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To: Joe 6-pack

Our Bombing and Scouting squadrons equipped with the Dauntless Dive Bombers flown by some very brave men carried the day at Midway. Not to be overlooked, though, were the attacks by our obsolete and slow TBD Devastator torpedo bomber squadrons. Only four TBD’s survived the day, and none scored a hit on a Japanese ship, but they drew the Japanese fighter cover down to the deck, allowing the SBD’s to dive on the Japanese carriers without worrying about Zeros on their tail. A little known fact is that not a single TBD Devastator was lost in action before Midway, and they had a pretty good hit rate on Japanese ships, even with the defective torpedos they carried.


5 posted on 12/11/2020 11:19:20 AM PST by Ikemeister
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To: Ikemeister
Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron and his men [Torpedo 8/USS Hornet CV-8] were one of the torpedo plane squadrons that pulled the Japanese CAP down to the deck.
72 posted on 12/11/2020 4:47:33 PM PST by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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