The Martin T3M was an American

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 ...

of the 1920s. A single-engined three-seat biplane, it became a standard torpedo bomber of the

U.S. 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 o ...

, operating from both land bases and from aircraft carriers from 1926 to 1932.

Development and design

Having built 75 examples of the Martin SC, the production version of the Curtiss CS in 1925, the Glenn L. Martin Company was able to offer an improved version when the U.S. Navy had a requirement for an improved torpedo-bomber/scout aircraft. This aircraft, which was designated the T3M-1, first flew in July 1926.Grossnick 1995, p.507. The T3M was a large single-engined biplane capable of being fitted with either a conventional tailwheel undercarriage or floats. The fuselage was constructed of welded steel tube in place of the

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

ed steel frame of the CS/SC,Martin T4M
Naval Air Station Grosse Point Ile Virtual Museum. Retrieved 17 March 2008 with the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and bombardier seated side by side in the front cockpit situated forward of the wing, with the bombardier having a position under the nose for aiming the aircraft's bombs or torpedoes, while the gunner had a cockpit well aft of the wing, with a radiator slung under the top wing between the cockpits.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.310 Power was from a 575 hp (429 kW)

Wright T-3 The Wright T-3 Tornado, also given the USAF designation Wright V-1950 was an American liquid-cooled aircraft piston engine, designed in the early 1920s.V-12 engine. 24 T3M-1s were built.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.311. As the T3M-1 was underpowered, a new version was produced with the much more powerful (770 hp/574 kW) Packard 3A-2500 engine. This version, the T3M-2 had revised wings with the upper and lower wings of equal span (while in the T3M-1 the lower wings were of greater span), and the radiator was replaced by two radiators on the fuselage side, allowing the crew to be moved to three individual tandem cockpits. The U.S. Navy ordered 100 T3M-2s, one of which was re-engined with the

Pratt & Whitney Hornet The Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet was a widely used American aircraft engine. Developed by Pratt & Whitney, 2,944 were produced from 1926 through 1942. It first flew in 1927. It was a single-row, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial design. Displacemen ...

and the

Wright Cyclone Wright Cyclone was the name given to a family of air-cooled radial piston engines designed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and used in numerous American aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. Background The Wright Aeronautical Corporation wa ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

s as the XT3M-3 and XT3M-4 respectively. These aircraft formed the basis of the

Martin T4M Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austra ...

that would replace the T3M in service with the U.S. Navy.

Operational history

Curtiss F6C and Martin T3m on deck of USS Lexington (CV-2), 1928

Deliveries of the T3M-1 to the U.S. Navy started in September 1926. The T3M-1 was not heavily used, however, and was replaced in service by the more powerful T3M-2 from 1927. Although the T3M-2 itself was replaced in frontline service by its radial-powered development, the T4M, it remained in squadron service until at least 1932.

Variants

;T3M-1 :Initial production version. Powered by 575 hp (429 kW) Wright T-3B engine. 24 built. ;T3M-2 :Main production version. One 770 hp (574 kW) Packard 3A-2500 engine. 100 built. ;XT3M-3 :First T3M-2 re-engined with Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet

. ;XT3M-4 :XT3M-3 modified by

Naval Aircraft Factory The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which faced the Navy Department upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I. ...

to use Wright R-1750 Cyclone.

Operators

; *

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Johnson 1977, p.92. *

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 ...

Specifications (T3M-2)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David (editor). ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Aerospace Publishing. 1997. . * Grossnik, Roy A.
Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons: Volume 1 The History of VA, VAH, VAK, VAL, VAP and VFA Squadrons
'. Washington DC: Naval Historical Centre, 1995. . * Johnson, Edward C.
Marine Corps Aviation: The Early Years 1912–1940
'. Washington DC: U.S. Marine Corps, 1977. * Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. London:Putnam, Second edition 1976. . * Taylor, Michael J.H. (ed.) ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''.

External links

''Aeroweb''.

''Aerofiles''. {{USN torpedo aircraft Martin T03M Martin T03M T3M Carrier-based aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1926