The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBMUnder the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system in use at the time, the TB in the designation refers to its role as a torpedo bomber, F was assigned to aircraft built by Grumman, and M to those built by General Motors, G having already been assigned to the Great Lakes Aircraft Company previously. for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps and also eventually used by several air and naval aviation services around the world. From 1942 on, production of the Avenger (representing nearly three-quarters of its total production) was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors, the Eastern Aircraft Division.
The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942 and first saw action during the Battle of Midway, losing five of the six Avengers on its combat debut. The Avenger remained in service to become the most widely used torpedo bomber of World War II, particularly in the Pacific Theater, where it helped to sink numerous surface ships, including the super battleships and . The Avenger was also one of the most effective submarine killers in both the Pacific and Atlantic, with about 30 kills, including the cargo submarine I-52. Greatly modified after World War II, the Avenger remained in use until the 1960s.Wheeler 1992, p. 53.
Design and development
The Douglas TBD Devastator, the U.S. Navy's main torpedo bomber introduced in 1935, was obsolete by 1939. Bids were accepted from several companies, but Grumman's TBF design was selected as the replacement for the TBD, and in April 1940, two prototypes were ordered by the Navy. Designed by Leroy Grumman, the first prototype was called the XTBF-1.Tillman 1999, p. 6. It was first flown on 7 August 1941. Although one of the first two prototypes crashed near Brentwood, New York, rapid production continued.
To ease carrier storage concerns, simultaneously with the F4F-4 model of its Wildcat carrier fighter, Grumman designed the Avenger to also use the new Sto-Wing patented "compound angle" wing-folding mechanism, intended to maximize storage space on an aircraft carrier; the Wildcat's replacement, the F6F Hellcat, also employed this mechanism. The engine used was the twin-row Wright R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder radial engine, which produced .
The three crew members were the pilot, turret gunner, and radioman/bombardier/ventral gunner. A single synchronized .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine gun was mounted in the nose, a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) gun was mounted right next to the turret gunner's head in a rear-facing, electrically powered turret, and a single 0.30 caliber (7.62 mm) hand-fired machine gun flexibly mounted ventrally (under the tail), which was used to defend against enemy fighters attacking from below and to the rear. This gun was fired by the radioman/bombardier while standing up and bending over in the belly of the tail section, though he usually sat on a folding bench facing forward to operate the radio and to sight in bombing runs.
Later models of the TBF/TBM omitted the cowl-mount synchronized 0.30 caliber (7.62 mm) gun and replaced it with twin Browning AN/M2 0.50 caliber (12.7 mm) light-barrel guns, one in each wing outboard of the propeller arc, per pilots' requests for better forward firepower and increased strafing ability. Only one set of controls was on the aircraft, and no direct access to the pilot's position existed from the rest of the aircraft's interior. The radio equipment was massive, especially by today's standards, and filled the length of the well-framed "greenhouse" canopy to the rear of the pilot. The radios were accessible for repair through a "tunnel" along the right side. Any Avengers that are still flying today usually have an additional rear-mounted seat in place of the radios, allowing for a fourth passenger.
The Avenger had a large bomb bay, allowing for one Mark 13 torpedo, a single bomb, or up to four bombs. The aircraft had overall ruggedness and stability, and pilots say it flew like a truck, for better or worse. With its good radio facilities, docile handling, and long range, the Grumman Avenger also made an ideal command aircraft for commanders of air groups (CAGs). Later Avenger models carried radar equipment for the antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and airborne early warning (AEW) roles. With a ceiling and a fully loaded range of , the Avenger was better than any previous American torpedo bomber. The Avenger was also superior to its Japanese counterpart, the Nakajima B5N "Kate", which neared obsolescence by 1941.
Escort carrier sailors referred to the TBF as the "turkey" because of its size and maneuverability in comparison to the F4F Wildcat fighters in the same air groups.
Operational history U.S. Navy
On the afternoon of 7 December 1941, Grumman held a ceremony to open a new manufacturing plant and display the new TBF to the public. Coincidentally, on that day, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, as Grumman soon found out. After the ceremony was over, the plant was quickly sealed off to guard against possible sabotage. By early June 1942, a shipment of more than 100 aircraft was sent to the Navy, arriving only a few hours after the three carriers quickly departed from Pearl Harbor, so most of them were too late to participate in the pivotal Battle of Midway.
Six TBF-1s were present on Midway Islandas part of VT-8 (Torpedo Squadron 8)while the rest of the squadron flew Devastators from the aircraft carrier . Both types of torpedo bombers suffered heavy casualties. Out of the six Avengers, five were shot down and the other returned heavily damaged with one of its gunners killed, and the other gunner and the pilot wounded. Author Gordon Prange posited in Miracle at Midway that the outdated Devastators (and lack of new aircraft) contributed somewhat to the lack of a complete victory at Midway (the four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk directly by dive bombers, instead). Others pointed out that the inexperienced American pilots and lack of fighter cover were responsible for poor showing of US torpedo bombers, regardless of type. Later in the war, with growing American air superiority, better attack coordination and more veteran pilots, Avengers were able to play vital roles in the subsequent battles against Japanese surface forces.
On 24 August 1942, the next major naval aircraft carrier battle occurred at the Eastern Solomons. Based on the carriers and , the 24 TBFs present were able to sink the Japanese light carrier and claim one dive bomber, at the cost of seven aircraft.
The first major "prize" for the TBFs (which had been assigned the name "Avenger" in October 1941,Associated Press. "Fighting Names Given to Planes by the Navy". The New York Times. Vol. XCI No. 30,567, 2 October 1941, p. 17."New Plane Names". Flying and Popular Aviation (Chicago: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company), Vol. 30 [sic], No. 1, January 1942, p. 232. before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) was at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, when Marine Corps and Navy Avengers helped sink the Japanese battleship , which had already been crippled the night before in a surface action against U.S. cruisers and destroyers.
After hundreds of the original TBF-1 models were built, the TBF-1C began production. The allotment of space for specialized internal and wing-mounted fuel tanks doubled the Avenger's range. By 1943, Grumman began to slowly phase out production of the Avenger to produce F6F Hellcat fighters, and the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors took over production, with these aircraft being designated TBM. The Eastern Aircraft plant was located in Ewing, New Jersey. Grumman delivered a TBF-1, held together with sheet metal screws, so that the automotive engineers could disassemble it, one part at a time, and redesign the aircraft for automotive-style production. This aircraft was known as the "P-K Avenger" ("P-K" being an abbreviation for Parker-Kalon, manufacturer of sheet metal screws). Starting in mid-1944, the TBM-3 began production (with a more powerful powerplant and wing hardpoints for drop tanks and rockets). The TBM-3 was the most numerous of the Avengers (with about 4,600 produced). However, most of the Avengers in service were TBM-1s until near the end of the war in 1945.
After the "Marianas Turkey Shoot", in which more than 250 Japanese aircraft were downed, Admiral Marc Mitscher ordered a 220-aircraft mission to find the Japanese task force. Fighting away from the fleet at the extreme end of their range, the group of Hellcats, TBF/TBMs, and dive bombers took many casualties. However, Avengers from the sank the light carrier as their only major prize. Mitscher's gamble did not pay off as well as he had hoped.
In June 1943, shortly before his 19th birthday, future president George H. W. Bush was commissioned as the youngest naval aviator at the time. Later, while flying a TBM with VT-51 (from ), his Avenger was shot down on 2 September 1944 over the Pacific island of Chichi Jima.Hove 2003, p. 178. However, he released his payload and hit the radio tower target before being forced to bail out over water. Both of his crewmates died. He was rescued at sea by the American submarine . He later received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Another famous Avenger aviator was Paul Newman, who flew as a rear gunner. He had hoped to be accepted for pilot training, but did not qualify because he was color blind. Newman was on board the escort carrier roughly from Japan when the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
The Avenger was the type of torpedo bomber used during the sinking of the two Japanese "super battleships", with the US Navy having complete air superiority in both engagements: and .
Besides the traditional surface role as a torpedo bomber against surface ships, Avengers were also used for ASW. In the Atlantic, once escort carriers were finally available to escort Allied convoys, Avengers were deployed alongside Grumman F4F Wildcats, and both types provided air cover and warded off attacking German U-boats. Avengers were one of the most effective submarine killers in both the Pacific and Atlantic, with about 30 kills, including the cargo submarine .
The postwar disappearance on 5 December 1945 of a flight of five American Avengers, known as Flight 19, was later added to the Bermuda Triangle legend, first written about by Edward Van Winkle Jones in an Associated Press article published in September 1950.
During World War II, the US aeronautical research arm NACA used a complete Avenger in a comprehensive drag-reduction study in their large Langley wind tunnel."History of Langley Research Center." NASA. Retrieved: 22 July 2011.
Royal Navy