Artifact Spotlight: B29 Superfortress Oxygen Tank

Superfortress Oxygen Tank

Andy Cattoir, NPS

The object is cylindrical with a length of 22 inches, and a circumference of 39 inches. It is metal and ranges in color from white to black. It has distinct perpendicular and horizontal ridges, and a valve at one end. This oxygen tank was just one of several artifacts reclaimed from the wreckage of the B29 Superfortress crash of 1948 from the bottom of Lake Mead at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAKE) in Boulder City, Nevada.

Lake Mead is a man-made lake which formed after the 1930s construction of the Hoover Dam. LAKE is the United States’ first recreation area, spanning across 1.5 million acres of Nevada and Arizona wilderness. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States, with over 750 miles of shoreline. It is an oasis in the vast surrounding desert. Depending on rainfall levels and other environmental pressures, Lake Mead’s water level fluctuates seasonally with a maximum depth of over 1000 ft.

The region’s colossal lakes and isolated desert make it an ideal location for the surrounding military bases and test range sites. During the emergence of the cold war in the 1940s, the lake and surrounding areas were used to field test new weapon and aircraft technology. On the morning of July 21, 1948, a four-man crew piloting a B-29 Superfortress flew above the lake conducting upper atmospheric range tests. After taking several measurements, the pilot was instructed to fly as low to the water as possible. Despite the crystal-clear sunny skies and ideal flight conditions, sunlight reflecting off the water paired with an improperly calibrated altimeter led both the pilot and co-pilot to miscalculate their altitude. Flying at nearly 250 mph, the plane made contact with the surface of the lake, skimming for nearly half a mile before losing multiple engines and beginning to sink. Fortunately, due to the quick reaction of the pilots and crew, the entire team escaped miraculously unharmed (save for one broken arm) to emergency rafts where they awaited rescue.

Lake Mead

NPS Gallery *Images credited to NPS without any copyright symbol are public domain

Despite the military and the National Park Service’s awareness of the general vicinity of the crash, the plane laid undisturbed 200 feet deep on the lake bottom for over 50 years. In the year 2000, a private dive team located the plane using side-scan sonar and returned the following year to illegally pilfer artifacts from the wreckage. Because the plane resided in a national park, the artifacts were deemed protected cultural resources and were eventually rightfully returned to the park for protection. It was not until 2003 that the park hired their own team of divers to survey the site and observe the eerily pristine condition of the wreckage. The plane was still remarkably intact. Today, the park service conducts regular dives to monitor and preserve the artifact amid fluctuating lake levels and changing environmental conditions. Invasive quagga mussels, introduced to the United States from the Ukraine via ships, burrowed into the aluminum hull and are one of the modern challenges of preserving this artifact today.

While the site is being carefully protected, commercial guided tours from accredited diving companies offer limited opportunities to see the site up close. Other sunken treasures around the site, including two boat wrecks, a sunken 38-foot tow barge, and a white gypsum reef are accessible to guests with scuba licenses.

To read more about diving opportunities at Lake Mead, click here.

Article written by Audrey Nelson
for "A Day in the Life of a Fellow" Article Series
National Park Service - Workforce Management Fellow
in Partnership with Northwest Youth Corps (NYC)