Martin B-26 Marauder
During World War II the Martin B-26 Marauder was considered a 'hot' ship - high-powered, unforgiving and risky to fly. But in spite of unflattering nicknames like 'Widowmaker' and 'Flying Coffin', the Marauder was not as dangerous as was widely believed. In fact, it was a potent warplane - a silvery sleek bullet of a medium bomber which could carry a respectable bombload and outrun the opposition.
The Martin Marauder went straight into production, the first aircraft to fly being a service model and not a prototype. It made an immediate impact, rumour giving the new medium bomber an (exaggerated) top speed of almost 600 km/h (370mph), faster than most fighters then in service. Its engines were in streamlined nacelles underslung from a shoulder-mounted wing, enhancing the image of the Marauder as a silvery 'Flying Torpedo'.
Although employed to good effect for conventional and torpedo bombing, the Marauder never made its mark in the Pacific theatre where the more conventional, less challenging B-25 Mitchell was preffered.
In Europe the story was very different, with B-26s joining US squadrons in 1942. The initial deployment by the 319th Bomb Group was trouble-plagued. The Marauder landed at 210 km/h (130 mph) and could betray an unskilled pilot. But the B-26 soon made its mark over the continent, proving to be a rugged, accurate and extremely hard-hitting tactical weapon.
Following their success in covering the invasion of Normandy, Marauders again proved successful in attacking the heavily defended German V-1 flying bomb launch sites during 1944.
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| Designed in 1939 for the US Army Air Corps, the sleek, fast, twin-engined Martin Model 179 Marauder was ordered straight into production without a prototype or trials. |
A stick of 114 kgs (250 lbs) bombs falls from the internal bomb-bay of a raiding B-26. The aircraft could carry a rather modest total weight of 2359 kgs (5,200 lbs). |
The B-26 was designed with a very sleek, circular section fuselage, curving to the nose and tail cones. The cockpit windscreen was streamlined, and the wing was designed for speed rather than lift. |
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Martin B-26 Marauder (Technical Specification) |
| Role |
Seven-seat medium day-bomber |
| Manufacturer |
Martin |
| Maximum Speed |
454 kmh (317 mph) |
| Maximum Range |
1,851 km (1,148 miles) |
| Ceiling |
6,400 meters (23,500 feet) |
Weight
Empty
Maximum Takeoff |
10,886 kg (23,950 lbs)
16,783 kg (36,923 lbs) |
Dimensions
Wingspan
Length
Height
Wing Area |
21.64 meters (71 ft)
17.75 meters (58 ft)
6.55 meters (21 ft)
61.13 square meters (679 sq ft) |
| Engines |
Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43 Double Wasp radial piston engines each providing 1432-kW (1,920 hp) |
| Armament |
Eight 12.7 mm (0.50 cal) machine-guns with 3950 rounds of ammunition
A maximum internal bombload of 2359 kgs (5,170 lbs) |
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