Nose Art Themes

Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees)

Several B29 Super Fortresses were painted to honour the Naval Construction Battalions(known as "The Seabees"), some 325,000 men, who built the airfields, bridges, roads and hospitals across the Pacific. Working alongside the marines, often under fire, they were truly the unsung heroes of the island war. The Seabees emblem was designed by a civilian employee at the Naval Air Station at Quonset Point. Frank Iafrate had a talent for caricature and was approached by an officer early in January 1942 and asked to design a "Disney-style" emblem for the newly formed Construction Battalions. The busy little bee with the sting in its tail was the result and soon adopted for all CB units.

If you have any photos of any of these aircraft or their crews, can add other examples or identify the artists who painted them please share with me.

Name	Serial #	Type	Unit
107th Seabees	42-24797	B-29-50-BW	505th Bomb Group, 484th Bomb Squadron
110th Seabees	44-69982	B-29-70-BW	444th Bomb Group
112th Seabees	42-24837	B-29-50-BW	504th Bomb Group
121st Seabees	42-24815	B-29-50-BW	505th Group, 483rd Squadron
135th Seabees		B-29	Unknown
13th Seabees	42-24802	B-29-50-BW	505th Group, 482nd Squadron
18th Seabees		B-29	Unknown
27th Seabees	42-24823	B-29-50-BW	505th Group, 483rd Squadron
27th Seabees		B-29	505th Group
29th Seabees	42-24781	B-29-50-BW	505th Group, 483rd Squadron
30th CB Regiment	42-65257	B-29-20-MO	505th Group, 482nd Squadron
38th Seabees			505th Group
49th Regiment (Seabees)	42-65257	B-29-20-MO	Unknown
50th Seabees
53rd NCB			39th Bomb Group
67th Seabees	42-24809	B-29-50-BW	505th Group, 482nd Squadron
6th CB Brigade			505th Group, 482nd Squadron
70th Battalion Photo courtesy of 330BG		B-29	29th Bomb Group
92nd Seabees	42-24784	B-29-50-BW	505th Group, 483rd Squadron
9th Seabees	42-24828	B-29-50-BW	505th Bomb Group, 484th Bomb Squadron
CBD 1036 Steveadorable			505th Group, 483rd Squadron
Frenisi 104 Seabees Embellished on the side of "Frenisi"	42-40323	B-24D-50-CO	307th Bomb Group
Goin Hard	42-65155	B-25G-10	42nd Bomb Group