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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo # 80-PR-3644:  Douglas TBD-1 receives maintenance at Norfolk, Virginia, December 1941

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT -- 1922-1962 DESIGNATION SYSTEM --

Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" Torpedo Planes --
Miscellaneous Views


This page features miscellaneous views of Douglas TBD-1 torpedo planes.

For additional views of TBD-1 aircraft, see:

  • Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" Torpedo Planes .


    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.

    Photo #: 80-CF-55215-7

    Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia


    Douglas TBD-1 aircraft of Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) parked at the Air Station on 13 September 1941. Douglas SBD-3 planes of Bombing Squadron Five (VB-5) are beyond the TBDs, with F4F fighters and SB2U scout bombers further in the left background.
    The TBDs have been recently repainted in the new blue gray & light gray color scheme, while the other planes are still in the earlier overall light gray.
    VT-5 and VB-5 were assigned to USS Yorktown, which left Norfolk on the following day for operations in the North Atlantic.

    Photograph from Department of the Navy collections in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 600 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-PR-3644

    Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" Torpedo Bomber
    ,
    of Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5)

    Undergoing maintenance at Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia, between the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the departure of VT-5's ship, USS Yorktown (CV-5), for the Pacific on 16 December 1941. This plane is coded "5-T-1", which contemporary records state was Bureau # 0319.
    Note sign taped to the fuselage: "Speed work on this plane. It may sink a Japanese ship".

    Photograph from Department of the Navy collections in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-66074

    Lieutenant Commander Lance E. Massey, USN,
    Commanding Officer, Torpedo Squadron Three (VT-3)

    Seated in his Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" torpedo plane, at Naval Air Station Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, 24 May 1942.
    Massey was killed in action on 4 June 1942, while leading VT-3 in an attack on the Japanese carrier force during the Battle of Midway.
    Note "Victory" flag marking on the plane, representing the sinking of a Japanese ship during the Marshall Islands Raid, 1 February 1942, when he was Executive Officer of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) on USS Enterprise (CV-6).

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 84KB; 640 x 675 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-13043

    Lieutenant Commander Joe Taylor, USN
    (left) and
    Lieutenant Commander William O. Burch, Jr., USN

    Standing beside a Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) TBD-1 "Devastator" torpedo plane, at Naval Air Station, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 6 June 1942.
    Both men had commanded USS Yorktown (CV-5) squadrons during the early months of the Pacific War. Taylor commanded VT-5 and Burch commanded Scouting Squadron Five (VS-5). These squadrons were transferred from Yorktown's air group just prior to the Battle of Midway.
    Note their flight gear and chartboards.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 600 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    For additional views of TBD-1 aircraft, see:

  • Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" Torpedo Planes .


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 14 February 2001
    Coding updated 7 May 2009