What losses did the P-47 suffer?

Short answer

The P-47 Thunderbolt suffered 824 combat losses: only 0.07% of Jugs failed to return from a combat mission, the lowest total of any Allied fighter. In return it shot down 3,752 enemy aircraft and destroyed more than 2,800 on the ground, ending the war with a 4.6:1 kill ratio.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Republic P-47N Thunderbolt in flight

The casualty count

Republic's heavily armored fighter ended the war with 824 combat losses. Put in proportion, just 0.07% of Jugs failed to return from a combat mission, the lowest total of any Allied fighter. That record was built over 545,575 sorties and 1,352,810 hours of combat flight time. The type flew twice as many sorties as any other Allied fighter. It also dropped 2,010% more tonnage than any other Allied fighter.

What the P-47 destroyed

The Thunderbolts shot down 3,752 enemy aircraft in the air. More than 2,800 destroyed on the ground add to that count. The aircraft ended the war with a 4.6:1 aerial kill ratio. On the ground front, between D-Day and V-E Day its pilots claimed the destruction of 86,000 railcars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks.

The cost of that effort

In those operations the P-47s dropped 132,482 tons of bombs. Fuel consumption reached 200,504,000 gallons. Its .50-caliber machine guns fired through more than 135,000 ammunition belts, and the Thunderbolts launched 59,565 rockets.