page_title: Consolidated B-24 Liberator
section_title: British Commonwealth nomenclature and sub-variants
hierarchical_section_title: Consolidated B-24 Liberator / Variants / British Commonwealth nomenclature and sub-variants
caption_attribution_description: English: American Aircraft in Royal Air Force Service 1939-1945- Consolidated Model 32 Liberator. Liberator GR Mark IIIs, FK228 ‘M’ and FL933 ‘O’, of No. 120 Squadron RAF, lined up with other aircraft at Aldergrove, County Antrim. The third aircraft in line is a GR Mark V, FL952, of No. 86 Squadron RAF. The Mark IIIs are equipped with ASV Mark II anti-submarine radar, while FL952 carries centrimetric ASV radar in a radome under the nose.
context_page_description: The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s, in the Land Bomber design category.
  At its inception, the B-24 was a modern design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing. The wing gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries, the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low-speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24 and procured it in huge numbers for a wide variety of roles. At approximately 18,500 units – including 8,685 manufactured by Ford Motor Company – it holds records as the world's most produced bomber, heavy bomber, multi-engine aircraft, and American military aircraft in history.
context_section_description: Liberator C Mk I
  YB-24/LB-30A, direct purchase aircraft for the RAF. (Total: 9) Considered unsuitable for combat, all rebuilt as the C.1 and used by BOAC to initiate a ferry service between the UK and Canada to bring/return RAF aircrew to Canada for ferrying Lend-Lease aircraft to the UK.
  Liberator B Mk I
  B-24A/LB-30B, direct purchase aircraft for the RAF. (Total: 20) Considered unsuitable for combat, some rebuilt as the GR.1 and used in British anti-submarine patrol squadrons.
  Liberator B Mk II
  LB-30. The first combat-ready B-24. The modifications included a three-foot nose extension as well as a deeper aft fuselage and wider tailplane and self-sealing fuel tanks and armor; built to meet British specifications with British equipment and armament—there was no direct B-24 equivalent but similar to the B-24C. Except for the first aircraft off the lines (completed to specifications as a pattern aircraft and subsequently lost in a test flight over San Diego Bay), the rest of the run was completed without armament, which the British would fit after aerial delivery to the UK. With the American entry into the war in December 1941, some 75 were requisitioned by the USAAF and retaining the LB-30 designation in service, but 23 were returned in 1943. A small series of B Mk IIs were reconstructed late in the war as unarmed transports both for the RAF and the USAAF, including one modified as the personal transport of PM Winston Churchill, named 'Commando'. (Total production: 165)
  Liberator B Mk III
  B-24D variant with single .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in the nose, two in each waist position, and four in a Boulton Paul tail turret—similar to that on contemporary British heavy bombers such as the Halifax—as well as other British equipment. The Martin dorsal turret was retained. (Total: 156)
  Liberator B Mk IIIA: Lend-Lease B-24Ds with American equipment and weapons.
  Liberator B Mk IV
  Reserved for the B-24E, but there is no record of the RAF actually receiving any.
  Liberator B Mk V
  B-24D modified for extra fuel capacity at the cost or armor, with the same armament fit as the Liberator Mk III.
  Liberator B Mk VI
  B-24Hs in RAF service fitted with Boulton Paul tail turrets, but retaining the rest of their armament.
  Liberator B Mk VIII
  RAF designation for B-24Js.
  Liberator GR Mk V
  B-24D modified by RAF Coastal Command for the anti-submarine role with search radar and Leigh Light. Some were fitted with eight zero-length rocket launchers, four on each wing, with others being fitted with eight RP-3 rails under stub-wings, either side of the lower forward fuselage.
  Liberator GR Mk VI
  B-24G/H/J type used as a long-range general reconnaissance aircraft by RAF Coastal Command.
  Liberator GR Mk VIII
  B-24J modified by RAF Coastal Command for the anti-submarine role.
  Liberator C Mk VI
  Liberator B Mk VIII converted for use as a transport.
  Liberator C Mk VII
  British designation for C-87.
  Liberator C Mk VIII
  Liberator G Mk VIII converted for use as a transport.
  Liberator C Mk IX
  RAF designation for the RY-3/C-87C
  Late in the war RAF Liberator aircraft modified in England for use in South East Asia had the suffix "Snake" stenciled below the serial number to give them priority delivery through the Mediterranean and Middle East.
caption: RAF Coastal Command ASV Mk. II-equipped Liberator GR.III of No. 120 Squadron RAF.
exif: {}