[Llarry]

One final post to take the story of USN carrier aviation up to the pre-WW2 expansion -- and the end of the "yellow wing" era of colorful markings.

The coming thing was the monoplane. The first widely used Navy carrier monoplane was the Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo plane, which first flew in 1935. Finally the Navy could retire the open-cockpit biplane planes that had their genesis in the 1920s.

The earlier Boeing biplane fighters had been replaced by a series of Grumman biplane fighters with retractable landing gear. The barrel shaped F2F and F3F saw wide service in the Navy and Marines. Newcomer Brewster won contracts for the first Navy monoplane fighter, the F2A Buffalo. And stalwart Grumman was not far behind with their F4F Wildcat monoplane; the early models were in service right at the end of the "yellow wing" era.

The scout/dive bombers were the last type to abandon the biplane layout. Biplane Curtiss SBC Helldivers -- with closed cockpits and retractable landing gear -- filled the scouting and dive-bombing squadrons in the latter 1930s. A new monoplane scout/div bomber, the Douglas SBD, entered service just before WWII started and quickly replaced the older SBC.

In December of 1940, the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics directed that aircraft would be painted grey overall, mandating an end to the "yellow wing" era of bright colors.

Wars are fought with what you have on hand, not with what you would like to have or are planning to have. Many of the above aircraft saw action in the initial stages of World War II. The results were mixed:
-- The TBD Devastator torpedo bomber saw action in the early carrier battles of 1942. A large number were lost at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, decimating the torpedo squadrons. Fortunately, by mid-1942, a new Grumman TBF Avenger entered service to replace the TBD.
-- The F3F biplane fighter was used for training only by the time the war started.
-- The F2A Buffalo was used in early battles with disastrous effects; it suffered terrible losses from Japanese type Zero fighters and was withdrawn from combat.
-- The F4F Wildcat became the standard Navy/Marine fighter in 1941-43. Outclassed by the Zero in some respects, it nevertheless did well overall in combat, holding the line until improved fighters (F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair) could get to the fight.
-- The SBC Helldiver saw secondary service briefly with the Marines but never saw combat.
-- The SBD Dauntless earned honors as a deadly dive bomber in the battles of 1942-44. The SBD deserves a place as one of the iconic Navy aircraft of all time as the aircraft that destroyed the Japanese carrier force in the 1942 Battle of Midway.