B-47 Nuclear Accidents 1956

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

A few viewers have mentioned the comment suggesting that "part of Eastern England would have become a desert." The General making the comment was likely not aware at the time that the devices had no nuclear material in them. I included the comment to demonstrate the level of concern at the time. In any case, 16,000 pounds of TNT would have made quite a boom had the conventional explosives on the two bombs detonated in the conflagration.

[@jaymassengill3340]

My father was a B-47 crew chief in the 367th Squadron of the 306th Wing, and when I was young we looked at his books published by the Wing. This was essentially just like a high school annual with many pages of thumbnail photos of all the airmen along with photos of the planes and 3-man crew for each aircraft. He pointed out one of the men lost on this first incident in your video. It's still a haunting memory. When deploying overseas to the bases in Morocco, the crew chief often had to fly in the B-47 in a makeshift crew station without an ejection seat. He deployed to both England and Morocco during his time with the 367th and in both cases had some close calls.

[@doggedout]

My dad, who had flown B-24's and B-29's in WWII, transitioned to aircraft maintenance in the mid 50's on B47's, B52's. Stationed at MacDill (lived across the street from Tibets) knew Jimmy Stewart (from flying in his B24 outfit in England, met him for the first time since England during the filming of Strategic Air Command at Mac) was on investigative boards for several of these loose nuke incidents. He was deployed to both Morocco and England for these, but also for at least one that happened stateside. These videos make me really wish I could go back in time and interview him about these amazing stories (he died in 91). He would only mention them in passing and without much detail. The only anecdote I remember him telling about his time in Morocco, was about how the locals they employed were pretty relentless about grabbing everything that was not nailed down in their offices, until somebody dreamed up the idea of spiking a bottle of whiskey with a particularly strong laxative. ...but there was one he told about an incident stateside that happened when a crewman transiting the cramped bomb bay tunnel, stumbled and grabbed the nearest thing to stabilize himself. Unfortunately, the nearest thing was an un-sheilded cable that opened the bomb bay doors and dropped the bomb. I think I read later that this incident inspired the famous last scene from the movie Dr. Stranglove. My dad thought it did. That movie came out the year he retired and became one of his (an my) favorites. When watching it, at some point he would always exclaim: How in the hell did they know this stuff?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I'm pretty sure this is the accident you mention: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmHKg3udrLh6nqcsi=SN4YeiU_POjkkt2S

[@mrlodwick]

Your Dad Rocked - be proud bro. Tim UK

[@doggedout]

I was thinking you may have covered it. Been watching you a long time History Guy! Keep up the good work.@@TheHistoryGuyChannel

[@leonmusk1040]

On that note speaking of history that deserves to be remembered when is the U.S going to clean up all the nuclear waste they dumped off the coast of New Zealand through Japanese subcontractors?@@TheHistoryGuyChannel

[@zonarider673]

Heck - that NZ ocean dumping tale sounds worthy of its own @TheHistoryGuy episode!

[@steveshoemaker6347]

l am in my 80's and i think that we are living in the most dangerous time ever in the world.....Thank THG🎀 👍 Old sick Shoe🇺🇸

[@rexmyers991]

I am 81 now but I vividly remember my father (who flew B-25 bombers during WWII) training as aircraft commander on the new and secrecy shrouded B-47. This was in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1956. There were so many accidents At the Air Force Base there. The local paper reported on them all. For a while the B-47 was prone simply explode while flying around the base and surrounding countryside. I remember three such explosions. My father would not talk about it but We all could see the stress on his face. I was very relieved when he transitioned to the B-52. I didn’t learn until years later that he was hauling live nukes on every flight.

[@johnedwards5516]

Any idea why they were so prone to exploding in mid-air

[@gordonbergslien30]

Lance, another excellent program!!! You can't underestimate the importance of the B-47. It was the first large, swept wing, multi-engine, jet-powered aircraft, making it the direct ancestor of every such aircraft since.

[@vrod665]

A couple of my favorite topics all in one video. B-47, nukes and overseas deployments. I have recently had the pleasure of meeting a retired AF Col. He shared some of his escapades as a pilot. He flew the “recips” B-25 and B-29. He could have stopped there and I would have been in awe. But he continued and told me he flew the B-52 and B-47. He said that by far the B-47 was his favorite aircraft. I wish I could record his tales and turn it into a firsthand oral history. There aren’t many men around like this gentleman.

[@gregsurrell598]

My father was a navigator-bombardier in those birds. He was in the 98th at Lincoln. One of the foreign bases was in Franco’s Spain. He was also in England. A fellow crew accidentally bombed London. Actually they came into London on the way to the base. They decided to do a drill & mistakenly opened the bombay doors, dumping their luggage onto Piccadilly Circus. The bobbies return the luggage to the embarrassed crew at the base.

[@Idahoguy10157]

There’s a story!

[@seangannon6081]

With the uncomfortably numerous amount Broken Arrow incidents it’s amazing that there were no major explosions or anything.

[@DonDufresne]

"On January 31, 1956, a B-25 Bomber crash-landed into the Monongahela River, and the plane was never to be seen again. Major William Dotson and his five other crew members were flying from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to Olmstead Air Force Base in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They were to pick up a cargo of airplane parts. What was to be a routine flight ended in death, disaster, and mystery. This gave birth to the legend of the Ghost Bomber." There's a story there that adversely affected personnel stationed at the AFB at Pittsburgh.

[@neohabilis7412]

We are all a little smarter, because of you. Thank you.

[@BrianRosborough]

For the algorithm!! One of the coolest THG openings yet brother, compliments to the Mrs.! Thank you for teaching us all History that needs to be remembered. God speed, and God bless you all.

[@gyrene_asea4133]

The verdict of experience seems to give the lie to "it it looks right, it is right" when considering the B-47. Flat-out gorgeous looking plane!

[@paulholmes672]

Was stationed at RAF Lakenheath in late 70's, early 80's. We were still the 'tip of the spear' at the time as far as the Cold War was concerned until the early 90's. The TNT, in any aircraft bomb at least, is inherently stable and, with heat alone, will only go 'low order', i.e. burn fiercely, it will not be enough to trigger a nuclear reaction by any means. Yes, it could be a real mess, especially downwind, but never a mushroom cloud event.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Certainly no nuclear detonation was possible given the description of the event (assuming the description was accurate.) But the risk of the TNT exploding was more than the fire, but also damage to the detonator. The bomb disposal officer certianly suggested that a "mushroom cloud" was possible. In fact, he described the fact that the TNT did not detonate as "a miracle."

[@johndododoe1411]

We must all remember that any large enough explosion or fire, including a basic chimney, will produce a mushroom cloud as the smoke reaches its maximum height and spreads sideways .

[@jerrystaley1563]

My Dad was the crew chief for the Squadron commander's F-100 Super Sabre from 1956 to 1958 at RAF Wethersfield. Whilst B-47 were at Ruislip and Lakenheath, Dad's squadron (77th Fighter Bomber) were also equipped with nuclear weapons. In the fall.of 1956, Dad took me to the flightline so I could see a nuclear pod mounted beneath the fuselage of each F-100. Each plane was guarded by an AP with a rifle and guard dog. All were on alert due to the Suez crisis and Hungarian Revolution during that time. Truly scary times.

[@thunderbird1921]

The B-47 Stratojet has to be the most dangerous and deadly bomber ever flown by the US Air Force. Thank goodness the much safer B-52 came along a few years later. I had heard of the frightening crash in Britain, but not the Morocco incident. Very interesting video!

[@danielficke131]

Current resident of Lincoln, Nebraska and current employee of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

Good Morning all you history fans out there and happy hump day. Class is about to start, please take your seats.

[@brodyberry6253]

Damn straight! You are totally correct sir history does deserve to be remembered and told too imo. Because even though it may seem cliché i believe it is 100% true. What they say those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So no matter how bad, wrong or painful it maybe. We all should learn about it that way as many people as possible. Can glean as much information from it as possible. And this is why my hat goes off to people like you that are honest and just tell the know facts about the history at hand. And not holding water for one side or the other. Which ultimately ends up skewing the way the story is being told Because the teller is bias you know. Anyway thanks for being real and sharing a well done video.

[@frankgulla2335]

Dear THG, thanks for another wonderfully informative episode about the US and the Cold War, especially about "Broken Arrow".

[@cathyheston3029]

My birth year with my Daddy in the Army. First I've heard of this. Thanks ❤

[@iKvetch558]

Other things that happened in 1956..."things nobody ever talks about" edition...in 1956 during the Suez Crisis, Khrushchev loudly threatened Europe with nuclear fire if France and Britain did not leave Egypt. This led NATO members to loudly demand that the USA station nuclear weapons on their territory, and the eventual stationing of nukes in Turkey by JFK would of course lead Khrushchev to instigating the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also, in 1956 Werner von Braun requested permission to put a 4th stage on the Jupiter C rocket that he and his team at ABMA had been successfully launching to nearly orbital velocity, his intent being to have the US be the first to orbit an artificial satellite. Permission was NOT granted because the President did not want the first satellite from the US to be launched by a military rocket like the Jupiter C derived from the Redstone ballistic missile...and because Ike did not want the first US satellite to be launched by former Nazi von Braun.

[@adamwhite3584]

It actually had to do with establishing overflight over a country as in, space being a different realm then atmospheric spy flights by aircraft. Once the commies put Sputnik in orbit they had no leg to stand on when it came to US satellites which were much more effective in that they returned film to earth. But otherwise spot on.

[@johnwhitley2898]

Early Cold War Era. Interesting times.... My Dad was in a sensitive Army job, and my Uncle was in SAC (both actually from'38 to '78/9). The things they 'could' talk about and your points bring serious context to the Era. I caught Jan Teglers name and am looking for the book, the other name you mentioned, "Kurt Shake" is eluding me.. I know I have it misspelled...lol. I'd like to read on the Forward Base theory and history in the reports/books. Thanks!

[@BasicDrumming]

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

THG, when you were talking about the igloos at Lakenheath it made me think of the igloos at Edgemont, back close to where you grew up. What was stored in those igloos, and is anything still stored in them?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Those were used for munitions during World War II. I believe they have been refurbished as "doomsday bunkers." www.argusleader.com/story/news/2018/07/09/doomsday-bunker-take-look-inside-showroom-bunker-near-edgemont-south-dakota/767800002/

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Thanks THG!

[@danielficke131]

Russel Bowling is also memorialized in Bowling Lake in Lincoln, Nebraska.

[@RetiredSailor60]

Good Wednesday morning History Guy and everyone watching.

[@mrlodwick]

Thank you Sir. Tim UK

[@texaswunderkind]

Currently reading "Atomic Accidents" by Jim Mahaffey. It goes into detail about the dangerous and flawed B-47. It has a lot of humor, and goes into easy-to-understand explanations of both power plants and weapons. Highly recommend.

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@JP-su8bp]

Thank you.

[@rbrtjbarber]

One more thing that lessened the need for SAC bases abroad was the development and deployment of Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers, such as the F-100 & F-105, to bases in Turkey and West Germany. They stood tactical nuclear alerts beginning in the late '50s through the '70s.

[@callenclarke371]

Fascinating episode. Brilliant footage of the B-47.

[@punditgi]

Good to know

[@russwoodward8251]

The B47 was a graceful looking aircraft for it's size. Thank you for the research and great story telling once again!

[@RyeOnHam]

This was pretty comprehensive. There is a whole world in the rear of the plane you may not be aware of. Lots of room to spread out.

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

Then came the BUFF and it is still with us.

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

[@jamesengland7461]

Why do I keep seeing this comment and what does it mean?

[@pjwarez]

My Father’s cousin was in the Air Force and died in a ‘Broken Arrow’ incident in the 1950’s. It would great to find information on it as his family is passed and no one ever spoke much about it when they were alive.

[@Magee-z3d]

We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.

[@Kimberley-u2u]

In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.

[@chuckmesser2202]

The B-47 had a significantly high accident rate. From 1953 to 1959, there were 296 "mishaps" with 242 fatalities.

[@rickbrandt9559]

"Highway Wild Flowers" best exit on a KZbin channel.. 🥰

[@jeanthony4003]

That's some pretty interesting info.

[@cgrscott]

Thanks to in-flight tanker refueling, the B2 Stealth Bomber flew all of it's operational missions to any location in the world from a single Air-force base, in Missouri. Your history lesson provides background as to why the Air Force abandoned foreword bases for special strategic bombers, while still maintaining foreword bases for in-air refueling tankers.

[@valerieferguson419]

My father was one of the many deaths in the B-47 out of Lincoln Nebraska. On May 2nd, 1956 he was the Commander of the plane on a routine training exercise and crashed killing all 4 onboard. Never received an explanation.

[@tugginalong]

Love military videos

[@keithad6485]

Still amazes me that over 2,000 B47s were made, yet they were not in service for long. perhaps 10 -15 years.

[@-.Steven]

As a Navy veteran and quasi government employee (gov. funded) I can say without hesitation, "That's government work for you." During WWII when the USS Indianapolis was sunk, after delivering the nuclear triggers, the navy and government spent years trying to pin the blame on anyone and everyone. But as the majority of personnel were no longer in the military, the navy / government court-martialled the Captain, a carrer navy man they could easily scapegoat; while others were allowed to simply walk away from responsibility, and wash their hands of all culpability. That's government work for you. 🤪

[@jamesdoyle5405]

The Captain, named McVay, later committed suicide. The court martial was the only time I am aware of, that an enemy officer was called to testify against an American officer. The actions of the U.S. Navy were completely despicable and without justification. The number of crewman who perished unnecessarily was a tragedy. Blame rarely reaches the flag ranks.

[@-.Steven]

@jamesdoyle5405 True. I read that Captain McVay regularly received Christmas cards from family members of crewmen who were killed would say things such as, "Thank you for killing my son..." That had to be unbearable.

[@kellybasham3113]

Love your videos

[@FitzArias]

On a more positive note, the B-47 bomber is considered the grandfather of all modern commercial jets. The Dash-80 had not been thought of yet when the B-47 was already flying. RIP to those lost air crews.

[@nextworld9176]

Hey, HISTORY GUY. Tell us about the bomber flights that USAF made OVER Russia--even Moscow! Deserves to be remembered.

[@idolhanz9842]

Several years ago I went and bought a pair of Kipsch La Scala speakers from a retired school teacher in northern California. He told me his USAF pilot father was killed in a B47 flight test accident in the mid 1950's just after he was born

[@jeffbangkok]

Good morning

[@wallywally8282]

Go watch the SAC movie staring Jimmy Stewart, a classic👍

[@johnwatson3948]

In the B-47 Mediterranean loss the land explosion reported in the news was some 200 miles east of the likely area - and was dismissed as not being related. The coordinates were determined to be somewhere between the last reported position (36 00 N / 5 25 W) and the tanker location (36 00 N / 4 50 W). This is over the Med sea just east of Gibraltar, is where the search was concentrated, and is where the B-47 most likely went down.

[@gregorydahl]

The missing core ( not cone )you were talking about is the uranium 235 that the bomb needs to be atomic or thermonuclear . It is the very expensive part . It has to be installed in a bomb before it can be a nuclear bomb . Thats why it was saying not possible to explode .

[@cgrscott]

The B-47 program, during the SAC years of the Cold War, lost over 400 pilots and crew members due to aviation mishaps with the B-47 during training and practice missions.

[@nickw7619]

Do some more b58 hustler videos... it might be my favorite aircraft of all time. It was just so darn cool but was way overshadowed by its bigger brothers

[@kimlground206]

Cool, but so expensive to operate that only a wealthy government could afford them. (And ultimately it was that cost that put an end to them.) Consider the cost in money, lives, and technical resources of the nuclear arms race, and think about what the world would look like today if the US and USSR had just agreed to divide their spheres of influence after WW2 instead of scheming and fighting against each other for the next 70 years.

[@stuckinmygarage6220]

?? @1:30 1951? My B-47 pilot father would have told u earlier. Maybe, SAC.( BTW, he hated air refueling.)

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

The B-47 was introduced in June, 1951.

[@stuckinmygarage6220]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Thank you for what you do, too. 🙂

[@russvoight1167]

A great book , Jet Age Man by Lt. Col. Earl J. McGill , is a wealth of information about the B-47 in the early Cold War

[@a11oge]

great video and story - surprised there were no map included to show there everything was based.

[@jimsvideos7201]

They were pulling high-G maneuvers with this type and snapping wings off. I'll have to check on the dates, perhaps that was a contributing factor.

[@johnexford3281]

RAF Greenham Common story should be told....

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize the fledgling USA as a independent country (in 1977).

[@abc-coleaks-info]

1777

[@robertjones8598]

A B47 fueling from a KC-97 looks dicey.

[@frankpinmtl]

Was that the actual video of the crash you were describing?

[@georgeperkins4171]

How about history on broken arrow incidents , in regard to the ussr or china if we know anything

[@robmclaughjr]

How about those bomb designers! All those incidents, zero atomic detonations

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

That is a fair point. Nuclear weapons have, in some instances, been subjected to ridiculous abuse and conditions, and yet never once has one accidentally detonated.

[@Joemama555]

that retired general who said part of eastern england would have become a radioactive desert if it "had gone" is trash. no radioactive material was in the building. you should not have repeated his trash statement.

[@tomhalla426]

The nuclear bombs would have been shipped with the depleted uranium tamper, but no plutonium or U235 “pit”, the actual active part of the bomb.

[@carlosalbertolcolombo8711]

Supongo que para ser militar de carrera, y llegar a los más altos cargos, se debe ser un optimista acerrimo, pero mantener armas nucleares o material radoactivo dando vueltas por los aires todo el tiempo pensando que nada iba a pasar más que de optimistas era de estúpidos. Supongo que ahora las tecnologías son distintas pero la estupidez la misma

[@Mr.Guild1971]

I saw you on TV last night!...Sir Congrats if it was a first. T

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Would that be the UnXplained?

[@eamondillon2182]

Wow! Just 1 type of aircraft from just one year. Praise God nothing happened!

[@Everythingallthetime666]

You are a man of many hats... or have many hats... anyway other than coming from the mid-1900s who coined the phase "man of many hats". I haven't been able to find the true first printed account of its use.

[@Torby4096]

So, what happened to the missing B-47? I am not at liberty to say, but the goa'uld were involved😮

[@rogergoodman8665]

It's a shame that Boeing has had some trouble in recent years since the company has produced some truely incredible aircraft that did their part to ensure the United States of America survived the cold war.

[@kimlground206]

They did such a good job that they learned to live on government subsidies, even in the passenger aircraft business. Then they got greedy and sloppy. Goodbye Boeing, doubtful they will be around for another decade.

[@johnwatson3948]

After saying there was no nuclear material in the UK bombs or bunker, why the nonsensical quote “Eastern England would have become a desert if the TNT exploded and showered radioactive material over a wide area”. Regardless of his rank, whoever said this quote did not have much knowledge of the event.

[@WJV9]

My dad helped build B-47 wings in the early '50's in Claycomo, MO. He had to crawl inside the wings to buck rivets to hold skin and wing struts together. The Ford Motor Co plant is now making Ford pickup trucks.

[@MrCtsSteve]

Ive read about those Broken Arrow stories.... we're lucky to still be around..lol wow

[@MrCtsSteve]

To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered.

[@andrewphillips8341]

Aww what's a few missing nuclear weapons between friends?

[@morgan97475]

What the frak??

[@tonydagostino6158]

Let's not forget the Cuban Missile Crisis happened because of "forward deployed" US Jupiter nuclear missiles in Turkey

[@WJV9]

Those missiles had been there for years and were going to be decommissioned soon anyway so Kennedy wisely chose them as 'pawns' to trade to Kruschev to get the missiles removed from Cuba.

[@colinsdad1]

Didn't Col. Jimmy Stewart (Yes, the actor) fly one of these for a USAF film? Maybe it's me, but, from the front, this plane looks like it's smirking.

[@gordonbergslien30]

You're refering to "Strategic Air Command," from 1955. The March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California has the cutaway fuselage used for the filming in display.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

In Strategic Air Command he flew the B-36, not the B-47.

[@nathankimble927]

No, he flew both planes in the film. Remember he got in trouble for flying the B-47 with a medical issue.@@TheHistoryGuyChannel

[@colinsdad1]

@nathankimble927 Thank you for clarifying- I thought he flew both. I'm a former USAF Maintenance Tech, so, I weirdly geek out on things like this. It's part of our History, as they would say.

[@robertjones8598]

I may be wrong but thought that Stewart at least got rated in the B47.

[@jkilby27able]

👍👍👍👍

[@wendywhite4537]

It’s a wonder we’re still around. Lol. Thank you . I was a teenager in the early 80s. Now I know what made my Daddy worried

[@flagmichael]

What makes me worried? See THG's "The Norwegian Rocket Incident of 1995" I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, but that video shook me up even more.

[@wendywhite4537]

I hadn’t heard of that. I know about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Daddy discussed it quite frequently. I will go watch The Norwegian one.

[@merlinwizard1000]

33rd, 21 February 2024

[@williamdick8736]

Yesssss. I have twice now that I was first to like your videos! You are the best!

[@nukemman]

Special ED has been good for you.

[@williamdick8736]

@@nukemman I surely hope you find happiness in life.

[@wasyertakeawaythaturmadeofcorn]

Did you say Shake?.. I don't think you should be listenin' to anything Master Shake has to say, with the exception of that bit about teeth.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

The name is spelled Schake.

[@dimonik12]

My favourite was the Mars Bluff, claiming to be "delivering" a nuke to Scotland whilst also on the very same flight doing a "mock" strike on London... Nobody "drills" live... The threats posed by US WMD's in Europe is not just from incompetence, plenty of malice involved too, this is why half of the World thinks we are "Allies" and is confused by the "Western" World today...

[@geofftestpilot9076]

Dear THG, I cannot seem to find any other reports about an atomic bomb related incident, shown in a Canadian documentary related to the Korean War, "Korea:The Unfinished War ,Part 2 - Enter The Dragon. Here is the link, kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4WzeZiqmMyLoposi=OFWAgdXJlcy81tCm The story is mentioned right at the beginning, related to the Quebec North Shore where the St Lawrence meets the Atlantic. The McKenna Brothers, Brian and terrence, are controversial figures in Canada to say the least. They claim a B-[50 bomber, returning "an unarmed Mark IV atomic bomb", the plane runs into engine trouble, they have to release the bomb so they set it to explode in the air at height of 775 m. You can imagine the rest of the story. I would be interested if you could find out any information on this incident,l which seems to not exist anywhere else. 🇨🇦🙉🙈🙊⚡️🔥🤷‍♂️☠️😮 In typical McKenna fashion, the documentary is tough, brutal, and controversial. Since you are "The History Guy", what do you think??🤔🇺🇸🇨🇦🫡