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The '''Douglas TBD Devastator''' was a [[aircraft carrier|carrier]]-based torpedo bomber used by the [[US Navy]] in the first months of [[World War II]]. It was the Navy’s first monoplane bomber, but by the time of the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor attack]], the Devastator was obsolete, and its slow speed made it easy prey for [[Mitsubishi Zero|Zero]] fighters.
The '''Douglas TBD Devastator''' was a [[aircraft carrier|carrier]]-based torpedo bomber used by the [[US Navy]] in the first months of [[World War II]]. It was the Navy’s first monoplane bomber, but by the time of the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor attack]], the Devastator was obsolete, and its slow speed made it easy prey for [[Mitsubishi Zero|Zero]] fighters.
[[Image: TBD_Devastator.jpg|right|A TBD launches a torpedo.]]
The Douglas Aircraft Company won the contract for a new torpedo plane in February 1936, and eventually delivered 129 of them. The [[United States Navy|US Navy]] was the only customer. The aircraft was powered by an 850 hp, Pratt & Whitney engine, which gave it a top speed of 206 mph. It usually carried a crew of three: the pilot, radio operator, and gunner. Defensive armament consisted of a forward firing machine gun in the nose and a machine gun manually operated by the rear gunner. Its main armament was a 21-inch [[torpedo]], but in the first year of the war, American torpedoes were unreliable due to faulty fuses. All too often, a torpedo would hit the target ship perfectly, but fail to explode.
The Douglas Aircraft Company won the contract for a new torpedo plane in February 1936, and eventually delivered 129 of them. The [[United States Navy|US Navy]] was the only customer. The aircraft was powered by an 850 hp, Pratt & Whitney engine, which gave it a top speed of 206 mph. It usually carried a crew of three: the pilot, radio operator, and gunner. Defensive armament consisted of a forward firing machine gun in the nose and a machine gun manually operated by the rear gunner. Its main armament was a 21-inch [[torpedo]], but in the first year of the war, American torpedoes were unreliable due to faulty fuses. All too often, a torpedo would hit the target ship perfectly, but fail to explode.