World War II US Navy Torpedo Bombers
World War II US Navy Torpedo Bombers
By: Norm Goyer
The deadly torpedo can be delivered by two means, submarines or aircraft. World War II torpedoes weighed approximately 1700 pounds. When the Japanese Navy struck Pearl Harbor, they used their Nakajima Kate with deadly accuracy. The Navy ships were sitting ducks, with no place to maneuver nor any time to strike back. The Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” had one torpedo suspended from its belly, which created a huge amount of drag; the US Navy preferred their aircraft to conceal them within the fuselage. However. at that time, Douglas Aircraft, based in Santa Monica, California, was busy building DC-3 and C-47, twin-engine troop carriers. They had also been building the Navy’s first monoplane torpedo bomber, the Douglas Devastator. The TBD had a crew of three, and similar to the Kate, had a 1,700 pound-torpedo hung under its fuselage. The engine was a P & W 900 hp radial. This obsolete aircraft was the Navy’s only means of attacking Japanese vessels with torpedoes.
The Douglas Devastator was our torpedo bomber in the first two years of war in the Pacific Theatre.
The Navy had announced a new line of aircraft carriers early in 1934, and the Douglas TBD was designed to be onboard these new carriers. Douglas soon announced a companion Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber. Single-seat fighters, at that time, were still the familiar Curtiss and Grumman biplanes. At the request of the Navy, Grumman and Brewster had all-metal monoplanes under design for US Navy consideration. It is fair to say that our Navy aircraft were certainly no match for the then-current Japanese fighting aircraft. However, our well-trained pilots managed to down a huge number of their so-called superior aircraft.
This Devastator is being prepared for launching. Note the folded wings and belly-hung torpedo.
The new Douglas Devastator started arriving in the fleet in 1937, and within a year, four squadrons had been equipped with the new torpedo bomber. These aircraft fought gallantly during the opening months of the war from 1941 to 1942, though huge numbers of them were shot down by the large numbers of Japanese Navy fighters. During the Battle of Midway, Squadron VT-8 was entirely destroyed. The Navy realized that the Devastator was obsolete and withdrew them all from active duty soon after.
The Navy had been waiting patiently for the new Grumman Avenger TBF Torpedo Bomber, but when it finally arrived in 1942, just in time for the Battle of Midway, it proved that it wasn’t much better than the ill-fated TBD. Of the six new TBFs launched, five failed to return, and the other was severely damaged. It was evident that major changes in the new aircraft or the pilot’s training were needed. Good or bad, the Grumman TBF/TBM was it for the remainder of the war. Grumman produced the TBF and Eastern the TBM. Eastern had also been building Wildcats for Grumman. The majority of Avengers used the Wright R-2600 radial engine. Armament was mixed; it included two fixed 0-50 caliber inch guns firing forward, one dorsal 0-50 and one ventral 0-30 inch both which were in turrets. The Avenger could also carry 2,000 pounds of bombs or torpedoes in the bomb bay. Over 5,000 Avengers were produced by Grumman and Eastern, with many seeing service until 1954. They can be seen in large numbers at Oshkosh AirVenture or at Lakeland’s Sun ‘n Fun. 
In the later years of the Pacific battles, the Grumman Avenger was our main torpedo bomber. This one is being attached to the launching trolley for a catapult takeoff.
President George Bush, a TBF pilot, and was shot down, then rescued in the South Pacific. Good friend Cliff Piper of Zephyr Hills, Florida, was a gunner in a TBF and still suffers from ear damage caused by the intense noise in the turret, especially when the guns were being fired. The Avenger was a great airplane that certainly earned its keep during the devastating battles in the South Pacific.
The Grumman TBF and Eastern TBM Avenger were produced in huge numbers. Many are still flying, and some can be seen at major airshows.
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