North American B-25 Mitchell | a 7 Image Story The North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, used by most Allied countries, saw action in every combat theater during World War II. The B-25 Mitchell replaced several squadrons of B-26 Marauders in the 22nd Bomb Group in October 1943, mostly due to heavy losses of the B-26 during bombing missions with no fighter escort.
My father was a crew chief in the 33rd squadron of the 22nd BG. He liked the B-26, but liked the B-25 more, mostly because it seemed to be a tougher airplane. He thought it took more damage and still brought the crew back home. Although crew chiefs were not normally part of the flight crew, he occasionally talked the pilot into letting him replace one of the gunners on a bombing mission. On one such mission, the B-25 was heavily danged by AAA and enemy fighters. It had so many holes in the wings, he wondered how it kept flying. Good thing for me that it did keep flying! For more information on the 22nd BG, see 22nd BG Red Raiders 77 Years Ago | a 7 Image Story.
The North American B-25 Mitchell is a twin-engine, twin-tail, mid-wing bomber powered by two 1,700-horsepower Wright Cyclone engines. Named after Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell, nearly 10,000 B-25s were produced from late 1939 through 1945. It became one of the most versatile aircraft of the war with different models used for high level bombing, low level bombing, skip bombing enemy shipping, strafing, photo reconnaissance, submarine patrol, and even as a fighter. The B-25 was used extensively in the Pacific Theater for bombing airfields and beach emplacements as well as strafing from treetop level. B-25 attack models carried up to 14 forward-facing .50 cal machine guns. A few B-25s had a 75mm cannon mounted in the nose to attack ships.
Of course, the B-25 became famous when Lieutenant Colonel “Jimmy” Doolittle took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet in April of 1942 to bomb Tokyo. Those 16 B-25s became the first U.S. aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland. To learn about the Doolittle Raid, see Doolittle Raiders Reunion | a 7 Image Story.
If you are interested in B-25 nose art, see B-25 WWII Nose Art | a 7 Image Story and More B-25 WWII Nose Art | a 7 Image Story.
| Manufacturer | North American Aviation Type Medium Bomber |
| First Flight | 19 Aug 1940 Total Built10,000 +/- |
| Wing Span | 67 ft. 6.7 in. Wing Area 610 sq. ft. |
| Length | 52 ft. 11 in. Height 16 ft. 9 in. |
| Weight | Empty 19,490+ lbs Gross 27,051+ lbs Useful Load 6,746+ lbs |
| Engines | Two 1,700-hp Wright Cyclone supercharged 14-cylinder radial engines Fuel Burn ≈ 140 gal/hr |
| Propellers | 12-foot-7-inch full-feathering, constant-speed Hamilton Standard three-bladed props |
| Landing Gear | Hydraulically operated tricycle |
| Cruise Speed | 230 mph Max Speed 300+ mph |
| Range | 1,350 miles, over 3,000 miles using drop tanks Ceiling ≈ 24,200 ft. |
| Crew | Pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, flight engineer, radio operator, tail gunner |
| Armament | 12 – 18 .50 caliber machine guns Max Bomb Load 3,200 lbs to 5,000 lbs |
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category North American B-25 Mitchell.
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