The Avenger is a carrier-borne torpedo bomber operated by the United States Navy during World War II. It was designed by the El Segundo Division of the Douglas Aircraft Company, initially as the XBT-1, after which it was changed to the TBF-1 designation, and finally TBMs. Following further evolution, most notable of which was the addition of an "armor pack" of glass to the rear of the canopy and wing root fairings, the "-1" designation was dropped and the plane was simply referred to as TBM Avenger.
The Avenger was developed from the earlier Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber, the production contract for which had been won through political influence, despite the Douglas submission being inferior to the designs that had initially been evaluated. Despite the success of the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber, the US Navy had little interest in a design as revolutionary as the Dauntless, and demanded that the Douglas entry for the TBD contract conform to "standard design practices".
