Everything about Grumman Avenger totally explained
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 used by a large number of air arms around the world. It entered service in 1942, and first saw action during the
Battle of Midway.
Design and development
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.
Grumman's first
torpedo bomber was the heaviest single-engine plane of WWII, 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) would employ this mechanism as well. The
engine used was the
Wright R-2600-20 (which produced 1,900
horsepower). There were three crew members—pilot, turret gunner, and radioman/bombardier/ventral gunner. A .50-caliber machine gun was mounted in each wing, and one more .50 caliber gun was mounted right next to the turret gunner's head in a rear-facing electrically powered turret. There was a single .30 caliber 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. 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
Further Information
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