Devastator crew names
 

Greetings all,

what is the precise names of the Devastator crew? Obviously that first was pilot but what was official names of second (he operated bombing and torpedo launching) and third (who operated radio equipment and machine gun)?

Thank you :)

Re: Devastator crew names
 

Pilot
Bombardier/Torpedo Officer
Rear Gunner/Radio Operator

http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircr...ircraft_id=732

Re: Devastator crew names
 

Thank you Revi16 :)

Re: Devastator crew names
 

According to the Squadron documentation, the crew positions were pilot, bombardier, and radioman/gunner.

1. The pilot, often enlisted, was of course a naval aviator.

2. The bombardier, who sat in the middle seat and laid down in the lower fuselage under the pilots legs to man the bomb site, was usually a enlisted Ordnance (AOM or OM) man who had qualified, and rated as, a bombardier an was customarily referred to by that title. Some times the position was occupied by one of the spare enlisted pilots who had often obtained dual ratings for both positions. With the stick fitted, the plane could be flown from the center seat to allow the pilot an easier time with navigation issues while letting the spare pilot accumulate the hours needed each month to qualify for flight pay.

3. The radioman sat in the rear seat and manned the radio - their primary job. They all had superficial training with the .30 caliber free gun until such time as they could attend gunnery school and qualify as an air gunner.

It is worth noting that many of the Chief and senior enlisted pilots in the Pacific Fleets TBD squadrons were highly experienced aviators, having recorded large numbers of hours in their log books, often several thousand.

Hope this is of interest.

Mark E. Horan

Re: Devastator crew names
 

This info is of great help, and unit records are most reliable from my pint of view. To regret a bit to late as well we have published material:

http://www.warplanes-zine.com/w/w-10/index.html

Inside you will see close up details of Devastator and I am afraid crew names are not in order. Sorry for that :(

Re: Devastator crew names
 

Good afternoon Gentlemen,

according to "NAVAL AVIATION COMBAT STATISTICS—WORLD WAR II" the Douglas TBD Devastator claimed 6 kills but in "TBD Devastator Units of the US Navy" I found only 5 so far:

• 10Mar42 by VT5
• 8May42 by VT2
• 8May42 by VT2
• 4Jun42 by Robert Laub (VT6)
• 4Jun VT3

Can anybody the me the missing claim and/or names of the other pilots who claimed ?

Cheers,

Michael