| Historical Information | |||||||||
| Caption | SB-17G aircraft of Flight D of the US Air Force 5th Rescue Squadron, circa late 1940s; note rescue boat mounted beneath fuselage, chin-mounted radar dome, and Catalina in background ww2dbase | ||||||||
| Date | 1949 | ||||||||
| Photographer | Unknown | ||||||||
| Source Information | |||||||||
| Source | ww2dbaseUnited States Air Force | ||||||||
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| Licensing Information | |||||||||
| Licensing | Public Domain. According to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government". Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you. |
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| Metadata | |||||||||
| Added By | David Stubblebine | ||||||||
| Photo Size | 1,800 x 1,115 pixels | ||||||||
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Visitor Submitted Comments
2. 
David Stubblebine says:
12 Feb 2010 11:27:03 AM
The Catalina in the background is an OA-10, according to USAF designations. Converted PBY-5’s, the USAF operated relatively few OA-10’s compared with the US Navy, so this photo is all the more interesting.
David Stubblebine says:12 Feb 2010 11:27:03 AM
The Catalina in the background is an OA-10, according to USAF designations. Converted PBY-5’s, the USAF operated relatively few OA-10’s compared with the US Navy, so this photo is all the more interesting.
3. Bill says:
22 Nov 2014 11:46:13 AM
YEOMAN SERVICE:
After WWII the USAAF still had thousands of aircraft, some brand new and others that saw combat service. Thousands were scrapped and were melted down into aluminum ingots.
When the USAAF became the USAF in 1947, many of the survivors continued service in various duties
The air-sea rescue SB-17G in above file photo has the chin turret replaced with an air to surface radar. At this time all armament has been deleted.
KOREA:
During the Korean War, SB-17s continued air-sea rescue and were now armed with .50 caliber cheek, top turret and tail guns for self protection.
The yellow rescue boat was about 27 feet long and
3,500lbs/1587.6kgs and was supplied with survival equipment. After Korea the last SB-17Gs were phased out of air-sea rescue by the mid 1950s and replaced with newer aircraft.
The U.S. Coast Guard continued to operate the B-17
PB-1Gs for iceberg patrol, photo-mapping and other duties, until 1959 and phased out of service
22 Nov 2014 11:46:13 AM
YEOMAN SERVICE:
After WWII the USAAF still had thousands of aircraft, some brand new and others that saw combat service. Thousands were scrapped and were melted down into aluminum ingots.
When the USAAF became the USAF in 1947, many of the survivors continued service in various duties
The air-sea rescue SB-17G in above file photo has the chin turret replaced with an air to surface radar. At this time all armament has been deleted.
KOREA:
During the Korean War, SB-17s continued air-sea rescue and were now armed with .50 caliber cheek, top turret and tail guns for self protection.
The yellow rescue boat was about 27 feet long and
3,500lbs/1587.6kgs and was supplied with survival equipment. After Korea the last SB-17Gs were phased out of air-sea rescue by the mid 1950s and replaced with newer aircraft.
The U.S. Coast Guard continued to operate the B-17
PB-1Gs for iceberg patrol, photo-mapping and other duties, until 1959 and phased out of service
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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8 Feb 2010 02:25:18 AM
SB-17G was a post-war designation. During WWII, this model was known as the B-17H. The rescue boat was designed to be dropped to downed airmen and such boat-drops saved several downed B-29 crews in the Pacific. This aircraft is almost certainly 44-83794, which crashed on takeoff at Ernest Harmon AFB, Newfoundland May 21, 1951.