A total of 462 land-based B-29 Superfortresses joined the aircraft flypast over USS Missouri during Japan’s surrender ceremony.
The flypast occurred over Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, as representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the American battleship. The huge formation demonstrated the scale of Allied air power at the moment Japan formally capitulated.
Sources commonly describe the overall display as involving more than 800 U.S. military aircraft. That larger figure included aircraft from aircraft carriers as well as the land-based B-29 force. The 462 figure specifically identifies the B-29 Superfortresses operating from land bases.
The B-29 was the American heavy bomber used in the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it also carried out extensive conventional bombing raids across Japan. Keeping the two figures separate prevents a common mix-up: 462 refers to the land-based B-29s, while more than 800 refers to the broader flypast.