B-29 Superfortress Over Osaka

B-29 Superfortress of the 504th Bomb Group, 313th Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force, over Osaka. It appears the plane is leaking oil or smoke from the number 3 engine, but actually it is the shadow of the plane that took the photo. 458 B-29s attacked Osaka with 2,789 tons of incendiaries. The P-51D Mustangs assigned to escort the bombers ran into a heavy weather front. Lacking adequate radio direction finding equipment, 27 fighters were lost. Only 27 American fighters link up with the B-29s. Seventeen Japanese fighters were shot down. Ten B-29s failed to return. 3,989 Japanese are killed. You can see Osaka Castle (center right) and previous fire damage. During the attack on March 13, 1945, the 20th Air Force burned out the heart of the city. An area of 8.1 square miles (21.0 square kilometers), was wiped out during three hours of bombing from altitudes of 5,000 to 9,600 feet (1,524 to 2,926 meters.) Osaka was attacked again on June 1, 7, 15, and 26, 1945. 12,744 were killed and 1.2 million were homeless.