The Avenger resulted from a late 1930s Navy requirement for a replacement for the Douglas TBD Devastator. Although the Devastator had only entered service in 1937, it was already apparent that the type was too slow and short-ranged to hold the line for long. Among the specifications for the new aircraft, the Navy stipulated internal carriage of a torpedo or 3 bombs, a power-operated turret, and a top speed of 300mph.
In 1940, Grumman and Vought were contracted to build torpedo bomber prototypes under the designations XTBF and XTBU, respectively. Grumman's design owed much to the company's work on the F4F, although the TBF was of course much larger than the Wildcat.
Grumman built a pair of XTBF-1 prototypes, the first of which flew in August 1941. Save for some detail differences, all the production model Avengers would closely follow the design of the prototypes, Grumman having gotten things "right" from the start. Additionally, there was an urgency to field the type in numbers as quickly as possible, as the US looked increasingly likely to enter the war in the near term. Indeed, the second aircraft's rollout had to be curtailed, as it coincided with the attack on Pearl Harbor.
TBF/TBM-1: Initial production model, with the first example flying on 3 January 1942. A total of 1,525 were built by Grumman, with the second source line at GM's Eastern Aircraft Division turning out 550 TBM-1s.
TBF-1E: Special electronic mission equipment fitted.
TBF-1P: Solitary aircraft fitted for photo recon.
TBF-1L: Night attack model with searchlight in the bomb bay.
TBF/TBM-1C: Four .50-cal wing guns in place of the .30-cal cowl guns of the -1 model.
TBF/TBM-1D: Night attack conversions with ASD-1 radar carried in a pod faired into the starboard wing.
The Avenger's initial combat debut would be in marked contrast to its later successes. VT-8 was still converting over from the Devastator in the summer of 1942, but was able to send a half-dozen aircraft and crews westbound as the USN prepared for the Battle of Midway. the Avengers missed getting aboard the USS Hornet at Pearl Harbor to join VT-8 Devastators on the ship, and so were sent to the atoll to supplement the aircraft there. Together with four Army B-26s, the Avengers sortied on 4 June, but were shot to pieces without scoring any hits. Only one aircraft made it back to Midway, crash landing on one gear.
The major Avenger production model was the TBM-3, produced under license by General Motors to free up Grumman for fighter production, and descended from the Grumman-built XTBF-3 prototypes with the uprated R-2600-20 engine.
The torpedo bomber mission faded quickly postwar, as the USN concentrated on multipurpose attack aircraft such as the Skyraider. However, this by no means meant an end to Navy use of the Avenger, as TBMs would continue in service in secondary roles well into the 1950s. Much less glamorous than their combat counterparts but still important were the TBM-3R COD transports, with the weapons bay converted over to cargo space; seven passengers could also be carried. The CODs provided support to carriers operating off Korea, and were also used to transport the cores of nuclear weapons to CVs embarking heavy attack AJ Savage bombers. The type remained in service long enough to be one of the first aircraft to trap aboard the first supercarrier, the USS Forrestal.
Bibliography:
"TBM Carries Rescue Gear" Naval Aviation News November 1945 p.20 Conversion of TBM-3s at NAS Kaneohe for SAR missions.
Photos: TBM-3 with APS-20 radar as radar picket/AEW aircraft; 1 overall, 2 closeup. Naval Aviation News April 1946 p.1
Photo: surplus TBM crash into a barrier as part of a crash harness test. Naval Aviation News December 1946 p.7
Photo: Avenger making 22,000th landing aboard FDR. Naval Aviation News November 1949 p.23
"Pilot Makes Like Monkey" TBM-3S acident aboard escort carrier USS Palau Naval Aviation News May 1950 p.23
Photo: TBM-3S modified bomb bay carrying twelve sonobuoys rather than the previous standard of six. Naval Aviation News May 1950 p.33
"Turkeys now Transports" Naval Aviation News July 1951 p.25 3 photos.
"Bunyan's Bug Bombers" Covers the operation to create artificial watering holes for Caribou in Minnesota by dropping bombs from USNR aircraft based at NAS Minneapolis. Includes a photo showing a TBM being loaded with a 2,000lb bomb. Naval Aviation News September 1951 p.29
Photo: Hulk of TBM HP-267 of Aeroquimica. Air Pictorial May 1970 p.164
Frank A. Tinker "Old Warbirds Fight On" Air Classics May 1973 Includes several photos of Avengers used as retardant bombers, including aircraft N7849C.
Alan W. Hall "Re-arranging the Avenger: Conversions for the Airfix kit" Airfix Magazine May 1975 Includes 1/72 scale TBM-3 drawing.
Photo: TBM N9564Z hulk Air Classics March 1979 p.14
Photo: TBM N6827C Air Classics March 1979 p.16
Photo Sequence: Loss of TBM-3E BuNo 91556 aboard USS Tarawa. Air Classics June 1979 p.24
Howard Levy "Bush's Baby" Aeroplane Monthly August 1989 p.482-484. Covers the restoration of a TBM-3E to VT-51 markings. Includes photos of the aircraft as borate bomber N90787
Photo: TBM-3Es N9590Z and N9927Z as fire bombers in red/white paint. Warbirds International May 2000 p.54-55
Photo: TBM-3 N4172A Warbirds International May 2000 p.56
"Cavanaugh Avenger" Restored TBM-3E BuNo 86280/N7219C Warbirds International September 2000
Craig Justo "Warbird Reborn! A TBM Metamorphosis" Classic Wings issue 56
Photo: large color side-view of TBM-3U N3967A as a spray aircraft Warbirds International June 2014 p.62-63
Scale Models "Navy Avenger" Scale Modeler July 1981 p.44-49+ Building the Combat Models 1/32 scale vacuform kit.
"Workbench Reviews: Trumpeter's 1/32 scale Avenger" FineScale Modeler May 2005 p.58-59. A review of the 1/32 TBF-1C kit.
"Rejuvenating an Old Frog - Gary Hatcher Breathes New Life into a Grumman Avenger" Scale Aviation Modeller International December 2006
Frank Cuden "Keeping an Avenger in reserve" FineScale Modeler October 2015 p.41-43 The Hasegawa TBM-3S as a New York-based reserve aircraft
Books: American Warplanes of World War II" Edited by David Donald. p.147-154 includes a color profile of a/c 8-T-1 of VT-8, a cutaway drawing of a TBM-1C, and a large color 3-view of a TBF-1.
"The American Bomber Plane" by Ted & Amy Williams. Includes a TBM-1C 3-view, and a good view of the wing fold mechanism.
