B-17 Flying Fortress

The Pacific

by Brian Toelle, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor a few Fortresses, B-17C and B-17Ds were in the Pacific. The B-17 had a lackluster record in the Pacific compared to other theaters of operation. Initially they were used to attack Japanese landing craft in the Philippines, and as participants in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, and Guadalcanal.

Excited crews tended to overstate the claims of damage they inflicted on the enemy and the Navy tended to scoff at them. Eventually as the crews became more experienced bombing accuracy and actual damage inflicted improved. But the USAAF could only spare few of the B-17Es to perform major, effective raids. Eventually the B-24 Liberator, its greater range better suited for duty in the Pacific, was the plane of choice in the theater and all the newly produced B-17s were shipped to Europe and North Africa.

North Africa and The Mediterranean

In North Africa and the Mediterranean, B-17s were tasked to denying the enemy supplies by shattering its shipping. Not only ships at sea but those at anchorage and in dock facilities were struck. Successes were modest.

These missions, while demonstrating that the initial concept was valid also pointed out that fixed ground targets were easier to destroy. To start with docks and factories didn't move. Ships did. By the time a convoy had been located, the bombers alerted, prepared and launched, enemy vessels had traveled many additional miles, and sometimes had reached the protective screen of friendly fighter protection.

As a result strategist focused the B-17 on ground targets with better results. During a mission against Palermo, Italy in March 1943 a group of Fortresses flying in tight formation bombed a group of ships off-loading in the harbor. One ship, fully loaded with munitions, exploded so violently that it shook the raiding B-17s at their 24,000 feet altitude.

A number of other ships were destroyed, as well as a large portion of the harbor facilities. The raid, described by USAAF General Carl Spaatz as "the most devastating single raid thus far in the war," underscored the effectiveness against of the B-17 against fixed targets. Also learned was the relationship between experience, training and mission success. Better trained and more experienced crews had a greater probability of carrying out their missions. The USAAF put these critical lessons to use as they began planning their assault on Nazi Europe.

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© Copyright 1996 by David W. Tschanz.
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