TBD Devastator Units of the US Navy

Naval Aviation News, March, 2001 by Peter B. Mersky

Tillman, Barrett. TBD Devastator Units of the US Navy. Osprey Publishing, Elm Court, Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford, OX2 9LP UK. 2000. 96 pp. Ill. $17.95.

Written by an established authority on Naval Aviation, this volume is an excellent account of the much maligned Douglas TBD, which saw an almost immediate demise as a combat aircraft. It enjoyed some success in the Navy's first offensive strikes of the war in February and March 1942 and during May's Battle of the Coral Sea. But when the torpedo-bomber took on the main Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway in June, its two-man crews (reduced from the normal three-man complement) were truly devastated, losing 42 of the 45 aircraft available in three carrier air groups and 68 pilots and aircrewmen.

Tillman does a fine job of pulling together the actions and experiences of the crews who flew and fought "the big Douglas," the Navy's first monoplane carrier aircraft. A section on markings and various statistics adds to the book's interest and reference value. A folio of color profiles (including a section of color photos taken from an on-the-spot movie filmed during Midway), along with various tables and a cutaway drawing, round out the presentation.

Tillman's story of one of the Navy's most evocative but ultimately unsuccessful combat aircraft completes a highly detailed, six-book set on the Navy's most wellknown carrier aircraft of WW II. A fine effort overall.