Etymology of the "Flying Fortress" Nickname for the B-17

[Noha307]

So, I have recently been buying a number of wartime vintage aircraft books as I wanted to better understand the prevailing attitudes at the time. One of the interesting details I have repeatedly come across is that the B-17 was not the first airplane to be called the "Flying Fortress". Here are a few examples that point to that:

The latest addition to Uncle Sam’s air forces is a veritable flying fortress-Dubbed the “Death Angel” because she is capable of attaining highest speed of any bomber and can carry a ton of explosives, four machine guns fore and aft and a crew of five men, the giant Boeing bombing plane shown above will prove one of the nation’s most fearful weapons.

(Source: “New Boeing ‘Death Angel’ to Be World’s Fastest Bomber,” Modern Mechanics, August 1931.)

The [Boeing XB-15] "Flying fortress," [sic] generally recognized as the world's finest long distance bomber.

(Source: John B. Walker, War Planes of All Nations (Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1940), 50.)

[The B-17C] is one of a long list of craft known as the "Flying Fortresses".

(Source: Thomas Penfield, Wings for America (Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1943), 41.)

The first two sources use the term "Flying Fortress" to refer to non-B-17 models and the latter source specifically mentions that the B-17 is only the most recent incarnation to have the nickname applied to it. It is worth noting that all three aircraft were Boeing products.

To support this notion, it is worth noting that the most commonly encountered explanation for the B-17s nickname is somewhat muddled. There is some uncertainty over exactly when Mr. Richard L. Williams, the reporter credited with coining the nickname, first purportedly used the phrase “Flying Fortress”. It has been rather romantically suggested that it was an exclamation upon seeing the airplane for the first time. However, there is also evidence that the name may have only been attached to the plane later on in a caption back at the newspaper office. (I covered this aspect in more detail on a Wikipedia talk page.)

Finally, what is also revealing is when one realizes that the nickname was supposedly coined in regards to the prototype B-17, the Model 299. This prototype had significantly fewer guns than the configuration that most people would recognize as a Flying Fortress. This seems to point to the fact that the name referred to something other than the number of guns it carried. As a matter of fact, the Boeing B-9 mentioned in the first quote above actually had one less machine gun than its contemporaries built by Keystone. [ref]

It more likely referenced the idea that the plane served as an aerial version of the battleships of the U.S. Navy – a defender of American isolation. This argument is further reinforced by the interception of the Italian ocean liner SS Rex in 1938 by Y1B-17s. Also, recall that the Norden bombsight was developed by the Navy - and not the Army Air Corps.

Last edited by Noha307 on Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[martin_sam_2000]

So, I have recently been buying a number of wartime vintage aircraft books as I wanted to better understand the prevailing attitudes at the time. One of the interesting details I have repeatedly come across is that the B-17 was not the first airplane to be called the "Flying Fortress". Here are a few examples that point to that:

The latest addition to Uncle Sam’s air forces is a veritable flying fortress-Dubbed the “Death Angel” because she is capable of attaining highest speed of any bomber and can carry a ton of explosives, four machine guns fore and aft and a crew of five men, the giant Boeing bombing plane shown above will prove one of the nation’s most fearful weapons.

Source: “New Boeing ‘Death Angel’ to Be World’s Fastest Bomber,” Modern Mechanics, August 1931.

The [Boeing XB-15] "Flying fortress," [sic] generally recognized as the world's finest long distance bomber.

Source: John B. Walker, War Planes of All Nations (Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1940), 50.

[The B-17C] is one of a long list of craft known as the "Flying Fortresses".

Source: Thomas Penfield, Wings for America (Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1943), 41.

The first two sources use the term "Flying Fortress" to refer to non-B-17 models and the latter source specifically mentions that the B-17 is only the most recent incarnation to have the nickname applied to it. It is worth noting that all three aircraft were Boeing products.

To support this notion, it is worth noting that the most commonly encountered explanation for the B-17s nickname is somewhat muddled. There is some uncertainty over exactly when Mr. Richard L. Williams, the reporter credited with coining the nickname, first purportedly used the phrase “Flying Fortress”. It has been rather romantically suggested that it was an exclamation upon seeing the airplane for the first time. However, there is also evidence that the name may have only been attached to the plane later on in a caption back at the newspaper office. (I covered this aspect in more detail on a Wikipedia talk page.)

Finally, what is also revealing is when one realizes that the nickname was supposedly coined in regards to the prototype B-17, the Model 299. This prototype had significantly fewer guns than the configuration that most people would recognize as a Flying Fortress. This seems to point to the fact that the name referred to something other than the number of guns it carried. As a matter of fact, the Boeing B-9 mentioned in the first quote above actually had one less machine gun than its contemporaries built by Keystone. [ref]

It more likely referenced the idea that the plane served as an aerial version of the battleships of the U.S. Navy – a defender of American isolation. This argument is further reinforced by the interception of the Italian ocean liner SS Rex in 1938 by Y1B-17s. Also, recall that the Norden bombsight was developed by the Navy - and not the Army Air Corps.

I have never even heard of that first one, the YB-9 so that is news to me, but the XB-15 was the precursor to the B-17 and was the begining of the "Flying Fortress" name.

Sean

[wolf]

One other point with the name Flying Fortress is Boeing holds the copyright on this name...

The other item of importance to note is the B-17 is a 4-engine medium bomber.....
.
.
.

[Chris Brame]

Let's go way back to July 16, 1904 in the Marion, Ohio Star:

[k5083]

One other point with the name Flying Fortress is Boeing holds the copyright on this name...

Trademark, not copyright.

The stories I always read says Boeing registered the trademark after the reporter called their aircraft a flying fortress. I have not been able to find a copy of the registration saying when that was. The stories always suggest it was early in the Model 299 period, but it's hard to be sure.

The British ordered the aircraft in 1940 and called it the Fortress (not Flying Fortress) but again, it's hard to pin down their first use of the term. Still, it seems fair to assume the B-17 was commonly known as the Flying Fortress by that time, and the British just used the last half of the name.

August

[Noha307]

Here's another interesting excerpt from another book I recently picked up. The section on the B-17 mentions the XB-15 as the "Super Flying Fortress":

The XB-15 Super Flying Fortress is somewhat similar in general design.

The nickname is mentioned again in a picture caption, so it's not a one-off:

Even larger than the B-17 series is the XB-15 Super Flying Fortress.

I'm thinking the "Superfortress" nickname for the B-29 may have actually been a contraction of "Super Flying Fortress".

There's also this strange tidbit from the same section:

In British service, these planes are known as Seattles.

(Source: David C. Cooke, War Wings: Fighting Planes of the American and British Air Forces (New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1941), [unnumbered pages].)

Let's go way back to July 16, 1904 in the Marion, Ohio Star:

Good find. It reminds me that the Sunderland was supposedly known to the Germans as the "Fliegendes Stachelschwein", or Flying Porcupine, due to all the guns it carried. (Although, I always thought it was appropriate for all the pointy antennas it had.)

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Sunderland Mark II, showing ASV Mark II "stickleback" antennas in front of the tail

So, if the B-17 really was named for its defensive firepower, it by no means had a monopoly on the concept. It is worth noting that models

(Source: Luftwaffe Lovers)

and diagrams

(Source: Quora)

showing cones of fire, probably influenced the application of nicknames such as "Fliegendes Stachelschwein".

Last edited by Noha307 on Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Noha307]

So, I read further into the book above, and apparently they were just throwing that "Flying Fortress" nickname around everywhere:

Commonly referred to as the Baby Flying Fortress, this Douglas B-23 is the latest of medium bombers accepted by the Air Corps for service.

Once again, the name is mentioned a second time in a picture caption:

Douglas' B-23 is unofficially called the Baby Flying Fortress and is reported to carry a bomb load in excess of 2,500 pounds.

(Source: David C. Cooke, War Wings: Fighting Planes of the American and British Air Forces (New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1941), [unnumbered pages].)

Last edited by Noha307 on Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Scott Rose]

Neat thread!

[wolf]

and everybody knows the original name for the B-24 was Terminator

[Saville]

and everybody knows the original name for the B-24 was Terminator

Had it remained the name it would have been pretty neat if one crew named theirs: "I'll be back"

Would not have been out of the realm of possibility...in fact it wouldn't surprise me if that name was used in WWII

[Noha307]

and everybody knows the original name for the B-24 was Terminator

Actually, I hadn't heard that before, so I had to look into it. A very brief Google search found me two references (1, 2) for the B-32 being originally named "Terminator", but nothing for the B-24. Do you have a source for that?

Also, as if to drive home how the "Flying Fortress" nickname was connected to isolationism rather than armament, I came across this picture caption:

"Guardian of the Hemisphere" is the name given by Douglas Aircraft Company to their greatest of all bombers, the B-19.

(Source: David C. Cooke, War Wings: Fighting Planes of the American and British Air Forces (New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1941), n.p.)

Last edited by Noha307 on Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[wolf]

Al Blue in one of our many conversations told me about the B-24 being called the Terminator

[Noha307]

Found a relevant excerpt from a 1941 letter to the editor:

[Unrelated text omitted]
But neither the Army nor the Navy in this country has taken the obvious opportunity to capitalize on the romance of the air services. Even "flying fortress," the clumsy newspaper name for the great four-motored bombers that are officially known as B-17-D, (sic) is without official recognition.
[Unrelated text omitted]

(Source: “Give Them Names,” Hartford Courant, May 17, 1941, 8.)

Also, we have another contender for "Flying Fortress":

Army Tests Huge Plane Called "Flying Fortress"

Norfolk, Va., June 26.-(A.P.)- America's "Flying Fortress" is undergoing varied tests here to determine its value as a war weapon for America. The Flying Fortress is a giant Keystone LB-6 bombing airplane, weighing six and a half tons and capable of carrying 2,300 pounds of bombs.

The LB-6 is capable of a speed of more than 120 miles an hour when fully loaded and was built to make bombing raids at an altitude of 14,600 feet. The air monster has a wingspread of 75 feet and is equipped with engines developing 1,050 horsepower.

For defensive and offensive purposes this latest type of bomber is armed with five machine guns, has a complete radio equipment, (sic) flares for night landing and carries a crew of five men.

[Unrelated text omitted]

(Source: “Army Tests Huge Plane Called 'Flying Fortress',” North Adams Transcript, June 26, 1928, 7.)

Finally, the history of the B-17's nomenclature actually has a connection with another famously ambiguous nickname, "Jeep":

[Unrelated text omitted]

A few interesting facts regarding the "Flying Fortresses" may here be recorded. The first B-17 was delivered at Seattle, Wash., on March 1, 1937, and the twelfth and last B-17 on July 26, 1937.

Since delivery of the first article, the "Jeeps"* have flown 679,000 miles, or over 27 times around the world, or the equivalent of 141 1/2 full twenty-four hour days in the air.

[Unrelated text omitted]

*Note: We enter here a mild protest against the application by the Langley Field Correspondent of the term "Jeeps" to the B-17's. Firstly, that term is not befitting an airplane of this type. Why not let the term "Flying Fortress" suffice? Secondly, the autogyro has prior claim to the appellation of "Jeeps;" so let us be consistent.

(Source: “Performances of B-17’s Evoke Enthusiasm,” Air Corps News Letter XXI, no. 1 (January 1, 1938), 7.)

EDIT: Found one more. Apparently even Fokker built a "Flying Fortress". Note the apparent comparison to a battleship at the end:

Huge Army "Flying Fortress" Tested With Extreme Secrecy

NEW YORK, April 14. (AP)- An army "flying fortress," whose single wing bristles with machine guns, was described by the New York Herald-Tribune today. Tests were conducted with extreme secrecy yesterday at Teterboro airport, New Jersey.

The plane, designed by Anthony H. G. Fokker, is described as the most formidable fighting aircraft of its kind ever turned out. In a diving attack the whole wing opens fire under automatic control.

Manned by a crew of two, the plane carries a quarter of a ton of bombs and six machine guns, yet the preliminary tests indicate that it is faster than the pursuit plane now in use by the army. One unofficial observer is quoted as saying that the development is "comparable to taking a leviathan of the sea and giving it the speed and maneuverability of a humming bird."

(Source: “Huge Army "Flying Fortress" Tested With Extreme Secrecy,” Spokane Daily Chronicle, April 14, 1931, 1.)

[Noha307]

So, I bought a few more vintage books over the holidays, and one of them - a children's book - definitely reinforces the connection with battleships. A few selections from the text:

The "Coronado" is a flying battleship. It is the pride of the U.S. Navy's bombing fleets.

The Martin "Mariner" is another air battleship of the U.S. Navy, for mid-ocean patrol.

Patrol bombers, or flying boats, are air battleships. They roam far out to sea, hunting enemy ships and submarines. They are as big and deadly as the Army's heavy bombers.

(Source: James F. Wallace, War Planes in Action (Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1942), [unnumbered pages].)

While none of the above refer to the B-17, the sheer number of times the metaphor is used demonstrate that the idea was deeply ingrained in the public consciousness. Furthermore, the following passage, while not mentioning the B-17 specifically, is a description of land-based "mediums" and "heavies":

The crews include as many as 10 men-the pilot (who is the ship's captain), the co-pilot, the bombardier, radio man, gunners, and the navigator (who works out the ship's course for flights up to 4000 miles, just as if he were planning the course of a ship at sea). Each heavy bomber bristles with guns.

(Source: James F. Wallace, War Planes in Action (Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1942), [unnumbered pages].)

The fact that "ship" was already a common term for any type of airplane at the time would have only meant that the connection to vehicles of the water-based variety was that much easier to make.

Finally, just to further expand the preponderance of applications of the "Flying Fortress" moniker at the time, here's a caption from another book:

The Fascist Flying Fortress. From this front view, the Piaggio P. 108C heavy bomber appears almost identical with the U.S. Boeing B-17.

(Source: David C. Cooke, War Planes of the Axis (New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1942), 171.)

[JohnB]

The stories I always read says Boeing registered the trademark after the reporter called their aircraft a flying fortress. I have not been able to find a copy of the registration saying when that was. The stories always suggest it was early in the Model 299 period, but it's hard to be sure.

August

Here's a specific answer to your question, and also adds to Noha307s original post.

Here is what Peter M. Bowers, Boeing engineer and unofficial historian says about that in his book
50th Anniversary Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1935-1985 published by the Museum of Flight.

"The name 'Flying Fortress' that was applied to the Boeing B-299 prototype was one of those rare naturals that just popped up. Boeing did not make a practice of naming it's airplanes at the time. When reporters at the July 17, 1935 roll out of the new bomber turned in their photos, an editor was impressed by the then formidable battery of 5 defensive machine guns and called the giant 'a 15 ton flying fortress' in the caption that he wrote. "

"Boeing public relations quickly picked up their name and registered as a trademark. However, its use was Unofficial for a few years. It did not become official with the US army until October 1941, when popular names assigned to U.S. service models for the general public reference without revealing the actual development status. All B-17's regardless of series letter we're simply 'Flying Fortresses' in military press releases."

Notice the unnamed editor used the term simply to describe the aircraft, not as a name or nickname.

The way Bowers wrote that make it clear (at least to me), that the editor likely used The name later that day or perhaps the next, depending on whether it was a morning or evening paper.
And for Boeing PR to be aware of the name, I'd also assume it was in a Seattle-area paper and not an editor in say, Chicago, who was going to print a news service photo.

The Museum of Flight library has all of Bowers' papers, I'm sure the exact date or more importantly, which newspaper that appeared in could be found with a bit of time in Seattle.

If one has access to online newspaper archieves, the two main Seattle papers of the time were The Seattle Times and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.