Subject: Bomber Series--Boeing B-17 Fortress (19 of 27)

From: [email-masked] (joseph.f.baugher)
Date: 2 Sep 94 00:56:23 GMT

During the last year of the war and shortly thereafter, the US Navy 
acquired 48 ex-USAAF B-17s for patrol and air-sea rescue work.  At 
first, these planes operated under their original USAAF designations, 
but they were assigned the designation PB-1 on July 31, 1945, a 
designation which had originally been used in 1925 for an experimental 
flying boat.  Since most of the Fortresses involved were actually
built by Douglas or Lockheed and not by Boeing, a more logical 
designation would have been P4D-1W or P3V-1G respectively.   

The Navy Bureau of Aeronautics assigned the sequence of serial numbers
between 77225 and 77258 to these aircraft.  Later, two additional 
sequences were set aside--82855/82857 and 83992/84027.

Twenty-four B-17Gs (including one B-17F that had been modified to G 
standards) were used by the Navy under the designation PB-1W.  The W 
stood tor anti-submarine warfare.  A large radome for an ASP-20 search  
radar was fitted underneath the fuselage, and additional internal fuel 
tanks were added for longer range.  These planes were painted dark blue, 
a standard Navy paint scheme which had been adopted in late 1944.  
Most of these planes were Douglas-built aircraft, flown directly from  
the Long Beach factory to the Naval Aircraft Modification Unit in
Pennsylvania during the summer of 1945, where the APS-20 search
radar was fitted.  However, the war ended before any PB-1Ws could
be deployed, and the defensive armament was subsequently deleted. 

The first few PB-1Ws went to VBP-101 in April of 1946.  The PB-1W
eventually evolved into an early-warning aircraft by virtue of its
APS-20 search radar.  By 1947, PB-1Ws had been deployed to units
operating with both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.  VPB-101 on the
East Coast was redesignated VX-4 and assigned to NAS Quonset Point
in Rhode Island.  VX-4 became VW-2 in 1952 and transferred to
NAS Patuxent River in Maryland.  VW-2 had the primary mission of
early warning, with a secondary mission of antisubmarine warfare
and hurricane reconnaissance.  VW-1 was established in 1952
with four PB-1Ws at NAS Barbers Point in Hawaii.  Elements of
VW-1 were drawn from VC-11 at NAS Miramar and VP-51 at
NAS San Diego.  VW-1 had a mission similar to that of VW-2.

PB-1Ws continued in service until 1955, gradually being phased
out in favor of the Lockheed WV-2, a military version of the
Lockheed 1049 Constellation commercial airliner.  PB-1Ws were
retired to the Naval Aircraft Storage Center at Litchfield Park,
Arizona.  They were stricken from inventory in mid-1956 and
many were sold as surplus and ended up on the civil register.
13 of them were sold as scrap.  

Two ex-USAAAF B-17s were obtained by the Navy under the designation
XPB-1 for various development programs.  The first was transferred
to the Navy in June of 1945, and the second was transferred in
August of 1946.  The second plane was used by the Cornell
Aeronautical Laboratory in a jet engine test program.  It was
finally stricken off charge in 1955. 

In May of 1947, six B-17Gs of unknown serial numbers were transferred 
to the Navy and assigned BuNos 83993 to 83998.  They were stored
at Corpus Christi until August 31, 1947, when they were stricken
from charge.  They were apparently never actually used by the Navy,
and their ultimate fate is uncertain.

Two additional PB-1s were transferred to the Navy in 1950, these
planes coming from the Air Force which had modified two EB-17Gs to
PB-1W configuration for test programs.  After the completion of these
tests, these planes were transferred to the Navy and assigned the 
serials 77137, and 77138, which was sort of unusual in that these
numbers had originally been set aside as part of a block of PB4Y
aircraft. 

It appears that the serials 83999 and 84001/84027 that had been  
been reserved for PB-1 aircraft were never actually used.

In 1949-1950, twenty B-17Gs were transferred to the Navy.  The
exact role that these planes were to fulfill is unclear.  Their
Navy designations and serials, if any, are unknown, and their
ultimate fate is uncertain.  None of these planes ever showed
up on later civil registers.

Seventeen ex-USAAF Vega-built B-17Gs were used by the US Coast Guard  
under the designation PB-1G.  In July 1945, 18 B-17s were set aside
by the USAAF for transfer to the Coast Guard via the Navy.  They
were assigned Navy serial numbers.  During wartime, the Coast Guard
is part of the Navy and is under War Department jurisdiction, but 
on January 1, 1946, the Coast Guard returned to the Treasury 
Department.  Nevertheless, the Navy continued to rework the B-17s 
and transferred them to the Coast Guard, where they served under 
their original Navy serial numbers.  

The first PB-1Gs were delivered to the Coast Guard beginning in 
July of 1946.  In the event, only 15 PB-1Gs were actually   
transferred to the Coast Guard, and they carried the Navy serial numbers
between 77246 and 77257, plus 82855 and 82856 from the second serial
block.  The USCG obtained one more aircraft directly from the USAAF in
1947.  It never received a BuAer number, and served with a truncated
version of its USAAF serial (85832).

The PB-1Gs were stationed throughout the hemisphere, with five at the 
Coast Guard station at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, two at San
Francisco, two in Newfoundland, one in Alaska, and one in Washington state.
They were used primarily for air-sea rescue, but were also used for
iceberg patrol duties and for photo mapping.  Air-sea rescue PB-1Gs
usually carried a droppable lifeboat underneath the fuselage and were 
painted in yellow and black air-rescue markings.  The chin turret was 
often replaced by a radome.  In postwar years, PB-1Gs would often 
carry the national insignia on their vertical tails rather than on the 
fuselage.  The Coast Guard PB-1Gs served for a long time, the last 
example (44-85828, BuNo 77254) not being withdrawn from service until 
October 14, 1959.  This airplane was sold as surplus, operated as an
air tanker for many years, and is now on display in Arizona. 

The BuAer serials of the Navy PB-1Gs and PB-1Ws were as follows: 

34106		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - B-17F-75-DL 
			44-3521 from USAAF delivered to US Navy
34114		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - B-17G-85-DL 
			44-83538 from USAAF delivered to US Navy
77137		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - B-17G-85-DL
			44-83463 from USAAF delivered to US Navy
77138		Lockheed-Vega PB-1W Fortress - B-17G-105-VE 44-85679
			from USAAF delivered to US Navy.
77225 		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83855 used by US Navy
77226/77228	Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83857/83859 used by US Navy
77229/77232	Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83857/83859 used by US Navy
77233/77234	Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83868/83869 used by US Navy
77235/77242	Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83872/83879 used by US Navy
77243		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83883 used by US Navy
77244		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1W Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-97-DL 44-83884 used by US Navy
77245		Douglas-Long Beach PB-1G Fortress - Former Army 
			B-17G-95-DL 44-85806 used by US Coast Guard
77246		Lockheed-Vega PB-1G Fortress - Former Army 
			B-17G-110-VE 44-85812 used by US Coast Guard
77247/77257	Lockheed-Vega PB-1G Fortress - Former Army
			B-17G-110-VE 44-85821/85831 used by US Coast Guard.
			77248 may have been returned to the Navy in 1949 and
			reserialed 84000.
77258		Lockheed-Vega XPB-1 Fortress - former Army
			B-17G-100-VE 44-85683 obtained by US Navy in June
			1945 for experimental tests.
82855/82857	General Motors XF2M-1 - Order cancelled before any could
	   		be built.
			These serials later reassigned to ex-USAAF 
  			Lockheed-Vega B-17G-110-VEs
			44-85837,44-85834, and 44-85838 used
			by US Coast Guard as PB-1G.
			82856 transferred from USCG to Navy in 1948 and
			may have received a new serial number. 
83992		Lockheed-Vega XPB-1 Fortress - B-17G-110-VE 44-85571 obtained 
			from War Assets Administration in August 1946 for use 
			by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory for jet engine tests.
			Striken off record in 1955.
83993/83998	Boeing PB-1 Fortress - unknown B-17Gs from USAAF
			transferred to US Navy in May of 1947 and stored at
			Corpus Christi until August 31, 1947 when striken from
			charge.  Fate unknown.
83999		It would appear that this serial number was reserved for
			PB-1 aircraft, but never actually assigned.
84000		Navy records for 77248 and 84000 suggest that they were
		the same aircraft.  Apparently 77248 was returned by the
		Coast Guard to the Navy in 1949 and was reserialed
		84000.  It was B-17G-110-VE 44-85822.
84001/84027	It appears that these serial numbers were reserved
			for PB-1s, but never actually assigned.
85832		Lockheed-Vega PB-1G Fortress - Ex-USAAF
			B-17G-110-VE 44-85832 transferred directly from
			USAAF inventory to USCG.  Never assigned a Navy serial 
			number and carried the truncated USAAAF serial
			85832 while on Coast Guard duty.

In 1949-1950, the following B-17s were transferred to the Navy.  
Apparently, they were never assigned Navy serial numbers or Navy designations.

44-83404  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-81408  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83433  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83435  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83422  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83505  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83563  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83726  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83749  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-83765  Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-95-DL
44-85495  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-95-VE
44-85514  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-95-VE
44-85537  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-95-VE
44-85542  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-95-VE
44-85574  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-95-VE
44-85628  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-100-VE
44-85657  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-100-VE
44-85661  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-100-VE
44-85665  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-100-VE
44-85681  Lockheed-Vega B-17G-100-VE

Sources:

  Flying Fortress, Edward Jablonski, Doubleday, 1965.

  Famous Bombers of the Second World War, Volume One, William
  Green, Doubleday, 1959.

  Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute
  Press, 1989.

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
  and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

  Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval
  Institute Press, 1987.

  Boeing B-17E and F Flying Fortress, Charles D. Thompson,
  Profile Publications, 1966.

  American Combat Planes, Ray Wagner, Third Edition, Doubleday, 1982.

  Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Military Press, 1989.

  Final Cut: The Postwar B-17 Flying Fortress: The Survivors,
  Scott A. Thompson, Pictorial Histories Publishing Co.

Joe Baugher			**************************************
AT&T Bell Laboratories		*  "Round up the usual suspects."    *
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