I am unaware of any raid that lost 100 B-17s in a single run.
Correct you are. We lost 60 at Schweinfurt. 50 B-24s at Ploesti.
Black Thursday over Schweinfurt in August 1943.
60 bombers, 3 P-47s, and 2 Spitfires lost, with 58-95 bombers heavily damaged
No matter how you cut it, those guys could paint anything they wanted to on the back of their jackets and I would still tip my hat to them.
The Schweinfurt raid (I’d have to look up the date, don’t remember...) was supposedly the worst for losses, during which we lost 60 B-17s and 600 flyers.
You might read this book on Bomber Harris which does discuss the loss rate of both the Brits and Americans on the bombing runs across the Channel:
Bomber Harris: His Life and Times The Biography of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris,the Wartime Chief of [Hardcover]
Henry Probert (Author
That struck me as well. At the worst, several B-17 raids suffered losses of about 60 aircraft, and those were exceptional instances in which attacks were made deep into German airspace against a mostly intact Luftwaffee and without the benefit of fighter escort. I suspect that the author was misled by sources who spoke too casually and did not check the facts.
Schweinfurt seems to have come pretty close:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Raid_on_Schweinfurt
The highest raid loss IIRC was 60 forts on one mission.I think the mission was to regensberg in 43.The 100th BG lost 11 planes that day with only one returning and that one was piloted by Robert Rosenthal flying ROYAL FLUSH.12 planes to a squadron in those days.
Over 12,000 built for the war though.
I am unaware of any raid that lost 100 B-17s in a single run.
That is inflated, but losses were remarkable by today's standards anyway:
"According to the AAF Statistical Digest, in less than four years (December 1941- August 1945), the US Army Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots, aircrew and assorted personnel plus 13,873 airplanes --- inside the continental United States. They were the result of 52,651 aircraft accidents (6,039 involving fatalities) in 45 months.
Think about those numbers. They average 1,170 aircraft accidents per month---- nearly 40 a day. (Less than one accident in four resulted in totaled aircraft, however.)
Almost 1,000 Army planes disappeared en route from the US to foreign climes. But an eye-watering 43,581 aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418 against the Western Axis) and 20,633 attributed to non-combat causes overseas.
In August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down among 376 losses. That was a 16 percent loss rate and meant 600 empty bunks in England. In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe.
Pacific theatre losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller forces committed. The worst B-29 mission, against Tokyo on May 25, 1945, cost 26 Superfortress, 5.6 percent of the 464 dispatched from the Marianas."