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

Historical Information
Caption     Ground crews arming a B-29 Superfortress of the 500th Bomb Group at Isley Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944-45. ww2dbase
Date  1945
Photographer    Unknown
 
Source Information
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States Army Air Forces
 
Related Content
More on...   
B-29 Superfortress   Main article  Photos  
Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Colorized By WW2DB     Colorized with Adobe Photoshop
 
Licensing Information
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".

Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you.
 
Metadata
Added By David Stubblebine
Photo Size 1,200 x 936 pixels



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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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