TBD Torpedo Bomber and Dauntless Dive Bomber World War II aircraft coloring pages

 Welcome to my free coloring pages blog!  

Today the new drawing is of a US Navy 

torpedo bomber.  The Battle of Midway was the last battle 

this aircraft was used.

TBD Torpedo Bomber

(also called Devastator)

(New Drawing)

By the time the TBD saw action in the Battle of Midway, it was already pretty much obsolete.  Nearly all of these torpedo planes were shot down by Japanese Zero fighters or by anti-aircraft fire from Japanese ships.  

Yet the courage of the pilots and crews of these planes is unsurpassed in the history of warfare.  They were too slow and the majority were sitting ducks for the Zeros.  Sadly, one squadron of 15 planes was all shot down in their attempt to attack the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi.  Only one pilot of all 30 aviators survived.  He was Ensign George Gay.  He had a front-row seat to the rest of the battle and he saw how the American dive bombers were very successful in their attacks on the Japanese carriers. 

Because of the sacrifice of the torpedo bombers, the dive bombers were able to dive from high altitude with no Zero fighters attacking them.  The fighters were all still down low after chasing the torpedo bombers.  Torpedo bombers had to attack from a low altitude so their torpedo would not break up upon hitting the water. 

I recently finished re-reading a book called: The Battle of Midway, Pivotal Moments.  I was again so impressed by the courage of these flight crews of the TBD Devastator Torpedo Bombers.  I was so impressed that I drew another picture of this aircraft.  (The new drawing is up at the top of this post.)  I HAVE drawn this torpedo bomber once before.  Below is the older drawing.  I have added some new shading to this drawing.  

Devastator TBD Torpedo Bomber new scan

NOTE:  The drawings, in printable form, are found by clicking on the button labeled: "Vehicles and Military Vehicles."  (Technically an airplane IS a vehicle.)  Scroll down to the bottom of the list and you will see the title of the new drawing.  Click on the title to get the printable drawing.  A printable version of the older drawing of the torpedo bomber is near the top of the list.  I am also adding below this text a  drawing I did a long time ago of a Dauntless Dive Bomber.  

Dauntless Dive Bomber