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Description
Edward Curtis Wells, one of the Boeing Co.'s top designers and engineers, impressed with Prof. Anton Veeblefitzer's unique contributions to the science of aircraft design, invited his new friend, to Seattle, to discuss the possibility of building a sea-worthy version of the B-17 for the United States Navy.
After getting snot-flying drunk, Prof. Veeblefitzer and Dr. Wells, on the white table cloth, that draped the dining table, and armed with indelible ink pens, whipped up the graphics that ultimately became the Ve-Bo PB-17, much to the dismay of Mrs. Wells, who loudly denounced the effort, as it spoiled her precious table cloth, which had been in her family for 9 generations(!).
In mid 1941, twelve B-17E Flying Fortress's were pulled from the Boeing/Seattle production line, and had their bottom sections sliced off, and mated to quickly produced "boat" extensions, similar to that of the PBY Catalina and Coronado sea-plane designs, produced by the Consolidated Aircraft Co., located in San Diego, Calif. (this resulted in a bunch of copy-right lawsuits!).
Quickly realizing that the machine needed extra horsepower to overcome the new weight loads, Prof. Veeblefitzer, and Dr. Wells, took advantage of the newly available Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial motor, rated a 2,000hp for take-off.
They enlarged, and strengthened the motor nacelles, to handle the new engines, and equipped them with the same 4-bladed propellers then being manufactured for the new Martin B-26 marauder.
The wing pontoons were fold-able, as in the the PBY Catalina.
The crew consisted of one bombardier, one navigator, in the nose, with one pilot, and co-pilot, with two flight engineers, manning the the two top turrets, and the aft turret operator also manned the radio, with two waist gunners, one would man the bottom gun position when necessary, and the tail gunner.
Defensive armament comprised of 11 x .50 cal. m.g.'s. Two were in a flexible mount located in the nose of the craft, while two top turrets housed four more. Two more were deployed in the right and left fuselage waist positions, and a single weapon was located at the bottom of the craft, just ahead of the tail planes, for bottom defense. Twin weapons were located in the tail.
Offensive armament could be two Bliss-Levitt 2,000lb torpedoes, one attached under each wing, between the inboard motors and the fuselage, or 12 x 500lb depth charges, or 6 x 1,000 lb armor piercing bombs for anti ship missions, contained in a water-tight bomb bay, etc.
When the Imperial Enemy attacked Pearl Harbor, the Dept. of the Navy quickly purchased the twelve finished machines, and immediately deployed six to the Atlantic Theater for anti-submarine duty, and six to the Pacific Theater.
The machines excelled in long range convoy protection and sunk many enemy sub's in the Atlantic.
In the Pacific Theater, they were vital in helping to beat back the enemy invasion of the Hawaiian Islands, in mid 1942.
Attrition finally caught up them, and they perished gallantly in combat, in early 1943.

Description
Edward Curtis Wells, one of the Boeing Co.'s top designers and engineers, impressed with Prof. Anton Veeblefitzer's unique contributions to the science of aircraft design, invited his new friend, to Seattle, to discuss the possibility of building a sea-worthy version of the B-17 for the United States Navy.
After getting snot-flying drunk, Prof. Veeblefitzer and Dr. Wells, on the white table cloth, that draped the dining table, and armed with indelible ink pens, whipped up the graphics that ultimately became the Ve-Bo PB-17, much to the dismay of Mrs. Wells, who loudly denounced the effort, as it spoiled her precious table cloth, which had been in her family for 9 generations(!).
In mid 1941, twelve B-17E Flying Fortress's were pulled from the Boeing/Seattle production line, and had their bottom sections sliced off, and mated to quickly produced "boat" extensions, similar to that of the PBY Catalina and Coronado sea-plane designs, produced by the Consolidated Aircraft Co., located in San Diego, Calif. (this resulted in a bunch of copy-right lawsuits!).
Quickly realizing that the machine needed extra horsepower to overcome the new weight loads, Prof. Veeblefitzer, and Dr. Wells, took advantage of the newly available Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial motor, rated a 2,000hp for take-off.
They enlarged, and strengthened the motor nacelles, to handle the new engines, and equipped them with the same 4-bladed propellers then being manufactured for the new Martin B-26 marauder.
The wing pontoons were fold-able, as in the the PBY Catalina.
The crew consisted of one bombardier, one navigator, in the nose, with one pilot, and co-pilot, with two flight engineers, manning the the two top turrets, and the aft turret operator also manned the radio, with two waist gunners, one would man the bottom gun position when necessary, and the tail gunner.
Defensive armament comprised of 11 x .50 cal. m.g.'s. Two were in a flexible mount located in the nose of the craft, while two top turrets housed four more. Two more were deployed in the right and left fuselage waist positions, and a single weapon was located at the bottom of the craft, just ahead of the tail planes, for bottom defense. Twin weapons were located in the tail.
Offensive armament could be two Bliss-Levitt 2,000lb torpedoes, one attached under each wing, between the inboard motors and the fuselage, or 12 x 500lb depth charges, or 6 x 1,000 lb armor piercing bombs for anti ship missions, contained in a water-tight bomb bay, etc.
When the Imperial Enemy attacked Pearl Harbor, the Dept. of the Navy quickly purchased the twelve finished machines, and immediately deployed six to the Atlantic Theater for anti-submarine duty, and six to the Pacific Theater.
The machines excelled in long range convoy protection and sunk many enemy sub's in the Atlantic.
In the Pacific Theater, they were vital in helping to beat back the enemy invasion of the Hawaiian Islands, in mid 1942.
Attrition finally caught up them, and they perished gallantly in combat, in early 1943.