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Timeline |
The Baltimore was a light two-engined attack-bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States. To enable the aircraft to be supplied to the British under the Lend-Lease Act the United States Army Air Forces designation A-30 was allocated. It was not used in combat by the United States forces, but saw service with the British, Canadian, Australian, South African, Hellenic and the Italian air forces.
Initially designated the A-23 (derived from the A-22 Martin 167 Maryland design), the Model 187 (company designation) had a deeper fuselage and more powerful engines. The Model 187 met the needs for a light to medium bomber, originally ordered by the Anglo-French Purchasing Commission as a joint project in May 1940. The French Air Force sought to replace the earlier Maryland; 400 aircraft being ordered. With the fall of France, the Royal Air Force (RAF) took over the order and gave it the service name Baltimore. To enable the aircraft to be supplied to the British under the Lend-Lease Act the United States Army Air Forces designation A-30 was allocated.
With the passing of the Lend Lease Act two further batches of 575 and then 600 were provided to the RAF.
The first British aircraft were delivered in late 1941 to equip Operational Training Units. The RAF only used the Baltimores operationally in the Mediterranean area and North Africa.
Many users were impressed by the step up that the Baltimore represented from older aircraft like the Blenheim. The users of the Baltimore praised the aircraft for its heavy armament, structural strength, maneuverability, bombing accuracy and relatively high performance but crews complained of cramped conditions like the earlier Maryland. Due to the narrow fuselage it was nearly impossible for crew members to change positions during flight if wounded. This was common for most light bombers of the era like the Hampden, Boston and Blenheim. In combat service the Baltimore had a very low loss rate. The majority of losses came from operational accidents.
The Baltimore saw limited Fleet Air Arm service with aircraft transferred from the RAF in the Mediterranean to equip a squadron in 1944. The RAF also transferred aircraft to other allies in the Mediterranean area. After the capitulation of Italy in 1943 an Italian-manned squadron was equipped with ex-RAF Baltimores, becoming the co-belligerent Stormo Baltimore. The Italians suffered considerable attrition during their training phase on the Baltimore. The majority of accidents were during takeoffs and landings due to the aircraft's fairly high wing loading, high approach speed and a directional stability problems during take-offs. The Italians only operated the Baltimore for roughly six months. Many of those operations were in Yugoslavia and Greece providing air support for partisan forces or dropping supplies.
Used in the anti-U-boat role during the war, the plane achieved moderate success, sinking up to eight submarines.
All Baltimores were withdrawn from service by the end of 1949, the last one being withdrawn on December 23.
All 1,575 built were for the RAF. A number were lost on delivery across the Atlantic Ocean when two ships carrying Baltimores were sunk.
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Specifications (Baltimore V)
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