World War 2 In Review: Grumman TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber In View #1

A TBF Avenger operating out of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, probably around August or September 1942.

HVAR “Holy Moses” rockets under a wing of a TBF Avenger.

Douglas SBD Dauntless, Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, and Grumman TBF-1 Avenger aircraft are respotted for takeoff at “FLY 3”, on a U.S. Navy Bogue-class escort carrier, circa mid-1943. Note the 2-way tie downs on wings and tails, with wheels chocked. The planes wear yellow training unit markings and the red-outlined national insignia.

Crewmen trying to lift a Grumman TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bomber of composite squadron VC-69 out of the catwalk of the U.S. escort carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) on 19 June 1944. Note the underwing rockets. Bogue was active in the Atlantic Ocean to protect Allied convoys.

A U.S. Navy Grumman TBF-1 Avenger of Torpedo Squadron 5 (VT-5) is launched with one of two hangar catapults from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) in May 1943. The hangar catapults were never used operationally and quickly removed. Instead, a second catapult was installed on the flight deck.

Loading bomb into a Marine TBF, Torokina Airstrip, 1944.

The Stars and Stripes wave over a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier at sea. On this flight deck is a Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo plane; astern, turning to port behind the carrier is an escort destroyer. November 1942.

Getting ready for a mission.

Loading bombs on a Avenger.

Grumman TBF Avenger.

Torpedo launch.

Grumman XTBF-3 Avenger, Bureau number 24341, in three-tone scheme, at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 8 June 1945.

Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber in flight over the sea.

Grumman TBF Avenger.

General Motors-built TBM-1D Avenger torpedo bomber, identifiable by the radome on the leading edge of the wing, is centered among several Grumman-built TBF-1 Avengers spotted forward on Lexington’s flight deck on 15 June 1944, among several Dauntless dive bombers.

Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber begins its take-off from an aircraft carrier.

General Motors TBM Avenger, N7835C, at civilian airport circa 1970s.

A Royal Navy Grumman Avenger Mk.II from 849 Naval Air Squadron based on the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38), flying over an island in the Indian Ocean, circa 1944.

Formation of TBM-1 Avengers on a training flight from NAS Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaii, early 1943. Note the mixture of U.S. national insignia.

A mixed bag of Grumman TBF and General Motors TBM Avengers from a training unit, with a flight of FM-2s keeping them company. An interesting point is the presence of a plane, the third in line, still in the old-style intermediate blue and aircraft gray, although it does carry the proper national insignia.

This is a small part of Task Force 58’s striking force on its way to attack Hollandia. At left and top right are Douglas SBD Dauntlesses and at lower right Grumman TBF Avengers.

Grumman XTBF-1 Avenger.

Grumman TBF Avenger, “V34.”

TBF Avenger being positioned on flight deck of Enterprise as another is brought up on the elevator, May 1944.

Avengers warming on Enterprise’s flight deck, May 1944.

Grumman TBF Avengers take off from an aircraft carrier.

Grumman TBF Avengers, “T-43” in foreground.

Grumman TBF Avenger being loaded with a torpedo.

Grumman TBM Avengers over Okinawa beachhead.

U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighters and two Grumman TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bombers on the light aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) in 1943. Note that the F6Fs are in various states of repainting, as the omission of the right wing star and the addition of two white bars to the stars on the left wings and fuselage was ordered in June 1943. These had a red border which was changed to blue in August 1943.

Grumman TBF Avengers. Note different national markings.

Avenger cockpit.

A Royal Navy Grumman Avenger Mk.II (serial JZ 444) from 820 Naval Air Squadron, going over the edge of the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable (R10), in 1945.

A Royal Navy Grumman Avenger Mk.II (serial JZ 578) from 849 Naval Air Squadron, after crashing on the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38), in 1945.

TBF Avengers patrolling the skies over the Marshall Islands, 1944.

TBF-1 Avengers of Torpedo Squadron 10 from USS Enterprise fly in formation over Espiritu Santo, March 1943.

Interior view of the ventral gun position of a TBM Avenger, 1942.

Saratoga underway at sea, circa 1942, with 5 Grumman F4F fighters, 6 Douglas SBD scout bombers, and 1 Grumman TBF torpedo bomber on the flight deck.

Grumman TBF-1C Avenger in flight, Jan-May 1942, location unknown.

Grumman TBF-1C Avenger in flight, January-May 1942, location unknown.

TBF-1 Avenger making a practice drop of a Mark XIII torpedo off Virginia, United States, 3 Jul 1942. This drop was made from 125 feet at 125 knots.

The USS Enterprise conducted flight training when steaming from Hawaii to Tonga on 23 Jul 1942. Here, upon landing, a TBF Avenger slid off the flight deck into the catwalks; no injuries.

A training flight of TBF-1 Avengers lining up to drop practice torpedoes, late 1942, off the east coast of the United States.

TBF Avenger torpedo bombers flying in formation above Norfolk, Virginia, United States, September 1942.

African-American mess attendants take their turn at a 20mm gun during gunnery training on Aircraft Transport USS Copahee during transit from California to Pearl Harbor, 9 Sep 1942. Note TBF Avengers on the flight deck.

Escort carrier USS Santee in Oct 1942, probably in Bermuda, preparing to cross the Atlantic for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. Note SBD Dauntless, F4F Wildcat, and TBF Avenger aircraft on the flight deck.

TBF-1 Avenger of Marine Squadron VMSB-131 at Guadalcanal, 1942.

An SNJ Texan, an F4F Wildcat, and a TBF-1 Avenger tied down on the flight deck of the training aircraft carrier USS Wolverine on Lake Michigan, United States, 1943.

F6F-3 Hellcat fighters on the flight deck of Saratoga as a TBM Avenger approached to land, circa 1943-44.

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger being tended to by carrier-based maintenance personnel, 1943.

TBF-1 Avengers on the flight deck of USS Ranger while a K-class Airship flies overhead on anti-submarine watch, 1943.

The Landing Signal Officer watches just before a TBF-1 Avenger traps aboard the training aircraft carrier USS Wolverine on Lake Michigan, United States, 1943.

A training flight of TBM-1C Avengers based in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, January 1943.

A TBF-1 Avenger of Torpedo Squadron VT-4 resting upside down on two of USS Ranger’s port stacks following a landing accident in the mid-Atlantic, 2 Mar 1943. Note the tailhook still hooked to the arresting cable.

This TBF-1 Avenger attempted to land on the carrier USS Charger but missed the arresting wires and ended up tangled in the port catwalk, Chesapeake Bay, United States, 16 Mar 1943. Note US Coast Guard boats alongside.

TBF-1 Avengers from the Carrier USS Essex dropping a practice torpedo from 150-200 feet, Gulf of Paria, Trinidad, 30 Mar 1943. Note the porpoising early Mark XIII torpedo.

Avengers over the USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24).

Loading bombs into an Avenger.

Loading a bomb into an Avenger.

TBM VT-15 1944-45.

VC-93 crew H Foster (Pilot), S Orlowski (Gunner) and ARM/1c Roger W. Goodwin, 1945.

Flight crews of VC-93 with TBM.

Torpedo Squadron VT-10 crew, Gruebel, Nelson, and Livingston, USS Enterprise 1944.

TBF pilot Lt Chuck Anderson and crew, VC-7, USS Manila Bay.

TBF Pilots, “Flight 384”, 1945.

‘Buzzard Brigade’ pilots and aircrewmen of Torpedo Squadron VT-10, Maui, 1943.

VT-10 crew of Williams, Lt CMDR William Martin, and Hargrove, USS Enterprise, 1944.

Lieutenant Commander Richard Upson TBF pilot of VT-5 ‘Torpcats’.

TBF pilots, Lt John Chambers and other “Flight 380 Officers”, 26 March 1945.

Lt John Chambers and Torpedo Flight “8”, Fort Lauderdale, 1 October 1943.

TBM pilot and crew, USS Bunker Hill, 1945.

TBF-1C battle damage, 1944.

VT-80 pilot Lieutenant J. M. Stubblebine boarding a TBM, 1944.

Group of VT-32 gunners and radio operators, Charlestown Rhode Island, 1943.

Ensign R.K. Rountree, a TBF Pilot, April 1944.

Looking up at the stocky, powerful silhouette of an Avenger Torpedo Bomber, the observer on an escort carrier sees a weapon of great power. Here the strange effect of light on the whirling propeller blades make the bomber look even more like a great angry insect.

This sailor never dreamed he’d be a tailor on airplanes when he went to sea in an escort carrier, but here he is shown repairing damage to a wing section on a Wildcat plane. Released April 30, 1944.

Repairs go forward on a carrier based plane aboard a baby flat-top. The sun is warm, the winds are light, and the Aviation Machinist’s Mates work on the flight deck from choice. Released April 30, 1944.

Baby Flat Top – The Navy’s Child Prodigy. In the hangar deck of an escort carrier, a torpedo bomber is shown with engine being tested day and night. Engine checks must be run on different planes to keep them at their maximum efficiency. April 30, 1944

Navy Planes Blast Foe With Rockets –Spotted on the flight deck of a US Navy Aircraft Carrier, this Grumman Avenger Torpedo Bomber is equipped to hurl rockets at the enemy. These new missiles have been employed against U-Boats in the Atlantic and Jap shipping in the Pacific. This rocket installations are plainly visible on the underside of the plane’s wing. June 22, 1944.

Baby Flat Top. Like a tired bird this torpedo bomber rests in the hangar deck on an escort carrier with folded wings and empty cockpit. A handling crew pushes it off the elevator which has brought it down from the flight deck.

A Torpedo Bomber Pilot gets his last minute orders from sky control. Because the winds are raw, and the days are long, the air officer finds comfort in the little greenhouse built on the carrier’s bridge.

Baby flat Top – the Navy’s Child Prodigy. With parachute, binoculars and lifebelt, the gunner and radioman stand by to take their places in a torpedo bomber about to fly off an escort carrier.

Baby Flattop the Navy’s Child Prodigy – Nothing is left to chance on an escort carrier’s flight deck. Once a plane has landed, many a stout line is used to lash planes securely to the ship.