Ironically the first public display of the prototype of the TBF was on December 7 1941, the same day as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was a publicity stunt for the opening of a new Grumman factory. The TBF-1 Avenger’s debut was at the battle of Midway where there were just 6 aircraft and only one returned with one crewman dead. The TBF was a desperate attempt to replace the slow and not-so-nimble TBD devastator. It was rushed into production and was so successful that Grumman could not...
