''Top Secret'' was the name of a

Boeing 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 Fl ...

(B-29-36-MO 44–27302, "victor number' 72) modified to carry the atomic bomb in World War II. It served with the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and United States Air Force from 1945 until 1954.

Airplane history

The plane was 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 ...

of the

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 one of fifteen Silverplate B-29s used by the 509th. ''Top Secret'' was built at the

Glenn L. Martin Company The Glenn L. Martin Company—also known as The Martin Company from 1957-1961—was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company founded by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin, and operated between 1917-1961. The Martin Company produc ...

aircraft plant at Omaha, Nebraska, as a Block 35 aircraft. It was one of 10 aircraft modified as a Silverplate and designated with Block number 36. The plane was delivered to the

on 2 April 1945. The 509th assigned it to crew B-8 (1st Lt. Charles F. McKnight, aircraft commander) and it was 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-29 ...

, Utah. It left Wendover on 5 June 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, ...

and arrived 11 June. It was originally assigned the "victor (unit-assigned identification) number" 2 but on 1 August was given the large 'Square A' tail markings of the

497th Bombardment Group The 497th Bombardment Group was a group of the United States Army Air Forces. The unit was inactivated on 31 March 1946. The unit was part of the United States Army Air Forces and Twentieth Air Force during World War II. The 497th BG engaged ...

as a security measure and had its "victor number" changed to 72 to avoid misidentification with actual 497th aircraft. It was named ''Top Secret'' and its nose art was applied after the atomic bomb missions. While at Tinian, McKnight and crew B-8 flew ''Top Secret'' on 13 practice bombing missions and four combat pumpkin bomb missions against Japanese industrial targets at Otsu,

Yokkaichi is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located in north-central ...

, Ube, and Toyoda. The plane flew two other pumpkin bomb missions, to Taira (1st Lt. Joseph E. Westover and crew A-4) and Yokkaichi (Capt.

Claude Eatherly Claude Robert Eatherly (October 2, 1918 – July 1, 1978) was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, and the pilot of a weather reconnaissance aircraft ''Straight Flush'' that supported the dropping of the atomic bom ...

and crew C-11). In November 1945 ''Top Secret'' returned with the 509th to

Roswell Army Air Field Roswell may refer to: * Roswell incident Places in the United States * Roswell, Colorado, a former settlement now part of Colorado Springs * Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta * Roswell, Idaho * Roswell, New Mexico, known for the purported 194 ...

, New Mexico. From March to August 1946 it was assigned to the Operation Crossroads task force, then it rejoined the 509th at Roswell. In June 1949 ''Top Secret'' was transferred to the 97th Bombardment Group at

Biggs Air Force Base Biggs Army Airfield (formerly Biggs Air Force Base) is a United States Army military airbase located on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. History Biggs Field/Biggs Army Airfield (1916–47) On 15 June 1919, following an attack b ...

, Texas. It was sent to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma in April 1950 for modification to TB-29 trainer specification by the Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area. The plane's subsequent assignments were to the 2d Radar Calibration Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base in March 1953, and the 5025th Maintenance Group at Elmendorf in August 1953. In September 1953 it was sent to the

3040th Aircraft Storage Group The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309th AMARG),Offici ...

at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, where it was scrapped in July 1954.

Other aircraft named ''Top Secret''

General Dynamics FB-111A The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included attack aircraft, ground attack (e.g. Air interdiction, i ...

strategic bomber of the United States Air Force, serial 69–6513, carried the name ''Top Secret'' on its nosewheel doors during its service with both the

509th Bombardment Wing The 509th Bomb Wing (509 BW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command, Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The 509 BW is the host unit at Whiteman, and operates th ...

Pease Air Force Base Pease, in Middle English, was a noun referring to the vegetable pea; see that article for its etymology. The word survives into modern English in pease pudding. Pease may also refer to: People * Pease family (Darlington), a prominent family in D ...

, New Hampshire, and the

380th Bombardment Wing 38 may refer to: *38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39 *one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038 *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges **.38 Special, a revolver cartridge *'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfor ...

Plattsburgh Air Force Base Plattsburgh Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) base covering 3,447 acres (13.7 km²) in the extreme northeast corner of New York, located on the western shore of Lake Champlain opposite Burlingto ...

, New York in the 1970s and 1980s.

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), {{B-29 family Individual aircraft of World War II Boeing B-29 Superfortress