive incendiary bombing would be more effective than precision high-explosive bombing. The results were devastating against Japanese industry and infrastructure.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace/> By April of 1945, the Japanese could no longer build engines for their aircraft. The incendiary campaign continued into August of 1945.<ref name=ace/><ref name=Baugher/><ref name=Swinhart/>
In March of 1945, General LeMay changed the orders again. From then on, the B-29s flew low-altitude (5,000 feet) night strikes with incendiary bombs.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace/> LeMay reasoned that because the Japanese economy depended largely on [[cottage industry|cottage industries]] spread out over a large number of cities (and because many of the buildings in Japanese cities were still built of wood), massive incendiary bombing would be more effective than precision high-explosive bombing. The results were devastating against Japanese industry and infrastructure.<ref name=NASM/><ref name=ace/> By April of 1945, the Japanese could no longer build engines for their aircraft. The incendiary campaign continued into August of 1945.<ref name=ace/><ref name=Baugher/><ref name=Swinhart/>
The Japanese radar, fighter, and anti-aircraft systems were so ineffective that they could not hit the bombers. The B-29s carried incendiary bombs. To counter them the Japanese built firebreaks and installed shelters, but not nearly enough. Fires raged through the 50 largest cities, and millions of civilians fled to the small towns and villages (which were not bombed).
Tokyo was hit repeatedly. LeMay sent 325 B-29s over Tokyo on March 9-10 to drop 1665 tons of incendiaries. An unstoppable fire storm burned out 16 square miles and killed over 80,000, most of whom suffocated in bomb shelters when the firestorm consumed the oxygen. One fourth of the buildings in the entire city were destroyed.<ref> Craven and Cate, ''AAF'' 5:615-16</ref> Half the city's 7.4 million people fled to the countryside (which was not bombed). The raid marked a turning point in the American strategic air war against Japan. Previously, most raids were "precision" raids that used high explosives against industrial targets; thereafter, most raids were "area" raids that used incendiary bombs to burn Japanese cities and kill civilians.
LeMay's strategic shift did not depart radically from the air war in Europe or from prewar planning. The Pentagon had always intended for LeMay to lead the air campaign against Japan and had always viewed incendiary raids against cities and American policy since the 1930s had focused on the burning of Tokyon--and the killing of civilian war workers--as a way to destroy an enemy's industrial capability.<ref> Thomas R. Searle, "'It Made a Lot of Sense to Kill Skilled Workers': the Firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945." ''Journal of Military History'' 2002 66(1): 103-133. </ref>
On June 5, 51,000 buildings in four miles of Kobe were burned out by 473 B-29s; Japanese opposition was fierce, as 11 B-29s went down and 176 were damaged. Osaka, where one-sixth of the Empire's munitions were made, was hit by 1,733 tons of incendiaries dropped by 247 B-29s. A firestorm burned out 8.1 square miles, including 135,000 houses; 4,000 died. The police reported:
:Although damage to big factories was slight, approximately one-fourth of some 4,000 lesser factories, which operated hand-in-hand with the big factories, were completely destroyed by fire.... Moreover, owing to the rising fear of air attacks, workers in general were reluctant to work in the factories, and the attendance fluctuated as much as 50%.
Japanese munitions output plummeted, and by July, 1945, Japan no longer had an industrial base. The problem was that it still had an Army, which was not based in the cities, and was largely undamaged by the raids. The Army was short of food and gasoline, but, as the battles of [[Iwo Jima]] and [[Okinawa]] proved, was capable of ferocious resistance.
=== The Atomic Bomb Missions ===
=== The Atomic Bomb Missions ===
* The film [[Strategic Air Command (film)|Strategic Air Command]] (1955) features as its lead character a former B-29 pilot recalled to the Air Force and learning how to fly [[B-36 Peacemaker]]s and [[B-47 Stratojet]]s. The film also makes several comparisons between the B-29 and the B-36.
* The film [[Strategic Air Command (film)|Strategic Air Command]] (1955) features as its lead character a former B-29 pilot recalled to the Air Force and learning how to fly [[B-36 Peacemaker]]s and [[B-47 Stratojet]]s. The film also makes several comparisons between the B-29 and the B-36.
==See also==
* [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]
==Bibliography==
* Craven, Wesley F., and James L. Cate, eds. ''The Army Air Forces in World War II'' (1948-1958), 7 vol; ''v. 5. The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki, June 1944 to August 1945'' [http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/aaf_wwii-v5.pdf online edition]
* Craven, Wesley F., and James L. Cate, eds. ''The Army Air Forces in World War II'' (1948-1958), 7 vol; ''v. 6. Men and planes'' [http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/aaf_wwii-v6.pdf online edition]
* Dorr, Robert. ''B-29 Units of World War II'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1841762857/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpt and text search]
* Polmar, Norman. ''The Enola Gay: The B - 29 That Dropped the First Atomic Bomb'' (2004) [http://books.google.com/books?id=8C1y_TRiFnIC&pg=PT8&dq=intitle:%22b-29%22&num=30&as_brr=0&sig=hCLjyd389ZBUHaep6RV034lZQZA excerpts and text search]
* Ralph, William W. "Improvised Destruction: Arnold, LeMay, and the Firebombing of Japan," ''War in History'', Vol. 13, No. 4, 495-522 (2006) [http://wih.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/495 online at Sage]
* Searle, Thomas R. "'It Made a Lot of Sense to Kill Skilled Workers': The Firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945" ''The Journal of Military History,'' Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jan., 2002), pp. 103-133 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0899-3718(200201)66%3A1%3C103%3A%22MALOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q in JSTOR]
* Vander Meulen, Jacob. ''Building the B-29'' (1995)
== References ==
== References ==
<references/>
<references/>
[[Category:United States Air Force]]
[[Category:United States Air Force]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Aircraft]]