At 11:42 on the morning of January 27th, 1945, Staff Sergeant Robert Chen crouched behind the central fire control station of B29 Superfortress Aquar 52, watching oxygen frost spread across the plexiglass as his formation climbed through 28,000 ft over the Pacific. 22 years old, 11 combat missions over Japan, zero confirmed kills.

 The Japanese had scrambled at least 40 fighters to intercept the morning strike on Tokyo. Chen was the youngest gunner in the 497th bombardment group. His hands were steady on the controls that connected him to four remote gun turrets mounted across the B29’s fuselage. Each turret held twin 50 caliber machine guns.

 He had fired them twice in anger over Nagoya and once over the Japanese coast. He had never seen a fighter fall. The 73rd Bombardment Wing had been flying missions from Saipan since November. The pattern was always the same. High altitude precision bombing, 28 to 30,000 ft, temperatures 50 below zero, jetream winds so violent that bombaders could not compensate and Japanese fighters climbing to meet them every single time.

 By mid January, the wing had lost 31 B29s to fighters and flack. That was 31 crews, 340 men. The worst losses came on January 14th over Nagoya when five Superfortresses went down in less than 20 minutes. German Panther and Tiger tanks had taught American tankers about inferior armor. Japanese interceptors were teaching B-29 crews about altitude limitations.

 The Nakajima Key44 could climb to 28,000 ft in under 8 minutes. The fighter was called Tojo by American intelligence officers and Shoki by Japanese pilots. The translation was Devil Queller. The name fit. The Key 44 carried four 12.7 mm machine guns or two 20 mm cannon. At high altitude, where the air was thin and the B29’s defensive gunners struggled with frozen mechanisms and oxygen deprivation, a single fighter could make multiple firing passes with relative impunity.

 Worse were the ramming attacks. Starting in August 1944, Japanese pilots had begun deliberately colliding with B29s after expending their ammunition. This was not kamicazi doctrine. This was desperation mathematics. One fighter for one bomber was an acceptable exchange rate when the bomber cost $600,000 and carried 11 men trained for 6 months.

The 47th Centi based at Narimasu Airfield near Tokyo operated a special air superiority unit that practiced the tactic. American intelligence estimated the unit had destroyed at least three B-29s through ramming and damaged seven others badly enough to write them off after crash landings. A square 52 was carrying six tons of high explosive bombs in her belly.

 The target was Tokyo’s port facilities. Weather reconnaissance aircraft had reported clear skies over the primary target. That meant visual bombing. That meant the formation would need to hold steady for the bomb run. That meant the fighters would have time to position for perfect firing angles. Chen had been briefed on the odds that morning at 0400.

62 B29s would participate in the strike. Intelligence predicted nine would not return. If you want to see how Chen and his crew survived what came next, please hit that like button. It helps us share more forgotten stories from World War II. Subscribe if you haven’t already. Back to Chen.

 The formation crossed the Japanese coast at 1158. Radar operators on Honchu tracked them immediately. Air raid sirens wailed across Tokyo. At Nadimasu airfield, pilots sprinted toward fighters that were already warming up on the flight line. At exactly noon, the first key 44s lifted off and turned southeast toward the incoming bomber stream. 43 fighters.

 A square 52 was about to face more enemy aircraft than any B29 had encountered in a single mission. The first fighter appeared at 12,000 yd. Chen saw it through the optical sight as a dark speck climbing almost vertically through scattered clouds. The speck grew larger, wings became visible. Then the distinctive radial engine cowling of a KI44.

The fighter rolled inverted at 27,000 ft and dove toward the formation’s lead element. Three more fighters followed. Chen rotated his upper forward turret to track the diving attack. The remote control system allowed him to aim guns mounted 15 feet away from his position. A computer corrected for air speed, altitude, and the B29’s forward motion.

The technology was revolutionary. It was also temperamental at 50 below zero. The lead KI44 opened fire at 800 yd. Tracers arked toward the formation. Chen pressed his firing button. The turret hammered. 50 caliber rounds streamed toward the fighter at 2,800 ft per second. The Ki44 snap rolled left and disappeared beneath the formation. No hits.

 The fighter had broken off too quickly. By 12:07, the formation was fully engaged. Fighters attacked from all quadrants. The standard tactic was a high-side pass from 11:00, diving through the formation at 400 mph, then breaking hard left or right to avoid the B-29’s concentrated defensive fire. Individual fighters rarely pressed attacks to point blank range. Ramming attacks were different.

Chen’s aircraft commander called out a fighter at 2:00 high. Chen swung the upper turret. A KI44 was positioning for a beam attack. Range 700 yards. The fighter’s nose was tracking a square 52 precisely. Chen led the target and fired a 3-second burst. The armor-piercing incendiary rounds walked across the fighter’s flight path.

 The Ki44’s engine exploded. Black smoke erupted from the cowling. The fighter rolled inverted and fell away, trailing fire. First confirmed kill. Chen did not celebrate. Two more fighters were already maneuvering into attack position. The B29’s right blister gunner engaged one with his twin 50s. The tail gunner called out a fighter closing from 6:00 low.

 The central fire control system allowed Chen to slave the lower AF turret to his sight picture. He tracked the target, fired, missed. The tail gunner took over and stitched rounds across the Ki44’s wing route. The fighter shuddered. Pieces of aluminum skin peeled away. The aircraft went into a flat spin. Second kill credited to a square 52.

 The formation reached the initial point for the bomb run at 1219. This was the moment of maximum vulnerability. The bombers would fly straight and level for 6 minutes while bombarders synchronized their Nordon bomb sites. Course changes were forbidden. Evasive maneuvers were impossible. The fighters knew this. 14 KI44s formed up 3,000 ft above the bomber stream.

 They orbited once, twice, positioning for coordinated attacks that would overwhelm the B-29’s defensive fire. At 12:21, they rolled in. Chen counted them through his sight. 1 2 3 four fighters diving in pairs from 10:00 high and 2:00 high simultaneously. Textbook tactics. The formation’s gunners would need to split their fire. Individual B29s would face multiple attackers with degraded defensive coverage.

 The first pair opened fire at 1,000 yards. Chen engaged the lead fighter. His tracers converged with fire from two other B-29s in the formation. The KI44 flew directly into the stream of rounds. Its canopy shattered. The fighter snap rolled right and collided with its wingmen. Both aircraft disintegrated. Third and fourth kills, but the second attacking pair had used the chaos as cover.

 Two KI44s were now inside 500 yardds and closing fast. Their cannons were firing. Chen could see the muzzle flashes. He swung his sight to track the nearest fighter. The Ki44 was not breaking off. It was not attempting evasive maneuvers. The pilot had committed to a ramming attack. Impact in 4 seconds. Chen kept firing.

 The upper forward turret poured rounds into the K44’s engine cowling. Hits sparkled across the fighter’s nose. The range closed to 300 yd. 200. The fighter was trailing smoke but still accelerating. 100 yd. The K44 struck a square 52’s number three engine at 12:22 p.m. The impact sounded like a steel hammer hitting a locomotive boiler.

 The fighter’s propeller chewed through the engine cowling. Metal shrieked. The B-29 yawed violently to the right as the number three propeller tore free and tumbled away into space. The fighter’s wing sheared off. The fuselage cartw wheeled over the B29’s back and disappeared. Pieces of aluminum and steel rained past the gun turrets. Chen felt the entire aircraft shutter.

Warning lights blazed across the flight engineers panel. Number three engine fire. Number four engine losing oil pressure. The aircraft commander shut down both right side engines and activated the fire suppression system. A square 52 was now flying on two engines. The bomber dropped out of formation, losing altitude at 300 ft per minute.

Alone, damaged, perfect target. Three key 44s broke from their attack pattern and dove toward the crippled B29. They had altitude advantage. They had speed advantage. Standard doctrine called for damaged bombers to be finished quickly before they could jettison bombs and gain maneuverability. Chen rotated the upper turret to meet the first attacker.

 The fighter was diving from 1:00 high. Range 1,000 yd and closing. Chen waited. The targeting computer needed 3 seconds to calculate a firing solution on a maneuvering target. He forced himself to hold fire. 800 yards. The K44’s nose lit up with cannon fire. Rounds punched through a square 52’s left wing.

 Hydraulic fluid sprayed from severed lines. 600 yd. Chen fired. A 4se secondond burst. The tracers connected. The key 44’s canopy exploded. The fighter rolled left and went down, trailing debris. Fifth kill. The second fighter attacked from 5:00 level. The tail gunner engaged first. His twin50s hammered for 6 seconds.

 The key 44 flew through the tracer stream without apparent damage. It closed to 400 yd. The tail gunner’s guns fell silent. Ammunition exhausted. Chen slaved the lower aft turret to his controls. The mechanical linkage was sluggish. Hydraulic pressure was dropping across all systems. He tracked the fighter manually, led the target, fired a two-cond burst.

 The rounds hit the K44’s left wing route. The wing folded upward. Structural failure. The fighter tumbled end over end and broke apart at 12,000 ft. Sixth kill. But the third attacker had used the engagement as a diversion. A key44 was now at 3:00 high, 300 yds out, wings level, nose pointed directly at a square 52’s cockpit.

 The fighter’s guns were silent. The pilot had expended his ammunition. Second ramming attack. The right blister gunner opened fire. Rounds sparked off the K44’s engine. The fighter did not deviate. Chen swung the upper turret hard right. The mechanical stops screamed. He fired. The tracers missed high. Overcorrected. Fired again.

Hits stitched across the fighter’s fuselage. The key 44 shuddered but maintained course. Range 100 yd. 50 yard. The fighter struck a square 52’s number one engine. The propeller disintegrated. Shrapnel tore through the wing. The number one fuel tank ruptured. Aviation gasoline sprayed into the slipstream.

 The K44’s fuselage broke in half. The tail section tumbled over the B29’s flight deck. The engine and cockpit section smashed into the left wing and ripped a 6-ft hole in the leading edge. A square 52 now had one functioning engine. Number two, the aircraft was falling through 18,000 ft. Air speed dropping below 160 mph. The wing was leaking fuel.

 The hydraulic system was failing. And 12 more Japanese fighters were forming up for a third wave of attacks. Chen’s hands were numb. The temperature inside the unpressurized gun station had dropped to 62 below zero. His oxygen mask had frozen to his face. Ice crystals covered the optical sight. He scraped them away with a gloved thumb and tracked the incoming fighters.

 The 12 KI44s had split into three groups of four. Classic Wolfpack tactics. One group would faint high, another would attack low. The third would exploit whichever defensive gap opened first. The tactic worked against healthy B-29s with full crews and functional systems. Against a crippled bomber with failing hydraulics and partial gun coverage, it was execution.

 A square 52 fell through 16,000 ft. The single operating engine could not maintain altitude with the damaged wing creating massive drag. The aircraft commander ordered all non-essential equipment jettisoned. Ammunition cans, tool kits, survival gear. Every pound mattered. The first group of four fighters do from 12:00 high.

 Chen engaged the lead aircraft at 900 yd. The upper turret responded sluggishly. Hydraulic pressure was down to 30%. He fired anyway. The recoil shook the entire gun mount. Tracers arked toward the diving fighter. The KI44 jinked right. Chen tracked, fired again. The second burst caught the fighter’s left wing. Fabric peeled away. Structural members became visible.

 The wing folded. The fighter snap rolled and went down. Seventh kill. The remaining three fighters in the formation pressed their attack. They opened fire simultaneously at 600 yd. Cannon rounds and machine gun bullets converged on a square 52 from three different angles. The bombardier’s compartment took multiple hits. Plexiglass shattered.

Frigid air screamed through the fuselage. The bombardier was killed instantly by a 20 mm explosive round. Chen ignored the impacts. He swung the turret to track the second fighter. The targeting computer was offline. Hydraulic failure had disabled the automatic compensation system. He aimed manually, led the target based on instinct and 11 previous missions worth of experience. Fired. The burst hit low.

Rounds sparked off the fighter’s belly. The Ki44 broke left hard and climbed away, trailing smoke. Probable kill. Chen shifted to the third fighter. This one was closer. 400 yards and diving nearly vertical. Chen fired a six-second burst. The gun barrels were overheating despite the sub-zero temperatures. Tracers walked across the sky.

 The KI44 flew directly through them. Hits peppered the engine cowling. The propeller stopped. Windmilling. The fighter’s nose dropped. It fell past a square 52’s left wing at 200 mph and disappeared into clouds below. Eighth confirmed kill. The fourth fighter in the group had used the chaos to position for a beam attack.

 It came in from 9:00 level. Range 500 yd. The left blister gunner engaged with his twin 50s. The fighter jinked, closed to 300 yd, fired a long burst from its cannon. Rounds tore through a square 52’s left horizontal stabilizer. Control cables snapped. The aircraft yawed violently. The rudder jammed hard left. The aircraft commander fought the controls, applied right aileron, reduced power on the single functioning engine to stop the yaw.

 Chen tracked the attacking fighter as it passed beneath the fuselage, slaved the lower turret. The mechanical linkage ground and stuttered. The turret rotated 15° then stopped. Hydraulic failure. The tail gunner took the shot. His guns were still functional, mechanically operated. No hydraulics required. He fired a 4-se secondond burst as the KI44 pulled up from its attack run.

 The rounds hit the fighter’s tail. The rudder separated. The KI44 went into an uncontrolled flat spin. Ninth kill credited to Aquar 52’s crew. The second wave of four fighters was already inbound. High-side attack from 2:00. A square 52 was at 14,000 ft and descending. Air speed 140 mph. critical slow. The bomber was approaching stall speed.

 One engine could not generate enough thrust to maintain controlled flight with the damaged wing and jammed rudder. Chen had 15 rounds remaining in the upper turrets ammunition belt. The lower turrets were offline. The blister positions were low on ammunition. The tail gunner had perhaps 60 rounds left. Four more fighters closing fast.

The four key 44s split into two pairs. Combat experience had taught Japanese pilots that damaged B-29s still carried lethal defensive firepower. Coordinated attacks from multiple angles remained the safest approach. The first pair dove from 2:00 high. The second pair positioned for a follow-up attack from 4:00 level.

 Chen tracked the lead fighter in the first pair. Range 800 yd. The upper turret responded to his controls, but movement was jerky. Hydraulic fluid was leaking from ruptured lines throughout the aircraft. He waited until 700 yd, centered the site, fired his remaining 15 rounds in a single sustained burst. The tracers converged on the K44’s engine.

 Hits sparkled across the cowling. The propeller disintegrated. Chunks of metal spun away. The engine seized. Smoke poured from the fighter as it rolled inverted and fell away. 10th kill. The upper turret’s guns clicked empty. Chen’s primary defensive position was now useless. He scrambled a through the connecting tunnel to the unpressurized rear section.

 The right blister gunner had taken shrapnel through his shoulder and could not operate his weapons. Chen took his position. The second fighter from the first pair was already in its attack dive. Range 600 yd. Chen gripped the manual controls for the twin 50 caliber guns. No computer assistance, no hydraulic boost, pure physical strength required to traverse the weapons and maintain aim.

 The K44 opened fire at 400 yards. Cannon rounds punched through a square 52’s right wing. Chen led the target, squeezed the trigger. The recoil hammered his shoulders. Spent casings tumbled into the collection bag. The burst caught the fighter’s cockpit. The canopy shattered. The key44 snap rolled left and fell away spinning. 11th kill.

But the second pair of fighters was already committed to their attack run. They came in from 4:00 level, 300 yd apart, firing as they closed. One targeted the flight deck. The other aimed for the wing route where the fuel tanks were located. The tail gunner engaged the trailing fighter. His remaining ammunition hammered out in a 5-second burst.

 Tracers walked across the K44’s nose. The fighter’s windscreen exploded. The aircraft pulled up hard and broke off the attack. 12th kill confirmed when the fighter was observed falling through clouds at 11,000 ft with no visible pilot. The lead fighter in the pair pressed its attack. Chen swung his guns, but the angle was wrong.

 The blister position could not traverse far enough forward to engage targets at 4:00 high. He was blind to the threat. The left blister gunner took the shot. His position had better forward coverage. He fired his last 30 rounds. The burst hit the K44’s left wing route. Fuel sprayed from ruptured tanks.

 The fighter banked hard right to break off. The damaged wing could not handle the stress. Structural failure at the wing spar. The wing separated. The fighter tumbled. 13th kill. A square had now shot down 13 Japanese fighters. One aircraft, one crew. 13 confirmed victories, but the count did not matter to Chen. The B-29 was at 12,000 ft and still descending.

The jammed rudder made controlled flight nearly impossible. The damaged wing was losing structural integrity, and the third wave of four fighters was inbound. These were the last attackers. Japanese fighter pilots operated under strict fuel limitations. Combat radius for the K44 was approximately 200 m at combat power settings.

 The fighters had been airborne for 40 minutes. They had perhaps 10 minutes of fuel remaining before they would need to break off and return to Narimasu. 10 minutes was enough. The four key 44s formed up in a line of stern formation. Not a diving attack, not a high-side pass. They were positioning for sequential ramming attacks.

 Four fighters, four deliberate collisions. The Japanese pilots had calculated that even if only one succeeded, a square 52 would not survive. Chen watched them through the blister’s small window. The fighters were at 14,000 ft, 2 mi behind the bomber, matching speed and altitude, preparing for their final run. He had no ammunition left.

 The tail gunner had no ammunition left. The upper turrets were offline. The lower turrets were offline. A square 52’s defensive armament was expended. Four fighters, zero bullets, 12,000 ft above the Pacific Ocean. The lead KI44 in the ramming formation accelerated. Range one mile. The fighter was diving slightly to build speed. Standard ramming doctrine called for impact velocity of at least 300 mph to guarantee structural failure of the target.

 Slower collisions sometimes allowed bombers to survive with damage. Chen braced himself against the blister window frame. There was nothing he could do. No guns, no ammunition, no options. The aircraft commander was attempting evasive maneuvers, but the jammed rudder limited his control authority. The B29 could bank gently left or right.

 It could not perform the violent jinking that might throw off a fighter’s aim. The KI44 closed to half a mile. Chen could see details now. The fighter’s dark green camouflage, the red heinom circle on the fuselage, the propeller spinner painted yellow to identify it as part of the 47th centi quarter mile. The fighter’s nose was centered on a square 52’s vertical stabilizer.

 Impact in 15 seconds. The KI44’s engine began trailing black smoke, not battle damage from a square 52. This was mechanical failure. Nakajima HA 109 radial engines were temperamental at high power settings. Maximum combat power for extended periods caused cylinder head temperatures to exceed design limits. Seizure was common.

 The fighter’s propeller stopped rotating. The engine had failed completely. Without thrust, the Ki44 could not maintain its intercept course. It began losing speed and altitude. The pilot attempted to restart the engine. failed. The fighter fell away below a square 52’s tail. Its ramming attack aborted by mechanical failure rather than defensive fire.

 14th kill credited to a square 52. No bullets fired. No gunner claimed the victory. But the fighter was combat lost due to battle damage stress on an already strained engine. Intelligence officers would later confirm the Ki44 crashed into the Pacific 18 mi east of Tokyo. Pilot did not survive. 14 confirmed kills, one B29, one mission.

 The highest single mission total for any bomber in the Pacific theater. The remaining three fighters broke off their ramming attacks. Fuel state was critical. They turned northwest toward Nadimasu and climbed away. The engagement was over. A square 52 had survived, but survival at 12,000 ft over hostile territory with one engine was different from survival at sea level on Saipan.

 Chen climbed back through the connecting tunnel to assess damage with the flight engineer. The list was catastrophic. Number one engine destroyed by ramming attack. Number three engine destroyed by ramming attack. Number four engine shut down due to oil pressure failure. Number two engine running but showing elevated cylinder head temperatures.

 Left wing structural damage. Right wing fuel leak. Hydraulic system at 15% capacity. Rudder jammed. Bombardier dead. Right blister gunner critically wounded. Radio compass damaged. One life raft destroyed by fighter cannon fire. Distance to Saipan was 1,512 mi. Flight time at current air speed would be approximately 11 hours.

 Fuel remaining was calculated at 9 hours maximum if number two engine continued operating without failure. The numbers did not work. The flight engineer proposed a solution. Restart number four engine. The engine had been shut down due to low oil pressure after the first ramming attack. Not destroyed, not damage beyond function, just precautionary shutdown.

 Running the engine without adequate oil would destroy it within 30 minutes, but 30 minutes of additional thrust might provide enough air speed to reduce overall fuel consumption and extend range. The aircraft commander approved the restart. Number four engine coughed, caught began running rough but producing thrust.

 A square 52 accelerated to 170 mph. still well below normal cruise speed, but sufficient to slow the rate of descent. The bomber leveled off at 10,000 ft. The formation had continued to Tokyo without them. The mission had been completed. Bombs had been dropped. Other B29s were already turning south for the return flight to Saipan. A square 52 was alone over the Pacific with two damaged engines, failing systems, and insufficient fuel.

 Chen moved the wounded blister gunner to a more comfortable position and applied pressure bandages to the shrapnel wounds. The morphine ceretses in the first aid kit had frozen solid. Pain management was impossible. The gunner remained conscious but was losing blood. 11 hours to Saipan if they made it at all. Number four engine failed at 1420 hours, exactly 28 minutes after restart.

 The cylinder heads had overheated beyond tolerance. Internal components seized. The propeller windmilled for 6 seconds, then stopped completely. The aircraft commander feathered the propeller to reduce drag and shut down fuel flow. A square 52 was back to one engine. Altitude began dropping immediately. 10,000 ft.

 9,500 9,000. The single Curtis Wright radial engine on the number two position was now solely responsible for keeping 32 tons of damaged bomber airborne. The navigator calculated a new fuel estimate. 7 hours of flight time remaining. Distance to Saipan was still 900 m. The mathematics remained impossible.

 The flight engineer proposed dumping the Bombay fuel tanks. These auxiliary tanks had been installed to extend the B29’s range for long missions over Japan. They were now empty but still carried the weight of the tank structures themselves. Approximately 400 lb of dead weight serving no purpose. The tanks were jettisoned at 1445. The B29 climbed slightly, gained back 100 ft of altitude.

 The fuel consumption calculation improved by 6 minutes. Still not enough. Chin remained at the right blister position with the wounded gunner. The shrapnel wounds had stopped bleeding, but the man was going into shock. Core body temperature was dropping in the unpressurized fuselage. Chin removed his own heated flight suit liner and wrapped it around the gunner.

The liner’s electrical heating elements were still functioning, battery powered, independent of the aircraft’s failing systems. At 1500 hours, the navigator identified a potential solution. Ewima. The island was 640 mi from their current position. Marine forces had not yet invaded.

 The island was still held by Japanese forces, but American submarines occasionally surfaced near Ewima to rescue downed B29 crews. If Aquare 52 could reach the waters near Euoima and ditch successfully, a submarine might pick them up. The aircraft commander rejected the plan. Ditching a B29 in open ocean had a survival rate of approximately 40%.

 Ditching a B-29 with structural damage to both wings and a jammed rudder would be significantly worse. The bomber would likely break apart on impact. Even if the crew survived the ditching, they would be in the water in a combat zone with limited survival equipment. The decision was made to continue towards Saipan. At 1600 hours, Aquare 52 crossed the international date line.

 The navigator marked their position, 700 m to Saipan. fuel for 5 hours and 40 minutes of flight. The gap was closing, but still favored running out of fuel before reaching the island. The flight engineer began shutting down non-essential electrical systems, navigation lights, cockpit instruments, heating elements, interior lighting.

 Every system required power from generators driven by the functioning engine. Less electrical load meant less drag on the engine. Less drag meant better fuel economy. The temperature inside the aircraft dropped to minus40°. At 17:30, the formation of B29s that had completed the Tokyo mission passed overhead. They were at 18,000 ft.

 Flying in tight formation, all engines operating normally. They were making 270 mph. They would reach Saipan in approximately 4 hours. A square 52 was making 160 mph at 8,000 ft. Estimated time to Saipan was 7 hours. Fuel exhaustion was predicted in 4 hours and 50 minutes. The right blister gunner lost consciousness at 1,800 hours. His breathing was shallow.

Pulse was weak. Chin monitored him continuously but had no medical supplies beyond the frozen morphine cigarettes and pressure bandages already applied. At 1845, number two engine began running rough. Cylinder head temperature was climbing into the red zone. Oil pressure was fluctuating.

 The engine had been operating at maximum continuous power for nearly 7 hours. Curtis Wright R3350 radials were rated for maximum continuous power operation for 4 hours maximum under normal conditions. These were not normal conditions. The flight engineer reduced power slightly to preserve the engine. Air speed dropped to 150 mph.

 Fuel consumption improved, but time to destination increased. At 1900 hours, the navigator calculated they were 400 miles from Saipan. Fuel remaining was estimated at 3 hours and 20 minutes. The mathematics still did not work, but the gap was narrowing. At 2000 hours, the right blister gunner stopped breathing. Chen attempted resuscitation.

 The frozen air made chest compressions nearly impossible through the heavy flight suit. After 4 minutes, the flight engineer called time of death. The gunner’s body was left in place. Moving it served no purpose and consumed energy the crew needed to survive. Number two engine continued running. Cylinder head temperature remained in the red zone, but the engine did not seize.

 Oil pressure fluctuated between 40 and 60 lb per square in. Minimum acceptable pressure was 50. The engine was operating on the edge of catastrophic failure. At 2,100 hours, the navigator spotted navigation lights. A Navy destroyer was visible 20 miles to the east, running a patrol pattern south of Eoima.

 The destroyer could not help them. It could not come alongside a flying aircraft. It could not provide fuel, but its position confirmed the navigator’s calculations were accurate. At 2145, fuel quantity gauges read 30 minutes remaining. Distance to Saipan was 120 miles. Time to destination at current air speed was 48 minutes.

 The gap had not closed enough. The flight engineer transferred all remaining fuel from wing tanks to the number two engines dedicated tank. Fuel pumps, crossfeed valves, emergency systems. Every drop of aviation gasoline in the aircraft was routed to the one functioning engine. At 2200 hours, a square 52 was 60 miles from Saipan.

 Fuel gauges read 15 minutes. The navigator could see Eley Fields runway lights on the southern end of the island. Distance 8 mi. The bomber was at 4,000 ft and descending. Number two engine coughed. Fuel starvation. The engine caught again. Ran smooth for 20 seconds. Coughed again. The propeller windmilled. The engine restarted.

 Power fluctuated. Three miles from the runway, 2,000 ft altitude. The tower at Eley Field cleared a square 52 for emergency landing. Crash crews were standing by. Ambulances were positioned along the runway. The landing gear would not extend. Hydraulic system failure. The flight engineer attempted manual extension using the emergency hand crank. The nose gear deployed.

 The left main gear deployed. The right main gear remained retracted, damaged in the fighter attacks. One mile from the runway, 1,000 ft. Number two engine quit completely. Fuel exhaustion. The propeller stopped. A square 52 became a glider. 32 tons of aluminum and steel with no power and asymmetric landing gear.

 The aircraft commander aimed for the runway. Air speed 130 mph. Descent rate 800 ft per minute. Too fast. Too steep. The B-29 crossed the runway threshold at 300 ft. Still too high. The bomber touched down halfway down the runway at 110 mph. The left main gear collapsed immediately. The aircraft slew left. The left wing struck the runway surface. Metal screamed. Sparks erupted.

A square 52 skidded 1500 ft and came to rest in the dirt alongside the runway. All surviving crew members evacuated through the rear escape hatch. 10 men. The bombardier and right blister gunner had not survived. The aircraft was declared a total loss. Structural damage was too severe for repair.

 A square 52 had flown, 1512 mi on one engine, had shot down 14 Japanese fighters in one mission, had survived two ramming attacks, had brought 10 men home. If this story moved you the way it moved us, do me a favor. Hit that like button. Every single like tells YouTube to show this story to more people. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.

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