The Douglas BTD Destroyer is an American

dive Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

/ torpedo bomber developed for the United States Navy during World War II. A small number had been delivered before the end of the war, but none saw combat.

Development

On 20 June 1941, the United States Navy placed an order with the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

for two prototypes of a new two-seat dive bomber to replace both the Douglas SBD Dauntless and the new Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, designated XSB2D-1. The resulting aircraft, designed by a team led by Ed Heinemann, was a large single-engined mid-winged monoplane. It had a

laminar flow In fluid dynamics, laminar flow is characterized by fluid particles following smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral mi ...

gull-wing, and unusually for a carrier-based aircraft of the time, a tricycle undercarriage. It was fitted with a bomb bay and underwing racks for up to 4,200 lb (1,900 kg) of bombs or one torpedo (typically the Mark 13), while defensive armament consisted of two wing-mounted 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon and two remote-controlled turrets, each with two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns.Francillon 1979, p. 366. The prototype first flew on 8 April 1943, demonstrating good performance, being faster than the Dauntless and capable of carrying more bombload, but it was heavier and more complex. The U.S. Navy had made a request for a new torpedo bomber developed from the XSB2D-1. Douglas reworked the XSB2D-1 by removing the turrets and second crewman, while adding more fuel and armor, while wing racks could carry not just one but two torpedoes, producing the BTD-1 Destroyer. The orders for the SB2D-1 were converted to the BTD-1, with the first BTD-1 flying on 5 March 1944.Francillon 1979, pp. 367–368. The BTD-1 was heavier than the XS2BD-1 and had poorer performance. Ed Heinemann asked for cancelling of the BTD-1.Yenne 1989, p. 90.

Operational history

The first production BTD-1s were completed in June 1944. By the time Japan surrendered in August 1945, only 28 aircraft had been delivered, and production was cancelled due to performance, along with other aircraft types that had been designed from the start as single-seaters, such as the Martin AM Mauler.Francillon 1979, p. 369. None saw combat action. In any event, Heinemann and his team were already working on developing the single-seat BT2D that became the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.

Variants

;XSB2D-1 :Prototype two seat torpedo/dive bomber. Two built. ;SB2D-1 :Proposed production version of XSB2D-1. 358 ordered, but order converted to BTD-1 before any completed ;BTD-1 :Single seat variant. 26 built. ;XBTD-2 :Prototypes with mixed propulsion, the additional

Westinghouse 19B The Westinghouse J30, initially known as the Westinghouse 19XB, was a turbojet engine developed by Westinghouse Aviation Gas Turbine Division, Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It was the first American-designed turbojet to run, and only the seco ...

turbojet in rear fuselage giving 1,500 lbf (6.7 kN) thrust did not sufficiently improve performance. First flight May 1944. Two built.

Operators

; * United States Navy

Surviving aircraft

BTD-1 Destroyer, Bureau Number ''04959'', was under restoration for display at the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, Elmira-Corning Regional Airport,

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...

. This aircraft had long been in the

Florence Air & Missile Museum The Florence Air & Missile Museum was an aviation museum previously located at the entrance to the Florence Regional Airport, in Florence, South Carolina. The museum closed at the end of 1997. The airport was originally known as Florence Army Air ...

collection until the museum's closing in 1997. In September 2015 the aircraft was relocated to the Hixson Flight Museum in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...

, where it is undergoing restoration.

Specifications (BTD-1)

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

A link to the official USN BuAer ACP (Airplane Characteristics and Performance) sheet from USN archives on the Douglas BTD-1 Destroyer.

A three-view plan of the BTD-1 Destroyer. {{USN scout aircraft Douglas aircraft, BTD Destroyer 1940s United States bomber aircraft Carrier-based aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft World War II dive bombers of the United States World War II torpedo bombers of the United States Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1943 Inverted gull-wing aircraft