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TBM-3E "Avenger"
N325GT
Crew:
3-4
Wing
Span:
54 feet, 3 inches
Length:
40 feet; 1 inch
Maximum Weight: 15,927 lb.
Performance Power Plant: Wright R-2600 cyclone,
1900 HP Engine
Top Speed:
276 mph
Range:
1,214 miles
Ceiling:
22,368 feet
Rate of Climb: 1,430 feet per minute
Armament: Three M2 .50 machine guns; Up to 2,000 lbs of
various ordinance. Typical loads were:
One Mk 13 torpedo,
Two 1,000-lb bombs of various types (HE, fragmentary or AP),
Four 500-lb bombs of various types,
Four to six 250-lb bombs,
Four depth charges for antisubmarine warfare, or
Twelve 100-lb bombs (HE or fragmentation).
Produced:
9,839
Pre-WWII History:
In 1939, the US Navy set new requirements for a torpedo bomber to
replace the Douglas TBD Devastator;
particularly, an aircraft capable of greater range and weapons
load. The
requirements for the new aircraft included: a top speed of 300 MPH, a (fully
loaded) range of 1,000 miles, an internal weapons bay, a 2000-lb payload,
and a ceiling of 30,000 feet.
Grumman rose to the task. Built around the 1700 horsepower Wright R-2600-20 engine, a 14-cylinder
double-row radial engine, the new aircraft became the largest carrier-based,
versatile aircraft capable of carry various ordinance in an internal bay.
It featured an upper gun turret and lower rear defensive gun port. The
pilot sat in a lofty, upper cockpit above the leading edge with a perfect
view. The bombardier could either man the lower rear Browning .30-inch
machine gun or face forward and control the aircraft for medium-altitude
level bombing employing the Norden Bomb Sight. The turret gunner sat behind the cockpit manning a
single .50 inch machine gun. As well as the .30-inch machine gun, the
new aircraft house a .30-inch machine gun on the right side of the nose
firing through the propeller.
The first XTBF-1 made its
first successful flight on August 1, 1941. On December 7,
1941, Grumman held a ceremony to open its new Plant 2 in Bethpage and
display the new torpedo bomber to the public. During the program, Grumman
vice president Clint Towl was called to the phone. He was informed the
Japanese had attached Pearl Harbor. No announcement was made and the
festivities continued. When the crowd filed out of the plant, they locked
the gates, swept the plant for saboteurs. The plant remained secured
for the remainder of the war
WWII History:
The first production TBF-1, BuNo. 00373, flew on January 3, 1942. Six TBF-1s
flew from Grumman's Plant 2 with additional tanks in the bomb bay across the
Pacific to Pearl Harbor to be attached to the USS Hornet's VT-8. The
carrier had departed; and the aircrafts few to Midway island and were
involved in the Battle of Midway.
Midway:
On June 4, 1942, the six flew into the Battle of Midway; only one survived.
After his attempt to torpedo a cruiser, Ensign Albert K. Earnest flew
his badly damaged TBF-1 back to Midway, using the trim tab for longitudinal
control. The radioman, 3rd Lass Harrier H. Ferrier was injured, and
Seaman 1st Class Jay D. Manning, who was operating the .50 caliber machine
gun turret, was killed.
Despite its first combat
record, the TBF-1s then on became a destroyer of not only Japanese ships,
but of German U-boats as well. Its internal weapons load of a Mk
13-2 torpedo or four 500-lb bombs, and a full internal fuel load of 335
gallons, the aircraft was capable of attacking the enemy up to 260 miles.
Later the TBF-1C
incorporated a modified gun configuration by replacing the .30-inch nose gun
with two .50-inch guns mounted in the outer wings. Up to the time of
this modification, 2,291TBF-1 were constructed including 395 TBF-1Bs, which
were supplied to the British Fleet Air Arm. The British acquired 921
Avengers (the initial name "Tarpon" was dropped).
Other WWII Engagements:
Eastern Solomons - Aug. 24, 1942:
After the Americans captured Guadalcanal, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto
quickly organized a large naval counter-force. On August 24, 1942, the
opposing carrier forces met. 26 TBF-1s from the carriers Saratoga and
Enterprise were launched against the Japanese force in four separate
strikes. On the second strike, torpedoes from the TBF-1s helped sink
the carrier Ryujo. In the exchange, seven Avengers were lost.
Santa Cruz
- Oct. 26, 1942:
The USS Enterprise and Hornet, carried 14 Avengers each. The U.S.
carriers met the Japanese force attempting to seize Guadalcanal. The
opposing fleets' patrol planes spotted each other in the early morning and
both launched air strikes across the intervening 200 miles. Enterprise and
Hornet sent out three strikes, totaling 73 planes: 18 Avengers, 32 dive
bombers, and 23 F4F fighters.
Commanding Torpedo Ten,
VT-10, from Enterprise was Lt. Cdr. John A. Collet. Collet led his
torpedo bombers westward, toward the Japanese force. The US planes found
their targets, but Japanese combat air patrol and anti-aircraft knocked most
of them down. The SBDs did damage a carrier, but the TBFs were shot out of
the sky. A Zero shot up Lt. Cdr. Collett's Avenger. Collett and his radioman, ARM1/c Thomas C. Nelson were seen parachuting. Nelson
floated in the ocean nearly 24 hours until he was captured by the Japanese destroyer Yugumo.
Nelson survived as a POW
outside of Tokyo.
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The Olympic Flight Museum is proud to
have Thomas C. Nelson "Tomcat" as an active member of our museum. His
exploits in WWII are presented on the museum wall. At present, he
is one of only two surviving POWs interned in Japan who are also Pearl
Harbor survivors. |
The early battles proved
the Mark 13 torpedoes were fragile and had to be dropped from low heights at
speeds below 130 mph. Often, they failed to explode when they hit.
Accordingly, many TBF-1s flew many missions dropping 500-lb bombs.
First
Major Victory:
Navy and Marine Corps TBFs scored in a big way in November, 1942. On
the nights of November 12-13, 1942, American and Japanese surface ships
pounded one another. Henderson field was pulverized by the 14-inch
guns of the Japanese battleship Hiei. In the exchange, the US Navy
lost 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers; the Japanese lose 2 destroyers and the
Hiei was crippled. The next morning, American aircraft attacked the
Japanese force. Dive bombers from Henderson Field struck the Hiei.
TBF-1s led by Lt. Col. Paul Moret, Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 131, put a
torpedo into the battleship. Later, around 10 a.m., they attacked
again and scored another torpedo hit. Shortly, thereafter, 15 Avengers
from the USS Enterprise attached the Hiei at 11:20 a.m. Yet later, six
more Avengers from Squadron 131, put two more torpedoes into the Hiei.
By sundown, the battleship was doomed.
North Atlantic:
In the struggle for the North Atlantic, Avengers were credited with
destroying 30 submarines. Flying from escort carriers (CVEs), TBFs
were well-suited to the sub-killer role with its long endurance and stable,
large weapons capacity. They became a vital strike aircraft in the
hunter-killer groups that ranged the Atlantic: CVEs flying Avengers
and Wildcats with destroyers in support.
The Yamato, April 7, 1945:
TBM Avengers attacked
the last remnants of the Japanese Fleet, which comprised the battleship
Yamato, the cruiser Akagi, and two screen destroyers. The first TBMs
scored on the battleship severely damaging the ship, ready to sink.
The other TBM scored on the Akagi sinking it.
Production:
At the outbreak of war, the
urgent need for TBF-1s made it crucial to increase production through a
second-source producer. General Motors answered the call. It
stripped out and refurbished five automobile plants quickly into aircraft
production facilities. General Motors not only built Wildcats under
the designation of FM, but also the Avengers under the designation
TBM. In December 1943, the 1,000th TBM was manufactured. By
war's end, 7,546 were produced in more than 20 variants. Most were the
TBM-3 version, which incorporated more power and an external arrester hook.
Most lacked a turret, but included provisions for outer wing rockets or drop
tanks. The TBM-3D and TBM-3E had the RT-5/APS-4 search radar, which
operated at 3-cm wavelength, in a outboard pod on the right wing. By
war's end a total of 9,836 avengers were produced. |
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