Consolidated B-24 Liberator Liberator B Mk.II / LB-30

The Liberator B Mk.II — LB-30 in factory nomenclature — was the first genuinely combat-capable Liberator. Modifications included a three-foot nose extension, a deeper rear fuselage, a wider tailplane, self-sealing fuel tanks and armour. Built to British specifications with British equipment, it had no exact American equivalent, although it was similar to the B-24C. Its dorsal turret sat further aft than on any US variant, in line with the wing trailing edge.

Except for the first aircraft, completed as a pattern machine and lost on a test flight, the rest of the run left the factory unarmed; the British fitted the guns after the delivery flight to the UK. With the American entry into the war in December 1941 the USAAF requisitioned about 75 aircraft during delivery, operating them under the LB-30 designation and arming them with .50 in Browning M2 guns.

Fifteen went to the South West Pacific, some of them to Java to assist the Dutch East Indies; three went to Alaska and six to Midway immediately after the naval battle of June 1942. Six were lost in accidents, twenty-three were returned to the UK in 1943, and seventeen fitted with ASV radar served in the Panama Canal Zone. Total production was 165 aircraft.