Silverplate Operational Units
Including the Pullman B-29, a total of 65 Silverplate B-29s were produced both during and after World War II. Twenty-nine of these were assigned to the 509th Composite Group during World War II, with 15 used to carry out the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. An additional twenty-four were assigned to the group for post-war operations as the 509th Bomb Group. Fifty-seven Silverplates were produced by Martin-Omaha and 8 by Boeing-Wichita. Thirty-two were eventually converted to other configurations, 16 were placed in storage and later scrapped, and 12 were lost in accidents (including four of the Tinian bombers). Two, the Enola Gay and Bockscar, are displayed in museums.
The only other USAF combat unit to use the Silverplate B-29 was the 97th Bomb Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, El Paso, Texas. In the summer of 1949 it received 27 of the aircraft from the 509th Bomb Wing when the latter transitioned to B-50D bombers, but within a year all were converted to TB-29 trainers. One other Silverplate B-29, on temporary assignment in the United Kingdom was converted into a weather reconnaissance aircraft (WB-29) and transferred to the 9th Bomb Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California. The last Silverplate B-29 in service as a nuclear weapons carrier was reassigned to another role in November 1951, ending the Silverplate history after nearly eight years.
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