TB2D Skypirate

TB2D Skypirate

The Douglas XTB2D-1 Devastator II, alias Skypirate, was a later design than that of the BTD-1 Destroyer, and was a large three/four-seat shipboard torpedo bomber with a wing span of 70 ft. 0 in. and an overall length of 46 ft. 0 in. Power was provided by a Pratt and Whitney XR-4360-8 engine rated at 3,000 h.p. for take-off and possessing a normal maximum rating of 2,500 h.p. at 5,000 ft. Design of the Devastator II was initiated in 1943, and the two XTB2D-1 prototypes (BuAer Nos. 36933 and 36934) were flown early in 1945, but the end of the war in the Pacific resulted in the cancellation of an order for twenty-three TB2D-1s.

The XTB2D-1 had four fixed forward- firing 0.5-in. machine guns with 400 r.p.g. in the wings and was to have, had two similar guns in a power-operated dorsal turret find another 0.5-in. gun in a ventral bath. The normal offensive load was four Mk. 13-2 torpedoes under the wing roots, or, alternatively, four 1,000-lb. bombs. Other possible offensive loads were two 4,000-lb. bombs, four 2,000-lb. bombs, or four 650-lb. or 325-lb. depth charges. Empty weight was 18,405 lb., and maximum loaded weight (four torpedoes) was 34,760 lb. Performance at maximum loaded weight was as follows : maximum speed, 247 m.p.h. at sea level, 269 m.p.h. at 15,900 ft.: time to 10,000 ft., 17.7 min.; service ceiling, 19,000 ft.; initial climb rate, 610 ft./min.; range, 1,450 miles. at 168 m.p.h.

The XBT2D-1, designed in July, 1944, flew for the first time on March 18, 1945.