The P-47 Thunderbolt: America’s Ultimate Fighter of World War II

Image of Lt. Gil C. Burns Jr. and his P-47D Thunderbolt “Ginny” of the U.S. 9th Air Force

The P-47, known as “the unbreakable” because of its rugged capabilities, was one of America’s workhorse fighters of World War II. Flown by some of the top aces of the war – Frances Gabreski, Robert Johnson, Glenn Eagleston – the amazing Thunderbolt contributed mightily to the Allied victory.

The P-47: Birth of a Fighter

The P-47 began life in 1939 as the AP-10, a high-altitude interceptor designed by Alexander Kartveli of the Seversky Airplane Company – later reorganized as Republic Aviation. Designated by the U.S. Army Air Corps as the XP-47, the new fighter eventually sported a 2,000-horsepower turbo-charged Pratt & Whitney radial engine and a full complement of eight .50-caliber machine guns.

The P-47 Thunderbolt Produced in Farmingdale, New York

The P47B eventually won final approval from the Air Corp’s Materiel Command, with mass production beginning in July 1942 at Republic’s plant in Farmingdale, New York. Christened the Thunderbolt, these early razorback canopy models rolled off the assembly line at a cost of about $85,000 each.

The first P-47s were delivered to the 56th Fighter Group, stationed only a few miles from the Republic production plant. The 56th served as the Thunderbolt’s unofficial test pilots, with 18 of them losing their lives before the plane’s “bugs” could be ironed out.

The Thunderbolt Deployed Overseas

The new P-47s arrived in the British Isles in late 1942, where they became part of the U.S. 8th Air Force. The Thunderbolt later arrived in the Pacific Theater in August 1943, with the 348th Fighter Group of the U.S. 5th Air Force taking delivery.

As the war progressed, many improvements were made to the P-47. Extra fuel tanks were added for long-range escort duty; the razorback canopy was replaced by the bubbletop; bomb racks were equipped beneath the plane’s belly, and five-inch rocket mounts were added to the wings. The latter additions reflected the changing combat role of the P-47, from escort fighter to fighter-bomber.

Top P-47 War Aces

Major Don Blakeslee recorded the first P-47 “kill” on April 15, 1943, when he downed a German FW-190. The top P-47 aces and their total air kills for the war were Lt. Colonel Frances S. Gabreski (28) and Captain Robert S. Johnson (27).

Well-known to the German Luftwaffe, Gabreski crash-landed his Thunderbolt in enemy territory in July 1944. After evading German patrols for five days he was finally captured. “Hello, Gabby,” a German intelligence officer later greeted him, “we’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

Thunderbolt Pilots Faced Extreme Hazards

P-47 drivers, like other fighter pilots, occupied one of the deadliest professions of the war. When strafing and dive bombing low-level targets, they often encountered an array of lethal German countermeasures. Steel cables were launched, tangling up propeller blades or severing wings. Hidden antiaircraft guns were stashed in railroad cars, with their doors opening up and their crews blazing away at the startled P-47 intruders. Mobile antiaircraft batteries, called Zugkraftwagens – or flak wagons – roamed the countryside in camouflage, hunting the invading Thunderbolts.

Surviving P-47 Thunderbolts 

More than 15,000 P-47 Thunderbolts rolled off the assembly line during World War II. Today, surviving Thunderbolts can be found in various museums around the globe, including “Jacky’s Revenge,” housed at the famous American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, New York.

Robert S. Johnson’s Tribute to the P-47

“The Thunderbolt has brought me home,” wrote American ace Robert S. Johnson following a combat mission in 1943. “Battered into a flying, wrecked cripple, she fought her way back, brought me home. It’s almost too much to believe!”

Johnson’s tribute to the beloved P-47 was echoed many a time by those men who had proudly flown the amazing Thunderbolt during the Second World War.