{"id":131562,"date":"2026-02-03T17:55:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/02\/03\/efforts-underway-to-preserve-first-wwii-devastator-torpedo-bomber\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:25:29","slug":"efforts-underway-to-preserve-first-wwii-devastator-torpedo-bomber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/02\/03\/efforts-underway-to-preserve-first-wwii-devastator-torpedo-bomber\/","title":{"rendered":"Efforts underway to preserve first WWII Devastator torpedo bomber"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A team of maritime and naval conservation organizations are on a mission to save the last viable U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOf the 129 TBD-1 aircraft built for the service, none have been preserved in museums or private collections; all known examples rest on the ocean floor,\u201d the Naval History and Heritage Command <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/news-and-events\/news\/2026\/Project_Launched_to_Recover_Rare_WWII_Aircraft.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/news-and-events\/news\/2026\/Project_Launched_to_Recover_Rare_WWII_Aircraft.html\">said in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During World War II and postwar, the Navy cared too little to keep or retrieve one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together, the <a href=\"https:\/\/airseaheritage.org\/projects\/devastator-rising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/airseaheritage.org\/projects\/devastator-rising\/\">Air\/Sea Heritage Foundation<\/a>, Texas A&amp;M University\u2019s Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation and Naval History and Heritage Command, among others, are hoping to change that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The consortium is working to recover Bureau Number 1515, a Devastator that has remained in the waters off Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands for more than 80 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The three-seat, all-metal monoplane with hydraulic folding wings and semiretractable landing gear brought the monoplane era to U.S. carrier aviation. The Devastator, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.historynet.com\/does-the-douglas-tbd-1-devastator-deserve-its-bad-rap\/\" rel=\"\">historian Barrett Tillman<\/a>, \u201cwas a generational jump for naval aviation, and squadrons often struggled to master \u2018all these new gadgets\u2019 that were previously unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Retractable wheels and power-folding wings, in particular, gave the Devastator a foreboding nickname in the fleet \u2014 \u201csuicide coffins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DEVESTATOR-folded-wings-VT-5-Yorktown.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DEVESTATOR-folded-wings-VT-5-Yorktown.jpg.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DEVESTATOR-folded-wings-VT-5-Yorktown.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DEVESTATOR-folded-wings-VT-5-Yorktown.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DEVESTATOR-folded-wings-VT-5-Yorktown.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DEVESTATOR-folded-wings-VT-5-Yorktown.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Devastators of Torpedo Squadron Five park on USS Yorktown\u2019s flight deck at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, 1940. (Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite this moniker, the Devastator played a key role in the opening salvos of the Pacific campaign \u2014 including the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway \u2014 as the United States found its footing in the wake of Pearl Harbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Naval History and Heritage Command, during the early phase of the Pacific War, Bureau Number 1515 participated in the first of a series of hit-and-run raids on far-flung Japanese bases. Launched from the USS Yorktown (CV-5) as part of Torpedo Squadron Five, the Devastator was part of an air and shore bombardment dubbed the Marshall-Gilberts raids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the raid, the crew was forced to ditch the plane in the Jaluit lagoon Feb. 1, 1942. While all three naval aviators \u2014 Herbert Hein, Jr., Joseph Strahl and Marshal \u201cWindy\u201d Windham \u2014 survived the emergency water landing, they endured nearly three years in Japanese prisoner of war camps until their liberation in 1945. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their plane would remain untouched until 1997, when, at the behest of the U.S. National Park Service, it was found by scuba diver Matt Harris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe aircraft is intact aside from the propeller and engine cowling which is separated and located approximately 15 feet from the main body of the aircraft,\u201d Harris reported, noting that the glass canopy was intact while the forward pilot\u2019s window was broken. \u201cNo weapons were found \u2014 these may have already been removed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2026\/01\/30\/conservationists-working-to-recover-wwii-torpedo-plane-from-pacific-sea-floor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2026\/01\/30\/conservationists-working-to-recover-wwii-torpedo-plane-from-pacific-sea-floor\">U.S. Naval Institute News<\/a>, the plane has been earmarked for preservation for over 23 years, with the ultimate goal of exhibiting the bomber in the future U.S. Navy National Museum, which is under development in Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If recovered and preserved, Bureau Number 1515 will be the first and possibly only combat TBD-1 Devastator to ever be preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Midway the remaining 39 from the original 129 Devastators were withdrawn from fleet service, quickly replaced by TBF-1 Avengers. The Devastators went to training and utility units or became instructional platforms. The last were scrapped in 1944, according to Tillman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor generations to come,\u201d writes the Naval History and Heritage Command, \u201cthe recovered Jaluit Devastator will help illustrate the early history of U.S. naval aviation and to serve as a lasting tribute to the service and sacrifice of U.S. Navy aviators during World War II, as well as to the Department of the Navy\u2019s commitment to honoring its service members.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team of maritime and naval conservation organizations are on a mission to save the last viable U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo 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