The Toughest Battleship Hunter that Came Out of Nowhere
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- Its ungainly size and appearance may have gained it the nickname of the “turkey,” but in reality, the Grumman TBF Avenger was anything but. Forged in the fires of World War 2, this iconic torpedo bomber would become one of the most versatile and enduring warplanes of its era.
The Avenger quickly proved itself a versatile warrior in World War 2's most demanding naval combat situations. From the fiery chaos of the Battle of Midway to the intense hunt for German U-boats in the Atlantic, to even taking on lightning-fast V-1 flying bombs bound for Britain, this robust aircraft became a cornerstone of Allied aviation.
But the Avenger's story didn't end there. Its remarkable adaptability saw it evolve into roles its creators never envisioned - from aerial firefighter to carrier onboard delivery aircraft and even as a platform for some of the first airborne early warning systems. This flexibility ensured the Avenger's continued service long after many of its contemporaries had been retired.
The Avenger's impact reached far beyond its military service, influencing aircraft design and setting new standards for versatility in aviation. This remarkable warbird didn't just fly through history - it helped shape it, cementing its place as one of the most significant aircraft of the 20th century.
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Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.
All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.
The last Avengers didn't leave service as Firefighter aircraft until 2012. A long and proud history of service.
My father flew the TBM-3 in multiple variants as a member of the wordy "Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove" at Willow Grove, PA. He never participated in any active conflict as a member of this wing from 1953-63. He did search for Soviet subs in the Mid-Atlantic zone during that time, never disclosing any actual contacts with foreign vessels as this info was "classified." He was qualified on the Corsair for carrier duty, and was disappointed at first with his assignment to the "Turkey," but grew to love the fact it was "solid, reliable and not that hard to fly," in words to that effect. He did claim the electronics for conducting searches were not nearly as reliable as the aircraft, and the earliest generations of sonobuoys were also part of the problem.
Grumman's ingenious stow wing design utilized again two decades later on the E-2 Hawkeye; love watching it
Theres only 1 aircraft that I love more than Avenger & that is the F4U Corsair. The Avengers were beasts. Great bird!
A friend of mine’s father Lt George Ferguson was awarded three Navy Crosses for the sinking of three IJN carriers flying an Avenger, and went on to become a Navy acceptance test pilot.
3 aircraft carriers? By himself? Hmmm
@@aaroncarter4089 I doubt it he was an element leader and I’ve no idea what awards others involved received.
Really?
He wasn't worth shit
Only Navy cross I could find awarded to a Lt George Fergusson was as follows-
Battalion: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)
Division: U.S.S. Hancock (CV-19)
GENERAL ORDERS:
Commander 2d Carrier Task Force Pacific: Serial 01701 (September 3, 1945)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant George Edward Ferguson (NSN: 0-145846), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber of Bombing Squadron SIX (VB-6), attached to the U.S.S. HANCOCK (CV-19), in action against Japanese forces at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on 18 July 1945. Given the lead of his and other attacking groups of dive bombers and fighters after taking off from his base on a mission against major units of the Japanese Fleet, including a battleship, many destroyers and other warships, Lieutenant Ferguson skillfully led the entire flight through devastating anti-aircraft fire both from enemy warships in the harbor and the many batteries on shore in a successful attack which resulted in extensive damage to the battleship. His outstanding courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
A flight of Avengers on a training mission off of Florida’s east coast supposedly disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle…..
In the Movie Close Encounters of the third kind a team finds the planes intact and in perfect condition, but no crew.
Cool movie!
Your videos are great! Factual, engaging and the narrator has a good voice. Good cadence, timbre and modulation. I'm so tired of AI narration. Bravo Zulu crew!
Aspects of the Avenger, at a smaller size, were incorporated into the amazing Fairey Gannet ASW and maritime radar aircraft from 1949 to 2000 in various navies.
This masterpiece design had 2 turboprop engines but to a single front shaft and the props contra rotated, allowing for ranges measured in hours.
The Avenger's folding wings mechanism was refined into a double fold such that the wings formed a 'Z' shape viewed from the front and this allowed for more compact stowage below decks as well as a downwards pivot to allow for aircraft to warm engines un-tethered then spread wings fully for take off in seconds for attack runs.
It gradually evolved into one of the earliest EW and AWACS assets and was much used by Indonesia and Australia as well as in the Atlantic and European waters.
The USA and Canada also acquired the Gannet for various purposes and, into the 21st century, many are used for forest fires in Canada.
They might be great airplanes, but they are butt ugly!
Blessed to hear then see an Avenger fly out of KJOT.
The Military Air Museum here in Virginia Beach, VA has a TBM-3 in its collection along with an FM2 Wildcat and an F4U Corsair with these and many other WWI and WWII Allied and Axis models flying regularly.
Note to the Dark Skies channel - You better check your facts. USS Hornet's torpedo squadron VT-8 in the Battle of Midway did not fly TBFs. They were still flying the TBD Devastators led by LCDR John C. Waldron. The only TBFs at Midway flew off Midway Island. Admiral Nimitz send six of the new TBFs to Midway Island because TBFs were new to the fleet and the crews of these planes had not been trained in carrier operations. Also, they arrived too late to get them on to the USS Hornet before the battle. I believe there is confusion because these six TBFs were designated as part of VT-8. My father was part of VS-8 flying a SBD from the USS Hornet at the Battle of Midway. About 30 minutes after all the Hornets planes were airborne, my father and his rear gunner saw Waldron break formation and lead his squadron directly to the Japanese carriers. And as my father used to say about VT-8 - "And the rest is history".
Correction, 6 crews from VT8 flew TBFs from Midway Island. They didn’t fly from the Hornet because they didn’t get aboard in time. They were delivered to Hawaii and the 6 crews flew them to Midway with extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay to reach Midway. After they landed the extra fuel tanks were removed and replaced with torpedoes. Three crew members from VT8 survived the mission, George Gay from the Hornet’s group and Burt Ernst and Harry Ferrier from the Midway group. Ernst and Ferrier would continue to fly with other VT8 crews during the Guadalcanal campaign. The book A Dawn Like Thunder tells their story.
This is an epic craft. Saw one at an airshow earlier this year. You don't realise how huge it is until you're up close.
Good episode!
Dark Skies didn't include the footage of the rescue of the Senior Bush as he was hoisted out of a tiny raft onto a submarine?
Yes an avenger really shot down a v1. Yes the v1 is faster than the avenger. It was spotted by the gunner behind the avenger. When it passed them by the pilot shot it down.
Years ago I was driving down the back roads of New Brunswick Canada and I saw 5 or 6 Avengers painted orange parked along a tree line. My jaw dropped to my knees! I believe they were used for fire fighting duty. Another use the designers never envisioned.
I've seen the Avenger at airshows and I'm still amazed that even with the R2800 could get that large hulking air frame up in the air! But it did and was an excellent torpedo bomber.
Your video was outstanding, thank you
Grumman excellence: from Wildcat to Tomcat 🐈⬛
The nickname "Grumman Iron Works" tells you a lot about the ruggedness and durability of the aircraft this company produced.
Thanks!
I love these girls. Each and every one when it relates to birds from back then.
This aircraft was the grunt of its time!
Flew with these in the 1980s in New Brunswick 🇨🇦. Nothing sounds like that plane.
Quite a few Helldivers photo-bombed the footage.
And a Hellcat for good measure.
I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
It is a pity host did not mention the infamous Flight 19 over Bermuda Triangle, 1945-12-05...
Else, very nice video on the Avenger. Thanks. 🤔🐻❄🐾
Interesting video 👍
I love the diagram at 4:15, it really gives scale to the plane. On the outside it looks like a big fat fighter, but the scale leaves no doubt that this is a tactical bomber.
I sat in the cockpit of the Avenger President Bush 1 flew in WW2. The control surfaces were huge!
Mother of god, somebody is paying for bot traffic based on these comments
I was wondering what your comment was referencing, then I looked at some of the other comments
They've infested youtube man. Been there for a while. RUclips should have been able to auto-ban all of them but for some reason lets them continue to wreak havoc on the site.
Why do you think they are paying them? These look like the spammy porno sexbots that just want one to click their profile, then click the inevitable link to their PornlyFans site. They aren’t getting paid, they use the comments section of popular videos as free advertising.
Haha yea I had to go and see for myself. You are right
Ha Ha. @DarkDocsSkies I'm so used to your speedy delivery, now I have to turn my playback speed up cause it just doesn't sound the same. 😃
He sounds depressed or like its hard for him to speak doesn't he? Could that be the reason for the sudden switch to Ai? If so I hope hes ok. I hope im wrong.
1.25 is ideal
@@8zero90 I think he records it normal and then slows it down.
@@leester9487 its not the speed that has me thinking that its the shakiness in his voice at some points he sounds like hes forcing himself to finish his line more than normal, and with this sudden switch to AI on his other channels has me wandering if something is wrong. I hope im wrong and its nothing. Ive been around since Dark 5 back in 2013 before he starts to narrate his videos. His voice has been ingrained in my head ever since he started adding it.
@8zero90 so now you've got me really paying attention and I swear I hear some real big breaths at the end of each sentence. And other times a quick breath where a comma would be in a sentence. It's not always tho.
Man I hope I'm wrong, been a fan for a long time. Will watch a channel til I finally doze off after a couple hours
I was just wondering if you had an avenger video. Nice
They did the same with the A10, built the aircraft around ordnance or a Gatling cannon 😊
It's not a Gatling. It's a rotary cannon. Gatling was the original manufacturer and design. It was also a MUCH smaller caliber.
At 15:25 it appears that the plane has quite a pronounced goiter.
Seriously though, I love these videos and compliment the professional, no nonsense presentation of a lot of interesting information.
One of the first models I built as a kid and had the privilege to see one fly here in Australia in the 90’s, love the Avenger.
These guys had balls of steel😮
A great video about a great plane. It sounded like you slowed the pacing of your narration, and I think there’s a marked improvement.
Turret mounted 50 inch machine gun. Think that should be .50 cal 11:55
A mention in dispatches? Seems like he should have gotten at least a pint out of it.
My dad was a ball turret gunner in the TBF during world war two.
One of the cooler designs.
Great video. Rear turret needed twin 50 cals.
From what I have read the avengers were slaughtered by the zeros and there most effective use was to draw the zeros down to sea level so that it gave the dive bombers a clear shot.
Look up C. Vern Higman, 'Round Trip Ticket', USS Ticonderoga. Vern was one of the funniest men I was blessed to be around.
Did you meet him during or after the war? My older uncles on both sides of the family served. My Godfather was an electrician in the USN.
Did you meet him during or after the war?
@@Rotorhead1651 He was a good friend's uncle, and brother of a woman that was like granny to me. It was a close family, and there'd be big card games. Vern's sister was married to the park ranger near where I grew up. I can still hear his voice, what a hoot! He was a real character. I hope you took a look at his plane. I went to his 80th Birthday Celebration, and met more family.
You couldn’t find six more seconds of avenger footage? Filled in with helldiver (and a couple of hellcats)? Doesn’t matter great, informative vid. TY
For some reason, I always thought it was Devastators that got slaughtered at Midway!
The Avenger could operate from any carrier the USN or RN had including the small CVEs and saw a lot of service in the Atlantic hunting U-Boats from CVEs, carrying Depth Charges in that big bomb bay. IIRC it also functioned as a radar equipped Night Fighter along with the F4U Corsair, operating from USS Enterprise (CV 6.)
Well, just about ready to go to sleep with this narration.
Okay, there where only Six TBF Avengers used during the battle of Midway, all launched from Midway island. Of the six, five where shot down, and only one made it back to Midway, and it was extremely damaged.
Coupled with accoustic torpedoes and sona buoy the Avenger decimated the Atlantic war in WW2
My Dad was on the U.S.S. Bogue! He had a piece of rubber from a sub they sunk!
A Grumman TBF Avenger just flew over my house!
Are you certain it's not a Dauntless?
For the longest time the Navy refused to believe the type 13 torpedo was junk. It took a lot of really pissed off submariners to get them to understand the problem.
My dads squadron was land based in Southwest Pacific they mostly did ground support missions
A brilliant plane
Pilot is so high up, looks like he is standing in the cockpit
If I am not mistaken, the Avenger holds the distinction of being the largest single engine aircraft, used on a carrier.
I always thought the Douglas A-1 Skyraider had that honor?
@@lancerevell5979 It was bigger then the Avenger, but did not see action in WW2.
Did you post this vid at .75 speed?😅
Please try and only show the subject plane when referencing it.
It took over a year of complaints by the torpedoes users to get the Navy to actually start improving them. As usual, the brass thought they knew better than those who actually used and had experience with the weapon!
Why are all these film clips out of focus?
😊😊😊😊😊
😊
A 50 inch machine gun? I think you meant .50 cal BMG
With that weapon the V1 STOOD NO CHANCE!
@@moosifer3321 With that weapon you could fly alongside any battleship and sink it in a couple of hits 🤣🤣
@@arkie14 Amazing Uncle Adolf didn`t try to perfect such a weapon - the Pilot would have severe problems getting airbourne and learn to fly backwards when engaging!
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
😊
Bot farm?
Happy birthday 🎈🎂🎁🎉🎊
Wasn’t a Avenger responsible for accidentally shooting down Butch O Hare along with a Betty?
That plane in 1:29 isn't Avenger, that's Hellcat.
Looking for a 1/72 plastic model kit of this plane right now.
Amazon has the 1/72 kit by Academy, and a couple variants by Sword. The Sword kits are better detailed.
Dude! Who are you whispering to?
An awful lot of SB2Cs in this presentation on TBFs
Thank God it's not that AI voice 😊
is this why grumman is now nowhere in existence?
The torpedoes wouldn't detonate so this was all for nothing
Wasn't it an Avenger to hit Saburo Sakai?
No. It was the rear gunner of an SBD. He supposedly had mistaken a formation of Dauntless's for fighters. Attempted a stern attack and, found out his mistaken identity the hard way.
@@aaronmiller620Another embellishment of Sakai’Military record,a good pilot but one of many questions on his record of victories!
Bermuda Triangle
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻⚡🥃
Future president George H.W. Bush was shot down in an Avenger, in the little-known battle of Chichi Jima. It was the most remote island that the Japanese claimed as their territory.
He ditched the plane successfully, but then a race ensued beween a Japanese longboat and a US submarine, each trying to reach the crash site first.The longboat was closer, but the submarine was faster. Bush went on to become a poor speaker and a mediocre president.
How come everyone forgets he was Chief Spook for a year?
@@iconoclastic12007 oh yeah, that's right. Maybe knowing where the bodies were buried helped him get elected.
Still better than Obozo , Slick Willy, and Shit for Brains Brandon.
Technical no. All republicons end their terms with the economy in shambles, Dems leave the economy way better than they started. Accepting reality was never something Maga has ever been good at.
00:53 9 Likes 2 views
Get your notice right here
Wrong 6 were launched from Midway,and 5 were shot down with no hits on the Japanese!
👀🇮🇪👍⚓
Narrator sounds like hes talking to himself. Sounds like someone reading to themselves. His other videos don't sound like this.
First you went ai now ur paying for comments
Why are you here? It certainly isn't to learn about the topic at hand. Maybe you're just one of those loser trolls with nothing else to do.
Either way, get a life.
George Bush, the youngest Navy pilot, flew an Avenger.
and yet in warthunder if you get a tiny little shrapnel hole you cant fly anymore. god that games dogshit.
Wait a minute, a TBM chasing down V-1 Buzz Bombs? Eeeeh, hard to do when your plane is about 50 + mph slower than the V-1. Yeah, great plane. Not fast enough for V-1s as P-47s, Spit Mk9s & P-51s.
It happened. An avenger gunner noticed the v1 flying behind them. The pilot shot it down as it passed by. Was a British avenger. People tend to forget the avenger was the main torpedo bomber for most of the allied nations
Why are you whispering?? LOL and the Avenger NEVER took on the V1 flying bomb, where the hell did you get that info from mate!?? 🤣🤣
He said something that it's an unofficial anecdote. I'll google it and reply back if I found it.
Google "Avenger hit V1 rocket", and it will lead you to Quora.
@@ntabile that aircraft would never have been fast enough lol
It happened. A fleet air arm avenger gunner saw a v1 flying behind them. The v1 was faster than the avenger so the pilot shot it down as it flew by them.
@@timbrwolf1121 Oh ok.. but thats a wee bit out of context to the way he said it in the video lol.. then showed a Hellcats guns going off, when the Avenger only had one each in the ring roots
LET'S GO BRANDON
Uh-.oh He left and Kamala stayed to kick Donnie’s ass.😊
Boomers, both of you need to get off the internet.
Gotta love communism where you cant even speak your mind against criminals huh ^^^^^
Of course you can even talk about criminals cause they censor the truth , right ^^^^^
^^^^ Guess you can even speak the truth since every comment gets deleted, who would want 4 more years of this treason?
The Avenger was not at the battle of Midway. Get your info checked.
A small number were. ( 5 or 6 ) they were the other part of torpedo 8. They flew from Midway unescorted, and didn’t do well.
It was 6. From VT8. Flying from Midway. Only one made it back, and it was shot up so badly it had to be scrapped.
Yes it was they was on midway
How about you check your info. Avengers, 6 of them flew from Midway Island.
LET'S GO BRANDON