Boeing on a Barge ...

[Cubs]

Sounds logical, sandiego89.

To answer the other question about the different shades of metal. I'm no B-29 expert but, I know on other aircraft the different types of metal are different shades of color. Also, alodine or anodize make the metasl look different.

[p51]

Looks to me that the birds damage is the result of running off the end of the runway causing the nose gear to collapse which let the prop blades contact the ground. If that bird was involved in a water landing I believe the blades would be significantly damaged more so than they appear to be in the photo.

Yeah, the locks in Ballard where this is, heading away from the Lake, would be well within the right direction for a B-29 to have a problem with a Northward departure from Boeing Field, missing downtown and going down in the only place they could-the lake. Even then, there would be too many houses, buildings and non-flat spots to land on North of there.
Otherwise, there's no real reason for it to going through the locks unless it'd gone down in the lake.

[B29Gunner]

Yeah, the locks in Ballard where this is, heading away from the Lake, would be well within the right direction for a B-29 to have a problem with a Northward departure from Boeing Field, missing downtown and going down in the only place they could-the lake. Even then, there would be too many houses, buildings and non-flat spots to land on North of there.
Otherwise, there's no real reason for it to going through the locks unless it'd gone down in the lake.

It did not ditch in Lake Washington. It ditched off Redondo Beach in Puget Sound. It was then barged through Lake Washington back to Renton

[Michel Lemieux]

If it was ditched.......It was expertly done!!!!!

It appears there are no damage whatsoever to the lower engine nacelles...and the fuse seems pretty straight.

My 2 Canadian centavos!

[EAIAnalog]

If the caption on the photo is correct, and the position of the tug indicates it is, then the barge and the tug are about to be lowered to the level of Puget Sound. So I would guess that they're headed to the main Boeing complex just south of Seattle. One question would be: why remove the vertical stabilizer/rudder? There's nothing between Lake Washington and the locks that would require it. If it came from Renton, then it would have to go through the Lake Washington floating bridge, and I don't know enough about the bridge in that time frame to make any comment.

I did a search on "damaged B-29 in Ballard locks", and it coughed out a google books image from a book by Adam Woog called The Ballard Locks. The image looks the same, but Mr. Woog says its date is 9-22-44. So we can probably say that the picture was from 1944, with when being somewhat elusive.

[p51]

It did not ditch in Lake Washington. It ditched off Redondo Beach in Puget Sound. It was then barged through Lake Washington back to Renton

I didn't even think of that spot. Hard to keep track of all the places North of the Field in regard to what they would have been like during WW2. Much different than as it is today. I don't think there's anywhere you could set down heading that direction without going into the water or hitting buildings, homes or roads...

[B29Gunner]

Hard to keep track of all the places North of the Field in regard to what they would have been like during WW2. Much different than as it is today.

That is so very true! I really noticed this when going over the XB-29 crash report and comparing the area then to what it looks like today. It's amazing how much things have changed!