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The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) was a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air or naval arms around the world. It entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway.

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 TBD's replacement. Designed by Leroy Grumman, its first prototype was called the XTBF-1. Although one of the first two prototypes crashed near Brentwood, New York, rapid production continued.


TBF-1 Avenger early in 1942. Note the red spot centered in the US national insignia, which was removed just before the Battle of Midway

Grumman's first torpedo bomber was the heaviest single-engine aircraft of World War II, and it was the first design to feature a new wing-folding mechanism created by Grumman, intended to maximize storage space on an aircraft carrier; the F4F-4 and later models of Wildcat received a similar folding wing and the F6F Hellcat (both designed by Grumman) employed this mechanism as well. The engine used was the Wright R-2600-20 (which produced 1,900 hp/1,417 kW). There were three crew members: pilot, turret gunner and radioman/bombardier/ventral gunner. One .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun was mounted in the nose, a .50 in (12.7 mm) gun was mounted right next to the turret gunner's head in a rear-facing electrically powered turret, and a single .30 in (7.62 mm) hand-fired machine gun 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 dispensed with the nose-mounted gun for one .50 in (12.7 mm) gun in each wing per pilots' requests for better forward firepower and increased strafing ability. There was only one set of controls on the aircraft, and no access to the pilot's position from the rest of the aircraft. The radio equipment was massive, especially by today's standards, and filled the whole glass 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, which increases crew to four.

During the Battle of Midway, all of the three aircraft carriers' torpedo groups (from the USS Hornet (CV-8), USS Enterprise (CV-6), and USS Yorktown (CV-5)) had taken horrendous casualties; one group had a single survivor (Ensign George Gay). This was partly due to the slow speed of the Devastator (less than 200 mph/320 km/h) during glide-bombing) and its weak defensive armament. Ironically, the first shipment of TBFs had arrived only a few hours after the three carriers quickly departed from Pearl Harbor (although six eventually participated, operating from Midway Island, with five being shot down and the other returning heavily damaged, with one of its two gunners killed).

The Avenger had a large bomb bay, allowing for one Bliss-Leavitt Mark 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 (10,000 m) ceiling and a fully-loaded range of 1,000 mi (1,610 km), it was better than any previous American torpedo bomber, and better than its Japanese counterpart, the obsolete Nakajima B5N "Kate". Later Avenger models carried radar equipment for the ASW and AEW roles. Although improvements in new types of aviation radar were soon forthcoming from the engineers at MIT and the electronic industry, the available radars in 1943 were very bulky, because they contained vacuum tube technology. Because of this, radar was at first carried only on the roomy TBF Avengers, but not on the smaller and faster fighters.

Escort carrier sailors referred to the TBF as the "turkey" because of its size and maneuverability in comparison to the F4F Wildcat fighters in CVE airgroups.



General characteristics

* Crew: 3
* Length: 40 ft 11.5 in (12.48 m)
* Wingspan: 54 ft 2 in [18] (16.51 m)
* Height: 15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
* Wing area: 490.02 ft² (45.52 m²)
* Empty weight: 10,545 lb (4,783 kg)
* Loaded weight: 17,893 lb (8,115 kg)
* Powerplant: 1× Wright R-2600-20 radial engine, 1,900 hp (1,420 kW)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 275 mph [19] (442 km/h)
* Range: 1,000 mi (1,610 km)
* Service ceiling: 30,100 ft (9,170 m)
* Rate of climb: 2,060 ft/min (10.5 m/s)
* Wing loading: 36.5 ft·lbf² (178 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (0.17 kW/kg)

Armament

* Guns:
o 1 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) nose-mounted M1919 Browning machine gun(on early models)
o 2 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) wing-mounted M2 Browning machine guns
o 1 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) dorsal-mounted M2 Browning machine gun
o 1 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) ventral-mounted M1919 Browning machine gun
* Bombs:
o Up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs or
o 1 × 2,000 lb (907 kg) Mark 13 torpedo



Boris, this may have been the view your dad had: