The Other Flying Fortress You Haven't Heard About

On a crisp morning in April 1950,  the engines of the PB4Y-2 Privateer, nicknamed the Turbulent Turtle, roared  to life on a runway of Wiesbaden, West Germany. This aircraft, a veteran of World  War 2's Pacific theater, prepared for a journey deep into the Baltic Sea's tension-filled skies.  The Privateer, with its advanced modifications, was a shadow in the sky, a ghostly presence tasked  with a mission as dangerous as it was crucial. It would pierce the Iron Curtain and gather  critical electr

onic and signals intelligence. The Turbulent Turtle, born from the legacy  of the B-24 Liberator and adapted for the Navy's demanding requirements, was no  ordinary aircraft. Its fuselage had been stretched to accommodate state-of-the-art  electronic countermeasures and radar antennas, transforming it into a flying fortress  bristling with a dozen .50 caliber machine guns. But as the Turbulent Turtle neared  the coast of Liepāja, Latvia, the quiet hum of its engines was soon drowned  out by the

ominous roar of Soviet La-11 fighters. As Soviet fighters closed in, the crew of the  Turbulent Turtle faced a dire situation; their mission of intelligence gathering suddenly became  secondary to the immediate challenge of survival… The B-24 Liberator was a four-engine heavy  bomber aircraft used extensively by the United States Army Air Forces throughout World  War 2. It was produced in more numbers than any other American military aircraft  of its era, with over 18,000 units built. The B-24 f

eatured a distinctive twin-tail  design and a high-mounted Davis wing, providing long-range and high speed. Its large  bomb bay could carry around 8,000 pounds, making it well-suited for strategic bombing operations. Powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines, the B-24 had a maximum speed of over  300 miles per hour and a range of more than 2,000 miles. It carried a crew of 10, including  pilots, bombardiers, gunners, and navigators. The B-24 bomber played an essential role in  bombin

g campaigns against Axis targets in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific theater. Its  popularity resided in its wide range of mission compatibility, which included long-range  strategic bombing, anti-submarine patrols, and airborne supply operations. Nevertheless, despite its versatility and effectiveness, the B-24 was known for its  challenging handling characteristics, earning it the nickname "The Flying Coffin" among some crews. Still, the bomber’s popularity convinced the United States Nav

y to employ it with a modified  airframe for its naval operations. The first bombers delivered to the Navy were dubbed PB4Y-1  Liberators and featured minor naval modifications. Other conversions included using a tail belonging  to a Douglas B-23 Dragon, a vertical fin from a C-54 transport, and even the experimentation of a  ball turret instead of the standard nose turret. Even after all these iterations, the Navy was  unsatisfied and asked Consolidated Aircraft for a fully-fledged nasalized de

sign.  The result was the PB4Y-2 Privateer, first delivered in 1943 to the Navy for dedicated  long-range patrols and bombing operations. The Privateer was relatively similar  to the Liberator, but it was tailored specifically for naval operations. First and  foremost, the fuselage was lengthened to house a vigilant flight engineer station where the  operator managed the central aircraft systems. Another change included the position  of the navigator’s Astrodome, which was moved from the upper n

ose to a  location behind the first dorsal gun turret. The radar antennas and electronic  countermeasure communication equipment were also spread out through the  fuselage, protruding from several sides, as was the case with the innovative AN/APS-2  radome that was retractable behind the nose wheel. Secondly, the Privateer stood out from its  big brother with a unique vertical stabilizer, a departure from its predecessor's  standard twin-tail configuration. Forged from the remnants  of another U

SAAF prototype, the B-24N, the Privateer's single tail bolstered  stability and enhanced maneuverability at medium altitudes generally used for naval operations. Armed to the teeth with twelve .50-caliber M2 Browning machine guns, the Privateer was  armed with a defensive arsenal that boasted power and precision, omitting the Liberator's  ventral turret for weight-saving measures. The M2 machine guns were strategically  placed along the Privateer to protect it from all zones and shoot down any 

enemy threat that sought to flank it. Freed from the encumbrance of turbochargers as  the aircraft was not required to fly at high altitudes, the Privateer ascended  the skies with lethal agility. Crafted for the arduous demands of  maritime missions, this adaptation aimed to combat pilot fatigue, a  persistent foe on prolonged patrols, which included an additional seat  for a flight engineer crewmember. The first units of the Privateer entered service  in late 1943 but did not begin to make an

impact until the last months of 1944. Patrol Bomber  Squadrons 118 and 119 were the first Fleet squadrons to be equipped with the new aircraft. The majority of the 739 Privateers were delivered to the US Navy after the conclusion of the  global conflict in Europe. Nevertheless, several squadrons managed to see service in  the Pacific theater, commencing on January 6, 1945, and delivered outstanding  performances according to their crews. These units excelled in various  roles, including surveill

ance, search and rescue, electronic countermeasures,  and communication relays in the Marianas. The Privateers also ravaged the Pacific with  offensive operations beginning in March 1945. The Chinese coasts and the northern portion of  Okinawa were subjected to offensive missions conducted by Patrol Bomber Squadron 119  out of Clark Field in the Philippines. Privateers also conducted military operations  in the Gulf of Tonkin and the skies above French Indochina before the Japanese surrender. Du

ring  the invasion of the volcanic island of Iwo Jima, Navy Privateers conducted 16-hour-long  operations, which ranged from searching for enemy radar, radio/navigational stations,  troop ships, land objectives, and sea targets. They also reported on weather  conditions, enemy positions, and operations, located downed airmen over the  sea, and coordinated SAR or rescue operations. As if that was not enough, the Navy Privateers  also provided cover for Army Air Forces’ B-29 bomber operations abov

e the skies of  mainland Japan. Besides its military role, the Navy also employed the PB4Y-2  Privateers for typhoon and hurricane hunters during the last months of  the war against the Japanese Empire. Monitoring typhoons was, on occasion, more  dangerous than flying over active combat zones. Such was the tragedy of BuNos 59415 and 59716,  which were lost during hurricane hunting missions. The initial aircraft suffered a mechanical  failure and went down during an examination of a Category 1 ty

phoon in the vicinity of  Batan Island, near the Philippines. The second aircraft was lost during a Super Typhoon Doris  reconnaissance mission on December 16, 1953, near the small island of Agrihan north  of Guam. However, no trace of the crew or wreckage of the plane was ever found. Despite their aging technology, the Navy employed the Privateers successfully during  the outbreak of the Korean War. Following the invasion of South Korea by the Communist forces  of the North in June 1950, the Na

vy deployed its PB4Y-2 Privateers for patrol missions to detect  Chinese or North Korean seaborne infiltrators. PB4Y-2s flew through the darkness on daring  Firefly missions, their engines roaring as they dropped parachute flares to illuminate  the treacherous terrain below for the United Nations troops engaging the enemy in nighttime  operations or provide them with better visibility when sieged by Communist soldiers. With each flare cast into the night, the pilots faced enemy fire. They naviga

ted  through the chaos to detect and thwart North Korean and Chinese seaborne infiltrators. But the Privateers' valor extended far beyond the Korean Peninsula. Along the frigid waters of the  Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, these Navy aircraft served as the vanguards  of intelligence, their wings slicing through enemy airspace air as they conducted vital  signals intelligence or SIGINT flights. These missions were considered high-risk and  had high rewards as they required the a

ircraft to approach or penetrate enemy territory to  eavesdrop on enemy radar signals or radio traffic. The air-to-ground and air-to-air communication  between interceptor controllers and pilots was precious for intelligence analysts. The  easiest way to obtain this information was to provoke the enemy's air defenses  to launch an aircraft interception. On April 8, 1950, Soviet La-11 fighters  unleashed a hail of fire against a PB4Y-2 Privateer known as the Turbulent Turtle.  Assigned to Patrol

Squadron 26 or VP-26, the brave crew met their fate off the coast of  Liepāja, Latvia, after enemy anti-aircraft fire tore through the fuselage of the aircraft. The shooting down of the American aircraft by the USSR led to new tensions between both  nations, with the Soviet Union stating: (QUOTE) “The plane penetrated the territory of the Soviet  Union to a distance of 21 kilometers… a flight of Soviet fighters took off from a nearby airdrome  and demanded that the American plane follow it and l

and at the airdrome. The American plane  not only failed to comply with this demand but opened fire on the Soviet planes.” “Owing to this, an advance Soviet fighter was forced to open fire in  reply, after which the American plane turned toward the sea and disappeared.” The Privateer’s crew was never seen again. During the early years of the Cold War,  the Privateers were also considered for delivery of nuclear weapons. Some PB4Y-2s were  specially modified to deliver second-generation atomic bo

mbs, but none were used to  conduct tests during their service. Over 40 privateers were also given to the  Nationalist Chinese Air Force led by Chiang Kai-shek to help them fight against the  Communist forces led by Mao during the Chinese Civil War. They were employed in similar  roles but were ultimately destroyed or captured by the Red Chinese People’s Army Air Force  when Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan. Other post-war combat services included the  French Air Force. Like China and Korea,

French Indochina was engulfed in a civil war between  the colonial regime and the Communist insurgents led by a nationalistic leader, Ho Chi Minh. The war between the French and the Viet Minh escalated in the early 1950s, leading the  military to request military assets from other allies. As a result, over 20 Privateers  were provided to the Aéronautique Navale for service with the French colonial army in Vietnam. The reliable Privateers were used as strategic bombers to destroy Viet Minh troops

scattered  across the countryside and the jungles of Southeast Asia. The aircraft remained operational  until the French Colonial troops were decisively defeated during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Only four out of 22 aircraft were lost in combat. Six were returned to US service, and  the remaining twelve were flown to North Africa, where they fought in the Algerian uprising and  later during the Suez Incident of the late 1950s. In 1961, the operational Privateers were  scrapped in favor of the

new American Lockheed P2V Neptunes. As for those that remained  under American Navy control, they were retired in 1954 and transferred to the US Coast Guard. Some were adapted as radio control target drones off Point Magu, California, in the early  1960s. The last Privateer, flying under the call sign Opposite 31 and carrying the ironic nickname  Lucky Pierre, was shot down by a Bullpup missile with an experimental proximity fuse that  turned the Bullpup into an air-to-air weapon. When the US C

oast Guard no longer found a  use for its search and rescue Privateers, the aging aircraft became anti-forest fire  water bombers. These Coast Guard Privateers removed the side and nose turrets and rebuilt  the nose with a vast, glazed observation dome. Some Privateers also found their way to the  civilian market after being sold as surplus. Civilians who purchased them gave the aircraft  new life after modifying them with new Wright R-2600 engines and installing of borate/water  slurry tanks to

use them as air tankers. These civilian-modified aircraft were known as  Super Privateers and remained in service until 2002, bringing the life of the aircraft to an  end almost six decades after its introduction.