Jack of All Trades: The Grumman Avenger

Wings of Gold, Fall 2004 by Cate, Dudley

Experiments with the TBM-3 W demonstrated that its APS-20 was quite effective at detecting surface vessels and even submarine snorkel tubes. Hence the -3W began to supplant the post-war TBM-3E as the hunter aircraft. In 1950 the TBM-3W2, optimized for ASW, was introduced; 156 were so modified.

Beginning in 1949 the -3E was supplanted by the TBM-3S as fillers. It incorporated a searchlight, sonobuoys and improved electronics. The -3S2, with further improvements and deletion of the turret and oxygen system, came along later. The -Ws and -Ss served until they were replaced by hunter-killer pairs of single-engine Grumman AF Guardians and, ultimately, twin-engine hunter-killer Grumman S2F Trackers.

During WWII Navy LTJG Bud Jenks led an effort which introduced airborne ECM to the carrier Navy by installing ECM equipment in 10 Avengers aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). Success with this and subsequent efforts led to the conversion of a small number of TBMs to TBM-3QS, with the APS-20, the -3 W ventral radome, and specialized ECM gear. These "Queer Turkeys" were gradually replaced by Q versions of the AD Skyraider.

Expanded Pacific Fleet activities with the initiation of the Korean War led to a need for support of carrier operations.Thus was born the concept of Carrier On-Board Delivery (COD). The COD quickly became widely known for transport of priority passengers, cargo and that most precious of commodities, mail. COD was first implemented with - what else - the Avenger. The resulting TBM-3R could carry six passengers squeezed into the crew compartments. The first COD unit was established in Japan in 1951. Supplemented by Douglas AD-5s, -3Rs served until replaced by the Grumman TF Trader in the late 1950s.

The Avenger also performed carrier aviation's first radar-directed night attack (from the Enterprise against ships at anchor at the major Japanese base on Truk on February 17, 1944), and the Marines used the Avenger to provide close air support for Marine and Army ground units throughout the Pacific. Overall, not a bad record of accomplishment for one basic airplane design!

(ANA member Cate noted, "Virtually all the material in this article was drawn from previously-published magazine articles. I am very much indebted to the authors of those articles for doing the hard work of digging out the basic factual information presented above.)