Pacific Wrecks Forum

An American team is preparing to recover one of two US Navy TBD Devastator bomber planes submerged since the Second World War battles in the Marshall Islands.

The planes, which were relatively intact, were ditched in Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands during a U.S. attack on Japanese forces in the Marshall Islands in early 1942.They are the only surviving TBD Torpedo bombers of the 129 originally built by the U.S. military.A retired US air force officer, Van Hunn, is heading the group from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery.The group has flown in engineering and marine archaeology experts to assess options for safely recovering one of the two TBD Devastator bombers.It aims to produce a detailed recovery plan for review by the Marshall Islands Historic Preservation Office and the U.S. Navy later this year.Mr Hunn says there is not one of these planes above water or in a museum anywhere.

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Any Idea where it would most likely end up? I would hope in Pensacola, but I have no info on who is planning the raising or what their plans are for it or what government restrictions or other claims will be. Pensacola had the only Brewster Buffalo for a while, but had to send it over to Finland. It is supposed to be on a five year loan, but I would be suprised if it ever comes back. How would you enforce something like that?

I'm in Restoration not Administration at NMNA but the Buffalo loan was approved by government officals who would be embrolled in a diplomatic "nightmare" should the museum in Finland not agree to follow the contract! We have a flightline in the rear area of the Restoration hanger with surplus aircraft that most museums would LOVE to have and I'm sure negotiations are "in the works" for some.......... As for the Devastators, if they get raised we'll be involved because we are already prepaired to restore them and will probably store them here after restoration due to the fact that we are the worlds top Historic Naval Aircraft Facility. I know it sounds like I'm braging on us but facts are facts!

If the NMNA is the top restoration facility, them how come they have let a ditched Devastator sit in salt water for close to 12 years now. The aformentioned Devastator is only eight miles off Miami, not half a world away line the ones that TIGAR is after. The fellow who knowns the location of the Miami Devastator (And brought up the canapoy as proof along with pictures)offered the location to the NMNA is exchange for a surplus Wildcat recover from Lake Migichan, but apparentely the first classs NMNA has decided to pass on it.

Any comments from the NMNA as to why they passed on the holy grail of naval avation for the past 12 years when its only eight miles off Miami ???

To see the documentation on the NMNA interference with the Miami Devistator recovery key in "Douglas Chapman and Douglas Devistator recovery into a search engine:. Also search for "Inernational Aircraft Recovery Vs. United States (11th Circut Court 2000)" and 2004. Chapman even got Senator John McCain to lobby the museum not to interfere with the recovery, but his efforts were unsuccessful. If you e-mail the NMNA for an explanation of their stance on this, you will never get a reply, only silence.

Well Holloywood, its been another year gone by. Any comments yet from you or the Naval Museum on why they have chosen to let the Miami Devistator continue to sit under salt water for another year?

The Naval Museum lets another Devistator decay for 15 years.

It has just been learned of another Devistator ditching site this one 5 miles of San Diego Devistator BuNo 0337
ditched March 5, 1941 after engine failure. The three crew were rescued. Later an investigator came across an accident card with the location, and later went out and pinpointed the location of the aircraft under 260 feet of water. Problem is that was 15 years ago, and the Naval Museum has interfered with this recover ever since, letting this historical aircraft sit under salt water like the Miami Devistator BuNo # 0353.

Now the Naval Museum has apparentely had a change of heart and has relented and will allow the revovery of the San Deigo aircraft (Or what is left of it) by A&T Recovery the same outfit that has recovered aircraft from Lake Michigan. Problem is they have to come up with $300,000 for the recovery. So its the same old story as the Miami Devistator which has been sitting under salt water for 15 tears with the Navam Museum blocking recovery.

What we need is a web based campaign allerting aircraft historians to what the Naval Museum is doing, preventing the recovery of Historical aircraft. Come on every one e-mail the Naval Museum with your outrage! Letting these two aircraft sit under salt water for 15 years when they didn't have to is plane nuts. If one is ever recovered you will need the Miami, San Deigo, and the two Marshall Islands planes just to piece together one that can be displayed.

I am talking About the book of this US Navy TBD Devastator

I've read 3 books that review the history of the TBD in the U.S. Navy, and got the same general feeling from them all: why is this book so short? We're talking about the first monoplane that was ever accepted by the Navy for service, and was a major contributor to pre-war naval aviation's attack doctrine. Further, the sacrifices made by the aircrew who flew the TBD in combat through June 1942 deserves volumes written about them to help us remember what happened.
Barrett Tillman's book is very good, but I feel the subject deserves a larger work. I was impressed with the photos of men like Lem Massey, Gene Lindsey, Art Ely, and etc., but seeing them brought this feeling up in me all the more.
I do recommend Mr. Tillman's book as an excellent effort overall- many people may feel as if my complaints about the shortness of an otherwise fine work is nothing more than a quibble- but I do feel the subject is worthy of the extra effort.