TBD Devastator Airplane Model

TBD Devastator airplane model. The TBD Devastator was the Navy's first all-metal, monoplane torpedo bomber. It was also the Navy's first carrier-based plane to come with an enclosed cockpit, and the first to use main landing gear wheel brakes. While most carrier-based aircraft of the day had manually folded wings for storage aboard ship, the TBD featured hydraulic folding wings. The plane had a crew of three (pilot, bombardier and gunner), and carried a half-ton torpedo. It entered service with the fleet in 1937. In December 1941, TDB Devastators formed the backbone of the Navy's carrier torpedo force in the Pacific. During hit-and-run raids against Japanese bases in the Central Pacific in early 1942, TBDs sank two transports and destroyed or damaged 10 other vessels. In May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, TBDs helped sink one enemy carrier and heavily damage another. These early actions, however, revealed the Devastator's shortcomings in speed and range and exposed problems