Many of the planes in Americas inventory were obsolete, or close to it.

One of those was the Douglas B-18 Bolo heavy bomber.

Consequently, Douglas got the early contract for heavy bomber production.

In this photograph, we see a Douglas B-18 Bolo flying from right to left over San Francisco, a city in California. The bomber has the brightly polished aluminum finish (silver colored) and not an olive drab or camouflage pattern that will be common when the United States of America enters World War II. A bomber is a military combat aircraft air-to-ground weaponry, launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircraft occurred in the Italo-Turkish War.

This Douglas B-18 Bolo bomber is in flight over Hamilton Field, California on February 7, 1938. Soon, these planes were tested in the fiery crucible of combat. Note it’s relatively flat nose. Image: NARA

Many Bolos were destroyed in the initial Japanese attacks against the USA in late 1941 and early 1942.

However, the planes still played a small, but important, role in World War II.

Even so, many people have never heard of the plane.

In this digital photo, we see a view of Hickam Field, now known as Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, from 4,000' in the air. B-18 bombers are clustered tightly together between the runway and aircraft hangars. Each aircraft pilot would learn to disperse its aircraft when parked on the tarmac.

On May 3, 1940, nearly 30 B-18 bombers were closely packed together in this photo of Hickam Field in Hawaii. This parking method changed once the bullets began flying in December of 1941. Image: U.S. Navy

Lets take a look at this interesting bomber from the Douglas Aircraft Company.

However, it had a limited payload, and technology advancements quickly rendered it obsolete.

The Douglas B-18 was intended to be a heavy bomber that would replace the B-10.

In this image, we see a flight of three B-18 bombers flying over the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaiian Islands in the early 1940s. Although the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was a superior bomber in almost every way, the B-18 beat the B-17 to enter production in 1937. By 1941, Boeing was starting to build B-17 bombers to replace the B-18. By the end of the war, virtually no B-18s were still operational, while the B-17 was the real workhorse of the American air power.

A flight of Douglas B-18 Bolo bombers fly in formation during exercises near Hawaii, taken in 1940-1941. Image: Harold Wahlberg

They were looking for something with double the bomb capacity and range of the older plane.

Douglas presented the DB-1, a company name for what would become the B-18.

It had stiff competition from the Boeing Model 299 and the Martin 146.

In this photo, we see the front of a B-18 while ground crew members work on the plane. This is an original plane without any variation modifier. By the time the B-18s ended production the country was involved in World War 2, production of all planes had ceased in favor of the more powerful B-17 bomber that offered longer range and a more precise bombardment capability.

U.S. Army Air Corps servicemen working a Douglas B-18 Bolo aircraft sometime in the 1930s. Image: Sgt. Lee R. Embree/U.S. Air Force

The B-18 design was based on the Douglas DC-2.

The DC-2 was a commercial passenger plane that really proved civilian passenger air travel could be reliable and comfortable.

Initially, the DC-2 commercial planes were flown by Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA).

In this photo we see the upgraded nose plexiglas used on the B-18A. B-18As also received more powerful radial engines to improve airspeed and runway length requirements. The fuselage of the aircraft remained the same, keeping the same about of cargo space as had been available since the first prototype was developed in 1934.

This B-18A features the relocated bomardier position and the corresponding nose alteration. This specific plane was in Canadian service. Image: Dept. of National Defence

The DC-2 was later developed into the DC-3, which was possibly the most successful aircraft ever created.

Armament on the B-18 was weak when compared to its eventual replacement, the B-17.

However, it had a fair amount of defensive firepower for the time.

In this photo is the prototype Douglas DB-2. Functionally similar to the B-18A, the company experimented with the inclusion of a powered nose turret that promised better defensive use of the .30-caliber machine gun. Ultimately, the new turret experiment did not work out and no models we produced with it.

Douglas developed a DB-2 prototype that had a Tucker powered nose turret. These did not go into production and only one DB-2 was ever made. Image: U.S. Air Force

They were all manually operated by the crew of six men.

Douglas experimented with Tucker remote controlled gun turrets on the planes.

One DB-2 was manufactured that used a Tucker powered nose gun turret.

In this image, we see a pair of B-18 bombers making a simulated attack run on U.S. Army troops in the Philippines. This was part of war games to train the soldiers and pilots in tactics and combat. With the B-18s deployed outside the continental United States, they expected to see action when the inevitable war with Japan came about.

Two U.S. Army Air Corps B-18 bombers make a simulated attack run on infantry caught in the open during training maneuvers in the Philippines, July 1941. Image: U.S. Navy

However, these were never adopted in production planes.

B-18A models received more powerful engines and relocated the bombardier position.

Two orders of these were made one for 177 bombers in 1937 and one for 40 airplanes in 1938.

In this photo, we see a damaged B-18 Bolo in the foreground with smoke and fires burning in the distance. The bomber was hit while on the ground at Hickam Field. The black smoke in the background is from the U.S.S. Arizona, a battleship that was destroyed during the sneak Attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, just before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941.

A damaged B-18 sits on Hickam Field during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. A large plume of smoke from the USSArizona(BB-39) is visible behind the hangars. Image: Sgt. Lee R. Embree/U.S. Army

By 1939, however, it was obvious that the B-18 was vastly outmatched by other countries.

Remaining B-18 bombers were split across multiple duties.

In Hawaii and Alaska, they were used for armed reconnaissance patrols.

In this digital image, we see a Douglas B-18 launching depth charges at a German U-boat. A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon designed to destroy submarines by detonating in the water around the target and subjecting it to a destructive hydraulic shock.

This B-18A Bolo fires rocket-powered depth charges at a target to its rear. Later “B” models would have a radar system that dominated the plane’s nose. Image: U.S. Navy

In May of 1942, they joined the U.S. Navy in searching for the Japanese fleet approaching Midway.

They were also used as transports to ferry troops throughout the Pacific.

Unfortunately too many German subs were slipping past and threatening shipping off of the U.S. coast.

In this photograph, we see a B-18B bomber fitted with MAD gear on a sponson. Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing.

This is a B-18B bomber with a radar array (nose) and MAD gear (sponson aft of the tail) for submarine hunting. It was converted from an “A” model for its new mission. Image: NARA

[Interested in other ways America fought the German U-boats?

Read about how theseWW2 blimpstook on the Nazi submarines.]

Additionally, many of the B-18B bombers were fitted with magnetic anomaly detection gear to locate submerged German boats.

In this photograph, we see a post-WWII B-18 in civilian use. These planes were often used for cargo or crop spraying aircraft by commercial operators  — a much different position that its role in 1943. This one sprayed DDT. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. DDT was first synthesized in 1874 by the Austrian chemist Othmar Zeidler. DDT’s insecticidal action was discovered by the Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller in 1939.

After World War II, surviving B-18 bombers were sold to the public. This plane found a new career in Oregon, spraying 1,000 gallons of DDT pesticide in each run. Image: NARA

Bombs were replaced with depth charges.

Between 1942 and 1943, B-18B Bolos flew regular ASW patrols over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

[Read about Hitlers nuclear U-boat in this article about theU-234 submarine.]

In this photo, we see a Douglas Digby in flight over Canada in 1941. Canada purchased 20 of the B-18A bombers for use in its No. 10 Squadron based in Nova Scotia.

A Royal Canadian Air Force Douglas Digby bomber flies over Nova Scotia in July 1941. Canada purchased 20 B-18A bombers from the United States. Image: Dept. of National Defence

In 1943, B-24 Liberators began replacing the B-18 for sub hunting duties.

As the war wound down, the B-18s continued to be used as transports and training planes.

Primary Users of the Bomber

The United States was the primary user of the B-18.

In this photo we get an excellent view of the B-18A nose. Used by the Canadian Air Force, the Douglas Digby was successful in prosecuting attacks on multiple U-boat submarines u-boot from Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

The Royal Canadian Air Force No. 10 Squadron based in Halifax replaced its bi-planes with the Douglas Digby. Image: Dept. of National Defence

Its impact in the Second World War are described above.

However, two additional countries also used the B-18: Brazil and Canada.

The Royal Canadian Air Force acquired 20 B-18A bombers and designated them the Douglas Digby Mark I.

Here we see a B-18 crash at Hickam Airfield in 1943. The crash, while serious, was still one that people were able to walk away from.

This original B-18 crash landed at Hickam Field on May 22, 1943. The bullnose indicates this is a pre “A” model. Image: NARA

They were assigned to No.

10 Squadron to replace the aging Westland Wapitis biplanes.

Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Digby Mk.

This unit photograph shows a squadron of B-18A pilots and crews.

This United States Army Air Corps unit photograph was taken in front of a Douglas B-18A Bolo. The updated bombardier position is visible through the upper nose. Image: Museum of Flight/Public Domain

1 was used to carry out about a dozen attacks on German submarines.

It is believed two were B-18C variants.

The possible third model is undetermined.

This photo, taken on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, shows a damaged B-18 Bolo in a hanger. The hangar is damaged. Soldiers in the foreground are setting up a crew served machine gun in a crater left by a Japanese bomb.

Bomb damage to the hangars at Hickam Field is obvious at 1700 hours December 7, 1941. A damaged Douglas B-18 bomber is visible inside the badly damaged hangar. Image: NARA

They were part of the Brazilian Air Force 1st Bomber Group.

Roughly 130-135 of the original Douglas B-18 planes were manufactured.

A single DB-18M was made that was designed as a trainer.

In this photograph, we see the only restored B-18 Bolo on the planet. It is located in California at the Castle Air Museum.

On display at Castle Air Museum, this is one of only five preserved Bolos. It is unique as the only straight B-18; the others are either B-18A or B-18B models. Image: Alan Wilson/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED

It was essentially the same plane, but with the bomb gear removed.

The last DB-18 was made as a prototype designated as DB-2 by Douglas.

This bomber used a powered nose turret for advanced air defense.

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The Douglas B-18A model used the Wright R-1820-53 radial engine rated at 1,000 horsepower.

It had nine cylinders and was normally aspirated.

Another change to the Douglas B-18A Bolo was the relocation of the bombardiers station.

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This is immediately visible to the casual observer as the planes nose was significantly altered.

Original B-18 bombers had a flat-ish glassed nose.

The B-18As nose became markedly more pronounced which allowed the bombardier to be out over the nose gun position.

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A trainer with the bomb gear removed was also made for the U.S. Army Air Force.

It was designated as the B-18AM.

These conversion planes were renamed to the B-18B.

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The new B-18B planes were fitted with radar and MAD gear.

This helped the planes crew spot any subs operating on the surface.

MAD gear was used for pinpointing the location of a sub underwater.

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MAD stands for magnetic anomaly detector (or detection depending on the context.)

This sensitive equipment could detect the disruption in the earths magnetic field due to a large metal submarine.

This information would then be used to fire rocket-propelled depth charges from the bomb bay to sink the sub.

MAD gear is completely passive, so there was no way the submarines could detect its use.

Like the B-18Bs, these were designed for anti-submarine duty.

The major change on these models was the addition of a pair of forward-facing Browning .50-caliber machine guns.

These models were eventually sold to Brazil.

Their final disposition is unknown.

They are unlikely to have survived the past 7+ decades.

Where Can You See a B-18 Today?

Relatively few B-18 Bolos have been restored and are preserved for history.

Excluding unrecovered B-18 wrecks or scrap, the following planes can still be seen today.

B-18: A single B-18 can be seen at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.

Tail number N52056 (originally NC52056) was used for fighting fires after World War II.

B-18A: Three B-18A Bolos are available for viewing.

The first, tail number N56947, is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Located in Dayton, Ohio at Wright-Patterson AFB, this is a must-visit museum for any aviation enthusiast.

This example was sold as surplus after WWII, eventually ending up in Cuban hands.

Federal agents, however, seized the plane in Florida when it was caught running guns to Fidel Castro.

The third B-18A is tail number N67947 which is currently at the McChord Air Museum.

This plane is believed to be the last Bolo to have flown its final flight was in 1971.

At the time of this writing, McChord Air Museum states the plane is currently undergoing an extensive restoration.

It still has a search radar dome in the nose, making it unique.