World War 2 In Review

TBM, 1944.

Painting red-edged insignia on TBM.

Clearing the deck of snow.

Full-scale mock-ups of TBF and F4F, 1940.

TBM torpedo bay with torpedo.

TBF during testing at Grumman, 1943.

Avenger fuselage ready for shipment by sea for the RAF.

Avenger wings and tail ready for shipment for the RAF.

Cannibalized Grumman TBF Avenger, 1944.

Grumman TBF Avenger.

Grumman F4F Wildcats and TBF Avengers on escort carrier, Atlantic.

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger, circa mid-1942.

TBF landing on a carrier.

TBF-1.

TBF.

TBF-1E Avenger, VT-34, based aboard USS Monterey, carrying identification letters adopted in late July 1945. Note the 21 torpedo mission markings below the pilot’s cockpit, and the personal artwork on the forward fuselage. Artwork was very rare on Navy aircraft; most personal markings were in the form of a name, applied in small letters.

Eastern TBM-1C Avenger, VT-1, about to be launched from the USS Yorktown (CV-10) during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. The Yorktown operated with Task Group 58.1 of Task Force 58 during this operation. Notice Yorktown’s white stripe on the tail.

A carrier-based TBF Avenger patrols over Guam while landing craft stream to the beaches.

Shadow of TBF Avenger whisking over fishing smacks, recorded by automatic camera shows how low he strafed.

TBF Avenger.

At dusk, a TBF torpedo plane with running lights showing is one of the first planes home from the first battle of the Philippine Sea.

A fully loaded TBF leaves for Saipan from a CVL’s deck.

Lieutenant Commander John Nielsen, later Captain (Retired), at the Naval Air Station in Florida, a few months after Coral Sea and Midway.

Smoke rising from Colonia Harbor on Yap, Caroline Islands, as a TBM Avenger from the carrier Yorktown flies overhead, 25-28 July 1944.

Grumman TBF-1 Avengers, U.S. Navy.

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger.

Grumman TBM Avenger crash lands at sea.

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger.

Grumman TBF Avenger undergoing maintenance, Falalop Island, March 1945.

Grumman TBF Avenger landing on a carrier.

Grumman TBF Avenger.

24 SBD, 11 F6F, and 18 TBF/TBM aircraft parked on the flight deck of carrier Essex, May 1943.

Flight deck of the USS Yorktown (Essex-class) crowded with aircraft, May 1943 in the Pacific.

Note the broad wings of the TBF Avenger, the largest US carrier plane of World War II, as it makes its take-off run down the flight deck of the light carrier USS Independence, Caribbean Sea, 1 May 1943.

SBD-3 Dauntless, F4F-4 Wildcat, and TBF-1 Avenger aircraft aboard USS Enterprise, northeast of Nouméa, New Caledonia, 2 May 1943; note USS Washington in background.

F4U-1 Corsair, an F4F Wildcat, and two TBF-1 Avengers run up their engines prior to launch from the training aircraft carrier USS Sable on Lake Michigan, mid-1943.

Lt George Gay in the cockpit of a TBM Avenger with Torpedo Squadron 11 on Guadalcanal, June 1943. As Ensign Gay, he was the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8 at Midway in 1942.

USS Yorktown (CV-10) circa mid-1943, with a TBF Avenger flying over her bow.

An in-flight view of a TBF-1 Avenger “Daisy Mae” of Marine Squadron VMSB-131 based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomons, 1943.

HMS Victorious at anchor in the Solomons, July 1943. This was during the period Victorious was on loan to the U.S. Fleet. Note U.S. F4F Wildcats and TBM Avengers on the flight deck.

USS Yorktown moving astern while receiving a landing TBF Avenger aircraft, July 1943.

Many of the design features of the Essex-class can be seen here as the USS Yorktown squeezes through the locks of the Panama Canal, 11 July 1943. Notably, the deck-edge aircraft elevator is in the raised position.

A Marine Corps TBM-1C Avenger of the 7th Fleet Command undergoing some maintenance at the Cyclops aerodrome, Hollandia, New Guinea, July-August 1943. Note the Jeep and the tail of an Army A-24 Banshee painted as a target tug, and the red-bordered national insignia on the Avenger’s wing.

A TBM Avenger on an aircraft carrier elevator as seen from the hangar deck, 1943.

HMS Victorious refueling from a U.S. Navy fleet oiler about August 1943. This was during the period Victorious was on loan to the U.S. Fleet. Note U.S. F4F Wildcats and TBM Avengers on the flight deck.

A TBF-1 Avenger with its gear, flaps, and hook down trying to catch the fourth (and last) arresting wire aboard the training aircraft carrier USS Wolverine on Lake Michigan, United States, 17 August 1943. Next stop, the barrier.

Marine TBM-1C Avengers lined up along the airstrip at Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands in late 1943. Note open bomb bays, improvised wheel chocks, flame dampener on the exhaust port of the nearest plane, and different versions of the national insignia.

Navy TBF-1 Avengers at the Munda Airstrip, New Georgia, Solomons, September 1943. Note the crews are in the process of applying the newly updated national insignia with white bars and a blue border.

Navy TBF-1 Avengers at the Munda Airstrip, New Georgia, Solomons, September 1943.

TBF-1 Avengers on the coral ramp at Munda airfield, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, late 1943.

TBF Avengers in formation over the carrier USS Ranger with destroyer USS Forrest trailing while training in the Atlantic off Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom, 4 September 1943.

US Navy ordnance men loading a Mark XIII torpedo into the bomb bay of a TBM Avenger aboard USS Lexington (Essex-class) while steaming south of Hawaii, 12 September 1943. Note the hand operated winches lifting the torpedo.

TBF-1 Avenger at Munda airfield, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, showing a damaged wing from Japanese anti-aircraft fire, October 1943.

FM-1 aircraft having crashed into several TBF aircraft while landing on the flight deck of USS Coral Sea, 11 October 1943.

Damaged TBF Avenger aboard USS Coral Sea, 14 October 1943; it had crashed into a line of TBF aircraft during landing three days prior.

A Jeep on the deck of the USS Yorktown (Essex-class) being used as an aircraft tug during the strikes on Wake Island, 5 October 1943. In this case, the Jeep is being hooked to a TBM-1C Avenger.

A Mark XIII torpedo being prepared for loading into the bomb bay of a TBM-1C Avenger for a raid against Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, November 1943. Inscription on the side of the bomb reads "Rising Sun My Ass!"

Aircraft elevator aboard the escort carrier USS Santee loaded with aerial depth charges on bomb dollies on their way up to the flight deck for loading onto TBF Avengers, November 1943 in the Atlantic.

F6F-3 Hellcat, TBF-1 Avenger, and SBD-5 Dauntless aircraft aboard USS Saratoga in the Gilbert Islands, November 1943.

TBF Avenger running up its engines before launching from escort carrier USS Santee in the Atlantic, November 1943. Note the catapult bridle attached to the landing gear.

TBF Avengers on the ramp at Kahului Naval Air Station on Maui, Hawaii, shortly after the station opened, November 1943.

TBM-1C Avengers over Makin Island (now Butaritari Island), in the Gilbert Islands following a bombing raid, November 1943.

WAVES Control Tower Operator at work at Naval Air Station, Floyd Bennett Field, New York, November 1943; note FM Wildcat and TBM Devastator aircraft in background.

TBF Avenger aircraft flying above Enterprise during Gilbert Islands campaign, 22 November 1943.

F4U-1A Corsair of Marine Squadron VMF-216 taxis down the strip at Torokina, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, December 1943. Note TBM Avengers and NE-1 Grasshoppers parked along the strip.

A TBF-1 Avenger hanging precariously over the side of the training aircraft carrier USS Sable on Lake Michigan, United States, 1944-45.

A TBM Avenger after a water landing beside the training aircraft carrier USS Sable on Lake Michigan, 1944-45.

A TBM-1C Avenger after landing aboard the training aircraft carrier USS Sable on Lake Michigan, as another circles around, 1944-45.

F6F Hellcat, SB2C Helldiver, and TBM-1C Avenger aircraft warming up on USS Intrepid’s flight deck, 1944.

Ordnance men loading a 1,000-pound bomb into the bomb bay of a TBM-1C aboard USS Intrepid, 1943-1945; note flame arrester on the plane’s exhaust port.

TBF Avenger being spotted for parking at Barakoma Airfield, Vella Lavella in the Solomons, 1944.

TBF-1 Avengers getting ready to take off from Piva airstrip, Bougainville, Solomons for a strike against Rabaul, New Britain, 1944. Note differences in the national insignia.

TBM Avenger aircraft in covered concrete revetments at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, US Territory of Hawaii, 1940s.

TBM-1 Avenger on a carrier deck, 1942-44. Note Mark XIII torpedo and crewman on top of the airplane handling an antenna from the ASB radar system.

TBM-1C Avenger aircraft flying from the USS Intrepid, 1943-1944.

TBM-1C Avenger aircraft flying from the USS Intrepid, 1944; note five low flying aircraft below lower element.

TBM-1C Avengers forming up over the Green Island airstrip, Northern Solomons, on their way to strike the Japanese. Some Avengers flying from Green Island acted as control ships for some of the first radio-controlled drone bomb strikes, 1944-45.

Two TBM-1 Avengers sent to Britain under Lend Lease to become Tarpons of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm.

USS Coral Sea underway with F4F and TBF aircraft on board, 1943-1944.

USS Saratoga underway with SBD Dauntless, F6F Hellcat, and TBF Avenger aircraft on her flight deck, 1943-1944.

USS Wake Island, 1940s; note Camouflage Measure 33, Design 10A and TBM Avenger and FM-2 Wildcat aircraft probably of VC-58.

TBM-1D Avenger at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, 1943-44. Note the radome on the starboard wing.

An element of TBM-1C Avengers of Torpedo Squadron VT-32 assigned to light carrier USS Langley flying south from their temporary training base at Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, 3 January 1944. Note Ko’olau Mountains.

A rocket attack on the German Type VIIC submarine U-758 by TBF Avengers from USS Block Island northeast of the Azores, 11 January 1944. Note two rockets hitting just astern of the U-Boat. U-758 was damaged but not sunk.

USS Intrepid underway 26 January 1944 on her way to launch strikes against Truk Atoll (now Chuuk). Note the forward flight deck filled SBD Dauntless and TBF Avenger aircraft and one F4U Corsair on the outrigger sponson.

Instrument panel of an Eastern Aircraft TBM-3(N) Avenger, 1944.

Marine TBM-1 Avengers taxi for takeoff at Piva Field, Bougainville, Solomons, 1944.

TBM-1C Avenger aircraft of US Navy Torpedo Squadron 80 (VT-80), Westerly, Rhode Island, circa 2 February 1944.

TBF-1C aircraft having just been jettisoned from USS Coral Sea near Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, 7 February 1944.

TBM Avenger of Torpedo Squadron VT-10 aboard USS Enterprise with machine gun holes in the wing following air-to-air combat with a Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 “Tony” fighter off Truk, Caroline Islands, 16 February 1944.

TBM-1C Avenger aircraft with stateside markings flying with US Navy Torpedo Squadron 80 (VT-80) in training over the Atlantic coast, circa spring 1944.

Grumman TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber In View #2