Henry Eugene "Red" Erwin, Sr. is a recipient of the Medal of Honor which he earned aboard a heavy bomber whose design exceeded the cost of what?
Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing, which was flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. It was one of the largest aircraft operational during World War II and featured state of the art technology. Including design and production, it was the single most expensive weapons project undertaken by the United States in World War II, exceeding the cost of the Manhattan Project by between $1 and 1.7 billion. Innovations introduced included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled, tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that directed four remote machine gun turrets that could be operated by a single gunner and a fire-control officer. A manned tail gun installation was semi-remote. The name "Superfortress" continued the pattern Boeing started with its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. Designed for the high-altitude strategic bomber role, the B-29 also excelled in low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. One of the B-29's final roles during World War II was carrying out the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
H-class battleship proposals The H class was a series of battleship designs for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine", intended to fulfill the requirements of Plan Z in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The first variation, "H-39," called for six ships to be built, essentially as enlarged "Bismarck"-class battleship s with 40.6 cm guns. The "H-41" design improved the "H-39" ship with still larger main guns, with eight 42 cm weapons. Two subsequent plans, "H-42" and "H-43", increased the main battery yet again, with 48 cm pieces, and the enormous "H-44" design ultimately resulted with 50.8 cm guns. The ships ranged in size from the "H-39", which was 277.8 m long on a displacement of 56444 MT , to the "H-44", at 345 m on a displacement of 131000 MT . Most of the designs had a top speed in excess of 30 kn .