British Commonwealth forces also used it in several guises, including antishipping and antisubmarine search and attack. Used in daylight attacks against occupied Europe, they proved to have weaknesses and were removed from bomber duty and some used for patrols by Coastal Command.
At the start of the war, Lockheed proposed military conversions of the Lodestar for the RAF as replacement for the Hudson reconnaissance aircraft and the Bristol Blenheim bomber. The first British order was placed in February for 25 Model 32 as bombers.
This was followed by an order for Model 37 with Double Wasp engines, then for a further later in Lockheed needed more production capacity and nearby Vega Aircraft Corporation was contracted for building the Ventura. The Ventura was very similar to its predecessor, the Lockheed Hudson. The primary difference was not in layout; rather, the Ventura was larger, heavier, and used more powerful engines than the Hudson.
Venturas were initially used for daylight raids on occupied Europe but, like some other RAF bombers, they proved too vulnerable without fighter escort, which was difficult to provide for long-range missions.
Venturas were replaced by the faster de Havilland Mosquito. Among the orders were for armed reconnaissance versions of the Ventura. This aircraft was originally planned to be built under the designation O Before completion of the first O, the U. Army Air Forces dropped the "O-" category used to designate "observation" reconnaissance aircraft. The O was redesignated the RBB the R denoted 'restricted' meaning it was not to be used for combat. Before the first of these flew, the design was redesignated again as the B with a higher powered version of the R, later it also was designated the RB Navy see Venturas in U.
