The Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A competitor and contemporary to the

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

, the Sea Wolf was subject to substantial delays and never saw combat; only 180 of the type were built before cancellation after

VJ Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

Design and development

The original design was not by

Consolidated Aircraft The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 in aviation, 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the ...

, but rather by

Vought Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought Ai ...

, who designed the then XTBU-1 Sea Wolf to a 1939

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

requirement. The first prototype flew two weeks after

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. Its performance was deemed superior to the Avenger and the Navy placed an order for 1,000 examples. Consolidated TBY-2 with folded wings 1945

Several unfortunate incidents intervened; the prototype was damaged in a rough arrested landing trial, and when repaired a month later was again damaged in a collision with a training aircraft. Once repaired again, the prototype was accepted by the Navy. However, by this time Vought was heavily overcommitted to other contracts, especially for the

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...

fighter, and had no production capacity. It was arranged that

Consolidated-Vultee Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, it ...

would produce the aircraft (as the TBY), but this had to wait until the new production facility in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

, was complete, which took until late 1943.

Operational history

Consolidated TBY-2 Sea Wolf in flight c1945

The production TBYs were

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

-equipped, with a

radome A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and conceal antenna e ...

under the right-hand wing. The first aircraft flew on 20 August 1944. By this time though, the Avenger equipped every torpedo squadron in the Navy, and there was no need for the Sea Wolf; in addition, numerous small problems delayed entry into service. Orders were cancelled after production started, and the 180 built were used for training.

Variants

;XTBU-1 Sea Wolf :Prototype three-seat torpedo bomber powered by a R-2800-22 engine, one built. ;TBY-1 Sea Wolf :Production variant of the XTBU-1, not built. ;TBY-2 Sea Wolf :TBY-1 with an additional radar pod mounted under starboard-wing, 180 built, a further 920 were cancelled. ;TBY-3 Sea Wolf :Improved variant, order for 600 cancelled, not built.

Specifications (TBY-2 Sea Wolf)

Consolidated TBY-2 BuAer 3 side view 1944

References

Notes

External links

TBY Seawolf at Brown Shoe Navy

AirToAirCombat.Com: Vought TBU-1 Sea Wolf
{{USN torpedo aircraft TBY TBU 1940s United States bomber aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Carrier-based aircraft World War II torpedo bombers of the United States Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1941