Hang tight while we fetch the video data and transcripts. This only takes a moment.
Connecting to YouTube player…
Fetching transcript data…
We’ll display the transcript, summary, and all view options as soon as everything loads.
Next steps
Loading transcript tools…
B-29 Superfortress: DEADLIEST Bomber in Human History | Unbelievable true stories | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: B-29 Superfortress: DEADLIEST Bomber in Human History
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
The B-29 Superfortress was a revolutionary, albeit controversial, aircraft that played a pivotal role in the Allied victory in World War II, particularly in the Pacific theater, through its advanced technology and devastating bombing capabilities, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
This is the dark story of the deadliest
and most controversial airplane in human
history. No aircraft before or since has
achieved what the B-29 Superfortress
did. In this video, you'll see its
beginnings, its terrifying missions, and
the reason it will be remembered
forever. In the years leading up to the
Second World War, America's main
strategic bomber was the B17 Flying
Fortress. Introduced in 1938, it was a
solid aircraft that later took on risky
bombing missions in Europe. However,
with the expected widespread conflict,
the United States urgently needed an
aircraft with a longer range and the
capacity to carry a devastating bomb
payload. The B7 Flying Fortress lacked
the range and power to carry a full
payload across the vast Pacific or
Atlantic oceans. Additionally, the new
bomber needed a pressurized cabin with
doors that could open during flight for
bomb releases, which was a significant
engineering challenge. As the Second
World War progressed, the need for such
an aircraft became more and more
apparent. Several prototypes were
developed under extreme time pressure,
with some test flights ending in
horrible tragedy. During one fully
manned test flight, the prototypes
engine and fuel tank caught fire shortly
after takeoff, resulting in a horrific
crash and the deaths of all 11 crew
members and 21 civilians on the ground.
After numerous mechanical failures and
setbacks, around 100 B-29s were
scrambled, but only 15 were actually
operational. By 1944, these problems
were resolved, and mass production was
in full swing. The B-29 was designed to
fly faster and higher than any bomber
before it. Initially, there were
questions about how exactly the B-29
would be used. Although it was created
to fulfill the need for a long-range
bomber in the Pacific, it was first
intended for operations against Germany.
However, there were no airfields in the
United Kingdom large enough to
accommodate a group of planes as large
as the B29s. But it soon became clear
that Japan and the Pacific theater were
more urgent targets. The fully equipped
B-29 had a range of approximately 5,200
mi. But the Americans did not yet have a
foothold in Asia to support supply drops
to their planes in China. Instead, the
Superfortresses were based in British
North India, where they had a steady
supply of fuel and ammunition. In
preparation for raids, the fleet carried
supplies over the Himalayas to bases in
southwest China, from which they would
launch their bombing runs. This was a
logistical nightmare. First, the targets
bombed from China were so far that the
bombers barely had enough fuel for the
journey to the target and back. To
effectively bomb the entire country, the
Americans needed runways much closer to
Japan. So, they moved into the Mariana's
Islands, a remote archipelago located
about 1,500 mi south of Tokyo. In bloody
battles, US forces took control of
Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. in the summer
of 1944 and quickly built five large air
bases there. With this move, Japan's
population and industrial centers were
now well within the range of a fully armed
armed
B-29. The B-29 introduced a new and
innovative crew setup. Six crew members
were positioned in the forward
pressurized compartment and a
pressurized tunnel behind the cockpit
provided access to the rear pressurized
compartment. This rear compartment
housed the B-29's computerized fire
control system. Traditional manned
turrets were not suitable for the high
alitude missions of the B-29. So, a
remote control system was developed. The
aircraft had four turrets with double 50
caliber machine guns, two on top of the
fuselage and two underneath, which were
controlled from sighting stations within
the pressurized compartments. Positioned
on an elevated seat nicknamed the
barber's chair, the central fire control
gunner could take control of any of the
gun positions remotely. The B-29 was
also the first bomber to use radar as
standard equipment. But the real power
of the B-29 was in its bomb load up to
20,000 lb housed in two bomb bays. To
maintain stability, the bombs would be
released alternately between the two
bomb bays. To lift such a heavy
aircraft, Boeing equipped the B-29 with
four supercharged engines, each
producing 2,300 horsepower. These were
the most powerful piston engines in
production at the time, but they were
infamous for overheating and catching
fire, often with catastrophic results.
The Superfortress saw its first combat
mission in June of 1944. Around 75
planes participated in a bombing run
over Japanese occupied Bangkok. Just 10
days later, 68 B-29s embarked on a
mission to destroy the Imperial
factories in Yawata, Japan. But the
operation went horribly wrong. One B-29
was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and
two others were forced to crash land.
Out of the 68 bombers, only one managed
to hit its intended target. In these
early missions, the B-29 proved to be an
incredibly inaccurate bomber. At first,
the United States Army Air Force
attempted to use the same so-called
strategic bombing tactics they had used
on the Western Front. From high
altitudes, bombs were dropped on
critical locations in cities like
factories, bridges, and water supplies.
In theory, this approach was intended to
minimize civilian casualties. However,
despite careful calculations, the B-29
consistently landed bombs miles away
from its targets. After months of
failure and extensive research, the
Americans finally discovered the cause.
At about 6 mi above Japan, the same
altitude from which the B-29s were
bombing, winds regularly reach speeds of
250 mph. This multidirectional jetream
made strategic bombing impossible. For
the B-29 to effectively force Japan into
submission, significant changes in
tactics were necessary. Because of this,
the Army Air Force made crucial changes
that would completely alter the B-29's
performance. This was when the American
Major General Curtis Lameé stepped in.
Lame introduced a shift from high
alitude strategic bombing to lowaltitude
firebombing. The incendiary raids began
with the bombing of Coobe City on
February 4th, 1945.
It quickly became clear that this new
method would cause devastation unlike
anything seen before. In fact, the
firebombing of Tokyo on March 9th and
10th remains the deadliest bombing
attack in human history with an
estimated 100,000 casualties in just 24
hours. Most Japanese houses were built
from wood and bamboo, and the resulting
firestorm was utterly devastating.
However, the firebombing of Tokyo would
never be as infamous as the B-29's final
and most significant act of World War
II, dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
and
Nagasaki. When the atomic bombs were
ready, the Thin Man, which was long and
tubular, and the Fat Man, which was
round and ovular, the only aircraft
capable of carrying and delivering these
massive bombs was the B-29.
However, this mission required
additional modifications leading to the
creation of specialized B-29s known as
silver plates. These modified aircraft
were stripped of typical armaments to
reduce weight. They also included a
specialized weapon section in the
cockpit with tools for monitoring the
bomb's condition before release. On
August 6th, 1945, a silverplate B29
called the Anola Gay dropped the first
atomic bomb little boy on Hiroshima. 3
days later, Boxcar dropped the Fat Man
on Nagasaki. Less than a week later, the
war with Japan was over. Through months
of relentless bombing of the Japanese
mainland, the B-29 had effectively
brought an end to the conflict. After
the war, the B-29 set records for the
longest non-stop flight that still stand
today. The Superfortress's production
was officially halted in 1946. But this
was not the end of the B-29 story. The
Superfortress played a small role in the
Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Though it
soon became clear that the bomber was
less suited for this type of warfare.
The North Koreans had few clear targets
suitable for strategic or firebombing,
and the introduction of the Soviet MiG
15 provided a powerful interceptor
against the
B-29. Despite these challenges, B-29s
flew 20,000 sorties and dropped 200,000
tons of bombs during the Korean War,
primarily flying at night to avoid
interception. After the Korean War, the
B-29 gradually became obsolete. Overall,
the B-29 was a tremendous success and
played a significant role in the
American victory over Japan in the
Second World War. However, this
achievement came with a cost. The B-29's
engines often caught fire, and more
B-29s were lost to mechanical failure
than to enemy fire. The project was the
most expensive of the Second World War
with a total cost of $3 billion,
equivalent to 43 billion today. The
impact of the B-29 on the bombing of
Japan was so significant that even the
Soviet Union copied its design. When a
few US pilots were unable to return to
American bases after bombing raids, they
flew north and landed in Siberia.
Instead of returning the aircraft to the
Americans, the Soviets dismantled it and
attempted to reverse engineer it,
ultimately producing the Tupalev 24.
Today, 22 B29s are preserved worldwide.
Among these are the Boxcar and the Anola
Gay, the two planes that dropped the
atomic bombs on Japan. Remarkably, two
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
