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When it first took to the skies in 1935, the Douglas TBD-1 Devastator represented a significant leap forward in aircraft design, with its all-metal construction and single low-mounted wing. It was the first plane type in the US fleet with a fully enclosed cockpit and independent wheel brakes. However, the speed of aeronautical advances during WWII was such that the Devastator was soon outclassed. By 1944, the few dozen remaining aircraft had been withdrawn from service and scrapped. As a result, no examples of this important piece of aviation history currently survive in any museum or private collection. A new project is hoping to change that.
The Devastator Project is behind a multidisciplinary effort to recover and preserve a rare TBD-1 Devastator, Bureau Number (BuNo) 1515, which is currently submerged in the Jaluit Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, between Hawaii and the Philippines. The plane was one of two that were deliberately ditched during the US Navy’s first offensive operation in the Pacific on 1 February 1942. The crews were captured by the Japanese and sent to POW camps, but all six men survived and were reunited after liberation in 1945. However, both aircraft remained lost at the bottom of the lagoon until 1997, when they were rediscovered by divers. Since then, seven expeditions have been made to the remote wreck sites, and extensive documentation carried out, including 3D photogrammetry modelling and LiDAR scanning. The results indicate that BuNo 1515, which is submerged at a depth below 35m, is the only Douglas TBD-1 known to exist that is both largely intact and reasonably accessible.
The team therefore aims to recover the aeroplane and, following cleaning and conservation, to place it on display in the new national Museum of the United States Navy, which is currently under development in Washington, DC.
Text: Amy Brunskill / Image: Brett Seymour
