U. S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers of World War II

The book is organized into eight chapters. Each chapter discusses the planes in detail giving manufacturing history, sometimes the designer and usually indicating the specific number of planes produced. The chapter then goes on to describe the action the specific plane saw in WWII. I thought I knew a lot about the Battle of Midway, but it wasn't until reading this book, that I learned that our carrier killer, the Douglas SBD did not have folding wings. It seems ironic or perhaps unusual for a carrier plane to not have folding wings. But I'm not the only one who thought that; an incident is described aboard a CVL where the plane director told an SBD pilot to fold his wings after landing. The pilot told the director "This is an SBD". The director said "Well, fold 'em anyway".

As you read each chapter, much of what is described is illustrated by high quality photos. I think I spent as much time studying the photos as I did looking at the text. The title page has a huge picture of the Enterprise launching her SBD's 12/7/41. One doesn't often see a deck full of SBD's with red dots in the center of the stars, which were painted out mid-1942.

Although the book is loaded with technical language, most is easily understood by the context. The book also discusses other planes used in the south pacific, such as patrol bombers and some of the fighters. It tells of the use of navy planes on the Atlantic side of the WWII theater also.

Whenever possible, the author(s) use personal stories to give one a first hand experience in the cockpit. Mr. Tillman shares his own story helping to restore an SBD-5 in the early seventies. Most of the stories, though, are from 1941-1945. Many are from names I already knew, but I learned of a few more in this book. We had no shortage of heroes in WWII.


Hits hard and fast!   January 5, 2003
David Parsons (Virginia Beach, VA United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Barrett Tillman and Bob Lawson have joined forces to produce a true jewel of a book on the US Dive and Torpedo bombers of WWII. Both individuals are recognized experts in the field and their collaboration has yielded a standout treatment of each significant dive and torpedo bomber in service during World War II. The text is an outstanding reference on the origin and development of each type aircraft as well as its introduction and success (or tribulations) in combat. This is nicely balanced by the superb imagery, many in color, and detailed captions. These gents really know their stuff and it shows. If you're interested in this subject and don't have it yet, your collection is not complete.


What I expect from MBI   January 11, 2006
Stephen Fender (Olympia, WA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book, with numerous beautiful photos. It covers evything from Avengers to Catalinas, including some seldom heard of aircraft. This is a great book for any WW 2 Navy fan or historian. It is on par with the other exceptional books I've bought from MBI.