Key Points and Summary – The Convair B-36 Peacemaker, the largest bomber ever to serve in the U.S. military, was a technological marvel that became the flashpoint for the “Revolt of the Admirals” in the late 1940s.
-This massive, six-engine behemoth, designed for long-range nuclear strikes, symbolized a strategic shift toward air power that threatened the U.S. Navy’s dominance.
B-36 Bomber National Security Journal Photos. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
-The bitter inter-service rivalry over the B-36 and the cancellation of the Navy’s own supercarrier, the USS United States, led to a political firestorm. Though the B-36 was ultimately a short-lived “stopgap” bomber, its controversial legacy shaped the future of American defense policy.
-To enhance this article and provide more in-depth coverage, we have included new photos and video of the B-36 bomber from our recent visit to the U.S. Air Force Museum outside of Dayton, Ohio.
The B-36 Peacemaker Bomber Explained
The B-36 was enormous. Measuring 162 feet wide from wingtip to wingtip, it was to be the centerpiece of American strategic airpower in the very early years of the Cold War, when tensions with Moscow were high and the perceived need for a powerful long-range strategic bomber was arguable at its nadir.
Consolidated Vultee, which would later become Convair, began work on the B-36 during the early stages of the Second World War, though its protracted development meant that the bomber didn’t make its maiden flight until 1946, and would not enter service with the United States until after the war in 1948. The bomber’s design, besides its large size, was unconventional.
Under normal conditions, the B-36’s six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines propelled the bomber to cruising speeds of 230 miles per hour, a flight speed that increased to 435 miles per hour when the pilots engaged the bomber’s four General Electric J47s jet engines.
Though the B-36 holds the distinction of being the United States’ largest bomber ever in service, it is perhaps best remembered for the consternation it caused within the newly-created Department of Defense in the immediate years following the end of the Second World War, a protected internal conflict known today as the Revolt of the Admirals.
The Revolt of the Admirals
The B-36 entered service at a time of deep controversy in the United States military, known today as the “Revolt of the Admirals.”
The controversy centered on America’s shifting defense policy, the future of aviation, naval power, and the balance between them, and the budding and increasingly antagonistic interservice rivalry between the United States Navy and the newly-created United States Air Force.
Following the end of the Second World War, the National Security Act of 1947 reorganized the military, established the United States Department of Defense, and created the United States Air Force as a separate service branch from the other branches.
While the reorganization was ultimately a boon to the United States military, it caused considerable friction between the different services, particularly for the U.S. Navy, which saw the new emphasis on strategic bombers and air-dropped nuclear weapons coming at its own expense.
The B-36 bomber was one of the platforms at the center of the controversy, as was the USS United States, a planned aircraft carrier of enormous proportions designed to launch and receive long-range strategic bombers.
The then-Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson canceled the aircraft carrier in April 1949 without any forewarning, taking the United States Navy by surprise and prompting the revolt.
The admiral’s outrage was acute. Both the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Louis Denfeld, as well as William Halsey, a retired admiral, openly criticized Secretary of Defense Johnson’s decision, arguing that the United States was in danger of becoming over reliant on air power alone and that continued investment in naval power was of vital importance for American and international security.
B-36 Bomber Dayton, Ohio USAF Museum. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
Their vocal, pointed criticism caused an intense backlash, as well as Congressional hearings, when the admirals leveled pointed criticism at President Harry Truman’s administration and the path it was pursuing in favor of granting more responsibility to the United States Air Force for America’s nuclear deterrence.
Consequently, Admiral Denfeld was removed as Chief of Naval Operations in what was widely seen as retaliation for his testimony.
Ultimately, Department of Defense granted the budding U.S. Air Force a greater role in American nuclear deterrence as the airborne component to the American nuclear triad, and the controversial B-36 Peacemaker program continued.
The Aftermath
The United States Navy emerged from the kerfuffle politically damaged and somewhat weakened. The branch ultimately bounced back and recovered thanks in part to the outbreak of the Korean War, which underscored the importance of the navy in projecting power and sustaining it far from American shores.
And while the United States Air Force continued to pursue the B-36, the maturation of jet engine technology and the superiority of platforms like the B-52 Stratofortress meant that the bomber’s future would ultimately be significantly curtailed when it entered service in 1958 and 1959.
In contrast, the B-52’s success is without parallel. Thanks to an ongoing engine upgrade program, that early Cold War-era bomber is still in service, and if the U.S. Air Force’s plans continue to be scheduled, it will serve for close to a century.
Although certainly an innovative long-range strategic bomber, the B-36 was ultimately a stopgap bomber until the B-52 Stratofortress came online in the mid-1950s, a strategic bomber that continues to serve with the United States Air Force today.
One of the B-36’s greatest strengths, perhaps, was the fact that it never went to war and never dropped a bomb in anger. It was a bomber that served during a time of transition: at the cusp of the jet age when nuclear weapons adjusted the calculus of warfare.
B-36 Bomber Side View from NSJ. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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