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The Douglas TBD-1 was the Navy's first widely-used monoplane shipboard plane. Designed to carry a heavy torpedo below the fuselage, it was necessarily a large aircraft and its 900-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine could drive it to a maximum speed of slightly over 200 miles per hour. The XTBD-1 first flew in April 1935 and 129 production TBD-1s were delivered in 1937-39, rapidly replacing biplanes in the Navy's carrier torpedo squadrons. The type gave U.S. Fleet aviators valuable experience with what was, for the time, a rather high-performance aircraft. "Normal" operational attrition whittled away at the TBD inventory, which peaked at about 120 in 1939 and had declined to barely more than a hundred at the start of the Pacific War.
Though the new Grumman TBF "Avenger" was entering production as its intended replacement, the TBD-1 was the Pacific Fleet's sole torpedo plane for the first part of the war against Japan. It seemingly did well in the raids of February-March 1942 and in the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May, serving in both the torpedo attack and high-level bombing roles. However, in about an hour's time on 4 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, the TBD entered the annals of Naval history as a synonym for costly futility. Three squadrons of TBD-1s made heroic torpedo attacks on the Japanese carrier force, losing all but four of forty-one aircraft while achieving no hits. Old and slow, with a weak defensive armament and without self-sealing fuel tanks, the TBD had proven horribly vulnerable to enemy fighters, though this vulnerability was to a great extent typical of all torpedo attacks against well-defended ships.
At the end of the Midway battle, the Navy had just thirty-nine TBDs left. New "Avengers" quickly took their place on Pacific Fleet flight decks, but the older planes continued to serve (briefly) in the Atlantic Fleet and in training squadrons until late 1943. The twenty-one TBDs left in the Navy inventory at the start of 1944 were mainly employed as stationary hulks for maintainance training, and all were gone by the end of that year. There are no surviving TBDs today, though hope exists for recovery, restoration and exhibit of a plane lost at sea.
The TBD's short production life, and specialized intended employment, precluded much variety in the type. The first production unit was converted to a floatplane, designated TBD-1A, and used for tests well into World War II. With the 1941 adoption of "popular" names for Navy aircraft, the TBD began to be called the "Devastator", but for most of its operational life, it was just known as the TBD-1.
TBD-1 characteristics:
This page features and provides links to virtually all our views of Douglas TBD-1 torpedo planes.
For further views of TBD-1 aircraft, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: 80-G-19341 Douglas TBD-1 torpedo plane The Torpedo Squadron Six commanding officer's aircraft, from USS Enterprise (CV-6), in flight with a formation of nine other TBD-1s in the background. Photograph was received in 1938. This aircraft, Bureau # 0322, was lost in an accident at sea on about 10 March 1939. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. Note: This image is somewhat disfigured by a full-height vertical crack just to the right of center. |
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Photo #: NH 77104 Douglas TBD-1 torpedo planes, of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), from USS Enterprise (CV-6) In flight, circa 1939. Plane closest to the camera is Bureau # 0318. Note how stripes painted on wings assist pilots in maintaining three-plane "V" formation. Collection of Vice Admiral George C. Dyer, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 510 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 77106 Douglas TBD-1 torpedo planes, of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), from USS Enterprise (CV-6) Fly in formation, circa 1939. Plane closest to the camera is Bureau # 1511, which was lost while assigned to Torpedo Squadron Three, probably while operating from USS Yorktown (CV-5) during the Battle of Midway. Collection of Vice Admiral George C. Dyer, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 515 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-17525 Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" torpedo plane, of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) Approaches USS Enterprise (CV-6) to land, 4 May 1942. Note Landing Signal Officer at left. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-17531 Douglas TBD-1 torpedo plane Landing on board USS Enterprise (CV-6), in about July 1941. Note landing signal officer is in the foreground, and plane guard destroyers in the center distance. The original photo caption gives a date of 8 April 1942, which is highly improbable as the plane is in mid-1941 vintage overall gray paint and the destroyers are wearing peacetime light gray paint. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-21056-H Douglas TBD-1 torpedo plane, of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) Passes over USS Enterprise (CV-6) during flight operations on 29 July 1941. The plane's arrestor hook and wheels are down, indicating that it is attempting to land. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 625 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-10570 Douglas TBD-1A experimental floatplane (Bureau # 0268) In low-level flight during torpedo drop tests at the Newport Torpedo Station, Rhode Island, 10 October 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 115KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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For further views of TBD-1 aircraft, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Historical Center home page.Page made 14 February 2001
Coding updated 24 March 2001