Return of the Wolf Gang honors the crews who flew the Grumman TBF and General Motors TBM Avenger in the Pacific. Built as a carrier-based torpedo bomber, the Avenger developed into a versatile strike aircraft used for bombing, anti-shipping and other missions.
The TBM Avenger Relic
The relic comes from the lower cowl panel surrounding the oil-cooler intake of a General Motors-built TBM Avenger. The 27-by-37-inch aluminum panel was acquired from the DeLand Naval Air Station Museum during restoration work involving TBF Avenger BuNo. 01741.
Aluminum from a TBM Avenger lower cowl panel surrounding the oil-cooler intake.
Because of manufacturing differences between Grumman-built TBFs and General Motors-built TBMs, the panel could not be used on the museum's aircraft and was preserved as historical material.
The Avenger at War
The Avenger entered combat in 1942 and became one of the U.S. Navy's principal carrier strike aircraft. Its three-man crew combined pilot, turret gunner and radioman/bombardier positions in a large single-engine airframe capable of carrying a torpedo or bomb load.
The Avenger became a mainstay of U.S. Navy carrier strike operations in the Pacific.
By the later Pacific campaigns, Avengers were routinely used against shipping, airfields and ground targets, making the type an important part of the carrier air groups that moved steadily toward Japan.
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