USS Hornet Museum unveils TBM - Flightbag - United States Ship - Brief Article

Naval Aviation News, March-April, 2004

During a 29 November 2003 public ceremony, the USS Hornet Museum unveiled a restored TBM Avenger. The largest WW II type of aircraft to fly off the Essex-class carrier Hornet (CV 12), the TBM was restored to static display status wearing the paint scheme of VT17, one of Hornet's torpedo bomber squadrons during WW II.

TBM BuNo 69375 was manufactured in October 1944 by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors, and was retired from active service on 12 June 1956 and stricken from the Navy inventory on 29 August 1956. She then served as a fire bomber for the U.S. Forest Service until the late 1970s, and was subsequently purchased by the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation in June 1998. The aircraft was restored by the Hornet AirGroup, volunteers dedicated to the restoration and preservation of naval aircraft. For more information about Hornet's aircraft and the USS Hornet Museum, please call 510-521-8448.