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Ground crews arming a B-29 Superfortress of the 500th Bomb Group at Isley Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944-45.

Caption     Ground crews arming a B-29 Superfortress of the 500th Bomb Group at Isley Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944-45. ww2dbase
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States Army Air Forces
More on...   
B-29 Superfortress   Main article  Photos  
Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Added By David Stubblebine

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Licensing  Public Domain. According to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government".

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Colorized By WW2DB     Colorized with Adobe Photoshop



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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
28 May 2016 09:10:39 PM

WEAPONS DETAIL:

B-29 is able to carry (40) 500lb bombs and deadly incendiary bombs However, it could also carry (4) bombs weighting 4,000lb each. Later in the war the B-29 was also fitted with external wing racks for even more bombs

MODIFICATIONS:

The bomb bays were even modified to carry 1 x 22,000lb bomb or 2 x 12,000lb British Blockbuster bombs, that were carried on external racks under the wings.

GUN CONTROL: SHORT BURSTS

The B-29 was armed w/remote controlled turrets mounting .50 caliber machine guns w/500 rounds per gun. Some crews had the ammo increase to 1,000 rounds per gun. The tail gun mounted 2 x .50 caliber machine guns and 1 x 20mm cannon However some crews deleted the 20mm cannon, in trade for another .50 caliber machine gun.

ESCORT SERVICE:

To improve the defensive firepower of a group Boeing evaluated the need for a heavily armed escort ship. Carrying extra ammo and turrets it was to provide added protection against enemy fighters. Like the multi-gun B-17 escorts once the other B-17's dropped their bombs, the escort couldn't keep up, so the program just fizzled out.
with the B-29 escort ship.
2. Janet says:
7 Mar 2020 05:38:15 PM

B-29 Shoot the Fade

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