Battlegroup42 Encyclopedia
Advertisement
This article or section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
Wikipedia Icon
For historical information, Wikipedia has an article on Douglas TBD Devastator.

Douglas TBD Devastator is an American torpedo bomber.

Description

Although already deemed obsolete by the outbreak of the war, the TBD Devastator nevertheless had to bear the brunt of the airborne torpedo attacks against Japanese shipping in the early month of the war in the pacific. For example, they played a key role in sinking the Japanese carrier Shoho during the Battle of the Coral Sea. However, missing fighter cover and bad timing led to the destruction of a whole Devastator squadron during the Battle of Midway, which clearly showed that the Devastator could no longer cope with the challenges of contemporary naval warfare. It was withdrawn from further battles and soon replaced by its successor, the Grumman TBF Avenger.

The main armament of the TBD Devastator is the Mark 13 torpedo. For defensive armament the aircraft has one forward firing M2 Browning machine gun for the pilot and two rearward firing M1919 Browning machine guns for the rear gunner. The Devastator is slow and not very maneuverable, therefore pilots must take extra care from enemy fighters as well as ships' anti-air gunfire.

The Devastator can only be found on American carriers appearing in 4205-Battle of the Coral Sea and Battle of Midway.

Advertisement