B-26 Marauder - Martin 179
N.B. The B-26 Invader is not to be confused with the B-26 Marauder. After the Marauder was retired from service in June 1948, the A-26 Invader was redesignated B-26. The attack designation was dropped in 1947, and the attack mission was absorbed by other aircraft classes, primarily fighters and bombers, only to be revived during the Vietnam War. Confusion over the distinction between the two aircraft persists today. While both are twin engine aircraft using the same Pratt & Whitney R-2800-5 Double Wasp radial engines and having a roughly 70 foot wingspan, they are otherwise un-related and dis-similar aircraft. The Invader fuselage is shorter with a lean and hungry look, while the Marauder's fuselage is decidedly husky and muscular, if not quite plump.
In 1939 the military contracted with the Glenn Martin Company to design a twin-engine medium powered bomber. The Marauder cruised at 10 to 15,000 feet and had a gun turret on top near the rear of the aircraft. The design was converted quickly converted into a production aircraft, and the first flight was on November 15, 1940. Several months later, in February 1941, the first B-26 was assigned to the 22nd Bomb Group at Langley Field.
The aircraft, initially known as the "widowmaker," suffered many operational problems early on. These problems were corrected and the Marauder became one of the Air Force’s most successful bombers. During World War II the army used the B-26 primarily in Europe and the Mediterranean, but it did see some action in the Pacific. It was used to support ground troops by attacking fortified enemy positions and transportation sites. A number of variants were created during the war. The B-26 was phased out by May 1945.
The B-26, like the B-25, was ordered into production based on the design alone. No prototype aircraft were built, although the first four production aircraft were used for flight testing. The Glenn L. Martin Co. responded to the Army Air Corps Circular Proposal 39-640 by submitting its Model 179 design. Initial contract awards were given to Martin to build 201 B-26s and to North American for 184 B-25s.
The B-26 went from design concept in mid-1939 to flying aircraft in less than two years when it flew for the first time on Nov. 25, 1940. Initial flight testing continued for three months. The 22nd Bomb Group based at Langley Field, Va., was the first unit to receive the aircraft in February 1941.
The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engines of 1,850 hp each. The wing of the B-26 was relatively small making handling the aircraft tricky at landing speeds. Initial armament consisted of a power dorsal turret with two .50-cal. machine guns and a .30-cal. machine gun in the nose and another in the tail. Up to 4,800 pounds of bombs could be carried in the bomb bay.
As a medium bomber, the Marauder’s capabilities in many ways fell in between the often-opposing expectations of the Army and the Army Air Forces (AAF). Disagreements over the value of medium bombers emerged before the aircraft’s inception and continued throughout its service life and beyond. After entering service, high accident rates in training saddled the Marauder with a reputation as an unsafe aircraft that proved difficult to shed. During its early combat employment, its shortcomings and operational losses overshadowed other tactical achievements. On multiple occasions, the AAF nearly removed the aircraft from its operational inventory. Yet the aircraft remained in service and its crews ultimately honed a capability that successfully contributed to the defeat of Germany.
Based on its design specifications alone, the B-26 offered the Air Corps significant capabilities. Its promised maximum speed of 322 mph topped its predecessors by a wide margin. The Douglas B-18, a twin-engine bomber delivered in 1937, topped out at 217 mph. With a bomb load rivaling most configurations of early B-17 variants and nearly twice that of light bombers, the Marauder offered significant offensive power. The Marauder’s multiple gun locations enabled it to strafe ground targets and defend itself from attacking fighters. The aircraft’s gun configuration changed multiple times, even during initial production, but all models at least included nose, dorsal, and tail firing positions. The Marauder’s dorsal turret, modified in early production to house twin .50 caliber guns, proved extremely successful and was later used in the B24.44 Martin had truly designed a powerful bomber that could fly like a fighter. The company raced to build the aircraft in the face of a growing threat from Germany.
The Marauder made its maiden voyage on 25 November 1940 with the first four aircraft delivered to the AAF on 22 February 1941. The B-26 began flying combat missions in the Southwest Pacific in the spring of 1942, but most were subsequently assigned to Europe and the Mediterranean. Bombing from medium altitudes of 10,000 to 15,000 feet, the Marauder had the lowest loss rate of any Allied bomber -- less than one-half of one percent. U.S., British, Free French, Australian, South African and Canadian aircrews all flew the B-26 in combat. By the end of World War II, B-26 crews had flown more than 110,000 sorties and had dropped 150,000 tons of bombs.
In 1945, when B-26 production was halted, 5,266 had been built. The B-26 and its crews offered capabilities for strategic and tactical airpower, yet had limitations in both arenas. They occupied a middle ground between the more formalized concepts of attack aviation and strategic bombardment. Amidst competing conceptions of airpower, the role of the B-26 and its crews changed throughout the war and differed from what many expected. In the end, they played a significant, though under-documented, role in WWII.
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