The Thunderbolt was effective as a short- to medium-range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and ground attack in both the European and Pacific theaters.

An advanced turbosupercharger system ensured the aircraft's eventual dominance at high altitudes, while also influencing its size and design.

Nicknamed the "Jug" owing to its appearance if stood on its nose, the P-47 was noted for its firepower and its ability to resist battle damage and remain airworthy.

[4][Note 3] In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger.

The XP-47B was of all-metal construction (except for the fabric-covered tail control surfaces) with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back.

Power came from a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine producing 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) — the same engine that powered the prototype Vought XF4U-1 fighter to just over 400 mph (640 km/h) in October 1940—with the Double Wasp on the XP-47B turning a four-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed propeller of 146 in (3.7 m) in diameter.

The cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system.

[7] The complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position.

This was difficult, since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide ground clearance for the enormous propeller.

Although minor problems arose, such as some cockpit smoke that turned out to be due to an oil drip, the aircraft proved impressive in its early trials.

[10] Though the XP-47B had its share of shakedown troubles, the newly reorganized United States Army Air Forces placed an order for 171 production aircraft, the first being delivered in December 1941.

By mid-1943, the Jug was also in service with the 12th Air Force in Italy[13] and against the Japanese in the Pacific, with the 348th Fighter Group flying missions out of Port Moresby, New Guinea.

[14] Although the North American P-51 Mustang replaced the P-47 in the long-range escort role in Europe, the Thunderbolt still ended the war with an aerial kill ratio of 4.6:1[15] in over 746,000 sorties of all types, at the cost of 3,499 P-47s to all causes in combat.

Even with its complicated turbosupercharger system, its sturdy airframe and tough radial engine could absorb significant damage and still return home.

From D-Day until VE day, Thunderbolt pilots claimed to have destroyed 86,000 railroad cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks.

[24] Due to continued postwar service with U.S. military and foreign operators, a number of Thunderbolts have survived to the present day, and a few are still flying.

They proved devastating in tandem with Spitfires during the Japanese breakout attempt at the Sittang Bend in the final months of the war.

This unit flew a total of 445 missions from November 1944 to May 1945 over northern Italy and Central Europe, with 15 P-47s lost to German flak and five pilots being killed in action.

With its high service ceiling, the P-47 was superior to fighters operating on the Eastern front, yielding a higher speed above 30,000 feet (9,100 m).

The Yakovlev Yak-9, Lavochkin La-5FN, Messerschmitt Bf 109G, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A outperformed the early model P-47 at low and medium altitude, where the P-47 had poor acceleration and performed aerobatics rather reluctantly.

[37] Some P-47 pilots claimed to have broken the sound barrier in steep dives, but later research revealed that because of the pressure buildup inside the pitot tube at high speeds, airspeed readings became unpredictably exaggerated.

As P-47s were able to out-dive enemy fighter planes attempting to escape by such a maneuver, German pilots gradually learned to avoid diving away from a P-47.

In the Pacific, Colonel Neel E. Kearby of the Fifth Air Force claimed 22 Japanese aircraft and was awarded the Medal of Honor for an action in which he downed six enemy fighters on a single mission.

[43] The P-47 proved to be a formidable fighter-bomber due to its good armament, heavy bomb load, and ability to survive enemy fire.

Bolivia Brazil Chile China Colombia Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador France Germany Iran Italy Mexico Nicaragua Peru Portugal Soviet Union Turkey United Kingdom United States Venezuela Yugoslavia Data from [64]General characteristics Performance Armament Broadcast radio interviews of several wartime P-47 pilots appear on the CD audiobook USAAF at War 1942–45, including an account by Lieutenant J. K. Dowling of ground support operations around Cherbourg in June 1944, and a group of four pilots from the 362nd Fighter Wing (Ninth Air Force) in conversation at their mess in Rouvres, France on 24 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.

[67] Laughter and Tears,[68] by Captain George Rarey, a posthumous publication of letters and sketches from a pilot in the 379th Air group flying P-47s based in England.

The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, while in residence in the US wrote an orchestral scherzo in 1945 entitled P-47 Thunderbolt (H 309) in tribute to the aircraft and its role in World War II.

Other media include Thunderbolt, a 1947 color documentary film directed by John Sturges and William Wyler, featuring James Stewart and Lloyd Bridges and narrated by Robert Lowery.

Director Lawrence Bond depicted the last months of World War II over Germany as told by four P-47 pilots of the 362nd Fighter Group using original, all color 1945 footage.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Samuel Johnson collaborated with aviation author Martin Caidin to write his autobiographical story of the 56th Fighter Group, Thunderbolt!, in 1958.