| TBF/TBM Avenger | |
|---|---|
.jpg) General Motors TBM-3E Avenger in flight, 2014 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Torpedo bomber |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Grumman |
| Built by | GM Eastern Aircraft Division |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users | United States Navy |
| Number built | 9,839 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1942 |
| First flight | 7 August 1941 |
| Retired | 1960s |
TheGrumman TBF Avenger (designatedTBM[1] for aircraft manufactured byGeneral Motors) is an AmericanWorld War II-eratorpedo bomber developed initially for theUnited States Navy andMarine Corps and also eventually used by several air andnaval aviation services around the world.
The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942 and first saw action during theBattle of Midway. Despite the loss of five of the six Avengers on its combat debut, it survived in service to become the most effective submarine killer[2][better source needed] and most widely used torpedo bomber of World War II, sharing credit for sinking the super-battleshipsYamato andMusashi and being credited for sinking 30 submarines. Greatly modified after the war, it remained in use until the 1960s.[3]
From 1942-on, production of the Avenger (in fact nearly three quarters of its the total production) was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors: theEastern Aircraft Division.
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TheDouglas 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 byLeroy Grumman, the first prototype was called theXTBF-1.[4] It was first flown on 7 August 1941. Although one of the first two prototypes crashed nearBrentwood, New York, rapid production continued.
To ease carrier storage concerns, simultaneously with theF4F-4 model of its Wildcat carrier fighter, Grumman designed the Avenger to also use the newSto-Wing patented "compound angle" wing-folding mechanism, intended to maximize storage space on an aircraft carrier; the Wildcat's replacement, theF6F Hellcat, also employed this mechanism.[5] Theengine used was the twin-rowWright R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone fourteen-cylinder radial engine, which produced 1,900 horsepower (1,420 kW).
There were three crew members: pilot, turret gunner and radioman/bombardier/ventral gunner. A singlesynchronized.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. There was only one set of controls 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 hand 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 oneBliss-LeavittMark 13 torpedo, a single 2,000-pound (907 kg) bomb, or up to four 500-pound (227 kg)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, Air Group (CAGs). With a 30,000 ft (9,000 m) ceiling and a fully loaded range of 1,000 miles (1,600 km), it was better than any previous American torpedo bomber, and better than its Japanese counterpart, the obsoleteNakajima B5N "Kate". Later Avenger models carried radar equipment for theASW andAEW roles.
Escort carrier sailors referred to the TBF as the "turkey" because of its size and maneuverability in comparison to theF4F Wildcat fighters in the same airgroups.[6]
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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, theImperial Japanese Navyattacked 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 fromPearl Harbor, so most of them were too late to participate in the pivotalBattle of Midway.
Six TBF-1s were present onMidway Island – as part ofVT-8 (Torpedo Squadron 8) – while the rest of thesquadron flew Devastators from the aircraft carrierHornet. 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.[7]
AuthorGordon Prange posited inMiracle 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.[8] 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.[9]
On 24 August 1942, the next major naval aircraft carrier battle occurred at theEastern Solomons. Based on the carriersSaratoga andEnterprise, the 24 TBFs present were able to sink the Japanese light carrierRyūjō 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,[10][11] before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) was at theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, when Marine Corps and Navy Avengers helped sink the JapanesebattleshipHiei, which had already been crippled the night before.
After hundreds of the originalTBF-1 models were built, theTBF-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 theEastern Aircraft Division ofGeneral Motors took over production, with these aircraft being designatedTBM. The Eastern Aircraft plant was located inEwing, 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, theTBM-3 began production (with a more powerful powerplant and wing hardpoints for drop tanks androckets). The dash-3 was the most numerous of the Avengers (with about 4,600 produced). However, most of the Avengers in service were dash-1s until near the end of the war in 1945.
Besides the traditional surface role (torpedoing surface ships), Avengers claimed about 30submarine kills, including the cargo submarineI-52. They were one of the most effective sub-killers in thePacific theater, as well as in the Atlantic, when escort carriers were finally available to escort Allied convoys. There, the Avengers contributed to the warding off of GermanU-boats while providing air cover for the convoys.
After the "Marianas Turkey Shoot", in which more than 250 Japanese aircraft were downed,AdmiralMarc Mitscher ordered a 220-aircraft mission to find the Japanese task force. Fighting 300 nmi (560 km) away from the fleet at the extreme end of their range, the group of Hellcats, TBF/TBMs, anddive bombers took many casualties. However, Avengers from theIndependence-classaircraft carrierUSS Belleau Wood sank the light carrierHiyō 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.[12] Later, while flying a TBM with VT-51 (fromUSS San Jacinto), his Avenger was shot down on 2 September 1944 over the Pacific island ofChichi Jima.[13] 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 submarineUSS Finback. He later received theDistinguished Flying Cross.
Another famous Avenger aviator wasPaul Newman, who flew as a rear gunner. He had hoped to be accepted for pilot training, but did not qualify because he wascolor blind. Newman was on board the escort carrierUSS Hollandia roughly 500 mi (800 km) from Japan when theEnola Gay dropped thefirst atomic bomb onHiroshima.[14]
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:Musashi andYamato.[9][15]
The postwar disappearance on 5 December 1945 of a flight of five American Avengers, known asFlight 19, was later added to theBermuda Triangle legend, first written about by Edward Van Winkle Jones in anAssociated Press article published in September 1950.[16]
During World War II, the US aeronautical research armNACA used a complete Avenger in a comprehensivedrag-reduction study in their largeLangleywind tunnel.[17][failed verification]
The Avenger was also used by theRoyal Navy'sFleet Air Arm (FAA), where it was initially known as the "Tarpon". Initial test flights were carried out by British Admiralty test pilotRoy Sydney Baker-Falkner atRAF Boscombe Down. However, this name was later discontinued and the Avenger name used instead, as part of the process of the FAA universally adopting the U.S. Navy's names for American naval aircraft. The first 402 aircraft were known as Avenger Mk I, 334 TBM-1s from Grumman were called the Avenger Mk II, and 334 TBM-3 were designated the Mk III. An interesting kill by a Royal Navy Avenger was the destruction of aV-1 flying bomb on 9 July 1944. The much faster V-1 was overtaking the Avenger when the Telegraphist Air Gunner in the dorsal turret,Leading Airman Fred Shirmer, fired at it from 700 yards (640 m). For this achievement, Shirmer wasMentioned in Dispatches, later being awarded theDSM for the 1945Operation Meridian action atPalembang.[18] In the January 1945 British carrier raid on the Soengei Gerong oil refinery during Operation Meridian, an FAA Avenger shot down aNakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" in low level combat over the jungle.[19] Three Avengers were modified to carry theHighball "bouncing bomb" (given the new codename Tammany Hall), but when trials were unsuccessful, they were returned to standard configuration and passed to the Royal Navy.[20]
One hundred USN TBM-3Es were supplied to the FAA in 1953 under the USMutual Defense Assistance Program. The aircraft were shipped fromNorfolk, Virginia, many aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrierHMS Perseus. The Avengers were fitted with British equipment byScottish Aviation and delivered as the Avenger AS.4 to several FAA squadrons including No. 767, 814, 815, 820 and 824. The aircraft were replaced from 1954 byFairey Gannets and were passed to squadrons of theRoyal Naval Volunteer Reserve including Nos. 1841 and 1844 until the RNVR Air Branch was disbanded in 1957. The survivors were transferred to the French Navy in 1957–1958.
The only other operator in World War II was theRoyal New Zealand Air Force which used the type primarily as a bomber, equipping Nos.30 and31 Squadrons, with both operating from South Pacific island bases during 1944 in support of theBougainville campaign. Some of the Avengers were later transferred to theBritish Pacific Fleet.
In 1945, Avengers were involved in pioneering trials ofaerial topdressing in New Zealand that led to the establishment of an industry which markedly increased food production and efficiency in farming worldwide. Pilots of theRoyal New Zealand Air Force'sNo. 42 Squadron spread fertilizer from Avengers beside runways atOhakea Air Base and provided a demonstration for farmers atHood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand.[21][page needed]
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One of the primary postwar users of the Avenger was theRoyal Canadian Navy, which obtained 125 former US Navy TBM-3E Avengers from 1950 to 1952 to replace theirFairey Fireflies. By the time the Avengers were delivered, the RCN was shifting its primary focus toanti-submarine warfare (ASW), and the aircraft was rapidly becoming obsolete as an attack platform. Consequently, 98 of the RCN Avengers were fitted with an extensive number of novel ASW modifications, includingradar,electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment, andsonobuoys, and the upper ball turret was replaced with a sloping glass canopy that was better suited for observation duties. The modified Avengers were designatedAS 3. A number of these aircraft were later fitted with a largemagnetic anomaly detector (MAD) boom on the rear left side of the fuselage and were redesignatedAS 3M. However, RCN leaders soon realized the Avenger's shortcomings as an ASW aircraft, and in 1954 they elected to replace the AS 3 with theGrumman S-2 Tracker, which offered longer range, greater load-carrying capacity for electronics and armament, and a second engine, a great safety benefit when flying long-range ASW patrols over frigidNorth Atlantic waters. As delivery of the new license-built CS2F Trackers began in 1957, the Avengers were shifted to training duties, and were officially retired in July 1960.[22]
TBM Avengers were used in wartime research intocounter-illuminationcamouflage. The torpedo bombers were fitted withYehudi lights, a set of forward-pointing lights automatically adjusted to match the brightness of the sky. The planes therefore appeared as bright as the sky, rather than as dark shapes. The technology, a development of the Canadian navy'sdiffused lighting camouflage research, allowed an Avenger to advance to within 3,000 yards (2,700 m) before being seen.[23]
Many Avengers have survived into the 21st century working as spray-applicators and water-bombers throughout North America, particularly in the Canadian province ofNew Brunswick.
Forest Protection Limited (FPL) ofFredericton, New Brunswick, once owned and operated the largest civilian fleet of Avengers in the world. FPL began operating Avengers in 1958 after purchasing 12 surplus TBM-3E aircraft from theRoyal Canadian Navy.[24] Use of the Avenger fleet at FPL peaked in 1971 when 43 aircraft were in use as both water bombers and spray aircraft.[24] The company sold three Avengers in 2004 (C-GFPS, C-GFPM, and C-GLEJ) to museums or private collectors. The Central New Brunswick Woodsmen's Museum has a former FPL Avenger on static display.[25] An FPL Avenger that crashed in 1975 in southwestern New Brunswick was recovered and restored by a group of interested aviation enthusiasts and is currently on display at the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum.[26] FPL was still operating three Avengers in 2010 configured as water-bombers, and stationed atMiramichi Airport. One of these crashed just after takeoff on 23 April 2010, killing the pilot.[27][28] The last FPL Avenger was retired on 26 July 2012 and sold to the Shearwater Aviation Museum in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.[29]
There are several other Avengers, usually flying aswarbirds in private collections around the world today.[30] They are a popular airshow fixture in both flying and static displays.[31]
In 2020 the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) were flying three TBM Avengers[32] with one based with the Rocky Mountain Wing in Grand Junction, Colorado; another with the Missouri Wing at St Charles Smartt Field; and their newest with the Capital Wing in Culpeper, Virginia. Each of these allow non-CAF members to ride in the aircraft for a Living History Flight Experience.[33][34][35]
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_(1955-1960)%2c_op_de_catapult_op_vliegkampschip_Hr.Ms._Karel_Doorman_(R81)_(2158_024266).jpg)
France
Japan
United Kingdom
United States
Data from Jane's Fighting aircraft of World War II[41] Armament data from Flight Journal.com[42]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
The F4F-4 was the first version of the Wildcat to feature a Grumman innovation, theSto-Wing. TheSto-Wing used a novel approach using a compound angle folding-wing that was unique to Grumman ... It was a successful design that was later used on the F6F Hellcat and TBF Avenger.
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