On Dec 13,1944 five 73 BW B-29s ditched while conducting a raid on the Mitsubishi Engine plant in Nagoya. Three 499 BG B-29s ditched: 42-24638 (V-29), 42-63447 (V-50) and 42-63439 (V-47). The B-29 42-63447 (V-50) had a successful ditching with all 11 crewmen saved. The other two, 42-24638 (V-29) and 42-63439 (V-47) suffered the loss of all 11 crewmen on board.
The confusion lies in which plane was flown by the Ledbetter crew. The published sources are confusing. Mann's B-29 Chronology had reported the 499BG losses as three B-29s but only gives detail on two of them 42-63447 and 42-63439. It reports that 43-63439 crashed at sea 1,500 feet off Saipan. In Sally Ann's B-29 Chronology, it reports all three losses, with 42-63439 noted as flying with an unknown crew crashed on Saipan and 42-24638 lost after ditching. Presumably, 42-24638 was the 499BG B-29 ditched off the coast of Japan.
In the MACR 10644, the plane that is listed as crashing off Saipan is 42-63439, with Lt Garland Ledbetter as A/C. The MACR says: It was reported the aircraft crashed into the sea 1500 feet off shore, south of Magicianna Bay...there were no survivors"
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91095465?object Page=2
If that is the case, then who was the crew that flew 42-24638 (V-29)? There is no MACR associated with this serial number. Any leads welcome