''Full House'' was the name of a

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 F ...

(B-29-36-MO 44-27298, victor number 83) participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Assigned to the

393d Bomb Squadron The 393rd Bomb SquadronOfficially, the 393d Bomb Squadron is part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It operates Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit nuclear-capable strategic bomber aircraft. The squadron was first organiz ...

509th Composite Group The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in ...

, it was used as a weather reconnaissance plane and flew to the city of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

, designated a "tertiary target", before the final bombing to determine if conditions were favorable for an attack. The aircraft also flew as a spare aircraft during the mission to bomb Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, but landed at Iwo Jima when the B-29 Bockscar was able to complete the mission.

Airplane history

One of 15

Silverplate Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop a ...

B-29s used by the 509th, ''Full House'' was built at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Plant at

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, as a Block 35 aircraft. It was one of 10 modified as a Silverplate and re-designated "Block 36". Delivered on March 20, 1945, to the USAAF, it was assigned to Crew A-1 (Captain Ralph R. Taylor, aircraft commander) and flown to

Wendover Army Air Field Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B- ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. It left Wendover on June 11, 1945 for

North Field, Tinian North Field is a former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Abandoned after the war, today North Field is a tourist attraction. Along with several adjacent beaches on which Allied forces landed during the Battle of Tinian, th ...

and arrived June 17. It was originally assigned the Victor (unit-assigned identification) number 13 but on August 1 was given the square P tail markings of the 39th Bomb Group as a security measure and had its Victor changed to 83 to avoid misidentification with actual 39th BG aircraft. It was named ''Full House'' and its nose art applied after the atomic bomb missions. In addition to its roles on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions, Capt. Taylor and crew A-1 flew the bomber on 12 practice and training missions, and four combat missions in which it dropped

pumpkin bomb Pumpkin bombs were conventional aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II. It was a close replication of the Fat Man plutonium bomb with the same ballistic an ...

s on industrial targets at

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places and organizations * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama, Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, ...

, Niihama,

Yaizu is a city located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 139,578 in 57,593 households, and a population density of 2000 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Yaizu is a noted port for commer ...

, and

Ube, Yamaguchi is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan on the Seto Inland Sea. As of October 2016, the city has an estimated population of 168,398 and a population density of 590 persons per km2. The total area is . History as a modern municipal ...

. Capt. Frederick C. Bock and crew C-13 flew ''Full House'' on a pumpkin bomb mission to

Komoro, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,489 in 18776 households, and a population density of 430 persons per km². Its total area is . Geography Komoro is located in eastern Nagano Prefecture. ...

. In November 1945 it returned to the United States with the 509th CG to

Roswell Army Airfield Walker Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force base located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Roswell, New Mexico. It was opened in 1941 as an Army Air Corps flying school and was active during World ...

. In June 1949 it was transferred to the 97th Bomb Group at Biggs Air Force Base,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, then re-configured as a TB-29 trainer in April 1950 by The Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area at

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City. The base, origina ...

. It subsequently served as part of: *106th Radar Calibration Squadron, Sioux City Air Force Base,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

(August 1952), *7th Radar Calibration Squadron, Sioux City AFB (September 1953) *4677th Radar Evaluation Flight, Hill Air Force Base,

(March 1954), *Mobile Air Materiel Area, Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

(March 1955), and *17th Tow Target Squadron, Vincent Air Force Base,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

(July 1955). ''Full House'' was dropped from the Air Force inventory in November 1956. It was transferred to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and used as a target at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Hiroshima mission crew

Crew A-1 (regularly assigned to ''Full House'') *Capt. Wolcott A. Depree II., Aircraft Pilot *Capt. Ralph R. Taylor Jr., Aircraft Commander *2nd Lt. Raymond P. Biel, Co-Pilot *1st Lt. Fred A. Hoey, Navigator *1st Lt. Michael Angelich, Bombardier *M/Sgt. Frank M. Briese, Flight Engineer *S/Sgt. Theodore M. Slife, Radio Operator *Cpl. Nathaniel T. R. Burgwyn, Radar Operator *T/Sgt. Robert J. Valley, Tail Gunner *Cpl. Richard B. Anselme, Assistant Engineer/Scanner

Other aircraft named ''Full House''

* A

FB-111A The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons c ...

strategic bomber of the USAF 509th Bomb Wing, serial 68-0270, carried the name and original nose art of ''Full House'' on its nosewheel doors while based at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, in the 1970s and 1980s. * A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Boeing B-17 strategic bomber in the European Theater of Operations, United States Army, ETO during World War II. Its successful arrival at Poltava airfield after a catastrophic oxygen-fueled explosion and fire allowed authorities to identify the source of the design's "fatal flaw", which had mysteriously downed other aircraft during bombing missions. The airplane was repaired and returned to the front, where it was later lost in combat.

References

Sources

* Campbell, Richard H., ''The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs'' (2005),
509th CG Aircraft Page, MPHPA
{{B-29 family Individual aircraft of World War II, Full House Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Full House Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki