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#Post#: 13867--------------------------------------------------
Plane of the Week: Grumman TBF Avenger
By: vonofterdingen Date: November 9, 2020, 2:43 pm
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The TBF Avenger is a truly legendary aircraft. In addition to
being one of the US Navy’s primary attack planes (along with the
Dauntless dive bomber), its famous crewmen include the likes of
late US President George H. Bush and actor Paul Newman. A
squadron of TBFs was lost off the east coast of the US and
contributed to the stories of the “Bermuda Triangle.” And in one
very poignant moment in the war in the Pacific, a TBF rear
gunner was so badly mutilated by enemy gunfire that a flag was
draped over his turret and he was buried at sea in his aircraft.
From Wikipedia:
The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft
manufactured by General Motors) is an American torpedo bomber
developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps,
and eventually used by several air and naval aviation services
around the world.
The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw
action during the Battle of Midway. Despite the loss of five of
the six Avengers on its combat debut, it survived in service to
become the most effective and widely-used torpedo bomber of
World War II, sharing credit for sinking the super-battleships
Yamato and Musashi (the only ships of that type sunk exclusively
by American aircraft while under way) and being credited for
sinking 30 submarines. Greatly modified after the war, it
remained in use until the 1960s.
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, the Imperial Japanese Navy
attacked 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 from Pearl
Harbor, so most of them were too late to participate in the
pivotal Battle of Midway.
Six TBF-1s were present on Midway Island – as part of VT-8
(Torpedo Squadron 8) – while the rest of the squadron flew
Devastators from the aircraft carrier Hornet. 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 injured. Nonetheless, the US torpedo bombers were
credited with drawing away the Japanese combat air patrols so
the American dive bombers could successfully hit the Japanese
carriers.
Author Gordon Prange posited in Miracle 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. 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.
On 24 August 1942, the next major naval aircraft carrier
battle occurred at the Eastern Solomons. Based on the carriers
Saratoga and Enterprise, the 24 TBFs present were able to sink
the Japanese light carrier Ryūjō 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, before the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor) was at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in
November 1942, when Marine Corps and Navy Avengers helped sink
the Japanese battleship Hiei, which had already been crippled
the night before.
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After hundreds of the original TBF-1 models were built, the
TBF-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 the Eastern
Aircraft Division of General Motors took over production, with
these aircraft being designated TBM. The Eastern Aircraft plant
was located in Ewing, New Jersey. Grumman delivered a TBF-1,
held together with sheet metal screws, so that the automotive
engineers could disassemble it, a 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, the TBM-3 began production (with a more powerful
powerplant and wing hardpoints for drop tanks and rockets). 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 30 submarine kills, including the
cargo submarine I-52. They were one of the most effective
sub-killers in the Pacific 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
German U-Boats while providing air cover for the convoys.
After the "Marianas Turkey Shoot", in which more than 250
Japanese aircraft were downed, Admiral Marc 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, and dive bombers took
many casualties. However, Avengers from the Independence-class
aircraft carrier USS Belleau Wood sank the light carrier
Hiyō 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. Later, while flying a TBM
with VT-51 (from USS San Jacinto), his Avenger was shot down on
2 September 1944 over the Pacific island of Chichi Jima.
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 submarine
USS Finback. He later received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Another famous Avenger aviator was Paul Newman, who flew as a
rear gunner. He had hoped to be accepted for pilot training, but
did not qualify because he was color blind. Newman was on board
the escort carrier USS Hollandia roughly 500 mi (800 km) from
Japan when the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on
Hiroshima.
The Avenger was the type of torpedo bomber used during the
sinking of the two Japanese "super battleships": Musashi and
Yamato.
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In game...
As I have mentioned before I am gaining a new interest in
torpedo bombing in IL-2. I realize that most of us prefer
fighters, and I do too, but the variety of bomb runs is nice
too. I still prefer attacking with rockets or dropping bombs
from a dive bomber, but torpedo attacks are growing on me. The
breakthrough came from learning that I could use Comms
[font=Wingdings]ŕ[/font] Technical to find out the speed and
altitude I needed to drop my torpedo successfully. I have mostly
been using the Beaufort for torpedo missions, but I think I will
try some others now, and the TBF Avenger must certainly be on
that list.
#Post#: 13870--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Grumman TBF Avenger
By: JG51_Ruski Date: November 9, 2020, 4:17 pm
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Outstanding Article Von!! thanks
#Post#: 13872--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Grumman TBF Avenger
By: ben_wh Date: November 9, 2020, 10:40 pm
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Thank you for the article, von.
The Avenger is a classic WW2 Navy plane that was widely used and
much discussed. In-game, the mod to make it flyable was
available since the early days of IL-2 modding. However it is
not until more recently did we see more extensively modification
of the the plane in-game, from 3D update to addition of radar
and loadout options.
I really like flying anti-ship torpedo mission due to the
tension and , if successful, spectacular result. However I miss
more dynamic evasive maneuvers from the ships. Also, flying
torpedo mission in-game helps one realize why dedicated torpedo
bomber was being phased out even during the war: it was
extremely dangerous for the attacking plane, and fighter bombers
can achieve reasonable successes as well.
Thank you again,
#Post#: 13884--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Grumman TBF Avenger
By: larsresult Date: November 10, 2020, 10:09 am
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Well said Ben. The crews of all nations suffered horrendous
casualties. I am amazed and awed that they did their duty so
well. Apparently it took 8 torpedo launches to achieve one hit
on average, and that is if the torpedo worked!
I agree ship evasive manouevres are lacking but then it is a
flight sim primarily. Another piece lacking, especially with
multi seat aircraft, is the ability to communicate between crew
members. e.g. Gunner to pilot so they can set up a decent
defence shot. Attacking fighters tend to sit directly behind
your tail so you can't hit them until they pull away.
#Post#: 13887--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Grumman TBF Avenger
By: cafs Date: November 10, 2020, 11:09 am
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Nice article, Von. The Avenger was one of the most versatile WW2
aircrafts, carrier-based or not.
Thanks.
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