Silverplate

Uncommon card · No. 190774

Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop an atomic weapon, "Silverplate" eventually came to identify the training and operational aspects of the program as well. The original directive for the project had as its subject line "Silver Plated Project," but continued usage of the term shortened it to "Silverplate". Testing began with scale models at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia, in August 1943. Modifications began in November 1943 on a prototype Silverplate B-29 known as the "Pullman", which was used for bomb-flight testing at Muroc Army Air Field in California beginning in March 1944. The testing led to further modifications of the bombs and the aircraft. After the Pullman, Silverplate bombers were ordered in three batches: 17 ordered in August 1944 to allow the 509th Composite...

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