swampyankee
Chief Master Sergeant
- 3,984
- Jun 25, 2013
The B-17 was originally designed for attacking ships at sea...this was because the USAAC envisioned that any enemy attacking the U.S. had to come by sea, so the B-17 was designed with that in mind.
So the B-17 had the ability both in range and warload to conduct maritime duties and the USN did in fact, have several B-17s serve in that role as the PB-1.
But the B-17 was in high demand from the USAAF, and the B-17 was only being manufactured at three plants: Boeing Seattle, Douglas Long Beach and Vega Burbank, where the B-24 was being manufactured in larger numbers from more plants: Consolidated San Diego, Consolidated Ft. Worth, Ford Willow Run, North American Dallas and Douglas Tulsa.
The sources I have seen have the B-24 being faster and having longer range than the B-17 with the same payload. See, for example, B17 vs B24, and B-17 vs. B-24 | The Veterans Breakfast Club | Creating communities of listening
This doesn't necessarily mean it was a better combat aircraft, at the B-17 was reputedly both less difficult to fly and more robust.