Subject: Bomber Series--Boeing B-17 Fortress (23 of 27)

From: [email-masked] (joseph.f.baugher)
Date: 9 Sep 94 02:40:15 GMT

In 1945, plans were made for the conversion of approximately 130 USAAF 
B-17Gs into search and rescue aircraft.  They were to be modified to 
carry a lifeboat under the fuselage, and were to be redesignated 
B-17H.  

My sources disagree on the number of search-and-rescue Fortress 
conversions that were actually carried out.  Some say that only twelve 
such conversions were actually carried out, all of the planes being 
redesignated B-17H upon completion, with five of the B-17Hs being 
later redesignated TB-17H.  The serial numbers of these B-17Hs are 
given at the end of this article.  Other sources claim that all 130 of 
these conversions were eventually carried out, but that only the 12 
aircraft indicated above were redesignated B-17H, with the remainder 
retaining their original B-17G designations.  Still other sources 
maintain that all 130 of these planes became B-17H.  Ah, the joys of 
research! 

The droppable lifeboat was a self-righting, self-bailing type of boat 
that was equipped with full emergency provisions.  It was carried 
underneath the belly of the aircraft and was dropped at sea by means 
of three parachutes.  The boat extended from just aft of the chin
turret fairing to the ball turet and was contoured to mold to the
fuselage of the belly.

Some of the earlier B-17H conversions were intended for operations in 
combat areas and retained their defensive armament.  Others deleted 
the defensive armament entirely and replaced the chin turret with a 
search radar.   The aircraft did not become operational until the
war was nearly over.  Nevertheless, the B-17H was instrumental in
saving the lives of several B-29 crews during the last stages of
the bomber offensive against Japan. 

Following the creation of the US Air Force, the aircraft designation 
scheme was revised in 1948.  At that time, the B-17Hs were 
redesignated SB-17G, the S prefix indicating the primary search-and- 
rescue mission.  

Some of these SB-17Gs were still in service at the time of the Korean 
War, and those planes operating in Korean waters were refitted with 
cheek, waist, and tail guns for defensive purposes.   They were
administratively assigned to the world-wide Air Rescue Service, which
was a part of MATS.  They provided air-sea rescue survices for
the far-reaching world-wide operations of the USAF.  

All SB-17G conversions were retired by the mid-1950s, some being 
assigned to provide range control service at missile test sites.  
At least two SB-17Gs survive in the USA today. 44-83575 is in
storage awaiting restoration.  44-83722 was later deployed on the
ground during a nuclear test and was heavily damaged, but its
bits and pieces are currently in storage awaiting incorporation
into other restored Fortresses.

B-17G air-sea rescue conversions redesignated as B-17H: 

44-83573 (or 5?), 44-83700, 44-83705, 44-83710, 44-83714, 44-83718, 
44-83719, 44-83722, 44-83791, 44-83793, 44-83794, 44-83799.  

The question mark is there because a much-reproduced post-1947 photo 
of a lifeboat-carrying Fortress shows the plane as carrying the 
serial number 44-83575.  This may mean that there is a typo in the 
first entry in the list of serials given above.  But it could also 
mean that there were more than the above listed number of 
lifeboat-carrying Fortresses conversions that were actually carried 
out.  

B-17H conversions to TB-17H: 

44-83700, 44883714, 44-83718, 44-83791, 44-83793.  

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.

  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.

Joe Baugher			**************************************
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