Rows of B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers crowd an airfield flight line during World War II. Though catalogued alongside material related to the escort carrier USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80), this image depicts land-based aircraft and most likely shows a Twentieth Air Force bomber base in the Mariana Islands - Guam, Tinian, or Saipan - from which massed B-29 formations struck the Japanese home islands in 1944 and 1945. The unpainted, natural-metal Superfortresses represent the cutting edge of American strategic bombing technology, combining long range, heavy bomb loads, and pressurized crew compartments. Project: 218429