Yes, it turned out to be a kind of large-scale transition in a cycle from the European theater of operations to the Pacific Ocean. But what to do, in our history, the war in the Pacific Ocean was not given due attention, and the cuttings both on the sea and in the air were terrible.
Our today's participant was born just before the war, in 1939, when the United States undertook, and very seriously, for the rearmament of naval aviation. It was assumed that the frankly outdated aircraft will be replaced by a new generation of sea-based aircraft F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat and SB2C Helldiver.
But the rearmament did not work out as planned, and the American naval aviation greeted 1941 in about the same way as the Red Army Air Force. That is, in a certain "rearmament process", that is, in complete disarray.
But with regards to the torpedo bombers, one thing became unambiguously clear: the Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" should be sent to rest, because he is definitely everything.
And at the end of 1939, the US Navy strained the aviation companies with an order for a new torpedo bomber. The requirements were quite acceptable for that time: a crew of three, a maximum speed of 480 km / h. Armament from one torpedo or three 500-pound bombs must be placed inside the fuselage, the aircraft must have self-tightening fuel tanks, armor, and a turret with defensive weapons on the servo.
There were many proposals, but the Navy only liked two projects, from "Vout" and "Grumman". These prototypes were built and handed over for testing.
In general, "Grumman" until that time did not make either bombers or torpedo bombers, but it was the main supplier of fighters for the fleet, from the FF-1 to the F4F "Wildcat". Perhaps not surprisingly, the torpedo bomber acquired some of the features of the F4F family. Such a fat man with an air-cooled engine and a rather thick belly where weapons were hidden.
The fuselage turned out to be high, but there was enough room in it for everything from the bomb bay to the lower rear defensive shooting point immediately after it. The internal bomb bay was new to naval bombers, but the Grumman aircraft even exceeded the requirements of the US Navy: it could carry a 2,000 pound torpedo or four 500 pound bombs.
Crew of three: pilot, radio operator and gunner. All were housed in a long cockpit, covered with a canopy. At the end of the cockpit was an electric-powered gun turret of the Olsen system.
Olsen's rifle turret was a very interesting design. She, in fact, was a separate module with weapons, controls and ammunition, covered with a spherical plexiglass cap in the rear of the cockpit. Yes, there was also a shooter in the turret set.
The shooter was armed with the familiar 12.7mm Browning and sat in an armored chair, protected by half-inch thick armor plates installed in the front of the turret and on its sides, as well as an inch armor plate under the chair and a half-inch thick bulletproof glass panel directly in front of him.
The turret was controlled by one joystick handle along the horizon and height, on the handle was a machine gun descent drive. The turret was driven by electric motors powered by the aircraft's on-board network.
All other mechanization, the mechanism for retracting the landing gear, folding the outer wing consoles, extending the flaps and opening the bomb bay doors were all hydraulically powered.
Firm "Grumman" designed the wings of the aircraft so that they folded, turning back, and took a position on the sides of the fuselage parallel to it. This was done in order to solve the problem with the insufficient height of the hangar decks of aircraft carriers, where it was necessary to cram a rather tall aircraft.
Thanks to the hydraulic drive, the wings could be retracted or unfolded by the pilot himself in just a few seconds, and this did not require any assistance from ground personnel. By the way, this became one of the components of Grumman's victory in the competition.
Another useful factor was that as a bomber, the Grumman could even dive. Not like a normal dive bomber, but pretty decent. The role of the air brakes was played pretty well by the landing gear, which in the released state reduced the speed to 300 km / h.
The aircraft successfully passed all tests and was put into production. Since the end of the tests fell on the time following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the plane was given the name "Avenger".
The first production TBF-1 left the assembly line on January 3, 1942 and on January 30, after completion of factory tests and acceptance flights, the aircraft was officially handed over to the US Navy.
Incidentally, the Avenger was one of the first aircraft to receive a radar. The radar began to be installed on the Avenger in the first year of its production. Antennas for the Yagi Air-to-Surface Type B (ASB) radar were mounted under each wing on its outer panels. The radar equipment itself was installed in the radio operator's compartment, the ASB radar was the standard radar that was supplied with all variants of the Avengers.
The first combat use of the Avengers was in no way successful. Of the first 21 crews based at Pearl Harbor, six were selected and sent to Midway, which was under the threat of a Japanese offensive. Volunteers went to Midway, although in general all twenty-one crew members expressed their readiness to fly to Midway.
On June 4, 1942, shortly after dawn, the flying boat Catalina spotted the Japanese invasion fleet heading for Midway.
At 05.45, six TBF-1 torpedoes took off and headed for the Japanese ships. The targets were discovered at about 7 am and the Avengers launched an attack on the invasion fleet.
Sadly, the torpedo attack was thwarted by a fighter patrol from a Japanese aircraft carrier. The Avengers, which did not have fighter cover, dived to the water and continued their flight to the enemy ships at low level flight, but 5 of the 6 aircraft were shot down by the A6M2 Zero and were not even able to throw torpedoes.
Taking this into account, the Avengers' combat debut cannot be called successful. However, within two months, all American aircraft carriers carrying torpedo squadrons received Avengers, and Devastators were decommissioned.
So the Avengers began their service in the Navy, but at the same time problems began. By the end of 1942, "Grumman" at its factories produced 60 aircraft a month, but given the intense fighting in the Pacific Ocean, the fleet demanded more aircraft to replace the downed and badly damaged ones.
But more "Grumman" simply could not produce, the company was, in addition to "Avengers", was heavily loaded with the production of F4F "Wildcat" and was preparing to switch to the production of the next generation naval fighter - F6F "Hellcat".
In this regard, an interesting decision was made: to find a subcontractor for the production of torpedo bombers.
The choice fell on … General Motors, which by that time had significantly reduced the production of passenger cars and closed several factories. That is, there was enough production space.
Probably, the leadership of "GM" was very much surprised when the leadership of the US Navy arranged a meeting with "Grumman" on the subject of aircraft production.
As a result, the Eastern Aviation Branch of General Motors was organized, which eventually took up the production of aircraft. The Eastern Aviation Branch produced the TVM-1 Avenger, and the Grumman produced the TBF-1 Avenger, the planes were absolutely identical, and they could be distinguished only by comparing the serial numbers. All the difference was only in the numbers and letters of the name.
By 1945, the Eastern Aviation Branch had reached a phenomenal figure of 350 aircraft per month. The record month of TVM production was March 1945, when the Eastern Aviation Branch built 400 aircraft in thirty days.
Grumman eventually switched to the production of F6F Hellcat fighters, and in December 1943 the Eastern Branch became the sole manufacturer of Avengers. Before the end of the war, the branch produced a total of 7,546 TBMs, or 77% of all Avengers produced.
So the Avengers started fighting. And the very first battles showed that the armament of the torpedo bomber, to put it mildly, is not very good. It was initially not very good: in Olsen's turret there was a 12, 7-mm machine gun that fired back, and a synchronized 7, 62-mm machine gun was located under the engine hood.
The Japanese realized this very quickly and began to easily go into frontal attacks. Given that the samurai performed this very calmly, the Americans began to get into real trouble.
A solution was found by engineers from the 10th torpedo squadron (VT-10), who in the field were able to install a 12.7 mm machine gun with ammunition and a synchronizing mechanism outside on the root of each wing of the aircraft.
This field modification proved to be quite successful and the blueprints for this project were sent to the Grumman design department. There, the project of military engineers was improved as follows. that machine guns began to be installed inside each wing, outside the area swept by the propeller, which made it possible to do without synchronizers.
7, 62-mm machine gun was removed from under the hood.
The second thing that required improvement was a torpedo. The standard American naval aircraft torpedo, the Mk 13, was too slow and unreliable, so the Avengers' attacks were often unsuccessful due to torpedo malfunctions. Plus, the low speed of the torpedo allowed enemy ships to make evasive maneuvers.
Repeated improvements were carried out, which basically boiled down to an increase in the height of the torpedo drop and the flight speed during the drop, which has already become an achievement, since it greatly increased the chances of survivability of the torpedo bombers.
But the Avengers were very often used as ordinary bombers. A rather large bomb-torpedo bay could fit both the 2000-lb (900 kg) General Purpose universal bomb and the 1600-lb (725 kg) Armor Percing bomb. Smaller bombs could be used.
When attacking a maneuvering vessel, the Avengers' tactic consisted of dropping a "pack" of up to four bombs using an intervalometer, a device that controlled the amount of time between bombs.
The control panel of the intervalometer was installed in the radio operator's compartment and on it the radio operator manually set the Avenger's flight speed and the required interval between dropping bombs.
The target attacked in a dive at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees, to an altitude of 500 feet or below.
The pilot dropped bombs at the exit of the dive, and thanks to the intervalometer, the bombs fell on the target at intervals of 60 to 75 feet, which practically guaranteed one or more hits on the target when dropping a "stack" of four bombs. This tactic has proven to be highly effective, and the Avengers have earned a reputation as a very accurate bomber.
The Avenger also took place as an anti-submarine aircraft. I had to use them as PLO aircraft, since the guys of Doenitz had really gotten to the British allies, and they really had to do something with the submarines, because in February 1943 alone, German submarines sent more than 600,000 tons of displacement to the bottom of ships.
Often, Doenitz's submariners went so far out into the ocean that the basic patrol aircraft could not reach them. Then "Avengers" together with "Wildcats" were registered on the decks of escort (mostly converted from bulk carriers) aircraft carriers.
With a long range and the ability to carry four 350-pound depth charges in the bomb bay, the Avenger proved to be a highly effective anti-submarine aircraft.
In 1943, attempts began to equip the Avenger with an ASD-1 radar. To do this, the plane placed a dish of a parabolic antenna in a fairing mounted on the leading edge of the right wing. The ASD radar was capable of detecting both ground and air targets at a significantly greater distance than older ASB radars could.
In addition to the installed ASD-1 radar fairing, the TBF / TBM-1D series carried additional yagi radar antennas mounted on each wing just behind the main landing gear struts.
There was also an interesting field modification, "Night Owl". They were night submarine hunters. Since it was at night that submarines usually surfaced to charge the batteries, it was also easier to look for them at night.
Such aircraft had a rifle turret, wing machine guns and all armor dismantled. Additional fuel tanks were installed in the fuselage and bomb bay, which significantly increased the flight duration of these Avengers.
The crew of the "Night Owl" consisted of a pilot and a radar operator; the "Owl" could take off after sunset and fly over the sea all night. If the crew of the "Owl" spotted a submarine, then a normal plane was pointed at it by radio.
The tactics turned out to be very successful, and by the time the war ended, 14 aircraft carrier anti-submarine groups operating in the Atlantic had sunk a total of 53 German submarines and captured one - U-505. In the Pacific, the successes were more modest, where 8 anti-submarine groups on escort aircraft carriers sank 11 Japanese submarines.
He also worked as "Avenger" in the RAF. 958 vehicles of all modifications were delivered to Great Britain under Lend-Lease. The British called the aircraft "Tarpon / Avenger Mk I" until 1944, when the Tarpon were renamed back to "Avenger" so as not to create confusion in the joint actions of the allies in the Pacific.
Numerous experiments were carried out with the Avenger to equip it with radar technology. When the specialists of "Grumman" managed to shove the APS-20 radar into the nose part, and in the place of the radio operator organize TWO (!) Places for the operators (removing the shooting turret and making a huge lantern), they turned out TVM-3W, in fact, an aircraft for early location detection, which allowed “See” even planes flying at low level at an altitude of 100-150 meters.
In this role, the Avengers served in the US Navy until the mid-1950s.
In the campaign in the Pacific Ocean, the Avengers first seriously showed themselves in the Battle of the Solomon Islands, when torpedoes (it is not clear, at least one, maximum three) from the Avengers to the engine room hit the aircraft carrier Ryudze. Then he was finished off with bombs, which left the Japanese squadron (stronger in composition) without air cover. The Americans were able to retreat, and the Japanese, fearing air raids during the day, did not actively pursue.
On November 8, 1942, a naval battle took place in the Guadalcanal area with a Japanese squadron that was landing troops on the island, in which the Americans lost two light cruisers and four destroyers. The losses of the Japanese were much more modest, two destroyers, and the battle cruiser Hiei received serious damage from shells and bombs.
The next morning, nine Avengers from the aircraft carrier Enterprise caught up with the cruiser and sent them to the bottom. A little later, on November 14, another group of "Avengers" planted four torpedoes in the heavy cruiser "Kinugasa", which was more than enough for the ship to sink.
During the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19-24, 1944), 194 Avengers were on the decks of American aircraft carriers (seven shock and eight escort). During this operation, they took part in the sinking of the aircraft carrier Hayo and seriously damaged the aircraft carriers Chiyoda and Zuikaku. This time, however, the Everngers operated as bombers, with 227 kg bombs instead of torpedoes. The operation can hardly be called successful, since the total losses of aircraft exceeded 200 aircraft.
But on October 24, 1944, the Avenger torpedoes played a decisive role in the sinking of the Musashi super battleship. 19 torpedoes - both the beauty and pride of the Japanese fleet rested at a kilometer depth in the Sibuyan Sea.
Why torpedoes? Because the bombs could not do any serious damage to the superbly armored giant. In the same battle, about two dozen bombs hit the Yamato, and they could not do anything except minor damage.
Indeed, for a large ship, if not a large torpedo, then a large number of conventional ones.
As on April 7, 1945, it happened with the Yamato. 10 torpedoes are 10 torpedoes, and the flagship of the Japanese fleet went down in history after the sister ship …
In general, with varying degrees of success, the Avengers fought the entire war and in all theaters of operations. The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, even the North, where two squadrons were hunting (albeit unsuccessfully) for the Tirpitz. In short, where the British and American aircraft carriers sailed, there were also the Avengers.
On the whole, it turned out to be a very balanced aircraft, with practically no weak points. And very strong.
Its versatility has become the key to a long service life. Although as a torpedo bomber he quickly left the arena, he served as a radar detection and firefighting aircraft for a very long time.
Well, at the end, one cannot fail to mention the incident, which still excites the minds, the protagonists of which were the Avengers. It is probably clear that we are talking about the incident on December 5, 1945 in the Bermuda Triangle.
On this day, five crews were to perform a routine training flight from Fort Lauderdale.
The lead aircraft was flown by an experienced pilot, Lieutenant Charles Taylor, but the other crews had no experience of flying over the sea. The planes did not return to base at the appointed time. Only a radio message from the pilots was received, which said that they had lost their orientation. A rescue operation was undertaken, which, however, did not bring any results. In addition, in its course, one of the flying boats that took part in it, the Martin Mariner, disappeared.
The mystery of the disappearance of the aircraft has remained unsolved until now, but everything indicates that the cause was severe weather conditions in the area of the flight route and a magnetic storm, which could lead to the failure of on-board instruments. In such conditions, planes could easily crash into the ocean surface and sink. Although many still consider supernatural phenomena to be the cause of the death of planes, nothing can be done about it.
LTH modification TBM-3
Wingspan, m: 16, 51
Length, m: 12, 16
Height, m: 5, 02
Wing area, sqm: 45, 52
Weight, kg:
- empty aircraft: 4 913
- normal takeoff: 7 609
- maximum takeoff: 8286
Engine: 1 x Wright R-2600-20 Cyclone 14 x 1900 HP
Maximum speed, km / h
- at height: 444
- near the ground: 404
Cruising speed, km / h: 243
Practical range, km: 1 626
Rate of climb, m / min: 630
Practical ceiling, m: 7090
Crew, people: 3
Armament:
- two 12.7 mm wing machine guns, one 12.7 mm machine gun in the dorsal turret and one 7.62 mm machine gun in the ventral position;
- up to 907 kg of weapons in the bomb compartment and attachment points for NURS, dropped tanks or a container with radar or machine guns under the wing.
