Boeing B-29 Superfortress

{{Redirect2|Superfortress|B-29|the derived post-war-bomber|Boeing B-50 Superfortress|other uses|B29 (disambiguation)}} {{Short description|US heavy bomber aircraft, 1942}} {{Use American English|date=September 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = B-29 Superfortress | image = File:Boeing TB-29-70-BW Superfortress ‘469972’ “Doc” (N69972) (50871638276).jpg | image_caption = Boeing B-29-70-BW Superfortress 469972 ''Doc''{{snd}} one of only two surviving airworthy models | aircraft_type = Strategic bomber, heavy bomber | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = Boeing | first_flight = 21 September 1942 | introduction = 8 May 1944 | retired = 21 June 1960 | status = Retired from military use; two in service for airshows, rides and tours | primary_user = United States Army Air Forces | more_users = {{ubli|United States Air Force|Royal Air Force}} | produced = 1943–1946 | number_built = 3,970 | variants = {{ubli|''All models''|Boeing KB-29 Superfortress|XB-39 Superfortress|Boeing XB-44 Superfortress|Tupolev Tu-4}} | developed_into = {{ubli|Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter|Boeing 377 Stratocruiser|Boeing B-50 Superfortress}} }} The '''Boeing B-29 Superfortress''' is a retired 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 Boeing 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. Silverplate B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and remain the only system to deliver 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 ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3|1945|r=0}}}} billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}),{{Inflation-fn|US}} far exceeding 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 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, was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser. 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 the B-29. Twenty-two B-29s have survived to preservation. The majority are on static display at museums, while two airframes{{snd}}''FIFI'' and ''Doc''{{snd}}still fly.

==Design and development== thumb|left|alt=Two large olive-colored aircraft flying over farmland|YB-29 Superfortresses in flight|209x209px Boeing began work on long-range bombers in 1938. Boeing's design study for 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.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p318">Bowers 1989, p. 318.</ref> In December 1939, the Air Corps issued a formal specification for a so-called "superbomber" that could deliver {{convert|20000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} of bombs to a target {{convert|2667|mi|km|abbr=on}} away, and at a speed of {{convert|400|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. Boeing's previous private venture studies formed the starting point for its response to the Air Corps formal specification.<ref name="iapr22 p136-7">Willis 2007, pp. 136–137.</ref>

On 29 January 1940, the United States Army Air Corps issued a request to five major aircraft manufacturers to submit designs for a four-engine bomber with a range of {{convert|2,000|mi}}.{{sfn|Cate|1953|pp=6-8}} Boeing submitted its Model 345 on 11 May 1940,<ref name="Bowers Boeing p319">Bowers 1989, p. 319.</ref> in competition with designs from Consolidated Aircraft (the Model 33, which later became the B-32),<ref name="Wegg p91">Wegg 1990, p. 91.</ref> Lockheed (the Lockheed XB-30),<ref name="XB-30">[http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2578 "Factsheet: Lockheed XB-30."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716073618/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2578 |date=16 July 2011 }} ''National Museum of the United States Air Force''. Retrieved: 15 November 2010.</ref> and Douglas (the Douglas XB-31).<ref name="frnc Doug p713">Francillon 1979, p. 713.</ref>

Douglas and Lockheed soon abandoned work on their projects, but Boeing received an order on 24 August 1940 for two flying prototypes, which were given the designation XB-29, and an airframe for static testing. The order was revised to add a third flying aircraft on 14 December. Consolidated continued to work on its Model 33, as it was seen by the Air Corps as a backup if there were problems with Boeing's design.<ref name="iapr22 p138">Willis 2007, p. 138.</ref> These designs were evaluated, and on 6 September orders were placed for two experimental models each from Boeing and Consolidated, which became the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and the Consolidated B-32 Dominator.{{sfn|Cate|1953|pp=6-8}} These were known as very long range (VLR) bombers; the name "Superfortress" was not assigned until March 1944.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75932318 |title=Superfortress |newspaper=The Mirror |volume=22 |issue=1139 |location=Western Australia |date=11 March 1944 |access-date=24 August 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> On 17 May 1941, Boeing received an initial production order for 14 service test aircraft and 250 production bombers;{{sfn|Cate|1953|pp=6-8}}<ref name="Knaack p480">Knaack 1988, p. 480.</ref> this being increased to 500 aircraft in January 1942.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p319"/>

[[File:Boeing B-29 Superfortress at Davis-Monthan AFB.jpg|thumb|left|The length of the {{convert|141|ft|m|0|adj=on}} wing span of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress based at Davis-Monthan Field is vividly illustrated here with the cloud-topped Santa Catalina Mountains as a contrasting background.|184x184px]]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, a Bell plant at Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta ("Bell-Atlanta"), and a Martin plant at Bellevue, Nebraska ("Martin-Omaha" – Offutt Field).<ref name="Bowers Boeing p319"/><ref name="Bowers Boeing p322">Bowers 1989, p. 322.</ref> Thousands of subcontractors were also involved in the project.<ref name="iapr22 p138-9">Willis 2007, pp. 138–139.</ref> The first prototype made its maiden flight from Boeing Field, Seattle, on 21 September 1942.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p322"/> 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,<ref name="RCTp80">Brown 1977, p. 80.</ref> the second was fitted with a Sperry defensive armament system using remote-controlled gun turrets sighted by periscopes. It first flew on 30 December 1942, although the flight was terminated due to a serious engine fire.<ref name="Peacock1 p70-1">Peacock ''Air International'' August 1989, pp. 70–71.</ref>

[[File:Boeing-Whichata B-29 Assembly Line - 1944.jpg|thumb|Boeing assembly line at Wichita, Kansas (1944)|215x215px]]On 18 February 1943, the second prototype, flying out of Boeing Field in Seattle, experienced an engine fire and crashed.<ref name="Peacock1 p70-1" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Banel|first1=Feliks|title=70 Years Ago: Remembering The Crash of Boeing's Superfortress|url=http://kuow.org/post/70-years-ago-remembering-crash-boeing-s-superfortress|website=KUOW-FM|date=15 February 2013|access-date=2 July 2017|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105245/http://kuow.org/post/70-years-ago-remembering-crash-boeing-s-superfortress|url-status=live}}</ref> Changes to the production craft came so often and so fast that, in early 1944, B-29s flew from 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.<ref name="iapr22 p144">Willis 2007, p. 144.</ref><ref name="Peacock1 p76">Peacock ''Air International'' August 1989, p. 76.</ref> This prompted an intervention by General Hap Arnold to resolve 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 five weeks, between 10 March and 15 April 1944.<ref name="Knaack p484">Knaack 1988, p. 484.</ref><ref name="Bowers Boeing p323">Bowers 1989, p. 323.</ref><ref>Herman 2012, pp. 284–346.</ref>thumb|219x219px|B-29 Weapons Bay with General-Purpose AN-M64 TNT 500 LB bombs|left[[File:Favored by Warm breezes and under a blue Kansas Sky, a vast crowd attends the delivery ceremony on the Boeing-Wichita... - NARA - 196890.jpg|thumb|1000th B-29 delivery ceremony at the Boeing Wichita plant in February 1945|223x223px]]The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engines.<ref name="Knaack p484" /> 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 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 the entire engines (every 75 hours).{{efn|As efforts were made to eradicate the problems a succession of engine models were fitted to B-29s. B-29 production started with the −23, which were all modified to the "war engine" −23A. Other versions were −41 (B-29A), −57, −59.{{cn|date=August 2023}} }}<ref name="Knaack p484" /><ref name="gardiner" />

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 was to check the magnetos while already on takeoff roll rather than during a conventional static engine-runup before takeoff.<ref name="gardiner">Gardner, Fred Carl [http://www.oregoncounsel.com/FAAACE/Superfortress.html "A Year in the B-29 Superfortress."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216115421/http://www.oregoncounsel.com/FAAACE/Superfortress.html |date=16 December 2008 }} ''Fred Carl Gardner's website'', updated 1 May 2005. Retrieved: 11 April 2009.</ref>

The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3|1945|r=0}}}} billion in 2022),{{Inflation-fn|US}} far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war.<ref>{{cite book|title=How the War Was Won|last1=O'Brien|first1=Phillips Payson|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01475-6|edition=1st|pages=47–48}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pwencycl.kgbudge.com/B/-/B-29_Superfortress.htm|title=B-29 Superfortress, U.S. Heavy Bomber|website=The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia|publisher=Kent G. Budge|access-date=1 April 2018|archive-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811132449/http://www.pwencycl.kgbudge.com/B/-/B-29_Superfortress.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Unit cost was US $639,188<ref>Knaack 1988, p. 486.</ref> (prototype cost $3,392,396.60).<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Cost of B-29 Bomber Reduced Four-Fifths |newspaper=The San Bernardino Daily Sun |location=San Bernardino, California |date=15 October 1944 |volume=51 |page=2}}</ref>

==Features==

=== Arms and armor === Boeing B-29s were stripped in the field (at bases in Saipan, Tinian, and Guam). Ground crews removed steel armor plating shielding crew combat stations. Later the USAAF ordered a factory-lightened variant explicitly built for low-to-medium altitude night attacks: the B-29B. Manufactured exclusively at the Bell Aircraft plant in Marietta, Georgia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boeing Aircraft Company |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Flight_Operations_Stripped_Airplane_B_29/nWOV0QEACAAJ?hl=en |title=Flight Operations - Stripped Airplane - B-29B. |date=1945 |language=en}}</ref>

In early 1945, Major General Curtis LeMay, commander of XXI Bomber Command—the Marianas-based B-29-equipped bombing force—ordered most of 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.<ref>Herman 2012, p. 327.</ref> As 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.<ref name="iapr22 p140,4">Willis 2007, pp. 140, 144.</ref> 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 the 315th Bomb Wing, Northwest Field, Guam.<ref>[http://www.315bw.org/ "History of 315 BW."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224221549/http://www.315bw.org/ |date=24 December 2019 }} ''315bw.org''. Retrieved: 19 June 2008.</ref>

====Defensive gun turret emplacements==== thumb|225x225px|Gunner sighting station blister In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight at altitudes up to {{convert|31850|ft|m|-1}},<ref name="ceiling">[http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b29.html "B-29 Superfortress."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328080008/http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b29.html |date=28 March 2012 }} ''Boeing''. Retrieved: 22 March 2012.</ref> at speeds of up to {{cvt|350|mph|km/h kn}} (true airspeed). This was its best defense because Japanese fighters could barely reach that altitude, and few could catch 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.{{efn|The forward upper turret's armament was later doubled to four .50 Brownings.}} 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 the central fuselage.{{efn|The nose sighting station was operated by the bombardier|group=N}} 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. thumb|230x230px|''"Gunnery in the B-29"'' (1945) - official de-classified USAAF remote turret fire-control training film reel.

The gunner in the upper position acted as fire control officer, managing the distribution of turrets among the other gunners during combat.<ref name="RCT80-3">Brown 1977, pp. 80–83.</ref><ref name="Flyguns p164-6">Williams and Gustin 2003, pp. 164–166.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Popular Mechanics|author=Hearst Magazines|title=B-29 Gunnery Brain Aims Six Guns at Once|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h98DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26|date=February 1945|publisher=Hearst Magazines|page=26}}</ref><ref>"[http://www.twinbeech.com/CFCsystem.htm "Central station fire control and the B-29 remote control turret system."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304130313/http://www.twinbeech.com/CFCsystem.htm |date=4 March 2012 }} ''twinbeech.com'', 23 February 2011. Retrieved: 30 May 2015.</ref> thumb|left|200px|Tail armament, B-29 Superfortress, Hill Aerospace MuseumThe tail position initially had two .50 Browning machine guns and a single M2 20 mm cannon, and had the ability to override control of the two rear turrets if a target exceeded the maximum angle of the tail weaponry.<ref>Air Force manual No.27, page RCT 2.4.1, 1944</ref> If the tail gunner or nose gunner are not using the forward or tail weaponry, control is automatically transferred to the waist gunners, who have full 360 degree targeting ability, but limited to 60 degrees of vertical targeting movement.<ref>Air Force manual No.27, page RCT 2.3.1, 1944</ref> Later aircraft had the 20 mm cannon removed,<ref name="iapr22 p140">Willis 2007, p. 140.</ref> sometimes replaced by a third machine gun.<ref name="pace p53">Pace 2003, p. 53.</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" ! scope="col" style="text-align: left;" | Model and Manufacturer {{smalldiv| *BA: Bell Aircraft Corp., Atlanta, GA *BN: Boeing Aircraft Co., Renton, WA *BO: Boeing Aircraft Co., Seattle, WA *BW: Boeing Aircraft Co., Wichita, KS *MO: Glenn L. Martin Co., Omaha, NE }} ! scope="col" style="width:70%;" | Special Characteristics of Models<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.generalstaff.org/CDA/Air/B-29/Family_Tree_of_the_Superfort.pdf | title = Family Tree of the Superfort | website = GeneralStaff.org | format = PDF | access-date = 2026-05-23}}</ref> |- | B-29-BA :-5 thru 55 B-29-BW :-25 thru 90 B-29-MO :-1 thru 50 | Four-gun upper forward turret replaced two-gun turret. Twenty-mm. tail cannon deleted on some models. |- | B-29B-BA :-30 thru 55 | Stripped of all armament except two or three .50-caliber tail guns, giving increased performance. Had radar gun sighting against night fighters. |}

===Pressurization=== thumb|Interior photo of the rear pressurized cabin of the B-29 Superfortress, June 1944|225x225px 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.{{efn|Boeing had previously built the 307 Stratoliner, which was the first commercial airliner with a fully pressurized cabin. Only 10 of these aircraft were built. While other aircraft such as the Ju 86P were pressurized, the B-29 was designed from the outset with a pressurized system.{{cn|date=August 2023}} }} 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 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.<ref>Mann 2009, p. 103.</ref>

===Radar countermeasures=== {{Quote | text = By the time our Pacific Air Forces had begun to mount heavy attacks against the Japanese home islands, the Jap air system included reasonable effective searchlight control and antiaircraft fire control radars. (p. 28) | author = | source = {{cite book |title=Electronics Warfare: A Report on Radar Countermeasures |date=1945 |publisher=Joint Board on Scientific Information Policy |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Electronics_Warfare/jFtAAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bellamy,+C.+(2002).+Radar+Countermeasures+Development+in+Australia:+A+case+study+of+multinational+co-operation+in+WWII.+Charles+Darwin+University.&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}}}

All production B-29 Superfortresses were designed with reserved space and power facilities to allow for the optional installation of intercept and jamming equipment. By April 1945, as Mariana-based B-29s began conducting 500-plane raids, the AAF initiated a full-scale electronic jamming program.<ref>{{cite book |title=Electronics Warfare: A Report on Radar Countermeasures |date=1945 |publisher=Joint Board on Scientific Information Policy |pages=28–30 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Electronics_Warfare/jFtAAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover |language=en |chapter=Superforts and "Porcupines"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Price | first = Alfred | title = The Years of Innovation—Beginnings to 1946 | volume = 1: "The History of U.S. Electronic Warfare" | date = 1984 | publisher = Association of Old Crows | location = Arlington, VA | pages = xxiv, 312 | url = https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_US_Electronic_Warfare_by/SI0CyAEACAAJ?hl=en }}</ref>

==Operational history== thumb|Radius of operations for B-29 bases ===World War II=== {{see also|Air raids on Japan}} In September 1941, the United States Army Air Forces' (AAF) plans for war against Germany and Japan proposed basing the B-29 in Egypt for operations against Germany, as British airbases were likely to be overcrowded.<ref name="AAFWW2 v1p145-9">Craven and Cate Vol. 1 1983, pp. 145–149.</ref><ref name="AAFWW2 v2p6">Craven and Cate Vol. 2 1983, p. 6.</ref> 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.<ref name="AAFWW v5p11-2">Craven and Cate Vol. 5 1983, pp. 11–12.</ref> A new plan implemented at 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.<ref name="iapr22 p144-5">Willis 2007, pp. 144–145.</ref> The Chengdu region was eventually chosen over the Guilin region to avoid having to raise, equip, and train 50 Chinese divisions to protect the advanced bases from Japanese ground attack.<ref name="AAFWW2 v5p18-22">Craven and Cate Vol. 5 1983, pp. 18–22.</ref> 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 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 the railroad shops in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand. Five B-29s were lost during the mission, none to hostile fire.<ref name="iapr22 p144-5"/><ref name="Peacock1 p87">Peacock ''Air International'' August 1989, p. 87.</ref>

====Forward base in China==== [[File:16thbg-b-29.jpg|thumb|B-29 of the 16th Bombardment Group during World War II in 1944|232x232px]] 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 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.<ref name="Duncan Stearn">Stearn, Duncan. [http://www.pattayamail.com/513/columns.shtml#hd6 "The air war over Thailand, 1941–1945; Part Two, The Allies attack Thailand, 1942–1945"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303200555/http://www.pattayamail.com/513/columns.shtml#hd6 |date=3 March 2021 }}. ''Pattaya Mail''. Volume XI, Issue 21, 30 May – 5 June 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2012.</ref> 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 the Doolittle raid in April 1942.<ref name="AAFWW2 v5p100">Craven and Cate Vol. 5 1983, p. 100.</ref> 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,<ref name="AAFWW2 v5 p101">Craven and Cate Vol. 5 1983, p. 101.</ref> 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,{{efn|reference=The suffix −1-BW indicates that this B-29 was from the first production batch of B-29s manufactured at the Boeing, Wichita plant. Other suffixes are BA = Bell, Atlanta; BN = Boeing, Renton, Washington; MO = Martin, Omaha, Nebraska.<ref>[http://www.warbird-central.com/american/bombers/B-29/B-29_serials.html "List of B-29 and B-50 production"]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723185246/http://www.warbird-central.com/american/bombers/B-29/B-29_serials.html |date=23 July 2008 }} ''warbird-central.com''. Retrieved: 16 June 2008.</ref>}} disappeared after takeoff from Chakulia, India, over the Himalayas (12 KIA, 11 crew and one passenger).<ref>Source: 20th Bomb Group Assn</ref> This raid, which did little damage to the target, with only one bomb striking the target factory complex,<ref name="iapr22 p145">Willis 2007, p. 145.</ref> nearly exhausted fuel stocks at the Chengdu B-29 bases, resulting in a slow-down of operations until the fuel stockpiles could be replenished.<ref name="AAFWW2 v5p101,3">Craven and Cate Vol. 5 1983, pp. 101, 103.</ref> Starting in July, the raids against Japan from Chinese airfields continued at relatively low intensity. Japan was bombed on: {{div col}} * 7 July 1944 (14 B-29s) * 29 July (>70) * 10 August (24) * 20 August (61)<ref>The tactic of using aircraft to ram American B-29s was first recorded on the raid of 20 August 1944 on the steel factories at Yawata. Sergeant Shigeo Nobe of the 4th ''Sentai'' intentionally flew his Kawasaki Ki-45 into a B-29. Debris from the explosion severely damaged another B-29, which also went down. Lost were Colonel Robert Clinksale's B-29-10-BW 42-6334 ''Gertrude C'' and Captain Ornell Stauffer's B-29-15-BW 42-6368 ''Calamity Sue'', both from the 486th BG. See: [http://home.att.net/~sallyann6/b29/56years-4408.html "Pacific War Chronology: August 1944"]. ''att.net''. Retrieved: 12 June 2008. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402225313/http://home.att.net/~sallyann6/b29/56years-4408.html |date=2 April 2010 }}. Several B-29s were destroyed in this manner in the ensuing months. Although the term "Kamikaze" is often used to refer to the pilots conducting these attacks, the word was not used by the Japanese military. See: [http://www.tokkotai.or.jp/ "Japanese website dedicated to the ''Tokkotai'' JAAF and JNAF"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306203330/http://www.tokkotai.or.jp/ |date=6 March 2021 }}. ''tokkotai.or.jp''. Retrieved 7 June 2008.</ref> * 8 September (90) * 26 September (83) * 25 October (59) * 12 November (29) * 21 November (61) * 19 December (36) * 6 January 1945 (49) {{div col end}}

B-29s were withdrawn from airfields in China by the end of January 1945. Throughout 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. Seven RTAF Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa''s from Foong Bin (Air Group) 16 and 14 IJAAF Ki-43s attempted to intercept. RTAF Flt Lt Therdsak Worrasap attacked 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.{{efn|The biggest raid on Bangkok during the war occurred on 2 November 1944, when the marshaling yards at Bang Sue were raided by 55 B-29s ...<ref>Forsgren, Jan. [http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/jan_forsgren/j-aircraft_royal_thai.htm "Japanese Aircraft In Royal Thai Air Force and Royal Thai Navy Service During WWII"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908234901/http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/jan_forsgren/j-aircraft_royal_thai.htm |date=8 September 2019 }}. ''Japanese Aircraft, Ships, & Historical Research'', 21 July 2004. Retrieved: 18 February 2012.</ref>}} 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.<ref name="Duncan Stearn"/> 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.

====New Mariana Islands air bases==== thumb|B-29A-30-BN, ''42-94106'', on a long-range mission In addition to 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 {{convert|1500|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of the Marianas within range of B-29 attacks. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed in December 1943 to seize the Marianas.<ref name="iapr22 p145-6">Willis 2007, pp. 145–146.</ref>

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.<ref name="iapr22 p146">Willis 2007, p. 146.</ref> Operations followed against Guam and Tinian, with all three islands secured by August.<ref name="Oxford p718">Dear and Foot 1995, p. 718.</ref> Naval construction battalions (Seabees) began at once to construct air bases suitable for the B-29, commencing even before the end of ground fighting.<ref name="iapr22 p146" /> 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.<ref name="Peacock1 p87" /> These bases could be supplied by ship and, unlike the bases in China, were not vulnerable to attack by Japanese ground forces.

thumb|''"B-29 Flight Procedure And Combat Crew Functioning"'' (1944){{snd}} official USAAF de-classified training reel|237x237px The bases became 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 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)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/bombings-worse-nagasaki-hiroshima/ |title=Bombings Worse than Nagasaki and Hiroshima |author=Laurence M. Vance |date=14 August 2009 |work=The Future of Freedom Foundation |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-date=23 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123222559/http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/bombings-worse-nagasaki-hiroshima/ |url-status=live }}</ref> on 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.

====Nuclear weapons==== [[File:Enola Gay2.jpg|thumb|''Enola Gay'', a Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress landing after delivering Little Boy over Hiroshima|237x237px]] The most famous B-29s were 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/project-silverplate|title=Project Silverplate|website=Atomic Heritage Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Groves |first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Groves |title=Now it Can be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row |orig-year=1962 |year=1975 |isbn=0-306-70738-1 |oclc=537684 |pages=254–255}}</ref> 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 the Lancaster never came up again.<ref>McKinstry, Leo "LANCASTER: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber", John Murray Publishers 2009, page 495.</ref>

The most significant modification was the enlargement of the bomb bay enabling each aircraft to carry either the Little Boy 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 the tail. Pilot Charles Sweeney credits the reversible props for saving ''Bockscar'' after making an emergency landing on Okinawa following the Nagasaki bombing.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Commager |first1=Henry Steele |last2=Miller |first2=Donald L. |title=The Story of World War II: Revised, expanded, and updated |date=2010 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-2822-0 |page=637 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43Nk5lzO_oIC&pg=PA637 |language=en |quote=But Sweeney muscled the plane under control with the help of its specially installed reversible propellers.}}</ref>

thumb|''Bockscar'' and a post-war Mk III nuclear weapon painted to resemble the Fat Man bomb|245x245px

''Enola Gay'', flown by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped the first bomb, called Little Boy, on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.<ref name="OSTI.GOV Hiroshima">{{Cite web | title=Manhattan Project: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945 | website=OSTI.GOV | date = 1945 | url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945/hiroshima.htm | access-date = 2021-11-23 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326051651/https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945/hiroshima.htm | archivedate = 2021-03-26}}</ref> ''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 the second bomb, called Fat Man, on Nagasaki three days later.<ref name="The New York Times 2004">{{cite web | title=Pilot on Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Mission Dies at 84 | website=The New York Times | date=2004-07-18 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/national/pilot-on-nagasaki-atomic-bomb-mission-dies-at-84.html | access-date=2021-11-23 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314192403/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/national/pilot-on-nagasaki-atomic-bomb-mission-dies-at-84.html | archivedate=2021-03-14}}</ref> ''Bockscar'' is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.<ref name="National Museum of the US Air Force 1945">{{cite web | title=Boeing B-29 Superfortress | website=National Museum of the United States Air Force | date=1945-08-09 | url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196252/boeing-b-29-superfortress/ | access-date=2021-11-23 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603140406/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196252/boeing-b-29-superfortress/ | archivedate=2021-06-03}}</ref>

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., the farthest nonstop distance ({{convert|6400|mi|km|disp=or|sp=us}}) to that date flown by U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft and the first-ever nonstop flight from Japan to Chicago.{{efn|"The straight line distance between Chitose Japanese Air Self Defense Force and Chicago, Chicago Midway Airport is approximately 5,839 miles or 9,397 kilometres."<ref>[http://www.findlocalweather.com/forecast.php?forecast=pass&pass=distances&dpp=0&pands1x=RJCJ&pands2x=KMDW&Find+distance=How+far+is+it%3F "How Far Is It?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218151550/http://www.findlocalweather.com/forecast.php?forecast=pass&pass=distances&dpp=0&pands1x=RJCJ&pands2x=KMDW&Find%2Bdistance=How%2Bfar%2Bis%2Bit%3F |date=18 February 2012 }} ''Findlocalweather.com''. Retrieved: 8 June 2009.</ref>}}<ref name="Potts">Potts, J. Ivan, Jr. [http://www.40thbombgroup.org/DCFlight.pdf "The Japan to Washington Flight"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217194704/http://www.40thbombgroup.org/DCFlight.pdf |date=17 February 2012 }} [https://books.google.com/books?id=md-mHAAACAAJ ''Remembrance of War: The Experiences of a B-29 Pilot in World War II'']. Shelbyville, Tennessee: J. I. Potts & Associates, 1995. Retrieved: 8 June 2009.</ref> 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 {{convert|7,916|mi|km}} in 35 hours,<ref name=milestones>[http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/milestones.asp?dec=1940&sd=01/01/1940&ed=12/31/1949 "Monday, January 01, 1940 – Saturday, December 31, 1949"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020162322/http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/milestones.asp?dec=1940&sd=01%2F01%2F1940&ed=12%2F31%2F1949 |date=20 October 2012 }}. ''History Milestones (US Air Force)''. Retrieved: 21 October 2010.</ref> with a gross takeoff weight of {{convert|155000|lb|kg}}.<ref name=SetRecords>Mayo, Weyland. [http://b-29s-over-korea.com/B-29s-SetRecords/B-29s-SetRecords.html "B-29s Set Speed, Altitude, Distance Records"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003174712/http://b-29s-over-korea.com/B-29s-SetRecords/B-29s-SetRecords.html |date=3 October 2013 }}. ''b-29s-over-korea.com''. Retrieved: 21 October 2010.</ref> Almost a year later, in October 1946, the same B-29 flew {{convert|9422|mi|km}} nonstop from Oahu, Hawaii, to Cairo, Egypt, in less than 40 hours, demonstrating the possibility of routing airlines over the polar ice cap.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Popular Science |author=Bonnier Corporation |title=Inside The Dreamboat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91 |date=December 1946 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |page=91}}</ref> {{Clear}} <gallery class="center" widths="220"> File:Atombombe Little Boy 2.jpg|"Little Boy" in the bomb pit on Tinian island, prior to loading aboard ''Enola Gay'' File:B-29 Enola Gay w Crews.jpg|The ''Enola Gay'' dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Paul Tibbets (center in photograph) can be seen with six members of the ground crew. File:Little Boy bomb.jpg|The Mark I "Little Boy" bomb{{snd}} the model deployed by the B-29 ''Enola Gay'' over Hiroshima File:Fat Man (replica of nuclear bomb).jpg|The Mark III "Fat Man" bomb{{snd}} the model deployed by the B-29 ''Bockscar'' over Nagasaki </gallery>

====B-29s in Europe and Australia==== [[File:Boeing B-29A Washington B.1 WF502 90 Sqn Hooton 20.09.52 edited-2.jpg|thumb|Royal Air Force Washington B.1 of No. 90 Squadron RAF based at RAF Marham|250x250px]]

Although considered for other theaters, and briefly evaluated in the UK, the B-29 was exclusively used in World War II in 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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://457thbombgroupassoc.org/b-29-superfortress-visit-to-glatton/|title=B-29 Superfortress visit to Glatton|date=29 May 2019}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://384thbombgroup.com/WinJack3/wwII-sternenbanner_1.html|title=Der Sternenbanner_1 (Photo 1)|website=384thbombgroup.com}}{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> with the intent to deceive the Germans into believing that the B-29 would be deployed to Europe.<ref name="Bowers Boeing p323"/>

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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wynn |first1=Humphrey |title=The Bomber Role 1945-1970 |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/units/air-historical-branch/regional-studies-post-coldwar-narratives/the-bomber-role-1945-1970/ |publisher=Air Historical Branch, UK Ministry of Defence |access-date=31 October 2023 |pages=3–5 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> Deployment was restricted to long-range training for strategic attacks against 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Agenda for Seventh NATO C–E Board Meeting |url=https://archives.nato.int/agenda-for-seventh-nato-c-e-board-meeting |publisher=NATO |pages=4–5 |date=17 March 1959}}</ref>

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 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1952.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Stewart|title=Military Aircraft of Australia|date=1994|publisher=Aerospace Publications|location=Weston Creek, Australia|isbn=978-1875671083|pages=216}}</ref> They were attached to the Aircraft Research and Development Unit and used in trials conducted on behalf of the British Ministry of Supply.<ref name="Wilson" /> Both aircraft were placed in storage in 1956 and were sold for scrap in 1957.<ref name="RAAF Aircraft">[http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series2/A76.htm "A76: Boeing Washington."] ''RAAF Museum.'' Retrieved: 28 January 2012.</ref>

===Soviet Tupolev Tu-4=== {{Main|Tupolev Tu-4}}

At the end of World War II, Soviet development of modern four-engine heavy bombers lagged behind the West. The Petlyakov Pe-8—the sole heavy bomber operated by 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 the aircraft, the Soviets reverse engineered the American B-29s and used them as a pattern for the Tupolev Tu-4.<ref name="Monino" />[[File:Tupolev Tu-4 01 red (10255123433).jpg|thumb|Tupolev Tu-4 at Monino museum|242x242px]]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.{{efn|The drag of the windmilling propeller critically reduced the range of the B-29. Because of this "Ramp Tramp" was unable to reach home base at Chengdu, China, and the pilot opted to head for Vladivostok.{{cn|date=August 2023}} }} This B-29 was part of a 100-aircraft raid against the Japanese Showa steel mill in Anshan, Manchuria.<ref name=Monino>[http://www.moninoaviation.com/40a.html "Tu-4 "Bull" and ''Ramp Tramp''."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218234551/http://moninoaviation.com/40a.html |date=18 February 2009 }} ''Monino Aviation''. Retrieved: 1 November 2009.</ref> 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 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.<ref name="ColdWar" /> On 21 November 1944, ''Ding How'' (42-6358) was damaged during a raid on an aircraft factory at Omura and was also forced to divert to Vladivostok.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Made in the U.S.S.R. |first=Von |last=Hardesty |date=March 2001|magazine= Smithsonian |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/made-in-the-ussr-38442437/ |access-date=8 December 2024}}</ref> The interned crews of these four B-29s were allowed to escape into American-occupied Iran in January 1945, but none of 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.<ref name="ColdWar">Lednicer, David. [http://mysite.ncnetwork.net/res12e522/ColdWar.html "Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718164737/http://mysite.ncnetwork.net/res12e522/ColdWar.html |date=18 July 2011 }} David Lednicer, 16 April 2011. Retrieved: 31 July 2011.</ref>{{efn|''Ramp Tramp'' was also used during 1948–49 as a drop ship for underwing launching of 346P glider. The 346P was a development of the German DFS 346 rocket-powered aircraft. The complete wing and engines of ''Cait Paomat'' were later incorporated into the sole Tupolev Tu-70 transport aircraft.{{cn|date=August 2023}} }} Because aluminum in the USSR was supplied in different gauges from that available in the US (metric vs imperial),<ref name="Monino" /> the entire aircraft had to be extensively re-engineered. In addition, Tupolev substituted his own favored airfoil sections for those used by Boeing, with 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 the B-29 in many later bombers and transports.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rb-29.net/HTML/03RelatedStories/03.03shortstories/03.03.10contss.htm |title=Russian B-29 Clone – The TU-4 Story. |access-date=2 November 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809222956/http://www.rb-29.net/HTML/03RelatedStories/03.03shortstories/03.03.10contss.htm |archive-date=9 August 2008 }} ''B-29.net''. Retrieved: 20 July 2011.</ref>{{efn| The Soviets interned another B-29 when, on 29 August 1945, a Soviet Air Force Yak-9 damaged a B-29 dropping supplies to a POW camp in Korea, and forced it to land at Konan (now Hŭngnam), North Korea. The 13-man crew of the B-29 was not injured in the attack and was released after being interned for 13 days.<ref>Streifer, Bill and Irek Sabitov. [http://www.my-jia.com/The_Flight_of_the_Hog_Wild/ "The Flight of the Hog Wild B-29 (WWII): The day the world went cold."] {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101007080745/http://www.my-jia.com/The_Flight_of_the_Hog_Wild/ |date=7 October 2010 }} ''Jia Educational Products, Inc.'', 2011. Retrieved: 28 November 2011.</ref>}}thumb|''"Birth of the B-29"'' (1945){{snd}} official Boeing company promotional film reel|261x261px ===Transition to USAF=== 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.<ref name="Peacock2 p141">Peacock, ''Air International'', September 1989, p. 141.</ref><ref>[http://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-29-superfortress.page "Boeing B-29"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511012520/http://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-29-superfortress.page |date=11 May 2017 }}. ''Boeing''. Retrieved: 5 August 2010.</ref> In particular, 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 bomb in Test ''Able'' on 1 July 1946.<ref name="Peacock2 p141"/>

Some B-29s, fitted with filtered air sampling scoops, were used to monitor above-ground nuclear weapons testing by 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).[[File:B-29-44-61813-shotdown.jpg|thumb|Photo-reconnaissance B-29 that crashed on final approach to Iruma Air Base, Japan, after an attack by several MIG-15's over the Yalu River. Five crew died. The tail gunner shot down a MiG, and the remaining Migs were engaged by their P-51 escort (9 November 1950).<ref>[http://www.rb-29.net/html/29wfw.htm "William F. (Bill) Welch — 31st and 91st SRS Recollections"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622040317/http://www.rb-29.net/HTML/29wfw.htm |date=22 June 2016 }} ''rb-29.net''. Retrieved: 18 May 2015.</ref>|220x220px]] ===Korean War and postwar service=== The B-29 was used in 1950–1953 in the Korean War. At first, the bomber was used in normal strategic bombing day-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 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 {{cvt|1000|lb|kg|adj=on}} VB-3 "Razon" (a range-controllable version of the earlier Azon guided ordnance device)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196093/vb-3-razon-bomb/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196093/vb-3-razon-bomb/|title=VB-3 Razon Bomb|website=National Museum of the United States Air Force}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and the {{cvt|12000|lb|kg}} VB-13 "Tarzon" MCLOS radio-controlled bombs<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196092/vb-13-tarzon-bomb/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196092/vb-13-tarzon-bomb/|title=VB-13 Tarzon Bomb|website=National Museum of the United States Air Force}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> in Korea, mostly for demolishing major bridges, like the ones across 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.<ref>''United States Air Force operations in the Korean conflict, 1 July 1952 – 27 July 1953.'' Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: USAF Historical Division, 1956, p. 62.</ref>[[File:B-29 307th BG bombing target in Korea c1951.jpg|thumb|A 307th Bomb Group B-29 bombing a target in Korea, {{circa|1951}}|left|229x229px]]

Over the course of the war, B-29s flew 20,000 sorties and dropped 200,000 tonnes (220,000 tons) of bombs in Korea. B-29 gunners were credited with shooting down 27 enemy aircraft.<ref name="Futrell">Futrell et al. 1976.</ref> In turn 78 B-29s were lost; 57 B-29 and reconnaissance variants were lost in action and 21 were non-combat losses.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Stats/USAF_Losses_Korea.htm |title=USAF Losses in Korea |website=www.alternatewars.com |access-date=28 February 2020 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118114017/https://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Stats/USAF_Losses_Korea.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Soviet records show that one MiG-15 jet fighter 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.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604071241/http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_315.shtml |url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_315.shtml |archive-date=4 June 2013 |title=The Pains of the Post-War V-VS and the Birth of the Soviet Jet Flight |publisher=Korean War Database |url-status=usurped |access-date=3 May 2020}}</ref> A Superfortress of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron flew the last B-29 mission of the war on 27 July 1953.

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 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.

==Variants== [[File:Bell X-1 in the belly of a B-29.jpg|thumb|Bell X-1 and its B-29 mother ship|228x228px]] {{more citations needed section|date=September 2017}} {{Main|Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants}}

The variants of the B-29 were outwardly similar in appearance but were built around different wing center sections that affected 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 the Silverplate and successor-name "Saddletree" specifications built for the Manhattan Project with Curtiss Electric reversible pitch propellers.

thumb|left|''"Breaking the Sound Barrier"'' (1947) Official USAF Bell X-1 promotional film reel.|222x222px The Silverplate aircraft had significantly modified electronics and armament. The jammers were removed and replaced with additional AN/APR-4 radio frequency monitoring equipment, because the Atomic bombs used a modified tail radar for a radar altimeter, and the lack of delayed arming could cause unintended detonation immediately after release.<ref>Air Force manual No.27, page 62. 1944</ref> This was due to the C-3A release mechanism arming the weapon immediately upon release with no delay, making it absolutely necessary to monitor the frequencies used by the radar altimeters.<ref>Air Force manual No.27, page 50. 1944</ref> Targeting was accomplished using a license built version of the British H2S, designated the AN/APQ-13 in American service. This provided both guidance and targeting, as well as timing the bomb release precisely.<ref>Air Force manual No.27, page 62. 1944</ref>thumb|WB-29A of the 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in 1954 showing the fuselage-top observation station|227x227px

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 the name of Stratovision. Another role was as a mothership. This included being rigged for carrying the experimental parasite fighter aircraft, such as the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin and Republic F-84 Thunderjets as in flight lock on and offs. It was also used to develop the Airborne Early Warning program; it was the ancestor of various modern radar picket aircraft. A B-29 with the original Wright Duplex Cyclone powerplants was used to air-launch the Bell X-1 supersonic research rocket aircraft, as well as Cherokee rockets for the testing of ejection seats.<ref name="Ala">Shinabery, Michael. [http://www.alamogordonews.com/features/ci_10818501 "Whoosh failures were 'instructive'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517121515/http://www.alamogordonews.com/features/ci_10818501 |date=17 May 2014 }} ''Alamogordo Daily News'', 26 October 2008. Retrieved: 17 May 2014.</ref>

The B-29D led progressively to the XB-44, and the family of '''B-50 Superfortress''' (which was powered by four {{convert|3500|hp|abbr=on}} Pratt & Whitney R-4360-35 Wasp Major engines). Some B-29s were modified to act as testbeds for various new systems or special conditions, including fire-control systems, cold-weather operations, and various armament configurations. Several converted B-29s were used to experiment with aerial refueling and re-designated as '''KB-29s'''. Perhaps the most important tests were conducted by the '''XB-29G'''. It carried prototype jet engines in its bomb bay, and lowered them into the air stream to conduct measurements.

==Operators== {{Main|List of B-29 Superfortress operators}}

;{{AUS}} * Royal Australian Air Force (two former RAF aircraft for trials) ;{{UK}} * Royal Air Force (87 loaned from the USAF as the Washington B.1) ;{{flag|United States|1912}} * United States Army Air Forces * United States Air Force * United States Navy (four former USAF aircraft designated as P2B patrol bombers) ;{{Flagcountry|Soviet Union|1936|size=23px}} * Soviet Air Forces (three USAAF B-29s made emergency landings in the USSR during WWII, and were never returned; they were reverse-engineered to make the Soviet Tupolev Tu-4 "Bull" bomber.)

==Surviving aircraft== {{Main|List of surviving Boeing B-29 Superfortresses}} [[File:FIFI and Doc.jpg|thumb|The two remaining flyable B-29s: ''FIFI'' (top) and ''Doc'' (bottom)|238x238px]]Twenty-two B-29s are preserved at various museums worldwide, including two flying examples; ''FIFI'', which belongs to the Commemorative Air Force, and ''Doc'', which belongs to Doc's Friends. Doc made its first flight in 60 years from Wichita, Kansas, on 17 July 2016.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article90144877.html | title=It wasn't easy, but B-29 Doc takes to Wichita skies}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.mcconnell.af.mil/News/Article/842055/b-29-doc-takes-to-the-skies-from-mcconnell|title=B-29 'Doc' takes to the skies from McConnell|last=Waller|first=Staff Sgt. Rachel|date=17 July 2016|work=McConnell AFB|access-date=3 January 2024}}</ref> The public is being invited to inspect and take a short paid flight in Doc and Fifi at various venues.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.b29doc.com/event/allentown-pa-b-29-doc-history-restored-tour/| title=Allentown, PA: B-29 Doc History Restored Tour| access-date=11 May 2024| archive-date=11 May 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511234124/https://www.b29doc.com/event/allentown-pa-b-29-doc-history-restored-tour/| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.airpowersquadron.org/#:~:text=AirPower%20History%20Tour%E2%80%8B%20%C2%B7%20SPRING%20Greenville%2C%20Texas,%C2%B7%20Syracuse%2C%20New%20York%20June%2019%2D23%2C%202024 | title=CAF AirPower History Tour featuring the B-29 Superfortress FIFI | access-date=11 May 2024 | archive-date=11 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511225718/https://www.airpowersquadron.org/#:~:text=AirPower%20History%20Tour%E2%80%8B%20%C2%B7%20SPRING%20Greenville%2C%20Texas,%C2%B7%20Syracuse%2C%20New%20York%20June%2019%2D23%2C%202024 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Three of the Silverplate B-29s modified to drop nuclear bombs survived. Superfortress 44-86292 ''Enola Gay'' (nose number 82), which dropped the first atomic bomb, was fully restored and placed on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air & Space Museum near Washington Dulles International Airport in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=Enola Gay |date= 20 March 2003 |publisher= National Air and Space Museum |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/enola-gay |access-date=15 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Exhibition of B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay |date= 17 May 2005 |publisher= National Air and Space Museum |url= https://airandspace.si.edu/newsroom/press-releases/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-exhibition-b-29-superfortress-enola-gay |access-date= 15 December 2024 |archive-date= 20 February 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180220093851/https://airandspace.si.edu/newsroom/press-releases/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-exhibition-b-29-superfortress-enola-gay |url-status= live }}</ref> The B-29 that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, Superfortress 44-27297 ''Bockscar'' (nose number 77), is restored and on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, posed with a replica of the Mark 3 Fat Man nuclear bomb.<ref>{{cite web |title=Boeing B-29 Superfortress |publisher=National Museum of the United States Air Force |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196252/boeing-b-29-superfortress/ |access-date=15 December 2024 |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603140406/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196252/boeing-b-29-superfortress/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The third is Superfortress 45-21748, which was delivered on 9 August 1945 and is on display at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque, New Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|title=Completed B-29 Superfortress|publisher=National Museum of Nuclear Science and History|url=https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/see/exhibits/operation-preservation/completed-b-29-superfortress|access-date=15 December 2024|archive-date=15 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215023935/https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/see/exhibits/operation-preservation/completed-b-29-superfortress|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Museum of Nuclear Science & History |publisher=Atomic Archive |url=https://atomicarchive.com/media/photographs/nuclear-journeys/nmnsh/nmnsh-76.html |access-date=15 December 2024}}</ref>

Only two of the twenty-two museum aircraft are outside the United States: ''It's Hawg Wild'' at the Imperial War Museum Duxford and another at the KAI Aerospace Museum in Sachon, South Korea.<ref>Weeks, John A. III. [http://www.johnweeks.com/b29/index.html "B-29: The Superfortress Survivors."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531133306/http://www.johnweeks.com/b29/index.html |date=31 May 2009 }} ''ohnweeks.com'', 2009. Retrieved: 17 July 2009.</ref>

==Accidents and incidents== [[File:Akvetstb29.jpg|thumb|Memorial at the Alaska Veterans Memorial to the victims in a B-29 crash in the Talkeetna Mountains in 1957|241x241px]] Notable accidents and incidents involving B-29s include: * The 1947 crash of the Kee Bird in Greenland during a flight to the geographic North Pole,<ref>{{cite web |title=Incident Boeing F-13 Superfortress (B-29) 45-21768, 21 Feb 1947 |url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/98695 |website=aviation-safety.net |publisher=Flight Safety Foundation |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314045505/https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/98695 |url-status=live }}</ref> and its subsequent destruction in 1995 during a recovery attempt.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perry |first1=Tony |title=Dream of Salvaging B-29 Goes Up in Smoke : Aviation: Fire before takeoff destroys warplane that crashed in Greenland in 1947. Three Southland men spent $1 million on three-year effort. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-mn-5487-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=14 March 2022 |date=24 May 1995 |archive-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314045506/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-mn-5487-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * The 1948 Waycross B-29 crash, which resulted in the ''United States v. Reynolds'' lawsuit regarding state secrets privilege.<ref>{{ussc|name=United States v. Reynolds|volume=345|page=1|pin=6-7|year=1953}}</ref> * The 1948 Lake Mead Boeing B-29 crash during the "Sun Tracker" project that aimed to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile guidance system that used the sun for direction and positioning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/articles/B29/B29.html |title=B-29 Super Fortress Lake Mead National Recreation Area |publisher=Advanced Diver Magazine |date= 2008 |access-date=2014-07-23}}</ref> * The 3 November 1948 crash at Bleaklow moor near Glossop, Derbyshire, England. Much of the wreckage is still exposed and can be reached by a {{convert|2|mi}} walk from the summit of Snake Pass, starting along the Pennine Way footpath through Devil's Dyke.<ref>{{cite web |title=RB-29A 44-61999 |date=8 August 2016 |publisher=Peak District Air Accident Research |url=https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/boeing-rb-29a-44-61999-higher-shelf-stones/ |access-date=15 December 2024 |archive-date=2 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241102145221/https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/boeing-rb-29a-44-61999-higher-shelf-stones/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Superfortress 44-61999 ''Over Exposed!'' |publisher=Recovery Party Account |website=aircrashsites.co.uk |date=14 February 2013 |url=https://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-crash-sites-5/superfortress-44-61999-over-exposed-recovery-party-account/ |access-date=15 December 2024}}</ref> * On 11 April 1950 a B-29 departed Kirtland Air Force Base and crashed into a mountain on Manzano Base approximately three minutes later, killing the crew. Detonators were installed in the nuclear bomb on the aircraft. The bomb case was demolished and some high-explosive (HE) material burned in the fire. Both the weapon and the capsule of nuclear material were on board but the capsule was not inserted in the bomb for safety reasons, so no nuclear detonation was possible.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/operation_and_plans/NuclearChemicalBiologicalMatters/965.pdf |publisher=Department of Defense |title=Narrative Summaries of Accidents Involving U.S. Nuclear Weapons, 1950–1980] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222142443/http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/operation_and_plans/NuclearChemicalBiologicalMatters/965.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2013 }}</ref> * On 5 August 1950, a B-29 carrying a Mark 4 nuclear bomb crashed shortly after takeoff from Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base with 20 men on board. Twelve men were killed in the crash, including Brigadier General Robert F. Travis, and another seven on the ground when the aircraft exploded.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aykxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4A0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4657%2C4013544 |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |title=17 die, 60 hurt in B-29 crash |date=7 August 1950 |page=1 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sa5eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ti8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1948%2C2867484 |newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press |title=17 dead as B-29 explodes |date=7 August 1950 |page=1 |archive-date=29 November 2024 |access-date=15 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241129034321/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sa5eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ti8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1948%2C2867484 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ssgtrag>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7NlXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=V_YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5360%2C2240845 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Seconds spell great tragedy in B-29 crash |date=7 August 1950 |page=2 |archive-date=28 December 2024 |access-date=15 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228021319/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7NlXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=V_YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5360%2C2240845 |url-status=live }}</ref> The base was later renamed after Travis.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://travisheritagecenter.org/html/crash.html |title=The Travis B-29 Crash |publisher=Travis Air Force Base Heritage Center |access-date=17 March 2017 |archive-date=17 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317144143/https://travisheritagecenter.org/html/crash.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Specifications== thumb|Boeing B-29 Superfortress three-view drawing|222x222px [[File:Boeing B-29 Bockscar cockpit 2 USAF.jpg|thumb|Flight engineer's station of ''Bockscar''|286x286px]] [[File:Boeing B-29, FIFI (31).jpg|thumb|right|Cockpit in ''FIFI'' |226x226px]] {{Aircraft specs |ref=Quest for Performance<ref>Loftin, LK, Jr. [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-468/cover.htm ''Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613210139/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-468/cover.htm |date=13 June 2006 }} ''NASA SP-468''. Retrieved: 22 April 2006.</ref> |prime units?=imp  |crew=11 (Pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, flight engineer, navigator, radio operator, radar observer, right gunner, left gunner, central fire control, tail gunner) |length ft=99 |length in=0 |length note= |span ft=141 |span in=3 |span note= |height ft=27 |height in=9 |height note= |wing area sqft=1736 |wing area note= |aspect ratio=11.5 |airfoil='''root:''' Boeing 117 (22%); '''tip:''' Boeing 117 (9%)<ref name="Selig">{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326174850/https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * '''Zero-lift drag coefficient:''' 0.0241 * '''Frontal area:''' {{convert|41.16|ft2|m2|abbr=on}} |empty weight lb=74500 |empty weight note= |gross weight lb=120000 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight lb=133500 |max takeoff weight note= ::::{{cvt|135000|lb}} combat overload |fuel capacity= |more general=  |eng1 number=4 |eng1 name=Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone |eng1 type=18-cylinder air-cooled turbosupercharged radial piston engines |eng1 hp=2200

|prop blade number=4 |prop name=constant-speed fully-feathering propellers |prop dia ft=16 |prop dia in=7 |prop dia note=  |max speed mph=357 |max speed note= |cruise speed mph=220 |cruise speed note= |stall speed mph=105 |stall speed note= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed note= |range miles=3250 |range note= |combat range miles= |combat range note= |ferry range miles=5600 |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling ft=31850 |ceiling note=<ref name="ceiling"/> |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ftmin=900 |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |lift to drag=16.8 |wing loading lb/sqft=69.12 |wing loading note= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass={{cvt|0.073|hp/lb|kW/kg}} |thrust/weight=

|more performance=  |guns={{bulleted list |10 × .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2/ANs in remote-controlled turrets.<ref>AAF manual No. 50-9: Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions for Army model B-29, 25 January 1944, page 40; Armament</ref> (omitted from ''Silverplate'' B-29s) |2 × .50 BMG and 1× 20 mm M2 cannon in tail position (the cannon was later removed){{efn|For the B-29B-BW all armament and sighting equipment was removed except for tail position; initially 2 x .50 in M2/AN and 1× 20 mm M2 cannon, later 3 × 2 × .50 in M2/AN with APG-15 gun-laying radar fitted as standard.}} }} |bombs=<ref name="gunston-1978">{{cite book |last1=Gunston |first1=Bill |title=The illustrated encyclopedia of combat aircraft of World War II |date=1978 |publisher=Bookthrift Publications |location=New York |isbn=0-89673-000-X |page=202}}</ref>{{bulleted list |{{convert|5000|lbs|kg|abbr=on}} over {{convert|1600|mile|km+nmi|abbr=on}} radius at high altitude |{{convert|12000|lbs|kg|abbr=on}} over {{convert|1600|mile|km+nmi|abbr=on}} radius at medium altitude |{{convert|20000|lbs|kg|abbr=on}} maximum over short distances at low altitude |Could be modified to carry two {{convert|22000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} Grand Slam bombs externally, or one 44,600 pound T-12 Cloudmaker deep penetration bomb.<ref name="gunston-1978"/> |Mark I, Mark III, Mark 4 and Mark 6 nuclear bombs (only Silverplate versions of the aircraft).<ref>{{Cite report| publisher = Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)| title = History of the Mark 4 Bomb| date = February 1967| url = https://osf.io/46sfd/| page = 33| archive-date = 19 October 2022| access-date = 18 October 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221019000712/https://osf.io/46sfd/| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report|publisher=Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)|title=History of the Mark 6 bomb|url=https://osf.io/gaevf|date=November 1967|page=20|archive-date=2 April 2022|access-date=18 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402030956/https://osf.io/gaevf/|url-status=live}}</ref>}} }}

==Notable appearances in media==  {{Main|Aircraft in fiction#B-29 Superfortress|l1 = Aircraft in fiction}}

==See also== {{Portal|Aviation}} {{Aircontent |similar aircraft= * ''Amerikabomber'' * Avro Lincoln * Nakajima G8N ''Renzan'' * Heinkel He 277 * Junkers Ju 290 * Messerschmitt Me 264 * Victory Bomber |lists= * List of aircraft of World War II * List of bomber aircraft * List of military aircraft of the United States |see also= * Air warfare of World War II * AN/APQ-13

}}

==References==

===Notes=== {{notelist}} {{Reflist|group=N}}

===Citations=== {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography=== * Bowers, Peter M. ''Boeing Aircraft since 1916''. London: Putnam, 1989. {{ISBN|0-85177-804-6}}. * Bowers, Peter M. ''Boeing B-29 Superfortress''. Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-933424-79-5}}. * Brown, J. "RCT Armament in the Boeing B-29". ''Air Enthusiast'', Number Three, 1977, pp. 80–83. {{ISSN|0143-5450}} * Campbell, Richard H., ''The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005. {{ISBN|0-7864-2139-8}}. * {{cite book|last=Cate|first=James Lea|title=The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki June 1944 to August 1945|editor=Craven, Wesley Frank |editor2=Cate, James Lea|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago and London|year=1953|series=The Army Air Forces in World War II. Volume 5 |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf |oclc=9828710 |via=Hyperwar Foundation}} * Clarke, Chris. [https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a18343/the-cannons-on-the-b-29-bomber-were-a-mid-century-engineering-masterpiece/ "The Cannons on the B-29 Bomber Were a Mid-Century Engineering Masterpiece"], ''Popular Mechanics'', 30 November 2015. * Craven, Wesley Frank and James Lea Cate, eds. [http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101105-005.pdf ''The Army Air Forces In World War II: Volume One: Plans and Early Operations: January 1939 to August 1942''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018133446/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101105-005.pdf |date=18 October 2016 }}. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1983. * Craven, Wesley Frank and James Lea Cate, eds. [http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101105-006.pdf ''The Army Air Forces In World War II: Volume Two: Europe: Torch to Pointblank August 1942 to December 1943''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123153734/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101105-006.pdf |date=23 November 2016 }}. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1983. * Craven, Wesley Frank and James Lea Cate, eds. [http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101105-012.pdf ''The Army Air Forces In World War II: Volume Five: The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki June 1944 to August 1945'']{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1983. * Dear, I.C.B. and M.R.D. Foo, eds. ''The Oxford Companion of World War II''. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-19-866225-4}}. * Francillon, René J. ''McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920''. London: Putnam, 1979. {{ISBN|0-370-00050-1}}. * Futrell R.F. et al. ''Aces and Aerial Victories: The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia, 1965–1973''. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1976. {{ISBN|0-89875-884-X}}. * Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II''. New York: Random House, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}. * Johnson, Robert E. "Why the Boeing B-29 Bomber, and Why the Wright R-3350 Engine?" ''American Aviation Historical Society Journal,'' 33(3), 1988, pp. 174–189. ISSN 0002-7553. * Knaack, Marcelle Size. ''Post-World War II Bombers, 1945–1973''. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1988. {{ISBN|0-16-002260-6}}. * LeMay, Curtis and Bill Yenne. ''Super Fortress''. London: Berkley Books, 1988. {{ISBN|0-425-11880-0}}. * Lewis, Peter M. H., ed. "B-29 Superfortress". ''Academic American Encyclopedia''. Volume 10. Chicago: Grolier Incorporated, 1994. {{ISBN|978-0-7172-2053-3}}. * Lloyd, Alwyn T. ''B-29 Superfortress, Part 1. Production Versions (Detail & Scale 10)''. Fallbrook, California/London: Aero Publishers/Arms & Armour Press, Ltd., 1983. {{ISBN|0-8168-5019-4|0-85368-527-4}}. * Lloyd, Alwyn T. ''B-29 Superfortress. Part 2. Derivatives (Detail & Scale 25)''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania/London: TAB Books/Arms & Armour Press, Ltd., 1987. {{ISBN|0-8306-8035-7|0-85368-839-7}} * Mann, Robert A. ''The B-29 Superfortress: A Comprehensive Registry of the Planes and Their Missions''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7864-1787-0}}. * Mann, Robert A. ''The B-29 Superfortress Chronology, 1934–1960''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. {{ISBN|0-7864-4274-3}}. * Marshall, Chester. ''Warbird History: B-29 Superfortress''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, 1993. {{ISBN|0-87938-785-8}}. * Pace, Steve. ''Boeing B-29 Superfortress''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, United Kingdom: Crowood Press, 2003. {{ISBN|1-86126-581-6}}. * Peacock, Lindsay. "Boeing B-29... First of the Superbombers, Part One." ''Air International'', August 1989, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 68–76, 87. {{ISSN|0306-5634}} * Peacock, Lindsay. "Boeing B-29... First of the Superbombers, Part Two." ''Air International'', September 1989, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 141–144, 150–151. {{ISSN|0306-5634}} * Vander Meulen, Jacob. ''Building the B-29''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1995. {{ISBN|1-56098-609-3}}. * Wegg, John. ''General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors''. London: Putnam, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-833-X}}. * White, Jerry. ''Combat Crew and Unit Training in the AAF 1939–1945''. USAF Historical Study No. 61. Washington, D.C.: Center for Air Force History, 1949. * Williams, Anthony G. and Emmanuel Gustin. ''Flying Guns World War II: Development of Aircraft Guns, Ammunition and Installations 1933–45''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 2003. {{ISBN|1-84037-227-3}}. * Willis, David. "Boeing B-29 and B-50 Superfortress". ''International Air Power Review'', Volume 22, 2007, pp. 136–169. Westport, Connecticut: AIRtime Publishing. {{ISSN|1473-9917}}. {{ISBN|1-880588-79-X}}.

==Further reading== * Anderton, David A. ''B-29 Superfortress at War''. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1978. {{ISBN|0-7110-0881-7}}. * Berger, Carl. ''B29: The Superfortress''. New York: Ballantine Books, 1970. {{ISBN|0-345-24994-1}}. * Birdsall, Steve. ''B-29 Superfortress in Action (Aircraft in Action 31)''. Carrolton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1977. {{ISBN|0-89747-030-3}}. * Birdsall, Steve. ''Saga of the Superfortress: The Dramatic Story of the B-29 and the Twentieth Air Force''. London: Sidgewick & Jackson Limited, 1991. {{ISBN|0-283-98786-3}}. * Birdsall, Steve. ''Superfortress: The Boeing B-29''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. {{ISBN|0-89747-104-0}}. * Chant, Christopher. ''Superprofile: B-29 Superfortress''. Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing Group, 1983. {{ISBN|0-85429-339-6}}. * Davis, Larry. ''B-29 Superfortress in Action (Aircraft in Action 165)''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1997. {{ISBN|0-89747-370-1}}. * Dorr, Robert F. ''B-29 Superfortress Units in World War Two''. Combat Aircraft 33. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. {{ISBN|1-84176-285-7}}. * Dorr, Robert F. ''B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War''. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2003. {{ISBN|1-84176-654-2}}. * Fopp, Michael A. ''The Washington File''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1983. {{ISBN|0-85130-106-1}}. * Herbert, Kevin B. ''Maximum Effort: The B-29s Against Japan''. Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press, 1983. {{ISBN|978-0-89745-036-2}}. * Howlett, Chris. "Washington Times". [https://web.archive.org/web/20120704192927/http://www.rafwatton.info/History/TheWashington/tabid/90/Default.aspx The history of the Washington] * Johnsen, Frederick A. ''The B-29 Book''. Tacoma, Washington: Bomber Books, 1978. {{ISBN|1-135-76473-5}} * Mayborn, Mitch. ''The Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Aircraft in Profile 101)''. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1971 (reprint). * Nijboer, Donald. ''B-29 Superfortress vs Ki-44 "Tojo": Pacific Theater 1944–45'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017). * Nijboer, Donald, and Steve Pace. ''B-29 Combat Missions: First-hand Accounts of Superfortress Operations Over the Pacific and Korea'' (Metro Books, 2011). * Pimlott, John. ''B-29 Superfortress''. London: Bison Books Ltd., 1980. {{ISBN|0-89009-319-9}}. * Rigmant, Vladimir. ''B-29, Tу-4 – стратегические близнецы – как это было (Авиация и космонавтика 17 [Крылья 4]) (in Russian)''. Moscow: 1996. * Toh, Boon Kwan. "Black and Silver: Perceptions and Memories of the B-29 Bomber, American Strategic Bombing and the Longest Bombing Missions of the Second World War on Singapore" ''War & Society'' 39#2 (2020) pp. 109–125 * Wheeler, Keith. ''Bombers over Japan''. Virginia Beach, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1982. {{ISBN|0-8094-3429-6}}. * Wolf, William. ''Boeing B-29 Superfortress: The Ultimate Look''. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7643-2257-5}}. ==External links==

{{Commons category|Boeing B-29 Superfortress}}  * [https://archive.org/details/B-29CombatCrewManual B-29 Combat Crew Manual] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=PN8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8 "Meet the B-29"], ''Popular Science'', August 1944—the first large and detailed public article printed on the B-29 in the US * [http://www.avweb.com/news/pelican/182150-1.html Pelican's Perch #56:Superfortress!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828133236/http://www.avweb.com/news/pelican/182150-1.html |date=28 August 2007 }}, Article wrote by John Deakin, one of the pilots who regularly fly the world's first restored-to-flight B-29 * [http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b29registry/b29registry.html WarbirdsRegistry.org B-29/B-50], Listing of surviving B-29s * [http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1945/47Planes/Cover.htm "Great Engines and Great Planes", 1947 – 130 page book about the rapid design, testing, and production of the B-29 powerplant by Chrysler Corporation in World War II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713021525/http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1945/47Planes/Cover.htm |date=13 July 2011 }} * {{YouTube|id=mtpHQ6FZ9sY|title=B-29 Flight Procedure and Combat Crew Functioning – 1944 US Army Air Forces Training Film}} * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2816 XB-29 Handbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816230641/https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/items/show/46314 |date=16 August 2024 }} at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKRszjV07ZQ The B-29 Turret System: An Expensive, Effective Mechanical Masterpiece] good video explaining the fire control computer * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2815 The B-29 : Airplane commander training manual for the Superfortress] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2813 B-29 gunner's information file] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2843 Familiarization and maintenance manual for the B-29 bomber designed by Boeing Aircraft Company, Seattle, Washington] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2837 Personal equipment: a manual for B-29 crews] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2847 Flight and operational manual for the B-29 bomber] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2841 B-29 standard procedures for gunners] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2840 B-29 standard procedures for flight engineers] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2839 B-29 standard procedures for radar observers] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2838 B-29 standard procedures for pilots] * [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/2842 Boeing B-29 Superfortress, some flying information]

{{Boeing combat aircraft}} {{Boeing model numbers}} {{North American Aviation aircraft}} {{B-29 family}} {{ADF aircraft designations}} {{AircraftDesignationNavboxShell| {{USAF bomber aircraft}} {{USAAF reconnaissance aircraft}} {{USN patrol aircraft}} }}

Category:Boeing B-29 Superfortress Category:Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki B-29 Superfortress Category:Four-engined tractor aircraft Boeing B-29 Category:Mid-wing aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1942 Category:Four-engined piston aircraft Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear