0:02 This is the dark story of the deadliest
0:04 and most controversial airplane in human
0:07 history. No aircraft before or since has
0:09 achieved what the B-29 Superfortress
0:11 did. In this video, you'll see its
0:13 beginnings, its terrifying missions, and
0:15 the reason it will be remembered
0:17 forever. In the years leading up to the
0:19 Second World War, America's main
0:22 strategic bomber was the B17 Flying
0:25 Fortress. Introduced in 1938, it was a
0:27 solid aircraft that later took on risky
0:30 bombing missions in Europe. However,
0:32 with the expected widespread conflict,
0:34 the United States urgently needed an
0:36 aircraft with a longer range and the
0:39 capacity to carry a devastating bomb
0:42 payload. The B7 Flying Fortress lacked
0:44 the range and power to carry a full
0:46 payload across the vast Pacific or
0:49 Atlantic oceans. Additionally, the new
0:51 bomber needed a pressurized cabin with
0:52 doors that could open during flight for
0:54 bomb releases, which was a significant
0:56 engineering challenge. As the Second
0:58 World War progressed, the need for such
1:00 an aircraft became more and more
1:02 apparent. Several prototypes were
1:04 developed under extreme time pressure,
1:06 with some test flights ending in
1:08 horrible tragedy. During one fully
1:10 manned test flight, the prototypes
1:12 engine and fuel tank caught fire shortly
1:15 after takeoff, resulting in a horrific
1:17 crash and the deaths of all 11 crew
1:20 members and 21 civilians on the ground.
1:23 After numerous mechanical failures and
1:25 setbacks, around 100 B-29s were
1:28 scrambled, but only 15 were actually
1:31 operational. By 1944, these problems
1:33 were resolved, and mass production was
1:36 in full swing. The B-29 was designed to
1:38 fly faster and higher than any bomber
1:40 before it. Initially, there were
1:43 questions about how exactly the B-29
1:45 would be used. Although it was created
1:46 to fulfill the need for a long-range
1:48 bomber in the Pacific, it was first
1:51 intended for operations against Germany.
1:53 However, there were no airfields in the
1:55 United Kingdom large enough to
1:56 accommodate a group of planes as large
1:59 as the B29s. But it soon became clear
2:02 that Japan and the Pacific theater were
2:05 more urgent targets. The fully equipped
2:09 B-29 had a range of approximately 5,200
2:12 mi. But the Americans did not yet have a
2:14 foothold in Asia to support supply drops
2:17 to their planes in China. Instead, the
2:19 Superfortresses were based in British
2:21 North India, where they had a steady
2:24 supply of fuel and ammunition. In
2:26 preparation for raids, the fleet carried
2:28 supplies over the Himalayas to bases in
2:30 southwest China, from which they would
2:32 launch their bombing runs. This was a
2:35 logistical nightmare. First, the targets
2:37 bombed from China were so far that the
2:39 bombers barely had enough fuel for the
2:42 journey to the target and back. To
2:44 effectively bomb the entire country, the
2:46 Americans needed runways much closer to
2:49 Japan. So, they moved into the Mariana's
2:51 Islands, a remote archipelago located
2:55 about 1,500 mi south of Tokyo. In bloody
2:57 battles, US forces took control of
3:00 Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. in the summer
3:03 of 1944 and quickly built five large air
3:06 bases there. With this move, Japan's
3:09 population and industrial centers were
3:11 now well within the range of a fully armed
3:12 armed
3:15 B-29. The B-29 introduced a new and
3:18 innovative crew setup. Six crew members
3:20 were positioned in the forward
3:21 pressurized compartment and a
3:23 pressurized tunnel behind the cockpit
3:26 provided access to the rear pressurized
3:28 compartment. This rear compartment
3:30 housed the B-29's computerized fire
3:32 control system. Traditional manned
3:34 turrets were not suitable for the high
3:37 alitude missions of the B-29. So, a
3:39 remote control system was developed. The
3:42 aircraft had four turrets with double 50
3:44 caliber machine guns, two on top of the
3:46 fuselage and two underneath, which were
3:48 controlled from sighting stations within
3:50 the pressurized compartments. Positioned
3:52 on an elevated seat nicknamed the
3:55 barber's chair, the central fire control
3:57 gunner could take control of any of the
4:00 gun positions remotely. The B-29 was
4:03 also the first bomber to use radar as
4:05 standard equipment. But the real power
4:08 of the B-29 was in its bomb load up to
4:11 20,000 lb housed in two bomb bays. To
4:13 maintain stability, the bombs would be
4:15 released alternately between the two
4:17 bomb bays. To lift such a heavy
4:20 aircraft, Boeing equipped the B-29 with
4:22 four supercharged engines, each
4:26 producing 2,300 horsepower. These were
4:28 the most powerful piston engines in
4:29 production at the time, but they were
4:32 infamous for overheating and catching
4:34 fire, often with catastrophic results.
4:37 The Superfortress saw its first combat
4:41 mission in June of 1944. Around 75
4:43 planes participated in a bombing run
4:46 over Japanese occupied Bangkok. Just 10
4:49 days later, 68 B-29s embarked on a
4:51 mission to destroy the Imperial
4:53 factories in Yawata, Japan. But the
4:57 operation went horribly wrong. One B-29
5:00 was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and
5:02 two others were forced to crash land.
5:05 Out of the 68 bombers, only one managed
5:07 to hit its intended target. In these
5:10 early missions, the B-29 proved to be an
5:12 incredibly inaccurate bomber. At first,
5:14 the United States Army Air Force
5:16 attempted to use the same so-called
5:18 strategic bombing tactics they had used
5:20 on the Western Front. From high
5:22 altitudes, bombs were dropped on
5:24 critical locations in cities like
5:27 factories, bridges, and water supplies.
5:29 In theory, this approach was intended to
5:31 minimize civilian casualties. However,
5:35 despite careful calculations, the B-29
5:37 consistently landed bombs miles away
5:39 from its targets. After months of
5:41 failure and extensive research, the
5:44 Americans finally discovered the cause.
5:46 At about 6 mi above Japan, the same
5:49 altitude from which the B-29s were
5:51 bombing, winds regularly reach speeds of
5:55 250 mph. This multidirectional jetream
5:58 made strategic bombing impossible. For
6:01 the B-29 to effectively force Japan into
6:03 submission, significant changes in
6:05 tactics were necessary. Because of this,
6:08 the Army Air Force made crucial changes
6:11 that would completely alter the B-29's
6:13 performance. This was when the American
6:16 Major General Curtis Lameé stepped in.
6:18 Lame introduced a shift from high
6:21 alitude strategic bombing to lowaltitude
6:24 firebombing. The incendiary raids began
6:26 with the bombing of Coobe City on
6:29 February 4th, 1945.
6:31 It quickly became clear that this new
6:34 method would cause devastation unlike
6:36 anything seen before. In fact, the
6:39 firebombing of Tokyo on March 9th and
6:41 10th remains the deadliest bombing
6:42 attack in human history with an
6:46 estimated 100,000 casualties in just 24
6:49 hours. Most Japanese houses were built
6:52 from wood and bamboo, and the resulting
6:55 firestorm was utterly devastating.
6:57 However, the firebombing of Tokyo would
7:00 never be as infamous as the B-29's final
7:02 and most significant act of World War
7:05 II, dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
7:06 and
7:09 Nagasaki. When the atomic bombs were
7:11 ready, the Thin Man, which was long and
7:14 tubular, and the Fat Man, which was
7:16 round and ovular, the only aircraft
7:18 capable of carrying and delivering these
7:21 massive bombs was the B-29.
7:23 However, this mission required
7:25 additional modifications leading to the
7:27 creation of specialized B-29s known as
7:30 silver plates. These modified aircraft
7:32 were stripped of typical armaments to
7:35 reduce weight. They also included a
7:36 specialized weapon section in the
7:38 cockpit with tools for monitoring the
7:41 bomb's condition before release. On
7:46 August 6th, 1945, a silverplate B29
7:48 called the Anola Gay dropped the first
7:52 atomic bomb little boy on Hiroshima. 3
7:54 days later, Boxcar dropped the Fat Man
7:57 on Nagasaki. Less than a week later, the
8:00 war with Japan was over. Through months
8:02 of relentless bombing of the Japanese
8:04 mainland, the B-29 had effectively
8:07 brought an end to the conflict. After
8:09 the war, the B-29 set records for the
8:12 longest non-stop flight that still stand
8:14 today. The Superfortress's production
8:18 was officially halted in 1946. But this
8:21 was not the end of the B-29 story. The
8:23 Superfortress played a small role in the
8:27 Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Though it
8:29 soon became clear that the bomber was
8:31 less suited for this type of warfare.
8:34 The North Koreans had few clear targets
8:36 suitable for strategic or firebombing,
8:38 and the introduction of the Soviet MiG
8:41 15 provided a powerful interceptor
8:42 against the
8:46 B-29. Despite these challenges, B-29s
8:49 flew 20,000 sorties and dropped 200,000
8:51 tons of bombs during the Korean War,
8:54 primarily flying at night to avoid
8:57 interception. After the Korean War, the
9:00 B-29 gradually became obsolete. Overall,
9:03 the B-29 was a tremendous success and
9:05 played a significant role in the
9:07 American victory over Japan in the
9:09 Second World War. However, this
9:12 achievement came with a cost. The B-29's
9:15 engines often caught fire, and more
9:17 B-29s were lost to mechanical failure
9:20 than to enemy fire. The project was the
9:22 most expensive of the Second World War
9:24 with a total cost of $3 billion,
9:27 equivalent to 43 billion today. The
9:30 impact of the B-29 on the bombing of
9:32 Japan was so significant that even the
9:35 Soviet Union copied its design. When a
9:38 few US pilots were unable to return to
9:40 American bases after bombing raids, they
9:43 flew north and landed in Siberia.
9:45 Instead of returning the aircraft to the
9:48 Americans, the Soviets dismantled it and
9:50 attempted to reverse engineer it,
9:53 ultimately producing the Tupalev 24.
9:57 Today, 22 B29s are preserved worldwide.
9:59 Among these are the Boxcar and the Anola
10:01 Gay, the two planes that dropped the
10:04 atomic bombs on Japan. Remarkably, two
